I'm a 24 year old male, recent BSN graduate, obtained my RN license this month. I've applied to 20 RN & GNP (Graduate Nurse Permit) positions within 7 different hospitals in my city and surrounding cities (I applied for about 3 positions per facility). It has been 3 and a half weeks since my applications have been submitted and all 20 application statuses online either say "closed" (yes I know closed means the positions have been filled) or "un-qualified" or "pending".
Keep in mind, all 20 nursing positions I applied for have a minimum experience requirement of either "less than one year" or "graduate nurse" with a minimum education of an associates. No other requirements were posted. I met All desired preferences on every position I applied for with either ACLS certification and or education/ BSN and prior experience.
I have 6 letters of recommendation from either clinical site instructors and or nurse assistant professors at my university. I maintained the presidents list throughout nursing school and graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.8. I have 700 clinical hours, 200 in critical care, 200 in med surg, 100 in Ob/peds. 100 in psych and 100 in community. (And yes all of this information and more is on my resume). I was also a nurse tech prior to nursing school and made sure to network during clinical rotations.
So why can't I get a job? I have a bachelors of science in nursing, 700 clinical hours, 3.8 GPA, I was in the SNA all throughout my program, volunteered at local children's hospital during my breaks, recent RN license, 6 letters of recommendation for hire, I've made sure to apply for positions that are for graduate nurses or RNs with less than 1 year of experience.
I've even made the effort to meet with unit managers in person that were hiring, even gave a few a hard copies of my resume and recommendation letters to them directly and bypassing HR. Still, nothing!
I'm just bent over backwards at the fact that everyone keeps saying "nursing is in so high demand right now, you will get a job so fast bla bla bla" when in reality it's been 3 and a half weeks since I've applied for 20 positions and not a single call back. All of the other open RN positions are for either charge nurse or require a minimum of 2-3 years experience so I can't apply for the others ones.
Why can't I get a job? What am I doing wrong? Advice?
Question: Do student nurses not work part time during school at hospitals to get their foot in the door anymore? I worked as a student in one of the hospitals we had clinicals at and had a job offer as soon as I graduated.
I had a full-time non-nursing job when I started nursing school. I tried very hard to find a CNA or tech job as a student, but they were extremely hard to find. School was no help; my advisor refused to provide any information on how to challenge the CNA exam. Some nursing homes provided CNA training, but I didn't want to work in a nursing home (after 7 years and 3 awful LTC jobs, I STILL don't want to work in a nursing home).
I volunteered in a hospital ER for 3 years, but I was unable to turn that into a paid position. By the time I graduated they were barely hiring their own techs as nurses.
I graduated with an ASN in 2008. It took 10 months, over 100 applications, a cancelled job, and a 250-mile move to find my first job.
As other posters state, 3 weeks and 20 applications is nothing. It took me a little over 2 months and probably closer to 400 applications. I got lucky, a spot became open where I did my practicum and my preceptor called me. I bypassed HR, walked in with my resume and got hired.
You said you are already bypassing HR-that's a good thing!! But as others said, are you in contact with your clinical instructors and preceptors? Do they all know you would just love to work on that particular unit more than anything? If not-do it! Call or visit the floor and let them know that you want to work THERE. If an opening comes up, make sure you are the first person they think of recommending to the NM.
You didn't say where you are, but if you are interested in relocating, someone on these boards is always saying that north Dakota is very new grad friendly, and I'm sure there are other places as well. Where I am, new grads can only be hired for FT because there is so much training involved, so you probably won't have to look for PT, but if you are in a saturated market, you may want to consider LTC or SNF.
I know it's hard, but keep a positive attitude about it! You'll get there eventually! I graduated in May 2013...applied to over 300 jobs all over the country, and didn't get hired until April 2014 and had to move out of state for it. I was convinced it was never going to happen, but it did! Lots of people have had an even more difficult time than me I'm sure. I suggest looking at more rural areas...there's less competition with experienced nurses and rural hospitals seem more willing to hire new grads.
I graduated December 2013, passed boards March 2014, and as of May 2015, I'm still looking for my first hospital job. I can't even begin to tell you how many hospitals that I've applied to and in multiple states. When I was supposedly finally hired by a hospital seven months into my job search, I was told that there was a hiring freeze and I will have to wait until it was over before I can get the position. Once the freeze was lifted, two months ago, I was bumped from the position in favor of one of their more experienced, internal RNs. So it's back to square on.
So currently, I'm on month 13 and still looking. Heck OP, you'll probably still be hired before I will. As others have said, being upset because no one has called or hired you after three and a half weeks and twenty resumes sent is highly unrealistic. Being that this is my second career and though I love nursing, I'm beginning to feel that I made the wrong career choice.
Anyway OP, good luck and cast your net out far and wide. Perhaps you may have to work in an area of the country where there's a need but not necessarily where you want to be and get the year experience people are claiming to want. I'm not one to give advice I guess but there it is.
Like a couple people keep saying around here....there is no nursing shortage! I think there are sometimes more shortages in some nursing areas, but you have to find one of those units willing to train a new grad. I still would have thought one of the 7 hospitals would have called you though. That does seem odd. If you said 3...then I'd say that was not so unusual. Keep trying...you'll get a bite sometime since it seems you live in a bigger city or can commute.
To be fair, I don't have my nursing degree so I can't speak to your field, per se. Buuut...I did graduated from a healthcare career several years ago. I have to admit I was very fortunate to have my clinical practicum site and the director of the cytology lab in the school offer me a position with another director they knew well before I even graduated, but ended up out west where I wanted to go (took me 2 months after school).
So could someone from your school know someone and give you a recommendation??
I believe you offer to much information and it seem a little like bragging. you may not have on resume but here you started out in that fashion. Relax....it will happen for you. You may want to try nursing homes and take less pay than hospital for a while or even a community health program that is funded by state funding, etc. again, smaller position for your student experience but it will help. they are generally hiring LPNs bc of lower pay n duties so scale down everything n just say you have a BsN. New Grad. they may consider you. Places like community mental health, red cross, american heart association, pharmaceutical companies all need a nurse for some work...look there. it will get you going. I think if you modify your resume to a very simple statement that hiring as new grad may be easier for you. hospitals etc want to pay as little as they can in nursing pay budget. you appear very qualified, sophisticated and knowledgeable. they may think that you will require a higher salary than say an RN with a 2 yr degree. They will opt for the least salaried person that they can. that's just business. try to look less impressive on paper and presentation if interviewing. just business. you need to keep that in mind. the business office has the final say in budgeting. its all about money n budgets. i had a job offer in the OR before i graduated from a 2 yr program. also have a bachelor's degree but i never mentioned it. i had simply done a rotation there and made instant friends with charge nurse i think bc i was so curious in their work and had alot of questions for her. we just talked alot. so yes, networking, making good contacts in the field is key. keep that up..... as for the RN field hiring...its cyclical and always has been and always will be. it turns over about once a decade. every ten yrs there comes about a shortage bc people hear that and attend school, then it floods the market again and hires slow down. wait it out. you seem like youll be an excellent nurse once hired. but yes, 3.5 weeks is not long. hiring is a lonf process in any field. and remember that hiring recruiters are flooded with work and have a protocol in the hire process. they must go thru apps as they come in, interviewing people as dated on paperwork first before they move on. again, business....just apply everyday to many and in time your name will come up for interview. simply so you dont scare them into big salary needed etc. take what they offer at first even if its low. in time, youll be where you deserve to be...best of luck...youre gonna be great!!! dont be as chatty as i was here...lol :)
3 weeks and 20 applications? Calm down!! Three weeks isn't even long enough to be sure they read your resume yet? I applied to 20 a day for three months and landed a job before graduation.
Best of luck to you, just keep applying. Check every single day and be one of the first to apply. I have a friend in an HR hospital and he said at his hospital the computer only sends the first 20 applicants to be looked through because they get thousands!
Topic has been beat to death by now. I just wanted to add a Good Luck! You have a good attitude and I know there's something awesome waiting for you =)
Job hunting must be stressful but please try to take a breath and relax. 20+ applications and less than a month without finding a job does not make you a failure. I'm guessing you are in a big metropolitan area and the job market is notoriously tough in big cities right now. Just keep plugging away and you'll get a job eventually. Especially if you are open to expanding your search a bit. Look outside the big hospitals, or even outside your area if you aren't averse to moving.
I don't have a whole lot of advice to offer, just solidarity as another well-qualified new graduate nurse trying to get a break. Stinks, doesn't it? Especially if you're seeing your cohort friends getting jobs right and left, even if their grades weren't as good as yours. Yes, the bitterness is real.
I have been at this apply online and wait thing for about 3 months now, and have heard nothing but crickets. I've found slightly better leads at job fairs and networking with everyone I know. I don't know if there are any of those in your area or not, but my experience has been that it's much harder to ignore someone standing right in front of you, as opposed to your well thought-out, time consuming application going into the black hole of new graduate hell (while you imagine evil laughter coming from HR people...) But even Job fairs have been hit or miss for me. One particularly "peachy" HR gatekeeper at an urban hospital wouldn't let me in the door without "real" experience, even though I could see many managers sitting all alone at tables without candidates to talk to, and there was no line of experienced nurses clamoring to get in and talk to them. I politely, but firmly made my sales pitch for why hiring an enthusiastic new grad means getting someone who is a blank slate; someone whom you can easily train to do things YOUR way. Also, that being "new" comes without a lot of nice things, too, like bad habits, and not being "that" nurse who always says "That's not how I learned it at my old unit..." Yeah, she wasn't interested. In those situations, you've got to be like the old Kenny Rogers song "The Gambler" suggests, "You've got to know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run..."
But, I did have some positive experiences at job fairs as well. I was able to speak to another HR rep who does consider new grads, and I'm interviewing this Wednesday. It's not the flashiest hospital in the area. Certainly not my first choice, but as you know, as new grads, beggars can't be choosers. The HR rep from a home care agency also seemed interested in hiring new graduates in my area. Not sure if you're willing to go that route, but I do know a couple folks who did that for a year and then transferred into a hospital.
Try not to take it personally (advice I constantly need to take myself, I know). There are loads of us all in the same boat, and as much as you probably don't want to hear it, keep being persistent. Network with everyone you know. You never know who knows somebody who might be able to help you get that foot in the door.
Not_A_Hat_Person, RN
2,900 Posts
I had a full-time non-nursing job when I started nursing school. I tried very hard to find a CNA or tech job as a student, but they were extremely hard to find. School was no help; my advisor refused to provide any information on how to challenge the CNA exam. Some nursing homes provided CNA training, but I didn't want to work in a nursing home (after 7 years and 3 awful LTC jobs, I STILL don't want to work in a nursing home).
I volunteered in a hospital ER for 3 years, but I was unable to turn that into a paid position. By the time I graduated they were barely hiring their own techs as nurses.
I graduated with an ASN in 2008. It took 10 months, over 100 applications, a cancelled job, and a 250-mile move to find my first job.