Nurses, come in.

[Chib]

H just graduated nursing school in May, took his NCLEX, and passed! It was a long journey and I'm so proud of him. He's been applying for jobs left and right and has only had one interview without an outcome. I understand that nursing jobs are very hard to come by but he's getting discouraged.

So nurses, how long did it take you to get a job after being newly graduated? Any tips?

Thanks!

[pinkeggs]

Hi! I graduated in May and passed NCLEX last month. Big congrats to your H! It's a huge accomplishment and we work our asses off for it

I really think that it's geographical. My friend in CA spent months applying before she got a job. Here in the southeast, most of my class (including me) had offers before we graduated. It also depends on ADN vs BSN. Most places only want to hire BSNs (which I think is utterly ridiculous - they refuse to hire well-trained ADNs and then whine about the nursing shortage).

Good luck to him!!!!

[Chib]

Thanks! He has his BSN. So I guess his roadbump is geographical and many people applying to the same jobs.

[tigermom]

His best bet may be to directly contact the directors of the areas where he would like to work. For some ridiculous reason many applicants at my hospital receive no follow up if they are "blind" applicants, meaning that they don't have anyone to give a personal recommendation to the director. A good place to start would be with the directors of floors where he did his clinical rotations.

[Saudade]

Congrats! DH was hired before graduation to his unit of choice and his hospital is sooo desperate for nurses. I would see if he can broaden his search, network, review his resume, and possibly look at less desirable positions(ltc or clinic?) to just get some experience.

[tumbled]

When I was interviewing a new nurse a year or so ago, I aske her one thing she was surprised about since having graduated from school. Her response was how hard it was to get a job. For new RNs, that can be very true.

My advice is to try for Med/Surg positions and be willing to take anything, even PRN. They'll most likely want to orient him full time and that can be up to 3 months, sometimes even longer. They'll have the chance to give him a "working interview " for lack of a better term and then hopefully move him to a FT spot.

Many departments are my hospital are saturated with new RNs which makes it hard on everyone. Finding the balance between seasoned and new nurses is hard in today's market.

I wish the 2 of you the best of luck!

[nursewife]

I was lucky and had job offers from both places I did my practicum. If applying there an option for him? It worked great for me since I already knew the job, and they knew what kind of a worker I am.

[xokell2]

That's awesome.

The RN job market definitely ebbs and flows, it's over saturated current jn my area. When I graduated 10 years there was a major shortage.

Can he work on getting certification that don't require bedside hours to make himself more marketable (ACLS, PALS, stroke)? He can probably find a job at a nursing home, acute rehab facility, wound clinic, pain clinic, dialysis center, or doing home health until he finds something in a field he would like to specialize in. I also think I'd be a good idea to get in touch with nurses or managers of units where he did his clinicals to get an in. We've hired a lot of nurses who we were familiar with from their clinical rotations.

Good luck

[Chib]

We relocated to a new area to my hometown where there's more hospitals for jobs. So getting jobs at his clinical sites and preceptorship site are not an option. He has applied to alot of jobs but just never hears anything back. The interview he had was first an phone interview than a shadowing and formal interview. We would appreciate some finger crossing and thoughts our way.

[allaboutme]

Colorado is terrible for nursing jobs; new grads are saying it takes about a year.. Ridiculous.

[lilybug]

Best of luck! I was very fortunate to have a position secured before I graduated, at the place I was already working. We moved not long after and I stayed home with the kids for a year, but when I decided to get a job, it took about 3-4 weeks of full time job hunting before I got this position.

I agree with the suggestions to be open to prn / part time openings and then tell them you like to shoot for full time. Also use any medical field friends you have in the area - more than half of our recent hires have been friends of employees. It's much easier to get on if you have someone to push your resume under the director's nose.