Help need advice - I am a new grad with no luck!!! Suggestions welcome

1 Hi guys. Just a little info. I graduated in May 2011. I just recently took and passed the NCLEX. To answer that question that just popped into some of your heads - "Why did you wait so long??? I am a single mom on limited income - I had to save the $$$. Long story short - I am not a spring chicken anymore - I will be 40 in a couple of months. I have never worked in the medical fields - so no experience at all. I have no connections in the field. I have applied for jobs since April with all of them either saying "Position filled" or "did not meet minimum qualifications". What does a new grad do???? I have no connections, no experience & no job. I can't run around to HR departments - my work hours are like an HR departments, M-F 8-5. I have to apply online. I am beginning to feel like this degree was pointless and it put me in further debt I thought. I would feel empowered after receiving it. I am running out of time - I may have to abandon my hopes & dreams of getting a job as an RN. I feel mislead in that it was continually waved in front of us that becoming a nurse was the best thing we could do - that jobs are limitless. I know others are in the same boat as I. I am very discouraged right now.
I was in the same boat as you are now. But honestly going to HR makes a huge difference. To find a job as a new grad you have to be aggressive. Network, make calls, and go into HR offices. Applying online may work some times, but as you will read here and from my personal experience in person or making a contact is 10x better. Also network with some of your former classmates they may have a lead or 2 for you. Good luck. I got a job 2 months after passing the NCLEX and I filled out countless applications and receive MANY rejections. A job will come. Be patient and persistent.

I do not have the luxury of going to HR - I work M-F from 8-5. I cannot take off from my job. I guess if I can't get to HR that then what is the point??? I have no contacts & no network.

Going in person works in some parts of the country but not in others. The more "city" the more likely a poor outcome if you just "show up" with your resume. In this day of "everything online" you need to already have a profile/application online. If you end up networking and have someone to use on the inside to put in a good word for you, that's fine. Remember and be careful. Hospitals are not like malls where you can just pop in without cause and go up into a patient area. Some nurse managers and nurses will be really PO'd if you do.

I got my first nursing job through an online job application, so it does happen sometimes. I submitted to literally hundreds of jobs, and one came through. Keep plugging!

Quote from MisLead in KentuckyI do not have the luxury of going to HR - I work M-F from 8-5. I cannot take off from my job. I guess if I can't get to HR that then what is the point??? I have no contacts & no network.

You can follow up your application with phone calls. The acute care job I accepted was at a hospital I had absolutely no connections to, had never stepped foot in...so it does happen, just pick a few jobs to be persistent about.

It doesnt sound like your open to a solution. Bottom line you need to contact them some way. Maybe you can call on your lunch break or something? Maybe you can take a personal day ( I know its hard to take a day off and lose the money, but you also put in a lot of time and money to be an RN) and go in and make them talk to you. Every job that I apply to that I just go in and ask to speak to a manager I get the job. Most jobs I apply for online I never hear about. Im sorry if this doesnt help you, but your gonna have to do it one way or another. There are probably several other people who are applying for these jobs, and I gaurantee they are going in there and knocking on the HR door, and they are the ones getting the job

I am not sure where you live. But two things pop in mind, first if you just passed your NCLEX that may be one of the reasons you have not gotten call backs. Some employers do not want to take a chance on someone who might not pass the Nclex. (or so I have been told)The second is what happened to me. I was just asking the same question you did not even a month ago. I took my Nclex back in July and passed. I then applied and applied and applied. I got rejection after rejection. I was at the end of my rope. Then with-in two weeks I have been offered three job offers. I think it just took some time for my application/ resume to make its way to the hiring mgr for these companies. Hang in there. I live in Fl and I can tell you jobs are few and far between. I went to orientation yesterday and a new RN said that she had the same exact experience as me. She got rejected and rejected and then with in a few weeks was offered positions with a few companies. Hang in there. There are jobs out there. Go beyond your comfort zone. Have you applied to SNF or ALF's? In my area they are more likely to hire new nurses. You can get your exp. and you might love it. If not keep applying while getting exp. there. P.S I also only applied online.

I'm not sure how you have absolutely no connections in a hospital - you did clinicals, right? What about the nurses you worked with? Did you have a management clinical, did you meet any nurse managers while in clinical? What about your clinical instructors, can one of them put in a good word for you to a nurse manager?

Hey what about applying to nursing agencies? They might train u up in a job somewhere. I feel the same way. I was told when nursing is the best thing to do, it's a great 'career'. Now I just feel like I've been mucked about lately & that we are not treated as professsionals. I don't encourage young people to go into nursing as a first profession at all now.It's hard when u have to work so much, but u may have to take a day off just to go for interview, & also try agencies on the weekend - they are all open 24 hours with an operator there (though not a recruitment person probably), but some may have a recruiter there till 12 on a weekend maybe.Well done to you getting thru ur degree - as a single Mum it must have been very difficult. Keep trying; something will come up but u will have to find the time to apply directly from somewhere. What about taking holidays for a while?

You might want to look at LTC to get some experience. LTC facilities are always looking to woo RNs, the pay is pretty good, and it'll give you some patient experience.