RN looking for a job in NJ

I am a med/surg nurse with 7 years of experience. I consider myself to be a great candidate and have several references from prior managers and professors. I am having a very difficult time getting interviews in NJ. I had to relocate to NJ because of my husband's job. It took 6 weeks for NJ to give me my license. I hold an active license in two other states and it never took that long. I have applied for over 20 positions and no one is calling me back. This is very discouraging. I did talk with someone in a Nursing Agency who told me hospitals are not interested in hiring experienced nurses. All jobs are given to new grads. I find it hard to believe that hospitals would staff an entire unit with new grads! Is anyone else having this issue??
Hello alilag, How is your job search going? I do know of the agency who places only experienced nurses. Warm regards, Lana
I moved away from NJ a little over two years ago, and I can tell you that the lack of phone calls is extremely common in today's job market - so don't take it personally. I would recommend following up with your own phone call to places where you have applied about 10-14 days after you mailed in or submitted your applications. You still might not hear back, but at least it puts a little bug in their ear to give you some kind of response. NJ.com used to be a good website where you could go to classifieds/jobs and search all NJ newspapers for specific job openings. Try that, and agencies (lots of private duty available if you are in the northern and more wealthy areas of NJ), but word of mouth and just getting to know people in the healthcare business tends to be the best way to go. Good Luck!