New Grad with no experience feels like being discriminated

3 i went to a job fair today and i was so enthusiastic to meet with the recruiters. upon my arrival, i noticed some applicants were waiting and some were called into another room as i continually filled up my application form. i excitedly handed in my resume and the recruiter immediately asked me if i have experience with the job that i'm applying for? i replied that i'm a new grad and just got my rn license and hope to get a job in their hospital. she stapled the paper and without even looking at my resume, she said "i'll just put your resume on file". most applicants who were turned down in the past knew that what she meant to say was a big "no, you are not qualified!". i felt so bad 'coz it looks like a form of discrimination!!! how come those applicants with experiences were called for an interview in another room, and we, new graduates with no experiences, were not even given a chance to be interviewed at all. the least they can do is glance at our resumes, but they didn't even bother to do that either. hospitals, nursing homes or any establishments that provides healthcare and employs nurses should stop this kind of discrimination that they are doing to new graduate nurses right now! we worked as hard as these other nurses who was ahead of us and already had experiences. but definitely, one time in their lives, they too were in the same shoes as we are right now...new grads and without experience! the recruiters or human resources people should give new grads a chance to prove themselves. i'm sure, if we'd be given the right training or orientation, we can be as good as the old timers. i am just too tired seeing and hearing that only nurses with experiences can apply. and i strongly believe that we are being discriminated and we don't deserve that!
I felt the same way as you are feeling now when I got out of school. I have seen my resumes being tossed in trash pile behind desks in jobfairs. Make a strategy as to how you would apply. Uptill now I have seen people getting jobs only through contacts. Make a concise copy of your resume. Talk to a nurse manager on phone and take time as to you want to meet her and then go and meet her on hospital foor in her office ad hand her your resume. Don't even think of calling HR because HR already knows whom they want to hire from their contacts. Make impression on nurse managers.Hope this helps

I totally agree. I'm not there yet but I will be, soon.

i feel you. they are using our current economic situation to be picky because lots of experienced nurses are now competing with the new grads. and of course the hospital will pick the experienced nurse because it costs them less time & money for the training.hang in there. and i wish you luck with the job hunting.angel, rn

ummm, I'm sorry you are having a difficult time finding a job and all, but discrimination? Please! Hospitals have every right to "discriminate" when there is more supply than demand. As you noted the experienced nurse provides a cost benefit to the hospital that you do not. When given a choice they will most likely hire someone with experience over an unproven, experienceless new grad. I'm sorr that the nursing fantasy world of limitless job opportunities has dissolved into a world where you have to work to get a job (God forbide!), but that is what has happened. Grads in most every other discipline (especially those with only undergraduate or associates) have to beg borrow and steal to get a job theses days. Nurses are faced with the options of working a little harder than in the past or having to move to get a job and all they do is complain.If they looked at you and decided you were too old, the wrong color or maybe even the wrong sexual orientation to do the jobe then you could claim some kind of discrimination. Looking at you and thinking you don't have enough experience? That's just good business sense.

I feel your frustration as I too am a new grad struggling to get my foot in the door. However, an employer has every right to hire candidates who present the best evidence that they're the ones most likely to succeed in a given position. Prior work experience in the same field is considered a valid indicator. I'm afraid you're off the mark to frame this widespread happenstance as 'discrimination'.

Please don't cheapen real instances of discrimination. Sorry, but "inexperienced" is not a protected class....

I think everybody can easily understand the OP's frustration. No need to accuse falsely (which has me PO'd, actually).I find it humorous that some posters who are still listed as students cop an attitude to the OP, when it is obvious they speak out of pure ignorance. Too funny. And for those that are gainfully employed as nurses, good for ya. You should thank God for every paycheck, and that you are able to put food on the table and pay off your loans if you have them. Karma is a big you know what, people. I love to see karma take people down. I'm not usually there to pick those type people up once they fall.

Take your rose colored glasses off and take a look at the real world. It's not discrimination. It's good business.

Okay, so perhaps the OP should not have used the word discrimination. Still, the sentiment in the OP's post rings true. It is a vicious reality.....many places won't hire you until you get experience, but you can't get experience until you are hired!

2nd wind, agree with you to a point. Being gainfully employed after 15 years of paying my dues is not Karma. It's not burning bridges, taking a grunt geriatric psyc job to start to get any toe in any door (getting my arse whooped by 80yr old women)...Then taking a job where they were cleaning house on an unwanted long term vent floor in a (whoop finally) hospital setting... where those that were there to train me were being eliminated by me once I was off orientation... as one would call it...... "figure it out yourself... you wanted my job so go do it".. you get the picture.So many of us have dearly paid our dues and took jobs that weren't in the traditional hospital setting that we would have preferred and did what we had to do along the way, to FINALLY be where we wanted through the hardest of work, with the worst schedules an little peer support.So NO!!! I won't buy into this "discrimination" crud... PERIOD. In some markets you have to work nursing homes, take the worst jobs and work your way up.Sorry OP, but the fact that you had no interest from this employer speaks volumes that you need to change your standards and get ANY experience under your belt. THAT is their standard for hiring!!!!!!This has nothing to do with Karma, it's a wise economic choice, and the OP should be urged to gain any nursing experience as an RN to be able to compete for the next interview process.Geeze!

Quote from strawberrypie we worked as hard as these other nurses who was ahead of us and already had experiences. but definitely, one time in their lives, they too were in the same shoes as we are right now...new grads and without experience!

I believe discrimination is when all things are equal except skin color, age, religion, etc. With experience versus no experience, things are not equal. It's not discrimination. Employers are free to choose who they want, especially in the current economic climate, assuming they don't choose applicants based on the above criteria. I do feel for you. I hope you find something soon.