Before Graduation

Be proactive. Start building a network of contacts while you are in nursing school. Each clinical rotation presents hands-on learning experiences and the opportunity to introduce yourself to the clinical staff at the healthcare facility. You can be just another nursing student to the staff or a nursing student that they’ll remember after you complete your clinical rotation.

Each clinical rotation gives you a chance to meet the nurse manager of the unit. Briefly stop the nurse manager in the hallway or politely knock on the nurse manager’s office door and introduce yourself. Don’t be afraid to do so. Nurse managers tend to look forward to meeting nursing students who have a clinical rotation on their unit. They want to be a good host, share experiences – and nurse managers are always on the prowl for potential nursing candidates even if there are no current openings.

Don’t stalk the nurse manager and don’t ask for a job. Build a casual relationship during the rotation since you are likely to see the nurse manager each time you are on the unit. Make small talk. Find out something unique about the nurse manager – pets, hobbies – just like you would when you meet a new colleague. Give the impression that you are already part of the staff. Ask the nurse manager a few meaningful questions about the unit or the patient population a couple of times during the rotation. This demonstrates a sincere interest in the patients on the unit. Keep questions short. Listen carefully to the reply and give the nurse manager feedback that you understood the answer. Limit conversation. Politely interrupt if the conversation goes long. Say, “This is very interesting. I have to get back to my patients but I would love to continue this later.” The interruption demonstrates that you can prioritize – patients first.

Stop by on the last day of your rotation to thank the nurse manager for having you on the unit. Mention that you had a positive experience and enjoyed working with the staff and the patient population. Close your comments with, “after graduation I’d like to work on a unit like this.” Again don’t ask for a job. You are simply planting a seed that may or may not grow into an opportunity in the future. Be sure to thank the staff for their congeniality. Encourage your class to bring in refreshments for the staff on the last day of clinical rotation as a thank you to the staff. Before leaving, make sure you ask the nurse manager for her business card and get the names of staff members. They become your network of contacts for employment opportunities or references.

You may return to a different unit in the same healthcare facility for another clinical rotation. If so, try to create an opportunity to stop by your previous unit nurse manager’s office and say “hi.” Don’t stalk. Don’t wander on that unit. You don’t have any reason to be there. Stopping by the nurse manager’s office briefly is acceptable. Simply say, “I’m on unit (name of unit) doing my cardiac rotation and I thought I would stop by on my break to say hi.” Make small talk asking about the nurse manager’s pets or something unique that you remember about the nurse manager. Keep the conversation short. Don’t sit down in the office. Don’t bring up anything about graduation or a job. The goal is simply to show your face and return to your unit – planting a seed for the future.

Stay in touch with the nurse manager after you finish your rotations at the healthcare facility. Don’t be forward. The nurse manager doesn’t want to be your best friend or a pen-pal via email. Every four months or so send a short email asking the nurse manager a question. For example, explain a situation that you encountered during clinical rotation and ask how a similar situation is handled at the nurse manager’s facility. You may also inquire about externships that might be available at the healthcare facility. Some healthcare facilities offer an externship program for the summer prior to graduation. Senior nursing students are brought in to assist the nursing staff for the summer months, creating another important opportunity to make yourself known to nurse managers and the nursing staff. There is a tendency for nurse recruiters to hire their externs as new graduate nurses.

Consider volunteering at the healthcare facility where you may want to eventually work. You wouldn’t be able to perform nursing duties. You will be performing normal volunteer duties such as running specimens to the lab and transporting patients. You’ll get to know the staff and have an opportunity for the nurse manager to know you as a volunteer. Show your personality and a readiness to learn. You’ll have many chances to demonstrate that you are a good worker. You won’t have first dibs on open positions (working in an unlicensed staff position, such as a CNA, makes you an insider giving you a chance at an open position before the position is available to non-employees). Volunteering gives you a great opportunity to build your network – contacts that may help you get a new grad nursing job.

Local chapters of nursing associations also provide a good way to build your network of contacts. The faculty of your nursing school can probably identify local chapters – they might also be a member. Look online for the state chapter website. It usually lists information about local chapters along with contact information. Send the contact an email explaining that you’re a nursing student and would like to join their group. Some chapters may limit membership to licensed nurses but may invite you as a guest to their meetings. Go to their meetings if invited. Your goal is to develop relationships and keep in touch with members – keep building your network.

What Type of Nursing Do You Want to Do?

Prepare yourself for questions that nurse recruiters, nurse managers, and members of your contact network will likely ask you. The first is: What type of nursing do you want to do? You may be thinking “any nursing job,” but don’t say it. They realize that finding your first nursing job is challenging and you likely will accept the first job that is offered. However, the real question is, have you given any thought to the kind of nursing practice that you might do in the future?

Clinical rotations exposed you to the most common nursing practice areas giving you some foundation to choose a clinical path. Decide on a practice environment such as a hospital, private practice, urgent care center, surgery center, rehabilitation center, or nursing home. There are also opportunities in non-clinical environments, such as health insurance organizations. Experienced nurses suggest you get a few years of clinical experience preferably in a hospital where you can develop your clinical skills.

And what type of nursing do you see in your future? ER, ICU, NICU, OR … there is an endless list of specialties from which to choose. The nurse recruiters, nurse managers, and members of your contact network don’t expect you to have your whole nursing career mapped right out of nursing school. Instead, they simple want to see what area piques your interest – so far – and that you are thinking ahead, planning how you are going to build your nursing career.

Answer questions honestly. Don’t try to tailor your answers based on what you think the nurse recruiters, nurse managers, and members of your contact network want to hear. You don’t have to pick any area of nursing at this point. A good response is to say you want to be a good nurse and you are looking for a position that will help you develop good nursing skills. Mention specialty areas that interest you. Try not to commit to one specialty unless you’ve worked in that practice area as an unlicensed staff member. A few weeks of clinical rotation in a specialty area doesn’t give enough insight on how it is to work in that area as a nurse.

You Don’t Have Nursing Experience but You Have Experience

Clinical rotations don’t count as experience! Avoid listing your clinical rotations as your job experience on your resume and job application. There is a tendency to do this because clinical rotations are the closest thing you can offer as nursing experience. You get to list names of healthcare facilities and practice areas – and it can really beef up your resume. Nurse recruiters don’t consider this work experience. All new grads have the same clinical rotations where they work under close observation of the clinical instructor. No one works independently caring for a full patient load while on clinical rotation.

The nurse recruiter knows you are a new grad without any nursing experience. Your new nursing license implies that you are basically competent as a nurse. Healthcare facility administrators see you as a liability and a relatively expensive nurse to hire. New grads make a lot of mistakes – it is all part of learning. Patients may be adversely affected by mistakes made by a new grad. Therefore, new grads typically receive more intensive orientation than that given to an experienced nurse – and it is expensive. The new grad is assigned a preceptor who is an experienced staff nurse. The preceptor is responsible for care given to patients who are assigned to the new grad during orientation. Both the preceptor and the new grad receive full salary during the new grad’s orientation. In essence, the healthcare facility is paying for two nurses for care that is normally provided by one nurse. Orientation may last two months before the new grad is permitted to work independently.

The nurse executive knows that the healthcare facility must invest in onboarding new grads otherwise the pool of available nurses will shrink in the future as current nurses retire. However, the nurse executive and the nurse recruiter are very selective as to which new grads will be offered to join their new grad program. The selection process is challenging because the new grad lacks proven work experience as a nurse.

Your goal is to show the nurse recruiter that you are a good investment by demonstrating that your successful non-nursing experience can carry over to your nursing practice. What you did is less important than how you did it. The nurse recruiter is looking for a new grad that has a good work ethic. You show up for work and call in well in advance if you can’t to give staffing time to replace you. You complete each assigned task. You demonstrate critical thinking. You follow procedures. There are times when procedures are not appropriate – and you identify these situations and ask for direction. You’ll encounter similar situations as a new grad. Questioning whether something isn’t right based on your limited nursing knowledge is important to the nurse recruiter because you asked for help rather than risking a mistake that may injure a patient. As you gain experience, your critical thinking becomes the basis for solving those problems independently. Tell the nurse recruiter how you incorporated good customer service in your previous experiences. Patients are your new customers and they expect – and should receive – compassionate care. Show how you went that extra mile for customers in your previous jobs.

Your work in a hospital environment is important to share with the nurse recruiter. Direct patient care experience such as that of a certified nursing assistant, medical assistant, or patient care assistant is a good foundation for nursing. Other jobs in a hospital such as a ward clerk or non-direct patient care positions also help to convince the nurse recruiter that you are a good investment. The nurse recruiter is not looking for you to have nursing skills but is looking for you to have a good work ethic, critical thinking skills, good customer service skills, and be willing to learn ... and learn ... and learn. There is a lot to learn as a new grad.

The Search Begins

Start your search a year or so before graduation. Some healthcare facilities that have new grad programs run those programs once a year. You want to find out about those programs well in advance of the application deadline. You might be able to apply at the end of your senior year or immediately after graduation while you wait to take your licensing boards. Yes, you can be hired without a nursing license. You are considered a graduate nurse. Your practice is limited until you get your license. One of the terms of employment is that you obtain your nursing licenses within a month or two of starting work.

Begin your search with your nursing school. Faculty may have contacts at local hospitals and may know which healthcare facilities offer a new grad program – and know who you can speak with at the healthcare facility to apply to the program. Be realistic. You are one of many new grads from your school all of whom are looking for their first nursing job and a facility will treat each of you equally.

You should look at online job postings at healthcare facilities within your area. Don’t apply for advanced nursing positions. This is a waste of time. Sometimes a posting will say “new graduates invited to apply.” Other times, the nurse recruiter may consider a new grad but not mention that fact in the job posting. How do you find out? There is no magic answer. Email the nurse recruiter and ask.

An online search or a call to Human Resources is the best way to identify the nurse recruiter. You may find the nurse recruiter’s email that way too. Alternatively, you can probably deduce the nurse recruiter’s email address by finding the email address of someone else who works at the healthcare facility. For example, looking at the press contact section of the healthcare facility’s website, you’ll find names of the Public Relations staff and their email addresses ([email protected]). Chances are good that nurse recruiter Mary Smith’s email address is [email protected].

Keep your email short and to the point. Your email is one of hundreds received by the nurse recruiter. The subject line is very important. Don’t hide the fact that you are a new grad. State something such as, “Brief question from a new grad” or “Brief question from a new grad from (name of the local nursing school).” This helps the nurse recruiter prioritize your email – and yes, you’ll have a relatively low priority but that doesn’t mean that you won’t receive a response. Naming your school in the subject line may help. Local healthcare facilities sometimes have a formal or informal connections with nursing schools in their area. Responding to your email might be viewed by the nurse recruiter as maintaining that connection.

Be patient for a response! It may take a few weeks and you may never receive a response – then again, the response may be immediate. The nurse recruiter can easily get your email out of the inbox by hitting reply and writing a few words. With luck the response is yes with instructions on how to apply.

Should you visit Human Resources personally? Yes, but not to apply for a job. Many healthcare facilities use an online application tracking system to handle applications (see Chapter 2 “The Dreaded Application Tracking System”). Instead, visit Human Resources to inquire whether the healthcare facility has a new grad program and if so, how you can get information about it. You’ll probably be speaking with a receptionist although there is always a chance you’ll get to chat with the nurse recruiter.

Be realistic on where you want to work. It would be great to find a job in your local hospital – you and new grads from all the local nursing schools have the same thought. There aren’t enough positions for local healthcare facilities to hire all of you immediately following graduation. Consider broadening your search area. You may have to explore opportunities at healthcare facilities in a different part of your state or in other states.

Be honest with yourself. Working for a healthcare facility outside where you live may require you to move. Traveling three or four hours to work every day may not make sense. Your commuting expenses will be high; traffic may delay your trip; and it might be a nightmare commuting in inclement weather. Remember that nurses are expected to work their shift even during bad travel weather. Health care workers are generally exempt from weather-related travel restrictions. Relocating may be the only feasible option if you find a job outside your current area.

Another job option that is sometimes overlooked is the military. The military recruits nurses as commissioned officers. New nurses come in as junior officers. In exchange for commitment to military service, new nurses can continue their education financed by the military and can gain experience that can easily be transferred to civil life. Financial compensation is based on rank, although many branches offer financial incentives for board certifications and specialties. You must also complete a basic officer leader course where you learn to be an officer.

Use Your Network

Graduating and getting your nursing license does not guarantee you a nursing job. It is time to let the world know that you are a new nurse looking for your first nursing job. Don’t keep it a secret. Friends, friends of friends, neighbors, family acquaintances, any of these contacts may know someone associated with a healthcare facility who can help you contact the nurse recruiter (they may even know the nurse recruiter). Chances may be slim but you never know who may help you open the door to your first nursing job. For example, a relative of your neighbor may be friends with a nurse manager. Your neighbor may speak about you to her friend...and her friend might mention you to the nurse manager...who may recommend that the nurse recruiter setup an appointment with you. Nurse recruiters usually like referrals because someone knows the candidate.

Your best opportunity is working the network you built during your clinical rotations. Email nurse managers and others on the nursing staff you met while on clinical rotation on their unit. Do this months before graduation. Don’t think you can simply knock on their door and say, I got my nursing license when do I start? It doesn’t work that way. Even if the nurse manager wants to hire you there first must be an open position – and that opening may not exist. Give members of your network time to help you.

Email your network – especially nurse managers – asking for advice, but not a job. Ask if they have any suggestions on how to find your first nursing job. They’ll know you are looking for a job. You don’t have to mention it. Make reference to your previous contacts with them. For example, “You may recall that we met when I was doing my clinical rotation on your unit.” Be sure to include anything that may uniquely identify you from other nursing students who also had a clinical rotation on that unit. Hopefully, you planted that seed during your clinical rotation and now it is time for the seed to germinate.

Don’t become a nuisance. Send the email and be patient. You can follow up in a couple of weeks with another short email updating them on your search. Keep it light and a little humorous. The goal is to remind them that you are still looking.

What Nurse Recruiters Look For

So what might a nurse recruiter look for in a new grad candidate? Each nurse recruiter has her own requirements – some set by policy, some set by requirements of the hiring nurse manager, and some are subjective. No one can tell you exactly what criteria the nurse recruiter is looking for, but there is a good chance they include the following characteristics:

Notice that nothing is mentioned about nursing skills, grade point average, or your class rank. These are usually of less concern to the nurse recruiter. The state licensing board certifies that you have basic nursing skills. The healthcare facility’s orientation program will teach you skills required to care for their patients. You won’t pass orientation if your skills are not adequate to do the job.

Selling Yourself in Your Resume and Job Application

Your email opens the door and your resume is an advertisement that tells the nurse recruiter to stop looking – I’m your new grad. This may be wishful thinking; however, your resume should give a sales pitch that encourages the nurse recruiter to take a closer look at you and invite you in for an interview. Likewise, this is true about the job application you submit on the healthcare facility’s website.

Take a tip from advertisers: Advertisers tailor each advertisement for a specific group of customers. The group has the same needs and the advertiser can fulfill those needs. The description of the open position identifies the needs of the nurse recruiter. You believe you can fulfill those needs, so your resume and job application should show how you can meet them.

Each resume and job application must be tailored to a specific job posting. Yes, this is time-consuming but you’ll have a better chance of success than sending a general resume. The nurse recruiter has a list of job requirements for a position – and minimal time to review the qualifications of each applicant. The application tracking system (see Chapter 2 “The Dreaded Application Tracking System”) will complete the first review of candidates.

Format your resume in common sections:

Make a list of job requirements. Next to each job requirement enter something in your background that meets the requirement. Keep entries brief and to the point. Be honest. Leave it blank if you don’t meet a specific job requirement. Rarely is there a candidate who meets all requirements of the job.

Next write those entries incorporating the exact words and phrases that are used in the job description. The goal is to use keywords found in the job description at least three times in your resume or job application. This makes it easier for the application tracking system to give your resume/application a high score.

The nurse recruiter matches the job description to information in the candidate’s resume and application. You make the nurse recruiter’s job easier if you do the matching for her in your resume/application. The nurse recruiter can scan your resume/ application quickly without having to read long descriptions of your work history. Remember that non-nursing experience is important for the nurse recruiter. A new grad will probably not have nursing experience.

This is same strategy advertisers use to encourage potential customers to take a closer look at their product. Advertisers identify the customer’s need (job description) and pointedly show how their product (you) meet each need (your resume/job application). Advertisers leave little room for the customer (nurse recruiter) to misinterpret the message.

Practice! Go online and find job postings at your local hospital’s website even if you are not going to apply for the position. List job requirements and match your background to them using words and phrases contained in the job posting. Next, look at their job application. Jot down the information on the job application. Prepare your responses offline. Remember this is an exercise and you’re not applying for the position. Few new grads do this and end up filling out the application online without much forethought.

Here is a sample job requirement for a new grad position.