It's never easy to keep getting rejection letters. 

As I was leaving the service, I was looking for a job in New England and I was willing to take anything within a couple hours drive of my wife's hometown. The only offers that I had for the first two years was either to stay in Washington, DC or take a job an hour from my wife's hometown, at 50% of what I made in the military.

I got very lucky when a headhunter found me and he didn't even know that I had a couple of hundred CV's floating around out there.

If you have a specific area in mind, locate Nurse Recruiters in the area (whether or not they are specifically in the facility you want to be in).  Do not send a resume' or CV to them.  Send a letter asking for their assistance.  Specifically, what would a new graduate ADN-RN need to do, to make themselves attractive in their market. 

Send a similar letter to the NC Nurses Association and ask the same thing of them.

Post again here if you have any other questions or ideas.

Sorry.  Just re-read your letter.  Same for CT.

Great advice.  Wish I would have though of it.    Tom

All the pointers are great from all of the members. All I can say is God Bless you..Don;t give up ttrying to get a position.. Keep trying..Some thing will come through. Don'tget discouraged Keep us posted and the very best of luck to you..Hugs,Teresa

Yes, I have thought of moving to another area - hence my NC Nursing License...I live in CT an recieved my CT license first with no luck at any hospitals ---- (I have seriously applied to every hospital in the State here - with one interview. From that interview I recieved 3 rejection letters - I guess one was not enough!) So I started to expand my search and found some positions in NC applied for them and also NC RN license - since you dont seem to get hired with out a license...NC is also a compact State so I am looking into other states that honor the license. So we will see what come of it ---- now I am starting to get rejections from NC. So I am hanging tough and looking for some one to give me a chance - to prove to them I am worth it. Good luck to you as well!

Adrienne

LOL!! I knew I liked you Tom!! I am a farm girl...was practically raised on my granparents farm in Ledyard...I had to keep pace with all the boys in the family - and let me tell you I was the best at catching frogs!! Made the boys mad! So Rural and country is in my blood!

Well humor is my friend...I have an off sense of humor as most nurses do...helps a lot and keeps us going!

One of the jobs I recieved a rejection from responded to my email asking if there was anything I could do to become more marketable to them - very nice reply a matter of numbers 250+ applied for 6 positions ------ so I guess you could read between the lines and read sorry you dont know any one here that works for us....I think I need to try and network and get some connections. I have tried the headhunters no luck yet... But I have faith that something will pop up for me!

thanks

Adrienne

Teresa has it right.  I looked for 2 years, after I was hired to be Director of Regulatory Affairs for a start-up pharm. research company, I had offers coming into me (I was not looking by then) about 2-3 month.

So like Teresa said, once you are hired on by someone and prove yourself, do not be surprised if you start getting offers from everywhere (When it rains, it pours?).

Rural jobs opens up a huge market.  A lot of nurses have trouble leaving the security of a medical center.  The reason I say that is: in a rural setting, you could find yourself the night charge nurse for the hospital (ER, nursing home, OB).  That happened to a friend in Idaho right out of school.

Start looking in smaller markets, in a place that you would like to live in.  The most direct route for this method would be to go to the State Board of Nursing and find out what rural facilities in the state have a shortage.  They usually know, because these same facilities are calling them looking for nurses to work for them. 

Lack of experiance may be a disadvantage, but it can also be an advantage.  Some places like to train there people up in the way that they operate.  I have seen nurses say: well we did it this way at XYZ Medical Center.  To which I would reply: You ain't there no more, so learn it our way.

 I was recently in the same position (new nurse, ADN vs. BSN, etc.)  In addition to the excellent advice already given here, does your school have a placement assistance program?  Have you been persistent with the hospital(s) where you did your clinicals?  Can you email your resume directly to any of the nurse managers on the floors where you did your clinicals?  can you bring it to any of them directly? I will say two things.  Always be respectful and courteous if youre going outside of the box....Call human resources' main number and see if you can get the name of their nurse recruiter(s) or their assistants.  Then, if possible, use some ingenuity in getting the nurse recruiting department's location and/or email address to send it directly with a personal cover letter.  if you can do it without appearing presumptuous, show up at the HR office and tell them that you respect their policy, continuously check their webpage and have filled out their online applications but wanted to bring your resume in person as well.  If possible, bring the i.d. #s of specific openings you see online and feel you'd be able to make a great contribution to in case you need it.  Dont expect to sit at home filling out applications alone until someone picks your resume out of a barrel.  Do your best to put it in the hands of someone in the nurse recruiting department versus reception or general HR personally.  I would also focus on city hospitals such as bridgeport, etc. versus privately owned hospitals (if you want to work in a hospital).  I strongly believe that many rejection letters are automated. Computer programs can be designed to look for key words or phrases and automatically generate a rejection response if not found.  It's very frustrating, I know, but given the economy, the number of applications every facility receives (especially with the ?convenience? of applying online from anywhere in the world), nurse recruiters must be buried in applications and resumes and I suppose they start with whoever looks best on paper (BSN vs. ADN, experience, etc.).  after all, theyve got to start somewhere.       

 all great points tom.  in addition, if you do get an interview, IT IS IMPERATIVE, IMO, that you send a thank you email or note.  i honestly believe that having been lucky enough to have gotten two interviews with hospitals, that the letter i wrote the following day, details outlining what and who i was impressed with at that hospital, observations, reasons and maybe some additional details about myself and why i would make a great contribution to that specific dept. was what got me job offers from both interviews about 9 months apart.  i was a little surprised when a good friend (nurse) suggested that this wasnt the norm in nursing.  afterall, a huge component of nursing is following up on pt. conditions, response to treatment, etc., why would i not follow up on an interview?   

ADRIENNE -- CONGRATULATIONS

Sounds like you played it very well if you barely walked out of the interview and they offered you the job. 

My guess is that they were afraid that you were going to interview somewhere else and they would lose you. 

Good feeling, isn't it????

'You done good girl.'

Tom

Thank you so much everyone! Yes Tom it feels pretty darn good I have been on cloud nine - it almost feels like a dream! Now I need to find an apartment down here and start packing things up for the great adventure south!

You are going to do just great..Have a wonderful time in your new place and don't  forget to keep in touch with us..Teresa

Have a wonderful career..Remember although they are patients, they are also some one's family member..Hugs,Teresa

We are all obviosly are very proud of you.. Now set you clock onward ond upward.. Hugs,Teresa