New nurses and those who have recently graduated may find it hard to look for jobs nowadays. That’s why you need to invest ample time and energy to ensure that you get that nursing job you’ve been longing for.
Here are five reasons why it may be difficult for you to find a job. They can be the same tips you need to find that dream job if you will try to work on them the other way around.
- Your application materials and online profiles don’t command attention.
This can easily be answered by whether or not you are hearing back regularly from health care companies you seek out and make application to for positions of interest (or they reach out to you, unsolicited). Are you consistently getting calls and emails from recruiters and nurse managers or not? Determine a rough “conversion rate” by comparing how many applications you submit versus how many of those you get interviews/screening calls about in return. If your materials are not commanding any attention, you likely have a marketing problem on your hands, in terms of content and/or delivery.
- You can’t make it past the first round of interviews/screening calls.
The whole point of submitting applications and networking is to move the conversation forward about a particular nursing job of interest to you. If you are speaking and meeting with prospective health care organizations multiple times, your interviewing skills are sound.
However, if your materials are commanding attention but don’t progress past their initial/return contact with you, there may be two problems. Either you are missing skills for nursing interviews or there is a serious disconnect between what you are submitting and what you present in follow up conversations. Is there anything exaggerated on your resume? Anything negative reported to the nursing boards? Are you applying for jobs that don’t especially interest you? Would you really rather be your own boss? The purpose of the screening call is to look for any such disconnects and weed you in or out, accordingly.
- You aren’t actively networking.
There is no such thing as too much networking, so chances are good you can immediately step up your efforts in this essential area. There are many benefits of networking in your nursing career, such as:
- Provides you with a needed change of scenery
- Helps you practice your presentation skills
- Allows you to get first-hand information to dispel assumptions that might be holding you back
- Introduces you to volunteer opportunities to keep your skills sharp
- Showcases you as the nursing professional you are at heart.
Go to job fairs, attend professional networking events, reach out to other healthcare professionals online. Tell everyone you know how much you need and appreciate leads, referrals and introductions, every week without fail.
- You are not fanatical about follow-up.
Do you follow up on every job lead, application submitted, interview conducted, and networking contact you meet? Or do you let things slide because of time constraints or discomfort?
One of the best ways to show your thanks to those who speak with you and help you out along the way is to follow up on every tip they provide with genuine interest. Doing so further demonstrates not only your commitment to your search but also speaks to your character and professionalism as a nurse. That said follow-up often takes less than 15 minutes to accomplish, so don’t sell yourself short or give up too soon.
- You don’t document your activities along the way.
Do you track your job search efforts each day? Find a way that works for you—whether in a notebook, spreadsheet, or database—and be diligent about collecting documentation and associated data points. Data is a very good thing. It allows you to look back, see patterns, recognize milestones, minimize assumptions, spot bottlenecks, and lend itself to actual conversion rate calculations versus anecdotal guesstimates.
Chances are documentation is not your strong suit in your personal life. Why? It feels tedious or it seems like your documentation would be all negative anyway. Perhaps you didn’t think you’d need it then several months went by and you have lost track of your earlier efforts and contacts. Take heart! Like in nursing itself, good documentation ties back to your ability to follow up with gusto. If you haven’t been good about it, you can quickly ramp up your efforts going forward, starting today.
OK, moment of truth: How many “consistently true” items do you have? Count them up! How does that compare with your “generally false” items? If you’ve gotten a fairly negative answer, make sure to invest a bit more time, energy and planning to become strong and consistent across all areas. And if you are doing all the right things, keep up the good fight and be patient.