Student Blogs

Written by Polly Chan

As graduation and your nursing school career come to an end, the next thing you need to worry about is applying for RN jobs! There are two (2) ways you can land a job: First, a hospital hires new nurses as regular staff nurses and trains them; Secondly, the hospital can have an actual New Graduate RN program where they hire in cohorts. With that being said, I am here to give you advice on how to navigate through applying for New Graduate RN programs:

• Search for all the nearby hospitals in your area by looking up “new grad registered nurse” and different hospital programs should show up as a result.
• Make an Excel sheet of all the hospitals you are interested in. Make a few columns and take note when the application opens and closes. Also, include the links to the application pages and set reminders for special requirements.
• Look up all the programs and fill in your Excel sheet so that you have all the information in one place.
• Highlight each row as you go through the application process to note those you already applied for.

I found these pointers to work really well for me because I was able to keep track of all the programs’ deadlines. Most program applications are only open for 1 to 2 weeks, so you really need to keep track of dates and times. Make sure all your supplemental documents are ready to go (cover letter, resume, letter of recommendations, clinical hours, and transcripts). 

Cover Letter

Make sure you cater your cover letter towards the unit or population you are applying for. It is important to build up a story of experiences that led you to want to work for that population. After writing a solid cover letter, I would advise you to look up the hospital’s mission statement and values so you can incorporate that into your letter. Make it known that you know about the hospital so that they know you are actually interested. 

Resume

Your resume can be 1 to 2 pages long. Make sure it is easy to read. Sometimes it is better to just have it a plain word document (I noticed some hospitals actually ask for it to be plain). Add your educational background, licenses/certifications, clinical experience, work experience, skills, etc. For your job description, try to use words that you can find in a normal RN job description.

Letter of Recommendations

If you are applying to a specialty, I would recommend getting a letter of recommendation where the person who is writing it is either in that specialty or someone who taught in that specialty. Make sure you ask IN ADVANCE! Ask your professors or direct superior at least 1 to 2 months in advance so that they get it to you on time. You would not want to be held back from applying because you don’t have all your letters available.

Overall, the whole application process can get very stressful. The waiting game is real but I learned to not give up. Although it might take months to hear back for an interview, as long as your application was not rejected, you still have a fair chance. Good luck!