Don't get lost in the shuffle of nurse applicants looking to leave bedside nursing. The competition is fierce for these highly coveted positions. Especially those that allow nurses to work from home. B Avoid some of the old school job search strategies that may have helped you get your current clinical nursing position. For alternative nursing jobs, you'll need new school job hunting methods that get you a job offer faster. Don't sabotage your job search following this list of old-school job search advice. Check out the new school job hunting methods to start using today:
Old School Advice: Spend the majority of your time searching for jobs on job boards, Craigslist, newspaper classified ads, etc. Since 70% of jobs filled last year were filled through networking according to the US Department of Labor.
New School Advice: Tell everyone you know you're looking for a job, email, text, direct message, phone, do it all to get the word out. Take it a step further by telling your people exactly what you're looking for in a new job. Reach out to your alumni network and join professional associations
Old School Advice: Apply for everything under the sun. Every position posted requiring an RN, LPN/LVN, BSN, ADN isn't always the right job for you.
New School Advice: Define your nursing job strategy. Make a list of what you want your new job to look like or the work you want to do. Which companies would you like to work for? What skills are needed? Make a list of all your skills.
Old School Advice: Send out a lot of generic resumes, waiting for callbacks.
New School Advice: Tailor your resume and have a couple in rotation. Put your best foot forward by customizing your resume for the position and company you're applying for. Focus on their needs and how you can help address those needs. Highlight how you can solve their problems. Make it easy for potential employers to find you. Create a stellar online profile complete with an optimized LinkedIn profile, personal website, Facebook page, etc.
Old School Advice: You did everything right with your personal website, LinkedIn profile, and resume. You got the recruiter's attention, went in for the interview but you're not getting follow up interviews or a job offer. You may have screwed up the interview by winging it.
New School Advice: Prep for the interview. Grab a friend, do mock interviews, go with a list of questions for the interviewers, prepare stories, identify what makes you different from all the other nurses gunning for the same job. Do company research. Show enthusiasm and personality during the interview and arm yourself with information about a company project or initiative you learned about during your research.
