Hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare employers use profession fairs to lease masses of nurses each 12 months. Right here's what you can do before, at some point of and after a career truthful to land your task of choice.
Earlier than you pass
put together your files: have a counselor for your college's career center proofread your resume for mistakes. Print your resumes on expert paper, and put them in a folder or portfolio to live wrinkle-free. Additionally, create a reference list. New grads can encompass one or two professors and a direct supervisor from any task they've held, specifically healthcare positions. Be sure to listing nurse preceptors you've labored closely with in hospitals.
Create a one-minute creation:
consist of your essential, 12 months and sort of role you are looking for, suggests trudi vanderploeg, a profession counselor at hope university, which hosts an annual spring career truthful for its nursing, premed and allied fitness sciences college students. Sandi niles, rn, bsn, nurse recruiter for the college of michigan health gadget, recommends thinking of the competencies, revel in and accomplishments you could present to the recruiter. "be able to explain how they can advantage the facility you need to work for," she says. Nursing students lacking enjoy can discuss their dreams and targets. Rehearse this elevator pitch for your self and practice your handshake.
Do your studies:
get the listing of employers who might be attending the fair, and do sufficient investigating to identify a handful you want to paintings for. Put together top questions for every one to ease your conversation, provoke the recruiter and yield records to help you compare task openings. Niles indicates asking approximately nurse/patient ratios, work schedules, unions representing nurses, the diverse units' patient populations and each unit's patient-acuity tiers. You may also galvanize a recruiter via bringing up why you are interested by the corporation -- perhaps you've got an hobby in pediatric oncology, as an instance. Get your outfit prepared: you do not need to wear a business fit, however whatever you put on ought to be clean, professional and pressed. Ladies can put on slacks and a blouse topped with a sweater or jacket. Men should wear dress pants, dress blouse and a tie.
"clothes want to be conservative, specially in nursing," says andrea krzysko, a coaching partner with the urbana nearby website online of the university of illinois at chicago college of nursing. "we do now not need to look pores and skin."
On the process honest
consciousness on your goal employers: "go to someone inside the middle of your listing [first] to get the jitters out," krzysko shows. Then proceed on your pinnacle alternatives. Method each recruiter confidently, and make eye contact. Greet them along with your rehearsed introduction, and hold the conversation with your organized questions and comments. Don't waste time grabbing job honest giveaways. "you're there for the $40,000-a-yr job, now not the 29-cent pen," krzysko says. Ask about scholar positions: undergrads can learn about externships, internships, and nursing assistant and affected person attendant positions, which can provide greater revel in beyond medical rotations for college kids in search of to go into higher-acuity units, together with telemetry or intensive care.
"we recommend that sophomores and juniors attend process gala's and start the networking system," vanderploeg says. "it's like informational interviewing. You're getting direct facts rather than from the web website." plus, college students can start focused on capacity employers. Ask approximately the following step: discover whether you need to fill out an internet utility, name to agenda an interview or wait to pay attention from the recruiter. "take notes right in front of the recruiter," krzysko says. "get the call and call records of the observe-up humans. You may not keep in mind after the truthful."
After the activity fair
assessment your notes: in many instances, it's suitable to email a follow-up letter. Phoning recruiters is appropriate if they gave you their variety, or you can want to wait to hear from them. If some weeks cross by way of and not using a phrase, ship a comply with-up letter to find out what occurs subsequent. Include a resume in case your first one got lost. Relax: profession festivals are worrying, so have lunch with friends afterwards and unwind.