Hi Alyssa, Thanks for agreeing to chat with me! Can I start out by asking if you are RN or EN, what state you are from and what year you graduated?
Hey, I graduated end of 2019 from UOW, NSW. I am a RN.
Lovely to meet you! So when you graduated did you apply for any grad programs?
Nice to meet you as well 
. I applied for ED and ICU at my local Hospital. There were 2 available positions in each, and the year before there was 118 Applications just for ED....and this is a rural Hospital.
. I applied for ED and ICU at my local Hospital. There were 2 available positions in each, and the year before there was 118 Applications just for ED....and this is a rural Hospital.
Oh wow! So did you get a position?
No, I did not. There was an EEN just completed RNs who got one of the positions. The other person had her final 4 week placement there, and she got it too.
How did you feel when that happened?
Devastated. The Uni teaches you that if you don't get a New Grad, you're unemployable. I thought I'd just wasted 3 years and my dreams of being a Nurse were flushed down the drain.
Fair enough! So what did you do next?
I planned, and made a different resume for each sector I was applying; Private Hospital, Aged Care, and General Practice. Every job application, I tweaked my resume off of their website and the job type. Called and found the Managers name- tried to arrange a time to meet to give them my resume. Emailed my resume, as well as dressed for an interview and went around handing my resume to them in person. That way they had a face to the name, and my quality coloured resume stood out in the stack....not black and white from the printer. I applied for 32 jobs before I got an invitation to an interview. Applied for 35 in total.
Oh wow and from that did you get a job?
I got a 6 month casual position, replacing a staff member off on sick leave. This was at an Aboriginal Medical Service. Both rural and remote outreach general practice. 7 months in, I got a call from one of the other places I'd dropped of my resume. It was still on the Managers desk, and I was invited to an interview. I got that job and have been in it for 15 months now.
Congratulations! And what area is that in?
Thank you! The owner has a few clinics. It's General Practice, but I also work in our Respiratory Clinic and Skin Clinic.
Awesome! Are you enjoying it?
I am. I am getting a bit restless though. That's my personality- I like to develop and acquire new skills. I don't like the same thing day in and day out.
What are some of the things that you have really enjoyed learning about in your current role?
I enjoy being autonomous. I'm the only Nurse based out of one of our centres. There is an admin manager, but she is not my manager. I run the clinic in terms of stock ordering, services, accreditation etc. It's an ever expanding role if I study something, I have full support from my manager to practice my news skills. For instance, I can now insert and remove Implanons. Some of the other Nurses at our other Clinics do CST. I run vaccination clinics, as I'm an accredited Nurse Immuniser. So in summary, I really enjoy the support, role development and autonomy (the trust that goes with that). The GPs are all very supportive and respectful too. They have been very patient in teaching me when I started out.
That sounds really awesome and fulfilling. Can I ask what CST is?
Oh, sorry. Cervical Screening Test. It replaces Pap Smears.
Ah gotcha hehe 
So if you could give a message to any of the students or grads out there freaking out about getting into a grad program what would you say?
So if you could give a message to any of the students or grads out there freaking out about getting into a grad program what would you say?Don't let it get you down, and preserve with gaining employment. You may need get into your dream field of work immediately, but you'll gained experience and confidence when you do go into that field.
Thank you so much for sharing 
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