July 28, 2009

Decided to change my luck a little

Yesterday's progress: 1 rejection, 2 new applications, one of which resulted in an on-the-spot interview. It's not my first choice position (and I admit, I was a *tad* too honest and told her this--my foot-in-mouth strikes again), but I figured I had nothing to lose by dropping a resume off, as it's not as though that would applying automatically commit me to working there.

After seeing a couple of classmates get interviews (and so far one land a job), I decided I needed to grab the hand of fate and do something about it. I spent the morning reworking the resume and cover letter...both are far from perfect, but I think they're improved. I decided to put in for the skilled nursing position, which ended up in the interview. It's a nice place so I could work there, and it sounded like it'd be busy enough. But a lot of their openings didn't fit in with my schedule, so we shall see.

Then I called the recruiters of the local hospitals to check in and see how I could update my applications there. Surprisingly, I actually got one on the phone! Usually, I get the voice mail and depending on who they are, they may or may not call back (some are good about returning calls, some take their time doing it, and a couple are notorious for never calling). But I dialed the last one and there she was. She told me things are still bleak for applicants, I commiserated with her, she said she'd check on my application for me. In a hour or so, I found that she pushed one of my applications up another level. So while I'm not celebrating anything just yet, it is a small progress.

Then I also got a nice reference from the last place I volunteered at, and I've been updating my applications to include it.

It made me feel better, considering that I started the day off in a pretty lousy mood. While I'm happy for my classmates and their successes, I can't help the "why not me?" feeling, wondering what's wrong with me. Though in all honesty, perhaps it's not so much the "what's wrong with me?" but "what's right with them?"

Oh well. My day will come.

Today is training at the clinic, and that will take up the bulk of my day. My first day wearing scrubs as an RN...I'm kind of proud of myself. I feel like the last two years are finally worth something. I'm excited to be jumping into actual nursing even without the paycheck...though I did make sure my malpractice insurance was up-to-date, Good Samaritan Laws notwithstanding. Better to be safe than sorry.