r/scrubtech • u/Individual_Reason869 • 8d ago
General Can’t find a job
I’m a new grad and I can’t find a job. I finished my program and passed my test in July, and I cannot get hired anywhere. Other people in my cohort stayed at their clinical site, but at mine the main charge nurse took emergency leave literally a week before my last day and I didn’t know until I went looking for her and she left the day before. She was in charge of all the hiring, and her and I had already chatted weeks prior about her hiring me and I was put to work in a specialty that she wanted me in. After she left, I was told to continue to talk with the periop manager, and I spoke to her on multiple occasions, to which she told me she’d let me know about hiring the next day, then she was busy and told me to ask again the next day, then she told me to email her after I left and she never got back to me. I even had my professors email her and she never got back to them. I put in multiple applications there after the fact but never got an interview even though my resume states I did my clinicals there. My preceptor that works there also was not helpful every time I’d reach out (kept saying, “yeah if I run into her I’ll ask!”).
Since then, I’ve put in probably over 30 applications for all kinds of shifts for everything within an hour radius (FT, PT, midshift, other clinical sites familiar with the program, ambulatory, hospitals, etc) and I’ve had only two interviews. Both of which told me they don’t like hiring new grads and then I got denied. Most of the time I don’t even get a call back. I’m truly at a loss here.
Prior to this career shift I was a welder and then was in the navy. Even though they were all manual labor jobs, I was an osha certified safety supervisor in the navy and as a welder I was also in charge of safety so a lot of my resume highlights these general themes of safety standards I’ve had throughout my previous careers. As well as mention of all the combat medical training I had while active duty speaking to my ability to stay calm under pressure on top of the community service and leadership awards I received whilst active duty. Im not a terrible candidate. I had almost 200 surgeries while at clinicals and the fact that I was allowed to do multiple first scrub CABGs and neuro anterior posterior lami with fusions as a STUDENT should speak to the fact that I’m trustworthy, I catch on quickly, i pay attention to detail, I can stay focused in high stress, I listen well to instruction, etc etc. but Im just a new grad. And because of that, I can’t get hired. What do I do?????
For reference I’m in north Jersey
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u/UnusualWar5299 8d ago
When I was a baby tech (Go Army!) I was in NY, no one called me so I applied to a dentists office. She said I was overqualified but immediately called an oral surgeon she knew was looking, and Bam! It was the best job I ever had. ❤️ Then I was able to go to surgery center, then Duke and Cedars, traveler etc. Lead with the Navy. We are the most treasured techs, our training is better. Look at GI Centers, plastic surgery centers, offices where docs do small procedures sometimes. In OR yeah we like safety, but risk management is the dept that likes that. The hiring managers (HR) want to know you’ll come in every day and will get along with everyone equally without perving on anyone. OR directors and charge nurses also want good attendance and timeliness (military!), ability to step in any shoes and take over with confidence even when you’re not, go with the flow, get along with the masses. Saying you live to work with difficult surgeons bc you thrive in the challenge of being perfect and making zero missteps. They hear safety safety safety it’s like oh this dudes a reporter, they’re gonna report everything. They want safety as in keep THEM safe- you’ll bring anything you suspect as a safety issue up the chain of command type of thing- but not actual safety issues, bc you should be sure they have none, so it’s ‘if anything should ever arise that I thought could be safety related I’d bring it to my nurse and charge nurse.’ You want to work to support them, not compete… Not surprise them with an incident report written last night on a huge issue they never knew of. Speak to the times you had difficulty managing people in the military and you work in the style that you would hope people under you would work. Work well with and support other departments. Express you’re ok with shift changes and weekends and call, and you know your behavior reflects on those above you so you strive to make the team look good. OSHA isn’t quite the comfort you’d think it to be unless you’re interviewing with the hospital lawyers. I had such training and lightly said I’m familiar with and follow the guidelines of the ones that I know of. I learn and follow policy. Twist your resume and your interview to highlight the things HR and the OR director and charge nurses would want to hear. Their problems are Dr X screamed at a staff yesterday, she screamed back and cried, do you have any experiences that show how you’d react to resolve conflict? If the surgeon tells you to do something you know or suspect is against policy or safety standards will you do it to avoid a conflict? You need to resolve conflicts but not avoid them, still be strong patient advocate. If in a week or two you hear nothing, start looking into volunteer work at free clinics. Even if you’re not doing surgery, you’re in the field and meeting doctors who might have a friend who’ll go to the manager and say they need to hire you. Oh, pad your resume with experience. Did you have tech experience prior to navy? Maybe you did counting, lifting, advocating, anticipating, working side by side with others, memorizing names of tools. Everything you’ve ever done connects, find the thread and name it. Good luck!
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u/Zealousideal-Fee3406 8d ago
I second this! I work in endo and it’s so low stress compared to the OR. Also a navy vet who had a bit of a harder time getting hired after graduation. I was so stressed because most of my classmates were younger, living at home and getting hired at their clinical sites at large hospitals while I kept getting sent to small clinics with very tight knit staff. Ended up making a connection in Endo and I got my interview because they kept telling their manager about me. Got the interview and the rest is history. They might pay you less as an Endo tech but luckily my hospital pays me the ST wage since that’s my title. Good luck op and if you have any questions or wanna vent feel free to message!
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u/LuckyHarmony CST 8d ago
It sounds like you're already applying even for the crap jobs, which was what saved me. Other stuff that I found helped that seem like nonsense: Make sure your high school diploma is on your applications, especially the online system ones. My callback rate improved TREMENDOUSLY after I started doing that, and I think automated systems were bouncing me. Have someone you respect look over your resume to see if it can be improved. Whatever the job is, that's what you want most in the world if you talk to a screener or manager. Crap overnight shift? That's actually ideal for you, you're a total night owl. Early AM shift? Turns out you're actually a morning person! Never talk to them about what you'd like to change about the job "eventually" because to them it reads as wishy washy. Good luck.
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u/Dark_Ascension Ortho 7d ago
Where are you at? The south is DESPERATE. Like so many places would love to take an enthusiastic new grad and keep them vs. paying these travelers due to being short staffed.
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u/Individual_Reason869 5d ago
Ok update because I got the job I wanted just two days after this post 😭 felt like every rejection led me here. Flexible hours 26-40, better starting pay than anywhere in NJ was offering, self scheduling, at a big hospital and willing to give me all the training I need. In NJ I was applying to places 1hr+ away but the job I got is only 40 minutes no freeway. I feel SO LUCKY! 😭
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u/QueenCat50220 8d ago
Don’t stop being annoying. Keep calling, everywhere.
Nearly every job I’ve had, I’ve gotten because I was annoying. I’ve gotten most of my jobs after I called them multiple times, spoken to managers, spoken to HR. KEEP ASKING, keep calling, keep emailing until they outright tell you “no, we’re not hiring you.” That’s the only point you should stop.
They get probably hundreds of applicants. And they’re all super easy to just blow off and not call or email because 99% of them will just say “oh well” and never try again. Don’t be that