My girlfriend graduated in May 2014 and passed her NCLEX in July. The job market for new nurses is horrendous! She applied to hospitals all over the state, out of state and even one out of the country. As she got desperate she applied to nursing homes, hospices, etc. As of January she got ONE interview. Her classmates for the most part had the same problem. Noone wants to hire inexperienced nurses. She had a 3.87 GPA. BLS, ACLS, PALS and EKG. Even did some ride alongs with fire rescue. We had numerous friends who had "contacts" in hospitals. Some quite high up. Didn't do any good. It was frustrating.
The schools make you believe there is this huge shortage and that you will have a job as soon as you graduate. BS
The good news is that a hospital in Port Charlotte called her for an interview and hired her to a cardiac unit in February. We had to move of course. But we weren't gonna pass the opportunity. The pay is not as good as Miami, but she loves the hospital, her coworkers and her job. The cost of living is a lot lower over here as well.
So all you newbies, hang in there. It's gonna be tough at first, and VERY discouraging. But just keep trying, it'll come eventually.