Another story on the subject: http://www.ajc.com/jobs/job-market-t...type=ynews_rss

It’s no secret that graduating from college in today’s job market can be scary, but the nurse shortage was supposed to insulate nursing grads from the economic downturn.

While hiring in the profession is still better than in many job segments, recent nursing graduates have discovered they aren’t immune from the tough market.

At Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, graduates started feeling the pinch in 2009, when most students didn’t get their first choice in jobs, said Robert Hoover, associate dean of finance and administration.

Hoover says this year’s graduates, however, are more prepared for the realities of the job market.

“There was less nervousness [this year],” he said. “Students knew they would have a tougher time vs. last year.”

Adam Houck, a 2010 Emory nursing school graduate, found out quickly how tough the market is when he applied for 43 nursing positions at hospitals all over Georgia and received 27 rejection e-mails.

But Houck persevered and was hired by Emory University Hospital Midtown as a nurse in its medical intensive care unit. He was scheduled to start work in July.

“If I could say anything to other nursing grads who are frustrated with their current job prospects, it would be, ‘Don’t lose sight of your dream job,’ ” Houck said. “It may take a little while to get there, but you can and you will get there.”

Houck said that Emory’s rigorous nursing program provided quality clinical experience to get him ready for the “real world of nursing.”

“I’m as prepared as I possibly could be as a recent grad,” Houck said. “I believe Emory’s school of nursing will be doing even more to prepare students for the current and future job market.”

Part of that preparation is helping nursing students get a broad-based education.

“The trends in nursing are becoming more diverse than in the past 20 years in research and science technology,” Hoover said. “We try to prepare our students for all the integral parts of nursing. There’s so much more to do besides working in a hospital.

“Just because there are current shortages [of nursing jobs] in some hospitals doesn’t mean there aren’t other opportunities elsewhere.”

At some hospitals, the hiring of new nurses has remained steady.

“In the two years that I have been here, we’ve stayed pretty consistent,” said Robin Mitchell, human resources consultant at Gwinnett Medical Center.

Still, in this tough market, it’s important for nursing graduates to be well-prepared for job interviews, Mitchell said. When hiring, she looks for candidates with high energy and the ability to maintain drive and passion throughout their careers.

“I enjoy hearing about clinical experiences and personal stories — just overall excitement,” she said. “I have talked to nurses that are well into their careers that say they still have the same excitement as... when they started.”

An effective track for getting a job at Gwinnett Medical is its 10-week summer externship program, where students work as nurse technicians and then are often hired into the health system’s 12-week residency program as full-time nurses.

“If students have to go back to school after completing the externship, we remember who was in the program so we’re likely to hire them once they graduate,” Mitchell said.

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