Nurse Job Search Tips

Imagining where your nursing career may lead you can be exciting, but the nurse job search is often a stressful time. There is so much to consider, not least of which is finding an employer where your hard work, dedication, and skills will be valued and rewarded. The work of a nurse is not for everyone, and it can take its toll, so it’s important to do the heavy lifting required to find the right match for you.

Sometimes the right job is right there in your own neighborhood, but it’s common for both new and experienced nurses to relocate for the right fit. You’ll also want to look beyond the salary to find a compatible workplace and the right mix of benefits that suit your needs. This section offers a wide range of tips to help you find incredible nursing jobs.

Getting Started: Skills Assessment

The nursing job market is very granular, with different certification levels and personality fits, which means you’ll need to understand your qualifications and be specific about what you want in your career. For instance, one nurse may prefer working with children to assisting the elderly, or prefer the night shift over more traditional hours.

Fine-tune your resume and narrow down your search by writing down your qualifications and preferences. To help you generate this list, you might consider doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, often administered by career coaches. Items might include:

• Certifications and licensure
• Clinical skills and experience
• Non-clinical skills and experience
• Personality traits and soft skills that make you an exceptional nurse
• Tasks or situations that you don’t want to engage with
• Qualities that define your ideal workplace setting
• Employment arrangement you’re looking for (per diem, part time, full time)

Conducting a Nurse Job Search

Most job boards and some employers optimize their job listings for search, which means you’ll be able to find listings by entering keywords in a search engine. For example, you might enter search terms such as RN jobs near me, school nurse jobs near me, or remote RN jobs and find jobs that fall into the categories you choose.

Still, you’ll also want to be more targeted in your endeavors and search within job boards themselves, where you can narrow your search to find, for example, full-time LPN jobs in Baltimore or per diem CNA jobs in Cincinnati. You’ll also find job boards that are specific to the nursing industry, or medical professions more broadly.

Finding a job is never easy, but the two main elements of a nurse job search are understanding your qualifications and what you’re looking for, and knowing where and how to find open positions. It’s an important process that you shouldn’t take lightly, and our resources will help you make the most of it.