How to Find Nursing Jobs

1. Job Search Engines

   Back in the day, they had to look at newspapers and rely on word-of-mouth to find job offers. Nowadays, thanks to the internet, there are multiple sites and apps to help you find nursing job offers in your area! Job search engines are an easy and quick way to scout your area of interest to see what kind of nursing jobs are available.

   Glassdoor and Indeed are two common job search engines where you can find nursing jobs pretty easily. My personal favorite is Glassdoor as it offers great information about the companies including employee reviews, interview information, benefits, and salary insights. However, it seems as though Indeed and Glassdoor share much of the same info regardless. Personally, I recommend using both sites while searching for prospective jobs.

   Search your desired job role “Registered Nurse”, “Nurse”, or “Nurse Practitioner”, and input your desired location. There are filters you can set up to narrow down your search including salary, distance radius, etc. However, I recommend NOT using the salary filter as Glassdoor’s salary estimator isn’t always accurate. You can favorite or save jobs which you are interested in.

   These sights also offer great insight into the company including employee reviews. Previous interview candidates can also say how the interview is structured, what types of questions were asked, and how their overall experience went.

   Additionally, you can get a good idea of what type of salary you can expect at the current role. To do a bit more research, you can go into the company and search for how much they pay other people who perform the same job as you in your specific location.

   There are also great apps for Glassdoor and Indeed for both Android and iOS.

   Related Content: “How Much Do Nurse Practitioners Make?”

2. Website Job Postings

   One great way to find nursing jobs that weren’t posted to job search engines is to go to the hospital or health system’s website directly. Not every hospital or network will post their jobs on job search engines, so this is a great way to make sure you aren’t missing any great nursing job opportunities.

   You can find both inpatient and outpatient jobs using this format. In fact, this method is how I found my current job as an inpatient Nurse Practitioner.

   Go to the hospital or health networks website. Somewhere on the homepage, you should see a link that says “careers” or “jobs”. This may be at the top of the web page or in the footer at the bottom. It can sometimes be hard to find but 99% of the time it is there.

   If they are a small network, they may list all available jobs. Most sites will have some type of job search function where you can pick your role (i.e. RN or NP), and it will give all available jobs within their network. Click on the jobs you are qualified for and apply using the link provided.

   If you do not see any jobs for you, sometimes you can find the nursing recruiters email. If so, send a professional email letting them know your interest in working for their system, and attach an updated resume to the email.

3. Nursing Jobs on LinkedIn

   If you didn’t know, LinkedIn is a social media for professionals to grow their professional network and even find jobs. LinkedIn is overall underutilized by the healthcare industry, especially by nurses. However, healthcare recruiters definitely use this platform, and if you are searching for nursing jobs this may be just the route for you!

   LinkedIn lets you create a professional profile that essentially functions as your digital resume. Once your profile is top-notch, LinkedIn has a job search function that lets you search for jobs much like Indeed or Glassdoor. You might find some nursing jobs on LinkedIn that aren’t posted elsewhere. For most of the jobs, you can apply directly using your LinkedIn profile alone. This makes the application process super easy and is why it is so imperative for you to start your LinkedIn now and start creating a great profile.

   Make sure you go into your settings and set “open to job opportunities”. Healthcare recruiters will literally find you and message you details of nursing jobs that they want you to fill.

   Overall LinkedIn is a great way to professionally connect with other healthcare providers as well. As with many things in life – landing your dream job may be all about who you know within your professional network.

   Follow me on LinkedIn here!

4. Word of Mouth

   With the internet being so easy to use, sometimes we forget about the good ole faithful methods of finding a job. Word of mouth and can be a great way of finding nursing jobs that may not be posted online. Ask your professional connections within the healthcare industry if they know of any nursing job needs. Sometimes they may know of internal employment issues or upcoming vacancies. They may be a hiring manager or know a hiring manager, and can put in a good word for you. This can have a huge impact on your nursing job search process.

   Sometimes if no full-time positions are available, companies are willing to accept new per-diem applicants which helps them “test” your work before actually committing to hiring you full-time.

5. Find Nursing Jobs In-Person

   Once again – don’t forget about non-internet methods of finding jobs. Going in-person to a hospital or clinic can help you secure a nursing job. Don’t underestimate the value of face-to-face interaction with a potential employer. Presenting yourself professionally and handing in your resume can help give them a great first impression of you that an internet application could never do. While this method is definitely not the norm nowadays, it can definitely be effective.

   Again, make sure you look professional, are best-dressed, are polite, and smile! You never know who you will be making an impression on or who will go to bat for you. Try to make connections with people at your desired working location and see what comes of it.

   This method may work better for smaller places of employment such as outpatient clinics or urgent care centers.

Hopefully, you found these tips useful in your nursing job search. If you like professional development articles like this – let me know in the comments below. If there are other useful methods of finding nursing jobs – let us know!