098: Applying for graduate nurse speciality programs - Grad Nursing Success Series
Applying for graduate nurse speciality programs - Grad Nursing Success Series
Looking to stand out from the crowd in specialty program pathways? In this new episode, I shared valuable insights on the importance of tailoring your application to the job you are applying for and implementing the tips and tricks outlined in the Graduate Career Launch Program.
Join me as I discuss how to erase negative thoughts and prove that you are the perfect fit for the specialty program, regardless of whether or not you have experience in the field.
Don't miss out on this must-listen episode, where you'll learn how to create a successful nursing career that's perfect for you.
Key takeaways:
01:30 - The importance of standing out in the application process.
02:26 - Successful applicant from Graduate Career Launch Program.
03:26 - The panel's criteria for selecting candidates for specialty programs
04:11 - Emphasis on creating one's nursing career on their own terms
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**This transcript was automatically generated using Descript.**
Liam Caswell: So when you're applying for a specialty program, And you're telling yourself things like, I haven't done this before. I've never been to Ed, so I'm gonna be disadvantaged.
I want you to erase that from your brain. It is a lie and it's not true.
Hello and welcome back to the Graduate Nurse Success Series here on High Performance Nursing Podcast. This episode is a little titty bit late, but that's fine cuz we still got it at, or have been traveling and back and I'm like, oh my God, I need to get this done because you beautiful graduates are sitting waiting.
For these episodes to help you move towards your goal. So last week, if you haven't gone and checked out, should I apply for graduate programs? You gotta go back there and start there. But this week I'm gonna talk to all of you beautiful humans over the next 10 minutes that are looking to apply for specialty programs.
That's right. We're talking all things i c u, ed, p d, pediatrics, mental health Hold. Every specialty is a specialty program. Who thought about it? I know you hadn't, and I say this all the time. Every specialty is a specialty program. Mental health, palliative care, periop, all of them are the same. So I really want you to think about that when you're applying.
I know there's a lot of you, especially high performers, that put these specialties on a pedestal. And we think Ed, I c u peds amazing. And they're really the three, or maybe periop are the three that we really think about, but I don't want you to discount palliative care community, primary healthcare, they're all specialty programs.
Okay? Now, what I want to talk about today is how do you stand? In these specialty program pathways because they're very, very competitive. And I'm just gonna caveat it, caveated. I'm just gonna put a little caveat right now that if you're applying for a specialty program and you think you can just apply and you can just go at it with just some generic, vague application and half ass, your interview, you're gonna be in for a rude, awake.
It's very difficult. It's very challenging. And there's thousands of applicants that want these jobs and sometimes they only have like one seriously that we helped somebody last year in 2022 in Queensland, and she wanted one, a specific, palliative oncology role, and she applied and she bet everybody to the post.
And I'll tell you why she did that is because she did everything that we teach in the g c. In the graduate career launch program. If you're not in there and you're graduating this year, what are you doing? Seriously, it is amazing. You'll get everything you need. Come join us. She implemented everything that we talked about.
She our CV coverer selection criteria in our interview, but they were all specifically tailored to the job. She went above and beyond, and she got the one and only position that this hospital offered in this specialty. So if you're somebody that's really looking to stand out and set yourself a. Apart from the pack, it's not enough to spray and pray.
It is not. Hope is not a strategy. Luck is not a strategy, especially when there's thousands of your peers applying. So when we think of specialty programs, I want you to think about the panel. and I want you to think about what they're really looking for when you're applying for a specialty program.
The panel are looking for somebody that's gonna be able to come in and be able to fit into the specialty that you're applying for. But what they're not looking for, which some of you might not understand, is they're not looking for people that have already done the specialty. Sure. It's a lovely advantage if you have, but if you haven't, I don't want you to exclude yourself ahead of time and not even apply because you haven't done an ED or an ICU or AEDs placement.
Don't do that to yourself. It doesn't matter if you haven't gone back and listened to my episode about. All paths lead to Rome. Go and listen to it. All paths lead to Rome. It doesn't matter where you start, where you end, whether you start in age care or ed. You get to decide. You get to pick and choose.
You get to create your nursing career on your terms. There are no rules. Don't tell anyone . There's no rules. We make them all up. They're all made up. So when you're applying for a specialty program, And you're telling yourself things like, I haven't done this before. I've never been to Ed, so I'm gonna be disadvantaged.
I want you to erase that from your brain. It is a lie and it's not true. Instead, I want you to be like, I'm perfect for Ed. I'm perfect for a specialty program. And now the hard work comes from we have to show them that you're actually. We have to prove to them through your CV, cover letter selection, creator an interview, that you are amazing and that you should get one of these coveted positions.
Now, I want to tell you about somebody that we helped do this last year. A different person. So we helped people across the board ride, but we had our graduate in Queensland who was so driven and passionate about becoming an ED nurse that in fact, much to, my. fear and worry for her only applied for one job, one program.
This individual wanting to work in Ed. and she wanted a public hospital ed, and she was so set on it, like she could just see it. She could imagine herself in the role. She had all the belief that she was gonna make it happen. And I was like, damn. Like she means business. She came in, she did her CV cover letter selection criteria, and we really tailored.
All of that, specifically to the emergency department in this specific graduate program within this specific hospital. and we showed them why she was the best fit for the job. Now, not only did she get moved through the interview process and she was then into asked to interview for Ed, but whilst she was interviewing for ed, there was an ICU nurse unit manager on the panel who was.
Oh, she's incredible. She would be an amazing fit for I C U. I am gonna make her a job offer. So this person was in almost like a bidding war between Ed and I C U. This person went for one job. She applied for one job with the amazing CV cover letter selection criteria that we created with her selling her amazing skillset.
Two Ed,
she
Liam Caswell: went for interview and during the ED interview, the ED nurse unit manager offered her job and the I C U nurse unit manager offered her her job. One interview two jobs. Why is that? And I've said it like five times already. It's because we tailored her application specifically to the specialty.
We did not send a generic, vague, broad application that had typos and was completely misaligned to the job. We made sure that the employer, from the first glance knew that this individual had done their homework. That's how you set yourself up for success. The cover letter was uniquely tailored to show the employer why they were the perfect fit for ed.
We weren't doing some vague generic bullshit. We were diving in. This person had been on placement there. That's not required, but she had that advantage so she could talk about already working there and what it was like and what the culture was like. She sought her transferrable skills from her life before nursing to show the employer why She had three years of amazing nursing skills, but she also had industry skills from other industries and walks in her life.
Her selection criteria. Examples were not just generic examples that she created. She created specific emergency nursing examples that we used specifically to show them why she was already operating as an ED graduate nurse. We talked about patient assessment. We talked about our exposure and recess, short stay, mental health, pediatric bay recess triage.
We use language that ED nurse unit managers would connect. We told her professional development stories through an emergency lens. We showed how she contributed to deteriorating patients. We showed the transferrable skills that she's bringing from other walks of life, and we flavored all of that, like we sprinkled it all through her selection criteria and based on those three documents.
She got an interview. Now, if you think that you can, how fast your applications and get a specialty interview, you are in for a shock, my friend. Please listen to me when I say this. The panel expect excellence at theSpecialty program level, they expect the most well put together applications.
Think about it. Do you want someone coming in and working in ed i u that can't be bothered putting an application together? So when we did this with this beautiful human, this individual, We set her up for success. It became inevitable that she would get an interview for a specialty program. And then here's the thing, because she had presented herself so well on paper, the panel already had decided ahead of time.
I'm not in their brains, but you can tell by the actions that they took is that they saw her as an irresistible offer. She had presented herself so, And positioned herself as a high value hire that they could not say no to her. In fact, they couldn't say no to her that they had to offer two jobs much to the ed nurse unit managers discussed, I'm sure, I'm sure there was a bit of GY Borge between ED and ICU for that person because when you're really good and you position yourself is really good, a new market and sell your skillset for a specialty program, everybody wants.
Think about it. Everybody wants you. So then she went to interview and she absolutely nailed the interview process because she took what she'd done on her paper application and she showed them through her positioning in her interview, she convinced them. She just added the little chairing on the top.
She didn't have to work hard for it cause she'd already showed them through her applications why she was an excellent fit. When you progress. The stages in an application, especially for a specialty program. I want you to hear this lighting clear. When you sell yourself well on paper, you have to sell yourself less when you go to the interview cuz they're already 75% bought in.
They already believe that you can do the job. They just wanna make sure that you're not some Michael Jacko. Right. So when you turn up to the interview, we just want to see and confirm that you are who you said you are on the bit of paper, and this is where a lot of people have a misalignment, especially if you go and pay for somebody to do your applications.
if you pay somebody to do your applications for you completely, and then you don't tailor them, tweak them, adjust them or add to them, and you go to the interview. There's a disconnect. I want you to see that there is a disconnect between the two, cause John, from some random recruitment agencies wrote your CV cover letter selection criteria.
And he's wrote it in nonclinical language by the way. and then you are out of pocket and you maybe get an interview, maybe you don't. If you do amazing, and then you move forward and there's a separation between the two. It's so, so obvious. That's why in our G C P when we work with your amazing graduate, NA, we work with you, we do it with you.
carry the load. We do about 90, 95% of it, but we need your flavor so that it's you, so that you feel confident that you've contributed to it, and that you can move forward and then deliver in the I. . So when you're thinking about a specialty program, I want you to think about what is it that's gonna set you apart from the hundreds, if not thousands of people that are applying for the same specialty program?
It is not a fluke that the people that came to work with us, that wanting a specialty program got a specialty program. comes through hard work. It comes through perseverance, comes through having a strategy, and it comes through learning how to sell yourself so that they feel silly. Say no to you for a specialty program if you are somebody that is ready to start the work now.
Cuz the sooner you start, the sooner you get to the result. Don't leave it to the last minute. Okay? Cuz specialty people, specialty program, people do not leave things to the last minute. They get in ahead of time cuz they understand. That they are worthy of that position and they're gonna put the work in to make it happen.
So that is you and you are someone that wants to land your dream. Ed I C U pediatric mental health specialty role, periop all of the specialties. The GCLP is perfect for you. Come and join us in the GCLP and we'd love to help you add. We also have a specialty program, graduate application guide, which you can download through the link in the show.
Make sure you grab that. It's completely free. I've got some free trainings in there to help you move forward. But if you want to guarantee yourself a specialty role, join our GCLP and I'll see you in the next one.
