Looking for employment-Need advice on to finally secure a job! (licenses, employee)

[RadSmil5]

Hello all,

I am a registered CAT scan/X-ray Technologist and I worked with as a contract employee for an area outpatient center and I was terminated from my job in May 2009. I live in SW Michigan and the market is oversaturated and competitive with technologists and there are just not enough jobs out here.

I have been wanting to move out of Michigan for a while now and I have applied to numerous places. I tried a travel agency and I purchased some state licenses so I could have a better chance of landing a travel job. That didn't work out b/c there were always more people who had more experience than me that got the jobs and the recruiter just stopped calling.

Then I decided to just start applying to any jobs in the states I received licensing for. I have had a few sit down interviews and numerous phone interviews, but nothing has worked out for me. I know times are tough for a lot of people right now, but I am afraid the longer I am unable to find something, employers will not look at me b/c I am losing out on experience.

I have two years clinical experience as a student in Radiography (x-ray) and two years work experience in CAT scan. I have my Associates and Bachelors degrees, along with some graduate courses; and I am registered with the ARRT in both CAT scan and X-ray, a member of the ASRT and CPR-BLS certified. With all this and state licensing for some states, I am marketable and very qualified. I have also asked for feedback from most of my interviews (if I could get a hold of them) and they told me I did well in the interview, but they had to go with someone closer (someone who didn't have to move out of state, even though I make it very clear I will leave immediately if I have to). The only thing that could be really hurting me (and I have no way to prove this if it is happening), is the fact that I did not have the best relationship with the manager that fired me (I had two managers and he was the one who off site, not the manager who supervised me at the outpatient center). But when asked in interviews, I never bash the company or him. I make no mention of it, just how I have had time to review what happened, I have learned what I needed to change and I have improved.

It has almost been two years that I have been without a job. And I have even tried to find a job outside of my career, even if it pays less and I have had no luck there either. I have been self-employed doing photography and babysitting on the side, but that's it. I know the economy is bad all around, but it is terrible in Michigan and I have had more interviews outside of the state that I have where I live.

So my questions are......what do I do to land and secure a job, even if it is out of state? How can I get a new employer to give me a chance? Does anyone know how I could network with a potential employer/hospital out of state?

Sorry for this being so long, but I would greatly appreciate any advice, help or insight into what I could do to improve my chances.

Thanks!

[Yzette]

Have you tried the American College of Radiology?

[url=http://www.acr.org/]American College of Radiology[/url]

They have an online career center.

[Hemlock140]

Another sign of the times, with so many people out of work it's a lot easier for employers to hire locals. You are not in the kind of work where they would pay relocation expense or fly you out for an interview, but they still don't want to worry about whether you will actually make the move and how long it will take for you to start.

You might want to decide on an area that has plenty of medical facilities and is the kind of place you would enjoy living, and move first, then look for a job. Whether you would consider the Seattle area or not I don't know, but
here in the Bellevue/Issaquah/redmond area they continue to build new medical centers. We have a new Hospital in Bellevue, expansion of another, and a new one under construction in Issaquah currently.