Heres what I don't get about hiring

[esunada]

Two new grad candidates compete for a job and both have worked at said hospital and both have an equal amount of healthcare experience and in.

One candidate almost failed nursing school, bad GPA, forgets everything under the sun including due dates of assignments, half-assed assignments, loses track of time, late to meetings, but a guy who comes off very passionate and likes to talk.

Second candidate is a girl has great GPA, very detail-oriented, hard worker, very organized, articulate

Guess who got the job? The guy. Yup, it doesn't make sense.

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

I wasn't a straight A student throughout school, and I struggled in clinicals at some points. Why should someone assume that I am a bad candidate because of that?

Interviewing is a skill. I have never had a problem getting a job that I have interviewed for, and out of all of the jobs I have interviewed for throughout my life, I have only not gotten one. The reason for that was because I could not work the hours they wanted me to work due to school.

How I interview well: make eye contact, smile, wear a nice outfit, keep your hair and make-up simply and professional, thoughtfully answer questions (you should already be prepared for the basic ones), and be honest.

[sauconyrunner]

Once you graduate school and pass the NCLEX, unless you are applying for something special like a new grad residency, no one cares what your GPA is. None of the other things will show up in an interview.

I do have to agree, there are some men who do seem to be fast tracked for no good reason. Not that I am against men in Nursing. THere are a lot of guys I prefer to work with, but...then again there are a few that really stink. of course I could say the same thing about the ladies, soooo...

[luvthegsp]

What I find amazing with this whole thread is it should be about the hiring practices in our hospitals, but rather it has turned into a man-bashing thread. If I would have started a female-bashing thread, it would be deleted and I would be scolded for not being supportive of others on teh board.

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

"are you saying that you'd value the compassion of the surgeon doing your child's heart/lung transplant than his skill? or do you think a monkey could be trained to do it?"

first, your comparison is flawed. you are comparing apples with caviar. i suppose i would not expect a surgeon to demonstrate any kind of soft skills during surgery given my child will be under a general.

i also cannot believe you are comparing the two professions. our training is completely different. we are talking about two nurses who applied for the same job. one was selected based upon his soft skills.

as for training a monkey, i am not a surgeon. therefore, i am not qualified to say whether or not a monkey can be trained on how to perform such skill. however, research on intelligence is still in its’ early stages. maybe my two pugs can be trained to become surgeons. that would be great. then they can begin buying their own toys, food, and helping with the mortgage and utility costs.

"you certainly have never worked in an engineering environment."

i was never interested in becoming an engineer which is why i did not go to school to learn the trade. furthermore, i find those individuals, while quite intelligent, to be dry and boring.

"since when did nursing become a sales and marketing job? i realize that it has an important element of dealing with the public, but i thought it was mainly about skills."

two words to answer this question; press ganey.

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

I am picked on all of the time on the floor. However, I think I brought it upon myself. When I first started working on the unit, I was asked by the females to help with their patients only to discover I was doing the work alone. I was getting their patients up to the bathroom and moving them up in bed. That lasted for two weeks. One lady, in her mid 30’s asked for my help (The one who always asked me). I told her no. She responded with, “why do you think you were hired for the unit?” I printed off our job description and read the part of being able to lift with another person at least 150 lbs. She said she had a bad back. I said well then you don’t meet the minimum requirements of the job. Perhaps you should start seeking a different specialty.

I also don’t sit up at the nurses’ station gossiping. It is no wonder they are always behind.

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

i don't think it has all that much to do with "personality." my don at a previous hospital always told us that if a male nurse and a female nurse applied for the same job, the male nurse would get it. this woman had a doctorate, so was quite educated, plus she had held positions in several hospitals thru-out her career, from new york to alabama. all of our charge nurses at that hospital were male, regardless of their credentials. as a matter of fact, most of them had crappy personalities, and were argumentative and always wanted "their" way. i think females are simply still fighting for our place in the workforce. as for "pretty" female nurses, i wanted a job in the same facility where i presently work, but was passed over. i have 23 years critical care experience. the nurse they hired was a new-grad, but very attractive and 35 years younger than me. well, she failed state boards, but they kept her on until she finally passed.

i don’t think i would hire only men. i would look for several attributes and hire the most qualified candidate. i am not sure why you mentioned women are still fighting for their place in the workforce. the majority of nurses are women. the majority of administrators at my facility are women. as for the new graduate on your floor, it wouldn’t make much business sense to get rid of her. the organization has already invested in training her. there are folks on this board who admit to taking nclex several times before becoming a nurse. it doesn’t make them any less of a nurse. they still earned the credentials of rn behind their name.

every position for which i have applied, an offer was extended. the same goes for promotions. while i think my background plays an integral part in their decision, i know for certain my personality seals the deal. i have an innate ability to draw people in and can earn their trust quickly. i am aware of this and make it a point to hone in on the attribute. whatever your strengths, you should make it a point to emphasize them during interviews and at work.

[Tragically Hip]

Interviewing is a skill. I have never had a problem getting a job that I have interviewed for, and out of all of the jobs I have interviewed for throughout my life, I have only not gotten one. The reason for that was because I could not work the hours they wanted me to work due to school.

Do you think having strong interviewing skills (largely, strong skills persuasion) is strongly correlated with being a good nurse? Or are you saying, that's just the reality, so deal with it?

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

It is a skill and skills can be learnt. As a nurse it certain doesn't hurt to be confident and persuasive but you can get by without it.Crappy people get good jobs sometimes just like good people get crappy ones sometimes too.When someone doesnt get something they deserve its unfair but on the flipside sometimes we get things we dont deserve but appreciate the windfall.

[Tragically Hip]

"are you saying that you'd value the compassion of the surgeon doing your child's heart/lung transplant than his skill? or do you think a monkey could be trained to do it?"

first, your comparison is flawed. you are comparing apples with caviar. i suppose i would not expect a surgeon to demonstrate any kind of soft skills during surgery given my child will be under a general.

no, the comparison is not flawed. you make it sound as though a nurse's job revolves around public relations rather than applying the skill they've learned. given the dependency relationship a patient has on her nurse, clearly a nurse cannot be a misanthrope. the success of her patients, though, depend far more on her skills.

i also cannot believe you are comparing the two professions. our training is completely different. we are talking about two nurses who applied for the same job. one was selected based upon his soft skills.

training is different? how about for a nurse anesthetist? are we only talking about floor nurses? in what material way does it differ? does a surgeon need any social skills? does an md specialist? a gp? where is the line drawn?

an md's training revolves around diagnosing illness and prescribing treatment. a nurse's training and scope of practice revolves around applying those treatments, as well as attending to the patient's daily physical needs. at one time, when understaffing wasn't so common, nurses had an opportunity to attend to a patient's emotional needs as well. those days are receding into the past.

could you pinpoint the specific differences you refer to?

as for training a monkey, i am not a surgeon. therefore, i am not qualified to say whether or not a monkey can be trained on how to perform such skill. however, research on intelligence is still in its' early stages. maybe my two pugs can be trained to become surgeons. that would be great. then they can begin buying their own toys, food, and helping with the mortgage and utility costs.

but you're pretty sure a monkey can be trained as a nurse? i know that was hyperbole, but what was the point of that comment? are nurse's skill really as trivial as you make them out to be?

"you certainly have never worked in an engineering environment."

i was never interested in becoming an engineer which is why i did not go to school to learn the trade. furthermore, i find those individuals, while quite intelligent, to be dry and boring.

you are a petty, bitter bigot. i don't know how much you know about nursing, but you know virtually nothing about anything else. i'd be mortified if people of other professions (or "trades," as you call them) read some of what has been posted here.

"since when did nursing become a sales and marketing job? i realize that it has an important element of dealing with the public, but i thought it was mainly about skills."

two words to answer this question; press ganey.

data-driven solutions. really? is there a point were one becomes so jaded and embittered that they're better off finding employment in a different "trade"? you seem to be proud enough of your credentials to list them after your id, and yet...

[Tragically Hip]

It is a skill and skills can be learnt. As a nurse it certain doesn't hurt to be confident and persuasive but you can get by without it.

In fact, all else being equal, you will likely do a better job in most any field if you're confident and persuasive. The problem is that it tends to leave the door open to BSers without good skills, and without the motivation or ability to acquire those skills. That is a problem of human behavior. A previous poster referred to a business consultancy, but yet, with all those consultants, there are still people skating by on BS and thin skills. That might be tolerable in settings where people's lives and health are not at stake, but in a patient care setting, it's odious.

Crappy people get good jobs sometimes just like good people get crappy ones sometimes too.When someone doesnt get something they deserve its unfair but on the flipside sometimes we get things we dont deserve but appreciate the windfall.

That's how it may be, but that's not how it should be. Could we do better?

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

We could do better. I'm not in a hiring position anymore but I made hiring decisions like hiring an 85yo man for retail because he dressed up nicely and.came everyday to checkup on his application. So if hiring for nursing I'd probably end up with a staff full of people I couldn't bear to fire.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

what i find amazing with this whole thread is it should be about the hiring practices in our hospitals, but rather it has turned into a man-bashing thread. if i would have started a female-bashing thread, it would be deleted and i would be scolded for not being supportive of others on teh board.

while i see a good deal of agreement that men are given preferential treatment in nursing, i don't see any man bashing on this thread. even if i did, i would have to disagree with you about female bashing threads. there are numerous female-bashing posts and threads on this site at any given time. in fact, i've concluded that a significant number of our members are misogynists.