Post interview wait for the va Hosp...

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Hello everyone... I'm posting this in hopes to calm myself a little bit.... I interviewed with the va hospital 2 weeks ago today... I've done my follow up emails to both the recruiter and manager and still no concrete word on where I stand... Pleasseee anyone how long did it take for you to hear back after the interview????

Hi everyone,

I have been reading all of yours' comments for a while.. I can't stop myself to share my feelings to gais coz i am of one the victims of this process too.

I am very interested to work in VA to help those Veterans, who sacrificed their able period of life to give security to Americans+world. I applied three times, among them two were not even considered for reviewing because they were incomplete, but finally got one referred on October and i was interviewed in first week of November.

I keep researching-how long should i wait? But nowadays i keep finding the same information "call the hiring agent or manager" I did that last week on 11/25/2014. The Agent must be nice, she pick up my phone and said, "i will start to make calls as soon as i hear from the managers". When i was interviewed manager told me, she is not the one to make decision for hiring but she just recommend the applicants to HR. What that mean? because she was the one who interviewed me and HR people didn't even see me!!! By saying that.. when i handed her all information she needed right there, she said, "I am impressed". Also, she told me when i get the call for finger print just let the finger-printing people know that i had my prints done here when i came for clinical + quoted i did great, But I haven't heard from anyone till now. It is very NERVE breaking, i keep thinking of it and everyday i have to go for same job where i do not want to work anymore!!!

When am i supposed to hear from them? Should i call them again? Is it too early to look for? Any positive suggestions are appreciated.

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Hi, k2. The VA hiring process can take months, that's not at all unusual. Some locations can process things pretty quickly (submission of application to orientation 6 weeks) and sometimes it can take several months. Credentialing (fingerprinting, license verification, background checks) can take quite awhile. NOTHING moves quickly where nursing is concerned.....and that's usually a good thing, as vetting is a complicated process and those who cannot pass shouldn't.

USAjobs website does not get updated with any regularity when it comes to status of applications.....just for fun, I took a look at my profile and according to what's posted online I'm still "in consideration" or something like that, LOL....I got my job more than a year ago!

Hang in there. You spoke to someone just a week ago; give it another week or ten days before you contact them again. Staying on top of things is good, pestering is not.

Good luck!

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Hi RNsRWe,

Thanks for reading my story and for ur great comment! It really helped me s lot to calm down.

good news- I got tentative offer today!! I got an email of forms to sign & turn it in, I will do that tomorrow. I am happy with that.. When I do the vet pro, do I have to put non nursing jobs that I did? All of those are from Texas and I am thinking that will take long time!! Plz let me know. Will there be pay rate change after vet pro? Coz I am not much happy with tentative offer rate. Can I bargain with them?

Thank you.

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Hi RNsRWe,

Thanks for reading my story and for ur great comment! It really helped me s lot to calm down.

good news- I got tentative offer today!! I got an email of forms to sign & turn it in, I will do that tomorrow. I am happy with that.. When I do the vet pro, do I have to put non nursing jobs that I did? All of those are from Texas and I am thinking that will take long time!! Plz let me know. Will there be pay rate change after vet pro? Coz I am not much happy with tentative offer rate. Can I bargain with them?

Thank you.

I'll start at the end of your post and work backward :)

Yes, you can negotiate with the hiring VA; as a nurse, your salary has a fairly broad range and is ultimately set by the Nursing Performance and Standards Board at your facility. That committee will look at your experience, your education, and determine what Level you are, and what Step. There is typically some room for negotiation, but I wouldn't expect it to be dramaticly different from what they offered you. The Government is not allowed to be the highest prevailing wage in any region, anywhere; they pay competitively, but not higher than that. You can and should expect to get what other hospitals in the area are paying for similiar jobs, but not higher. You should also be prepared to accept or decline whatever the 'come back' offer is: they don't negotiate very much, and you should know what your bottom figure REALLY is, once you consider all the benefits that go along with Federal employment. People often forget that part!

VetPro has nothing to do with wages at all. It's a verification process, due diligence, to discover if any of what you have presented as work experience, references, is not true. I can't swear to this (funny how memory skips certain things!) but I don't think VetPro takes into account jobs other than nursing. However, you DO have to account for any period of time that is 30 days or greater where you have no employment recorded. Also, I believe it's eQuip that you can do at home, but VetPro that is done at the facility's credentialing department, so you'll have the Credentialing Specialist going over it all with you at that time.

You're welcome:D

You didn't mention if you are an RN or LPN....that changes some of what I said, as the benefits are very different....when the VA says 'nurse', they mean 'RN'.....it is what it is.

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Congratulations!

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The PBI questions are really good examples of what the actual interview questions will be like. I, would suggest, however, that you brush up on mental health meds since they are the cornerstone of mental healthcare. I've sat on MH interview panels and can attest to every nurse manager asking about psych meds and classes along with the other typical interview questions.

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Hi lucky,

I'm a nurse at a VA Hospital and no, it is not required that you have a BSN. I work alongside very strong nurses that do not have a BSN and managment continues to hire nurses with an array of credentials.

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I have gone through the grueling employment processing into one of the VA hospital in NJ. Please how long do I have to wait hear from the board? FYI, I have been on this process since July '14. Please I need some insight because am so stressed out about it.

Thanks

EveP

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Every VA is different. Mine took 2 months after everything was submitted for the board to come back w/salary. Then about 6-8 wks to actually start. From application to start date was about 8 months total. It's ok to contact the nurse recruiter to ask for a status update.

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Thanks pfchang. All the comments here have really helped to calm my nerves. I hoped the board make its decision soon because I am tired of waiting. Being a new graduate, I am anxious to know what my salary will be at the end of the day. My question is if it is possible for VA to rescind an offer? I am a Vet with BSN.

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Have you been told all is complete with the background checking through Vetpro and Eqip? References all in? Physical and fingerprints all done? If all these things are done and okay, and the only thing waiting is the nursing board's determination of your salary, then it is unlikely your offer would be rescinded. I have heard of this happening to someone on this board awhile back but it was during her background check. The waiting for the VA hiring process to be complete is really long for some. Others get through in 2-3 months. It depends on the facility, I think.

Good luck.

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Yes, I was told that everything is okay and my file is complete. The HR lady told me that the board couldn't meet last

Thursday because it was New Year's day and hope to hear from her this week. The only thing that is left is Equip.

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