Rejection is for winners too

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

Someday I hope to join the ranks of the nurses who are managers on this forum. In the meantime I am tackling the application/interviewing process. I have co-workers who have began the same journey, been rejected once, and have not attempted a career move again. Also, most job interview posts written by a nurse interested in breaking into management on this forum and others will not have a follow up post regarding acceptance or rejection.

This is unfortunate because rejection does not equate to LOSER or FAILURE. In fact, the support that one gains from this forum and in-person is amazing and follow up posts and in-person support can do nothing more than provide insight and guidance. With that said, I am going to start this thread off a little about me:

I am at a great point in my career where I am being encouraged to move into management. I am only interested in doing so at one of the companies of which I work due to its excellent training and support program for new nurse managers. Thus, I have applied to open management positions in the past year, where my credentials are a good fit.

So far, I have been rejected 3 out of 4 times (my latest attempt is pending a 3rd interview). In 2 of the 4 cases I did not even receive a call back, but was given good feedback by the nurse recruiter. Another case, my interviews went extremely well. In fact, it was the first time in a long time that I did not get a job despite excellent credentials, references, and interviews! However, I value that experience because the interview process was an eye-opener and I learned a lot about perfecting my way of interviewing.

Anyone else want to share his/her journey who has experienced rejection in trying to break-into-management?

Good luck to us all! I will definitely post the outcome of my latest attempt. BTW, I know that there is a career forum, but it does not seem to be geared toward managers or nurses trying to move into management like this forum. Thanks. :)

[jrt4]

I think you make an excellent point that just because you are rejected doesn't mean that you are a "loser". Interviewing multiple candidates who have similar qualifications is extremely difficult. Usually if you are rejected and you feel you are qualified, it is probably just a case of there was someone MORE qualified.

I interviewed with 5 different organizations for advancement opportunities before I settled into my current position. 3/5 I declined a second interview because I knew that the organization was not the right fit for me after visiting. The fourth I declined the offer because the location/advancement opportunities were not what I wanted. I finally settled in at a University Medical Center and love it. It is a magnet facility and after interviewing with the leadership and staff, it just clicked.

I would encourage anyone looking for a management position to look outside their current organization. It may be outside your comfort zone, but you have the opportunity to feel out the organization through the interview process (usually involves at least 3 interviews). Don't feel bad about declining offers for additional interviews or declining offers.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

This is not a very busy board. :) My post should have been on the bottom. :)

In any case, I did not get the last job I applied too. I figured so weeks ago given that it should not take long for a hiring manager excited by a candidate to hire him/her. In any case, I plan to continue to press forward and jump at the next opportunity, whenever it comes. :) Wishing others good luck and a fun summer! :)

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

I would encourage anyone looking for a management position to look outside their current organization.

If it was not for the really good retirement package, the better opportuntities to train in various positons (if and when I break into management), the better overall health benefits, and the smaller more doable work loads, I would look outside my current organization. For now, this is my best bet.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

UPDATE!!! I am a new entry-level nurse manager! :) What worked for me? I tried everything that is typically advised to improve a resume and interviews. However, the thing that gave me my edge was networking! In fact, I not only landed this position, but I have another hiring manager requesting to hire me per diem in a leadership position once I have completed my orientation. In short, I went from no opportunities and lots of rejections to more opportunities then I asked for because I kept trying!

Thus, if you are like me and you want to be an entry-level nurse manager (and have no titled management work exeperience) and you keep getting rejected, do not give up! Find out what you need to do to improve your candidacy and do it, be flexible, network up the butt, and keep applying. At some point, you will find a position where you are the best candidate/fit for the job! Good luck! :)

[special1rn]

When you say find out what needs to be done to improve your candidacy, who did you get this information from the recruiter?

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

When you say find out what needs to be done to improve your candidacy, who did you get this information from the recruiter?

I received this information from many sources. I spoke to recruiters after I was rejected and most were vague, which gave me the impression that the hiring managers were not specfic about my rejection. So I spent most of my time receiving feedback from the people that rejected me, from family who are hiring managers in other fields, and from friends who are ANMs. In fact, my ANM friends helped me improve my resume and my interviewing abilities for management positions by giving me mock interviews (interviews for management are extremely different than interviews for non-management jobs). After I was hired, some of my ANM friends started teaching me the ropes before I even started on my floor.

[special1rn]

Thanks I am in the process of searching for someone to review my resume, that has been proven difficult on itself. I think it will be easier to reach to the university's career center. Thanks for all the advice.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

Thanks I am in the process of searching for someone to review my resume, that has been proven difficult on itself. I think it will be easier to reach to the university's career center. Thanks for all the advice.

Very good start. Also, if you have not done so already, be sure to join committees and participate in projects that assist with promotion. Such committees and projects are valued by the facility and/or organization (not just your nurse leader) and the results will be implemented by people of influence. Be forewarned, not all committees or projects will help you move up because they are a waste of time. So, stay away from ones that have nothing to do with improving the organization or focuses on a process that is already being fixed/addressed by much higher-ups unless you can actually participate in the meetings with those much-higher ups! Good luck! :)

[special1rn]

Thanks again the role I am in is Nursing Supervisor. In this role at my current hospital there is not opportunity to be on any committees, I have expressed interest. There are so many changes going on currently a lot of the committees have been put on hold. There is some talk about us possibly merging with another institution, so plenty of things are being held. I will however continue to pursue until I find something else.

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

I went into nursing from a line of work famous for passing over deserving, talented people for those who are better connected or more easily controlled by those higher up. It took me a long time to realize this, and I had many agonizing moments trying to figure out how to break through what I eventually realized was a concrete ceiling. I have never been good at sucking up to people or pretending to believe things that I don't, but these were apparently considered to be promotion-worthy traits where I once worked. I even saw this agency put favored employees into positions tailor made for them (sometimes their resumes were used to write the qualifications before sham interviews), then when they failed they were promoted out of the position. This pushed me into nursing school.

It took some time, but I eventually moved into mid-management and now I am a DON. My best advice is to acquire knowledge whenever you can (it may come in handy sometime, during or outside of an interview), and to get as many different experiences under your belt as you can. You can never know too much or be too versatile - unless you work for my former employer. :)

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

I even saw this agency put favored employees into positions tailor made for them (sometimes their resumes were used to write the qualifications before sham interviews)...

[/Quote]

Hey, I used to work in a similar organization prior to nursing! :) In fact, I was passed over for promotions in favor of people with less to NO work experience in health care. In one case an unemployed person's husband, who was an Executive, wanted to give her something to do during the day.... A job that was a perfect fit for my background at the time, he changed and tailored to suit her personality and resume qualifications.

The position initially required one to accept a case load and to run a grant. She did not want to talk to patients or others unless they were leaders in his/her organizations so she carried no case load, she could attend meetings all day with big-wigs, and she had an office she spent all day in when not at meetings. She of course was eventually forcibly removed and was to be placed elsewhere, but she chose to quit because elsewhere was not a management/leadership position. In addition, the position was cancelled because the higher-ups figured that if she could not produce the results needed by the State, then no one could (She said it was impossible when her motive was to keep a leadership position, but the organziation was foolish enough to believed her)!

I also had some pretty bad middle managers while working in as a non-nurse too, which pushed me to go to nursing school as well. I am glad to see that changing to nursing helped another person grow their career too! :)

My best advice is to acquire knowledge whenever you can (it may come in handy sometime, during or outside of an interview), and to get as many different experiences under your belt as you can. You can never know too much or be too versatile - unless you work for my former employer. :)

This is good advice! When I was preparing to interview for positons, I gave myself homework in both the nursing specialty and in nursing management. I found many resources (nurse managers and books) that assisted me to better understand what is expected of me as a new manager as well as how to improve my candidacy. Today I continue to give myself homework, which has helped me to obtain and retain the knowledge I need to do this job at a faster pace than otherwise would be expected.