Please quit wasting my time: Interview Advice from Hiring Manager - Page 15

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  1. Aug 31, '12 by
    Quote from cienurse
    I, too, also just went through the interview process for a position I had open on weekend nights. I was given 9 resumes, all new grads, who had applied for the position on our website. I was able to eliminate 4 immediately, because they continued to use their school email addresses when they had already graduated and had no further access to it. Mistake #1-please update your contact information before you start looking for a job. I then began the process of 1st interviews. This immediately eliminated 2 more: 1 who admitted being nervous and frightened and the other who stated she really wanted to get into maternity nursing but needed a year of experience first (she was applying at a skilled nursing facility!) This told me that, in another 6 months, I'd be looking for another weekend night nurse. Two of the nine made it to 2nd interviews. One admitted that she applied for the position, thinking that there might be a full time day position but didn't really want to work nights. The last of the interviews was eager, willing, and quite happily, accepted the position. She will be oriented for 6 weeks on the day shift and then 2 more weeks on weekend nights before she is allowed to take the reins herself. As for the other 8, I wish you all the best in your search for the right positon. Just make sure that the position exists before applying. My last pet peeve is to those who arrive 1/2 hour early for an interview appointment. I know that you are anxious and nervous but you need to remember that the person who is interviewing you has a very busy day to day job to attend to and is not necessarily waiting around for your arrival. Hence, the making of an appointed time for your arrival.
    Seriously? I have two degrees from two different colleges and I still have access to and use the email addresses from both of those schools.
  2. Aug 31, '12 by
    Quote from cienurse
    Dear Wish, that was not my only reason for disregarding the application. It was the ONLY source of contact and I did send an email to set up an interview appointment which was never responded to. Later in the week, I received a call asking if the application had been received. I explained about the contact information and the applicant told me that the email was no longer valid.
    That isn't at all what you said in the original post. You said you were "able to eliminate 4 IMMEDIATELY because they were using their school email address".

    And I'm assuming you had this conversation with all 4 of those applicants?
  3. Aug 31, '12 by
    I am shocked and dismayed by how many people seem to want to argue about the standards some managers use to choose their applicants. Here we're all offered an inside look at the hiring process and given some quite specific dos and don'ts. It seems as though people would be grateful for the information; instead they want to debate about whether or not appropriate dress or good grammar SHOULD be important.

    Whether or not you agree with the managers' criteria for choosing and hiring nurses, those are the criteria. Why not just polish up your resume and interviewing skills rather than insisting that the criteria are wrong?
    DebanamRN, llg, Sweet_Wild_Rose, and 5 others like this.
  4. Aug 31, '12 by
    Quote from CrazierThanYou
    Seriously? I have two degrees from two different colleges and I still have access to and use the email addresses from both of those schools.
    I know, I thought that was funny too. I still have access to both my email accounts as an alumnus, I don't understand the logic in that one. But even so, I use my gmail anyway (with my name, not one that says iluv2bfreaky@ ... lol).

    Quote from Ruby Vee
    Whether or not you agree with the managers' criteria for choosing and hiring nurses, those are the criteria. Why not just polish up your resume and interviewing skills rather than insisting that the criteria are wrong?
    That seems to be how the Millenial generation rolls, they expect immediate changes to accommodate them (obviously there are exceptions to the rule), and having grown up in a generation where computers technology have been a heavy part of their entire lives, this is no shock to know that they want to argue these points ... they are not like the prior generations (Generation X here) that were groomed in more traditional and proper requirements and just accept them. That's my theory!
  5. Aug 31, '12 by
    Quote from Ruby Vee
    I am shocked and dismayed by how many people seem to want to argue about the standards some managers use to choose their applicants. Here we're all offered an inside look at the hiring process and given some quite specific dos and don'ts. It seems as though people would be grateful for the information; instead they want to debate about whether or not appropriate dress or good grammar SHOULD be important.

    Whether or not you agree with the managers' criteria for choosing and hiring nurses, those are the criteria. Why not just polish up your resume and interviewing skills rather than insisting that the criteria are wrong?
    Do you go out of your way to miss the relevant, however much, tangential points. This discussion and change. If you don't think we all, regardless of how stations, don't have something to learn, all I can say is wow.

    No one is condemning the NM. I've agreed with her for the most part. Geez put another perspective on things, and wow. BTW, I see most of the responders are appreciative of the information, and others of us have been around the block and pretty much are aware of them.

    And yes, I still can't get over the person that came to an interview in pjs. I can't believe people would come to an interview in jeans. I think people need to start reading up on this whole interviewing process if they are that daft about what is expected. When I was in high school, I applied for a job as NA in a nursing home. I was in a suit and looked quiet professional. My parents had good sense, but I also couldn't see going for an interview in jeans, even as a kids, much less in pjs. lol
    tnmarie likes this.
  6. Sep 1, '12 by
    Quote from wish_me_luck
    bubble, I don't think anyone is denying Teacher Sue's advice is good but there are some people that never get an interview that are great workers. Unfortunately, clinical experience is not enough. I don't think exp. folks realize that managers do not count clinical as experience because everyone has to do clinical, so they don't look at that as "a stick out factor".

    Right now, I do a lot of babysitting and volunteering (just got done with an Americorps program; after I was finished, told myself I was going to take August off to study for boards, then move on to next thing) and I know HR, hiring managers, etc. look at that and laugh. I have done it for years and I don't think managers realize that there's are things that can be drawn from "small" jobs like that. I have experience with kids, many times I am asked the day of to babysit (sometimes before hand) and I often times change my plans to go to work (I personally would rather work) so you can compare that to being called in at the last minute/picking up extra shifts, and there's some degree of reliability and taking initiative. But managers and HR do not see that. They want health care exp because they don't want to put money into people. It's sad because even jobs that advertise they are for newbies, you get there and they ask about experience as in work experience. They take the people who have it and some people still don't stay.

    I agree, bubble. One would think if a person can handle LTC they can handle acute care. But hospitals don't even look at that as valuable. See the other posts about people wanting to move to hospital from LTC.
    My last two jobs I was hired because I sold my clinical experiences but at that point I was in the interview. I did a lot in clinical that my classmates had not and put that out on the table and it got me the job.
  7. Sep 1, '12 by
    Quote from BrandonLPN
    True, new nurses are kind of in a pickle if they don't like their first job. Lots of pressure to just stick it out an get that invaluable year of experience under their belt.
    Ditto. I lasted 8 months at my first job and just couldn't tough it out any longer: too unsafe and too disrespected!
  8. Sep 1, '12 by
    I admire what you said in your post.... I was a manager of a SNF and residential care unit with frequent interviewing, not because we had a lot of turnover but we had a lot of our cna's and Crma's go to nursing school or rehab OT PT or new hires would find that it wasn't their "cup of tea" I have been with my company 10+ yrs but moved from a different state so I transferred...almost 4 yrs spent in management of brain injury facility... I had a variety come in and interview that had no idea what we did at our facility...we specialized in head trauma and rehab. I had spent the time training staff that didn't understand head injury, the behaviors related to frontal lobe damage and the trauma the residents had happen to them, for them to quit or not show up for orientation after brain injury 101 was discussed..understandably head injuried residents can be very difficult and it can be scarey to some but why would you apply if it wasn't for you....?

    Anyway I definately agree that it is wasting a managers time.... I really take pride in my work and my team.....even if I decided to no longer manage and just lead. I missed the patient interactions and the clinical aspect of nursing. And not so much the 6 hrs a day in meetings. But I know now what a manger does and have done it, I respect the role more and as a floor nurse, leaders are needed to hold a team together. So yes there are many applications that will come across your desk....and many will not make it through your doors...keep in mind the culture of your facility when interviewing candidates too. Will they fit into the team that is present?? I would pre interview over the phone prior to scheduling candidates I thought would fit...I also believe you can put a lot on paper to make you sound like a good candidate but can turn out to be "your problem child". Job hoping isn't always a bad thing or periods without work, some of those candiates became my best employees. Ie took care of loved one, inspired them to be a nurse. Worked at a department / food store, customer service oriented, problem solvers. Those are things I learned. Wish you the best :-)
    tnmarie likes this.
  9. Sep 1, '12 by
    I don't think anyone is meaning to sound ungrateful. I think some of us are just surprised and maybe a bit discouraged at how easily you can be cast aside. I'm really enjoying this thread and am really grateful for the advice, insights and discussion. I will no longer be showing up thirty minutes early for a job interview, that's for sure!

    I think a lot of excellent nurses are missing out on great opportunities over things like having a student e-mail on their resume, but at the same time I understand that companies have so many applications to get through. They have to have criteria for weeding them down. All you can do is is try to stack the deck in your favor as much as possible.

    I don't think I can ever view interviews and job hunting as "fun", but like many vital nursing tasks that aren't "fun" they can be seen as an important skill that you can hone to improve pt care.
  10. Sep 1, '12 by
    I don't think it's so much as accommodation that people are looking for but explanation. We NEVER have this chance to look at the people that turned us down and ask "Why"...so this is our chance, to give our explanations, look for better ways to explain it and ask why. I think this thread is awesome and gives a ton of insight on what to do/or not do and gives some reason as to why we weren't even called on an interview.
    tnmarie, Cold Stethoscope, and nursel56 like this.