Please quit wasting my time: Interview Advice from Hiring Manager

[Teacher Sue]

I have spent the last two days interviewing candidates for an open RN position on my floor. Last week I went through the 14 resumes HR sent over to pick out the ones I wanted to interview. Eliminated eight of these for various reasons ( poor grammar and spelling, history of job hopping, inappropriate email address), and scheduled six interviews. I did the last interview this afternoon, and still have not found a suitable candidate. I know there are plenty of resources online that give Job Search tips, so please, put a little effort into writing an appropriate resume, and learning how to interview. I don't care if you are old, young, fat, thin, new GN or crusty old bat, gorgeous or if you wear a paper bag over your head. Please present yourself in a professional manner when interviewing. You don't need to wear a business suit, but don't come in jeans or shorts. Don't come with overdone hair and make up and tons of bling. Learn to communicate in a professional manner as well. You are a college graduate, you should at least have an understanding of basic grammar and know how to express yourself. Express a sincere desire to work on my unit. Don't tell me that you really don't want to work on a telemetry unit, that you just want to get into the hospital so that you can transfer into ICU as soon as there is an opening. Don't be cocky or dismissive of CNAs and other ancillary personnel when I introduce you to the staff for the peer interview.

I have read numerous posts from nurses who cannot find jobs in the present economy, and I feel for them. But it can be just as frustrating for a manager looking for staff who are professional, caring, and committed to their profession. I feel like the last two days have been a complete waste of my time. Please, if you are lucky enough to get an interview, make sure you are presenting yourself as a professional. If you cannot make the effort to do so, don't waste your time or mine by even scheduling the interview.

[darrell]

...I know there are plenty of resources online that give job search tips, so please, put a little effort into writing an appropriate resume, and learning how to interview. I don't care if you are old, young, fat, thin, new GN or crusty old bat, gorgeous or if you wear a paper bag over your head. Please present yourself in a professional manner when interviewing. You don't need to wear a business suit, but don't come in jeans or shorts. Don't come with overdone hair and make up and tons of bling. Learn to communicate in a professional manner as well. You are a college graduate, you should at least have an understanding of basic grammar and know how to express yourself. Express a sincere desire to work on my unit. ...

Thanks for the chuckle, Sue, although I also empathize with your heartache (headache)! I am reminded of one snafu in which I showed up an hour late for an interview. We never did find out whether it was my mistake or HR's, but I got a second shot at the interview, and was incredibly lucky enough to be gifted with the job despite the embarassing bungle. I can't guarantee that it was my carefully crafted resume and my suit that turned the tide, but I imagine they did not hurt my chances! I am 54 and I know cultures change over the generations. I wonder if the formal job interview is becoming an anachronism? Is grammatical correctness on its way out as younger people move into hiring positions? This story would have had me shaking my head thirty years ago, but it seems just a sign of the times to me now-is that just a misperception on my part?

[Teacher Sue]

That's a great idea. Someone should start a thread

^Sadly I believe this to be totally true.

How to fix such a thing? That's a whole separate thread on how to promote tolerance, support, teamwork, and coalition-building.

I have asked about unit turnover on interviews. It can give you insight if people are forthright.

[Teacher Sue]

OK, now I have this mental image of a scantily clad nurse stripping and using a giant candy cane as a pole. Sometimes I think there is something seriously wrong with me.

A candy stripper, huh? I don't think I'd have put this on my resume. And I know for SURE my mother never would have let me be a stripper of any sort at 14 or 15. That said, I was a candy striper for awhile.

[Guest343211]

A candy stripper, huh? I don't think I'd have put this on my resume. And I know for SURE my mother never would have let me be a stripper of any sort at 14 or 15. That said, I was a candy striper for awhile.

ROTFLOL.... Yea, well, I never put stripPER on my resume. LOL Thanks for catching that Ruby! :)

[Guest343211]

You're mom was such a killjoy!

Of course at the rate schools are churning out new grads in the still crappy economy, candy stripping might be the go-to job for new grads.

LOL

OK, I say that good candidates need a sense of humor, like many of the nurses here! Cheers you guys!

[SMUgrad]

This original post gave me a smile. Thanks for making my day. Now consider hiring strongly experienced RNs, at least who are matriculated into a BSN program, over unexperienced GN/BSNs. I am all for BSNs getting jobs, but for goodness sake, it's not fair for anyone the way the hiring is going at this time. You do NOT lose your nursing knowledge if it is strong. You may need a couple of weeks to refresh to things, but the critical thinking and judgment should be there if you have STRONG experience. I am all for BSN as baseline; but it does NOT trump strong experience.

Next, understand that many of the floors and units for which many HR people and managers hire, have some unhealthy business going on, and subtle forms or covert horizontal violence occurs a lot--especially when a nurse is on orientation. If the influential few in the crowd--you know, the ones that have management's ear, dislike or feel threatened by a new nurse hire, why there is no limit to how they can spin things. What they should teach nursing students is how to deal with the horrible level of negative politics and gaming that goes on in this field.

It's a great field in terms of what you can do, at least I believe this. I have loved most of what I have done--with all the ups and downs. I have had the pleasure of working with some incredible people. But honestly, there is toxicity that leadership and HR should never allow--especially when people are most vulnerable--on orientation.

I have lived to see some really sad things in this field; but the abuse that goes on, which leads to all the turn over for orientation as well as more stable positions is unreal. Some people think the political toxicity is worse in education. It may be close, but I give the cigar to nursing for more reasons than I have time to discuss.

Also, someone needs to do honest studies about financial waste that occurs because of toxicity and abuse and excessive political gaming in nursing. I believe a ton of money could be saved by hiring the right nurse educators as well as managers--those that understand how to both teach adult learners and mentor nurses. I believe turnover could be significantly reduced through major and consistent efforts aimed at changing the clinical cultures from covertly abusive (looks good on the surface, but it's toxic underneath) to more supportive, nuturing environments. Finally, I have been begging, for years, for places to develop more objective systems of evaluation for nurses during their orientation and thereafter--reducing the subjective nonsense. My head is too scarred over to even feel the pain of banging against the walls.

The above post speaks true for experience as a new nurse. I know for sure that I have a passion for being a nurse, I am good at what I do when I care for my patients. They have commended me, given me cards and praised me for taking care of them because I have a gentle demeanor. I was told once that I needed to have a "bulldog" attitude in order to work on a high acuity floor like Telemetry but that is not my belief. But with so many facets I think that nurses have to find their niche. Don't discount those that have worked in a unit for a short period of time. As another reader posted, some people may have left because of poor work environments that negatively impacted patient care, and of course during an interview I would not bash a previous employer although it was poorly equipped (management, poor attitudes among nurses); that would go against professional ethics. That would be unprofessional. Also, it really takes a good program and teachers to mentor nurses during orientation, seasoned or new nurses. We are at vulnerable states during orientation (as the above post states), nurses make us do extra work or can be condescending because we are trying to "prove" ourselves. I appreciate opportunities, sure. But new nurses can be taken advantage of especially during orientation. I would never want a new nurse to feel that they are beginning to question why they became a nurse in the first place and get fed up with bedside care so early on in their careers. I would like to see more programs empower nurses to be great and encourage new nurses who have the enthusiasm to want to be more, and perhaps in-service seasoned nurses who have become complacent and disenchanted.

[manager123]

This thread has generated so many responses that this advice might be in the pages somewhere already so forgive me if I am repeating what others may have already said.

If you worked in multiple places (for any reason) you MUST list them on the application along with the reason for leaving. If the facility does a background check and you come up with discrepancies, you may be banned from being hired. If you somehow do get hired and make a mistake early in your career it could be grounds for termination due to "falsification of application." So, if your first few jobs or some recent jobs were short-lived, be prepared to speak about why you left without blaming, whining, or talking smack about a former employer. That negativity will turn off most hiring managers. If you are applying locally, we pretty much know what goes on with our competitors and might even have worked there ourselves or know folks who still do. It is rare that terrible awful conditions are the fault of the employer alone or the only reason you are leaving.

A few more bits of advice in today's tough market:

* Make sure you save your resume, cover letter, etc with a generic title as opposed to the a title for the facility you are applying to. S.Smith RN.doc will prevent you from sending a resume listed as hospital X.doc to hospital Y. I have gotten those.

*Read your cover letter carefully to be sure that you are not listing "applying for new grad training program" when one doesn't exist and you are applying for a regular staff position. I have gotten those.

The two errors above are juvenile and speak to lack of professionalism and caution. My immediate reaction is "how safe are they going to be passing medications if they aren't double checking these basic things".

*If you have a family member that knows someone in administration, for heaven's sake do NOT ask them to call and tell administration what a fabulous person you are and how you want to work at this fabulous place etc. Ditto for if they are a donor of some amount (or promise to donate). I will potentially be forced to interview you but your chances of being hired are slim if I think I am going to have to deal with mommy/daddy and administration when you need to be coached for performance. I am hiring one person and not the entire family.

* Come with up to date BLS and ACLS cards and letters of recommendation from teachers, former employers. Provide email addresses for them or others as well as it about the only way we can get hold of someone to see how you worked.

* As noted earlier:please do not enthuse heavily about where you REALLY want to work. If the area interviewing you isn't your first love (and a good interview will tease that out) we may not be interested in getting you in the door as a jump start. The orientation budget is limited and we are looking for someone that will give us 1-2 years of time. You may also find that you like the unit that hired you OR you don't have the skills needed to be successful in an ED, critical care area, or other major specialty.

*If you are fortunate enough to be hired. . Get ENGAGED in unit activities and committees. Not only will these help your ealuation but if you do really want to transfer later, the new unit will be looking for evidence of giving of time and engagement. The mere fact that you walk/breathe/ and have some experience in this facility is NOT enough to get you transferred to your dream unit.

[LuvBeinRN]

I am currently applying to multiple hospitals and keep learning that my application has been "forwarded to hiring manager," but no calls yet. How many applications typically make it to hiring manager? After how much time is it safe to say I'm not getting called? I've seen recommendations to try to contact the hiring manager directly, is that a wise move or perceived as being pushy? If I do call, what should I say? I know my area is currently inundated with new grads right now, but I have 2-3 experience as an RN, one of which is in the area I am trying to get hired.

[SE_BSN_RN, BSN]

Everyone hires based on likeability....it doesn't matter where the candidate is interviewing. That's always been the way. Interviews are not completely objective, and they never were. A candidate may have the required skills and experience, but if, for whatever reason the interviewer doesn't take a liking to them, that person is usually not hired.

That's pretty sad. And discouraging. I am softspoken and quiet, so if you don't like that quality, you won't hire me?

[armyicurn]

Wow! 204 replies to your post.

I read your initial posting. I just have a question. Could you please elaborate on the inappropriate email account? I think I know what you are trying to say but at 0430 in the morning where I am currently, is starting to take its toll on my tired brain.

I understand your frustration on finding that right applicant. I've been there. Best of luck and thanks for the reply.

[armyicurn]

Loved this post. And as we all know, it's not just limited to Nursing interviews. My husband and I own a business & recently were looking for a helper, our requirements were fairly simple. Much like you described, we were ridden with people dealing with drug issues but probably wouldn't use on the job, prior DUI's, do I have to work weekends/8 hours a day, I've been arrested 3 times, but am now all good.

Sometimes I fear for my kids futures...

Holly crap!!!!!! I am with you on this one.

[armyicurn]

Wooh,

thanks for your reply. After a cup of coffee, I was more awake and was able to see what the OP meant.

I guess propofolgtt@anyemail dot com or chemicallyadjustedreality@anymaildot com would not be good either uh?