Hired at current hospital?

Nurses Job Hunt

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

So I've worked as an aide part-time at a hospital (at least 1 or 2 - 12 hour shifts a week, on breaks from school I worked 3 shifts a week) for a year now. I love it at this hospital and sincerely hope to be hired after I graduate in May.

I have an interview with the recruiter next week and when I talked to her on the phone she made a comment that has been bothering me ever since. She said something along the lines of using this preliminary interview so that we "don't waste each other's time" if nothing was available for me.

OMG, what? I never even dreamed that I wouldn't get hired here. I think I would feel so dejected & unwanted if they didn't hire me :(

Then again, perhaps it was extremely arrogant of me to not consider that possibility lol. In fact I haven't even applied elsewhere yet. Maybe I need to work on that and not put all my eggs in one basket.

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I was in a similar situation. Worked at my previous hospital for 3 years all through nursing school in various positions with hours at least 32-40 hours every 2 weeks. I interviewed with the recruiter for the New Grad RN program in December and haven't heard anything back yet, despite several non-employee classmates being offered jobs. I finally realized I couldn't count on a job there so I applied at another local hospital in January, had 3 interviews before I took my boards and was just offered a position about a week ago. I start orientation next Monday the 17th there and couldn't be more excited or happier. Don't count your chicks before they hatch; keep your options open. Just because you are a current employee does not mean they are obligated to hire you.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Please do not take this personally. It is not a reflection on you. Here's the way it works.

Each employer has a "labor control system" - with the specific jobs that are budgeted for each department. A department may have 10 RN jobs & 4 CNA jobs. If one of the CNA's becomes an RN, this does not mean that they can convert to an RN job if there are no vacant RN positions.

As a current employee, you probably have an advantage because most companies will list new vacancies "internally" for a week or so before they post it for external applications. So stay in touch with the RN vacancies & apply if your're qualified for that position. Wishing you major job MOJO!!!

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

If your current manager doesn't want to hire you or go to bat for you it will actually put your application at a disadvantage over outside applicants. If the nurses you work with now aren't beating the drum of "This person is great, we need to hold onto her!", everyone will assume there is a reason for that. This is why it is so dramatically important to treat a job during school as a big, long working interview. Calling off, being late, having trouble getting along with others, especially the nurses, being seen as lazy, disorganized or ineffective or just being invisible (not bad but not noticed as exceptional) are all things that can cost you dearly when it comes to getting hired for an RN position. Hopefully none of those apply to you, but if you have not asked your manager for a recommendation yet you need to before that interview. Without it you have pretty much no shot at getting hired. Your floor may not have an opening but others might. To get into one of them the people you work with now hold a big piece of the puzzle.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I noticed your screen name just now. If you have talked very much about CRNA goals it can hurt you. Nobody really wants to be a stepping stone to your greener pastures. They will want to see that you want to work on their floor and will be excited to.

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

Yes I'm well aware of the fact that I shouldn't talk about future career goals. Thank you though! I've done my research several times over. I find as much (or more) satisfaction in the "planning" stages as I do in the "doing" stages :)

I also have a strong work ethic and have never called in sick or arrive late. I love my current manager and the staff on that floor, but that type of nursing is very specific and not in line with my current goals. My manager will provide a reference for me, although no one has asked for a reference list yet. I also have one of the therapists who frequent our floor as reference & a professor. I thought that should be a nice, diverse list.

I'm also aware of the simple fact that there may not be a place for me, not because of ME per say, just due to simply not needing me anywhere. However, that won't change my feelings of dejection and rejection that I will certainly feel if they say "thanks, but no thanks" lol.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

It's a hard reality that even if you work somewhere, it's not a guarantee of employment once your an RN. I am seeing some of my classmates facing that reality, and they're not happy about it!

Good luck with your search!

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