New Grad RN - Placeholder Position

[richards2015]

I was offered a new grad position and was told that I would be hired as a "placeholder" during orientation, then I would re-apply to the actual new grad program again once orientation was coming to an end. What are your experiences with this? Thanks in advance for your responses!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Never heard of such a thing.

[brownbook]

Never heard of such a thing.

I can't add anymore than that.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Sounds like you are runner up if one of the other new grads already hired does not pass muster.

I would accept but absolutely continue looking as if you do not have a job lined up, because basically.....you don't.

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

I was offered a new grad position and was told that I would be hired as a "placeholder" during orientation, then I would re-apply to the actual new grad program again once orientation was coming to an end.

A new grad program IS orientation. I'm not sure what this arrangement is, but you're well within your rights to request additional clarification from HR.

There are a lot of new grads that get hired without a new grad program. If you're offered a decent length orientation, this placeholder” thing might not be anything to get worked up over.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to a different forum

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

You definitely need to talk to your recruiter about what this means.

Because you have one poster here who thinks it means that you are holding the place until someone better comes along and then you have me, and I think the exact opposite.

My thought is that it means they want to offer you a position, but the new grad residency is not available yet, so they are giving you a job to do before it becomes available and thus securing you as an employee.

DEFINITELY ask your recruiter because we don't know squat.

[turtlesRcool]

Yes, reach out and get clarification as PP have suggested. When I was hired into my new grad program, it was with the largest cohort of new nurses my hospital has ever hired. We did our on boarding and classroom orientation weeks in waves and then started working with our preceptors on the floors. The trick was that we weren't hired to particular units. Once we finished orientation, we had to look to see which units had openings, and do internal applications to them. The places we oriented were not necessarily the floors where we ended up, and different openings were available depending on when we finished (some of the first to start finished several months before the last). I'm wondering if something like that is going on with your hospital. You are hired, but they will give you a permanent assignment after you finish orientation.

[~Shrek~]

Get clarification. I would not take a job where my job is unstable. To me, it sounds like you are a back-up and will take over if a hired person fails out of the program? What if no one fails out? How do you explain to other programs that you are applying to why you are leaving when you barely started a new job? How do you explain to programs if you didn't pass through the placeholder section?

Probation is a different thing, though. Most employers keep you on probation for 2-3 months to a year. Talk to your HR or whoever is in charge and find out what this means.