Advice on Interviewing

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2018

I don't bring up the contract until well into the interview if not even until the end. This gives me time to decide if I even want the the job. To me, that time is as much about me deciding if I want them as the other way around. The is some of why my personal choice is to not work. I refuse to go begging for a job. I also realize not everyone has that option.

As far as why you are in monitoring, I don't think the unglamorous details are really anyone's business. Unless the specific details are relevant to the position, (Example: you have a narcotic restriction and will need accommodation for that) you are not required to tell the whole story and anyone who presses you for those kind of details is just digging for gossip. As least in my state, should you get the position, your immediate supervisor has a chitchat with your case manager (I will not express my opinion on why we are not included in that conversation, but nevermind, another rant for another time) so whatever they need to know is disclosed then.

One thought is that substance abuse does qualify under the ADA (current drug use does not) In not so many words....this does not mean that an employer has to hire you but that quizzing you about it (besides being pretty tasteless) may border into ADA violations. Not being a lawyer (and the fact that TOS says no go on legal advice, you'd have to clarify that elsewhere) I would just stick with it being incredibly crude for anyone to press you on details of what got you into monitoring.

Usually just getting past the gauntlet of HR is the worst part. Do not put anything about the contract on the application or the cover letter. The only blip should be if you have to answer the "has your license ever been disciplined...blah, blah questions. I've had to answer that and gotten interviews and no one ever said boo about what I answered. Unless the place is big enough to have nurse recruiters, they have no clue what contracts are.

I will say, it seems that facilities that hire nurses with contracts seem to come in two flavors....very supportive and understanding. Or frightening ****hole that if you are misfortunate enough to land in, you start looking for an out on day one. There is always the dialysis, psych jobs that tend to be contract friendly. My experience (or maybe due to lack of) I found dialysis nearly impossible to get into). My personal recommendation is that if you are not desperate to get a nursing job immediately (I was) try to be a little discerning. Don't jump at the first offer you get (I did) without researching it (I did not).

Hold your head up, be the professional that you are and know that You ARE NOT wearing a scarlet letter, no matter how much you may feel like it.

Recovering_RN · Feb 25, 2018

I agree with cats, the only people who ever asked me details about why I was in TPAPN were interviewers who knew me personally from previous jobs. Really makes me angry now, knowing it was just digging for gossip! Humiliating experience! Now, if asked, I'd say "I was on pain medication and after awhile I needed help getting off of it. I couldn't do it on my own".

I was rejected for many many jobs after disclosing the monitoring at the end of the interview, so in the end, I finally started disclosing up front, on the phone when scheduling the interview. NOT if it was HR doing the phone call though, they'd just reject you without knowing anything about monitoring. But the job I finally landed, I was lucky enough that the hiring manager was the one who called to schedule the interview and I just said "I really want this job, it sounds like such a great opportunity, but I don't want to waste your time: I'm in TPAPN. Is that something you can work with?" After a few explanations about how it would impact her and my ability to do the job, and a second phone call to check with upper management, I got the interview and the job.

Although most people wait until the interviewer really wants you, when the interview is about done, and some wait until an offer has been made, I feel like that's sort of a bait & switch feel to it, and I was tired of the stress of when and how to make the big reveal, so I just started doing it up front. That way I wasn't wasting my time or theirs having interviews that weren't going to go anywhere.

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2018

I do agree with the not waiting until you get the job offer because that does sound like a bait and switch. I also had "the perfect job" complete with salary offer signed and benifits info in the email (it was a weekend) when I brought up the contract (the stips of the contract had nothing to do with the job as it was a 9-5 desk job with supervisor in next office) on Monday. Never seen a job offer rescinded so fast. Made my head spin.....

I know I generally interview pretty well but this whole experience has, I feel put a dent in my interviewing skills, hence the feeling that I am damaged goods and begging for a job. When I finally reenter the job market, that is something I am going to have to work on so I reckon I will be in the same place that you are now. Many others have come before us and done okay so it is possible....

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Feb 25, 2018

Listen if you love being a nurse be a nurse. I don't care about the particulars of what got you in the monitoring program. You paid your dues and surrendered enough of your pound of flesh to be allowed to go back to nursing. From what I've seen there are two types of employers out there those that hire nurses in monitoring programs and those that don't. The fact that you are in a monitoring program will come out. You will have to reveal it to both you employer and your case manager eventually. You choose when based on how you feel and your read of the situation. Employers that hire nurses on monitoring contracts that I've seen are primarily in long term care and dialysis in my area. In fact one dialysis clinic got into some trouble because all the nurses there were in a monitoring program and in my state we aren't supposed to take charge. On the other hand we have employers (large hospitals) that will only take nurses in monitoring programs for hard to fill positions (weekend programs on floors nobody wants to work on) and some won't hire them at all. These are all policy decisions that you can't change. What you can do is keep looking, keep applying and get a job in nursing which may lead you to a better job. The whole putting your life back together thing after being in monitoring is a slow, painful process but like some smart guy said "the longest journey begins with a single step..." Good Luck!!!