I've been a nurse for 21+ years, was a "late entry" who went back to school when my kids started school. Been doing travel nursing for the last almost 2 1/2 years and enjoyed it as I was divorced within that time and it was an opportunity to try my wings and see what I'd missed.
Now I am considering relocating and settling down. I have a place in mind and have been looking for a job in the area. I've submitted resumes to both career sites and individual facilities, been called by recruiters, and had several interviews, but nothing has come of them. In one case, I was invited back at company expense for a second interview and was told I was their "leading candidate," then after that interview did not hear from them for a week. I finally e-mailed the first person who interviewed me, who would have been my direct supervisor, and 2 days(!) later received an e-mail back stating that they had decided I wasn't a "good fit" after all. (This after they had told me I was!) I got an official notice from their HR department the following week, which they didn't have enough class to have a human being sign. Last week I had an interview for a job I'd been recruited for and I haven't heard a thing from them either. In all cases I've sent the requisite thank-you notes, etc.
BUT...I am approaching what some might consider retirement age. I don't look it, I'm in excellent health, and I have a good attendance record. If it's come up at all (it only did once), I've assured prospective employers that I have no intention of retiring any time soon. You'd think with that, and my experience, and the nursing shortage, I could get somewhere. I am seriously thinking that there is ageism at work, and it looks like I'm doomed to finish out my career as a traveler. Discrimination on the basis of age is illegal, but you can't ever prove it.
