Confusion over employment process

[eyepenny]

Hello, all! I've been a lurker on here forever- decided to finally get an account.

I'm not a current new grad, but I'm not sure where else to post this. I will be graduating in January 2009. I recently applied to my dream hospital, had an interview with the nurse recruiter, then another interview with the nurse manager, and finally.. I got a call back from the nurse recruiter with a verbal job offer. I accepted. We set my start date at February 23rd and she told me to call back Feb 1st for all the preemployment stuff.

Now I'm a little worried.. she did not say anything about sending me anything in writing and did not ask me to come in to sign anything. Should I feel confident that my job is secured? I asked her to confirm that this was guaranteed, and she said, "Yes. I'm giving you a job offer."

I'm not sure how the whole hiring process goes, especially since I will be unable to work for the next 5 months. Does this sound routine to have only a verbal job offer until you graduate? Should I ask for something in writing?

Thanks so much!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I think your concern is very reasonable. I would not consider a job offer "secure" until I had something in writing. In fact, I have insisted on something in writing in the past before quitting my previous job, moving to another town, etc.

Call the Nurse Recuiter back and explain that you are thrilled with their job offer, but that you need something in writing to feel secure enough to stop pursuing other options. Explain that you fear they may leave their jobs and that their replacements may not honor previous undocumented job offers. If that doesn't get you anywhere, pursue it with the manager who hired you. Again, emphasize that you are thrilled about the offer and eager to work there -- but that you fear that changes in personnel or hiring conditions may put you in jeopardy of being jobless after graduation unless the offer and its acceptance is in writing.

If they are reasonable people, they should understand that. If they can't help you in some way ... then that should alert you to some potential problems in the way they treat their employees. If they are not considerate of your reasonable request as they are recruiting you, how well will they treat you after they already have you?

But be prepared ... if they provide you with a firm, written job offer -- they may require you to give them a firm written acceptance with some penalty included if you change your mind.

[eyepenny]

Thank you for your response!

Do you think it's appropriate to send her an email regarding this? She is very hard to get in contact with via the phone.

[Hands and Heart]

I also secured a position four months before graduation on a verbal offer. The nurse manager was so excited to offer me the position that she took me down to HR directly after my interview, which was a couple of weeks before I actually accepted the position. I, too, had no written offer but felt very secure with ths situation. I received all my written information when I did my preemployment physical/paperwork. If the lack of a written offer scares you, definitely voice your concerns to the recruiter or nurse manager as llg has said. That is excellent advice. I believe a phone call or personal visit would do better than an email so that you can effectively convey your feelings, ask and answer questions, and get immediate feedback. Good luck.

[Melinurse]

Thank you for your response!

Do you think it's appropriate to send her an email regarding this? She is very hard to get in contact with via the phone.

Yes. As long as you have spoken with HR previously and have an accepted job offer it should be fine. Just make sure it looks professional & buisness-like. Way to go. Congradulations!