Contacting hospital employees

[remotefuse]

Is it possible to find out who is working at a hospital? this is not going to be for a while, but I plan on physically mailing my resume to hiring managers in a variety of hospitals, and instead of just mailing it to the hospital, I want to be able to mail it to someone there specifically. Is this possible? Do they usually have directories? How can I find the name of the person doing the hiring?

or are there just a ton of privacy issues there and that information usually isn't available

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

You can see what you can glean from their website, or join LinkedIn and search by the organization.

of course, networking works better to get your resume forwarded. Cold resume submissions may not get much attention.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Employment practices at most hospitals are highly regulated - and controlled by HR. They are inundated with applications and clinical managers simply do not have the time or expertise to deal with sorting them out. Chances are, your 'direct mail' campaign will not be successful. Instead, I would recommend that you contact those HR departments and find out what opportunities and programs are available (e.g, career fairs, new grad programs, PCT jobs, etc). Then, make sure you participate in everything.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I agree with the others: you may not find this technique as effective as it used to be, given the glut of nurses/new grads out there looking for work. Depending on HR's hiring policies, this may even alienate TPTB in the facility, especially if they require applicants to apply only through HR. So if you decide to do this, understand that it does carry risk.

Ways you can find out who works where:

1. Look on the company's website

2. Look on LinkedIn

3. Look on other social media (Facebook, Twitter)

4. If you know someone who already works there, ask them to look up the names for you

5. Last but not least...try calling the units you are interested in, and asking who is in charge.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I have been told by more than one manager that they do not even look at resumes submitted outside the website on-line app process.

[Asystole RN]

Call the main hospital number and ask the operator. I am amazed at how many people overlook the operator, they know EVERYTHING.

[SnowShoeRN]

I 2nd what a few people have said about how mailing out resumes is much less effective than it's been in the past. Usually you do end up going through HR at some point along the process, like it or not. But if you do go the mailing-resumes-out route, make sure you have great cover letters and are very diligent about following up to make sure they were read and to find out if anyone has any questions for you. If they tell you they aren't hiring, you could also ask if they know places who are hiring, if they know of any job fairs, or if they offer classes like BLS or Reiki (whatever you're into) to the community. That can be a great way to meet nurse educators and other people who work there. You can also ask for informational interviews where you meet people just to kinda pick their brains and find out about their job and the organization. I've done this a couple of times and did it once for a cardiac floor where I really wanted to work. They didn't have openings at the time, but I went and met the manager and sat down with her. I ended up working on another floor for about a year and a half, but still kept in touch with the manager and when push came to shove and spots opened up, I was the one she picked. It's frustrating, but networking really is the way to go.

Best of luck on your job hunt! :)

[elkpark]

My last couple employers, over the last 6-7 years, have worked with an on-line application ONLY system; a paper resume'/CV gets tossed in the trash. You have to go through their official HR website application.