Delicate situation with ugly timing - juggle between interviews & references

[NurseOn]

Hello all,

I seek your wisdom as to what I should do in this situation. It has been one stressful challenge after another and things are looking muddier than ever. It's to the point where the answer might be on my forehead and I am oblivious to it. Anyway, my first thought to all of this is: I need a job.

1. Almost two months ago, I applied for unit A. I have successfully gone through the recruiter process and the unit A manager has emailed me to confirm an interview date (in a week). I have worked on this unit before. I have yet to confirm the interview date (but will have to very soon).

2. At a different hospital, I am awaiting a manager whom I am certain will contact me in a week to set up an interview. The hospital has requested an external reference company to collect references, including one from unit A manager. This hospital location is optimal for me. I would love to work on this unit but I am unsure if I will 100% land the job. I need a job.

Should I tell unit A manager that I may also get an interview for another location and will need her to be my reference? I do not want to come across as insincere however and lose the job.

Secondly, a possibility is that I can reject providing unit A manager's reference to the external reference company. However, if the interview is in a week's time.. at the end of it, if she does hire me, I would still have to explain my situation to her.

I'm at a loss between both units. I want to work at one more than the other because of the location. I will need to be honest one way or another but I am fairly inexperienced and unsure of how to approach this. Your guidance will be genuinely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I hope this post and its responses can help others as well.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Do you have to use Unit A manager as a reference?

[llg, PhD, RN]

Assuming that you need the reference from Unit A Manager ... I would just be honest about having applied to 2 jobs. In today's job market, applying for multiple jobs is usual. Just base you answer on the truth. Say that you need a job and have been looking at all reasonable possibilities you have seen advertised and hope to get at least 1 good job offer.

If asked, "What would do if offered both jobs?" say something like "Wow! I would be thrilled. From what I have heard about the job market, I would consider myself very lucky. I guess I would just have to weigh the pros and cons of each one and make that difficult decision. My memories of working here in the past are very positive ... and it would be nice to come back to work in a place I was already familiar with ... but I suppose the purpose of the whole interview/hiring process is for us both to re-assess and see if anything has changed and if the job is still a good fit." Be friendly and positive and convey that your interest in the other place is a normal, general interest arising out of your need to get a job somewhere and not being sure if your old job would be offered again.

Don't make a bigger deal about it than it needs to be. It's normal to apply for more than one job at a time. Most job applicants have more than 1 application out there. Experience Hiring Managers know that.

[NurseOn]

That is what was specifically requested of me though I feel like I do have the choice of declining and offering a different reference if I need to. Ultimately, I feel like unit A manager will know of my applications anyhow.

[NurseOn]

I needed this new perspective. It makes sense. Thank you