Denied a job, what would you do?

[jpdlii]

I work in a med/surg neuro floor. I have been working there for 6 years. I recently applied for a charge nurse position. There were four candidates. I have my MSN, a member of American Association for Neuroscience Nurse. I will be sitting for my certification as a neuroscience nurse in July. I am a teacher at a local college two days a week. I have been doing relief charge nurse for the past 4-5 years on the unit. I have also volunteered my time with the American Cancer Society and Epilepsy Foundation. I am also part of the EHR team, where at least once a month I train travel nurses on the use of our EHR. The manager for the unit hired two nurses for the position. Both nurses only have their bachelor's degree. One has a license that is under probation, and he has only done the charge position one time. He has been working on the floor for approximately 3 years. I feel like the hiring process was unfair. I had a great interview, the manager even said that I had a great interview when she gave me the bad news. I really feel unfairly treated and discriminated against. What would you do?

[VivaLaVespaGirl, BSN, MSN]

I would follow up with the hiring manager via email. Ask questions like "Is there anything I can do to enhance or improve my interview style" or "were there certain qualifications or characteristics you were specifically looking for that I can work on developing"?

[OCRN3]

Wow! Maybe you were over qualified and they didn't have the budget to pay you. I think that they probably are going to pay the other nurses less.

[jpdlii]

I sent an email requesting info, but haven't received a response yet. It's been three days. And as far as pay, they actually had to give them a bigger raise to get them to the appropriate pay grade. I would have received less of a raise.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Perhaps you did have a great interview, but there is more in play here than you know about. Scheduling an appointment with that hiring manager and asking questions such as VivaGirl suggested might clear it up for you. While I realize an MSN is valuable, the fact that the other two had "only their bachelors" might not be an issue: charge nurses typically don't require a Master's education in order to succeed. Their education was probably just fine; yours being higher might not have been worth extra in this situation.

[VANurse2010]

That's odd. You seem overqualified for that job in the first place.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Are they following the "hire externally" from the dept route? Do they have to give other internal candidates a shot along with looking at length of service to the company (not necessary floor or length of time as RN?)

[jpdlii]

They only allowed candidates that worked on the floor to apply. So all of us worked on the unit. I have worked there the longest and have been a relief charge nurse for 4 years. One candidate has only done charge a couple of times, the other has been doing it for about a year. We were all hired as new grads to the unit.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Hey, waitaminnit. I'm thinking that there is something else in the works they're saving you for-- perhaps a unit mgmt or educator position that hasn't been opened yet. Unless you have had previous hints that for some reason they think you'd be a poor shift charge nurse, I'm not willing to think you've been "discriminated against."

Hold your fire. Don't give them any reason to rethink this possibility. Be cool, be professional, go about your business.

In any case, there's no "discrimination" involved in this. It's not a term you can invoke when you think you were passed over for inscrutable reasons. "Intelligent" and "experienced" are not protected classes. :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Oh, and you were not "denied a job." You were just not the one they hired. Big conceptual difference, and determinative legal difference. :)

[caliotter3]

Maybe it is a little nudge to get you thinking about finding a job with a new employer? Sounds as if you might have nowhere to go with this one, but hopefully, it will turn into a bigger and better position in the works. Hope it is the latter option for you.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

You look like a great candidate on paper, but when I read the part of your post that said " the other two nurses only had BSNs", makes me think you think you are inferior because of higher degree certs. I would not want a charge nurse like this working with me. I rather have an only BSN nurse who is great at his/her job and does not think they are better than me.

Just my two cents....