Accreditation and interview (any recruiter's input?)

[KungFuFtr]

I've searched other posts on accreditation; however, none fit my situation.

I've been an RN for almost 2 years. I applied and have an interview in the near future. I re-read the job description and I more than meet the expectations for the job. Unfortunately, the description also reads "graduate of an accredited school of nursing".

It turns out the school I graduated from wasn't accredited.

Does this really matter? I have an RN license...heck, I have two of them, lol. It's not like I'm a brand new grad. Should I disclose this in the interview? I don't want to be dishonest nor do I want to disqualify myself from a potential job. Seriously, is a non accredited degree a dis-qualifier?

[elkpark]

Well, it matters if the employer says it matters ... They can choose to only hire grads of accredited programs, and some employers do.

I don't know if it's a matter of "disclosing" it -- they're going to find out, anyway. You might as well be honest with them up front. If it were me, I'd be inclined to contact the employer, tell them I just reread the posting and noticed the "accredited only" mention for the first time, and ask whether they still want me to come for the interview. There's no point in wasting their and your time if they are hard-line about this (and you can't change the accreditation status of your school at this point :)), and I'm sure they'd appreciate your honesty and consideration -- it might get you a second look. If I were the interviewer, I'd be seriously annoyed (at least! :)) if someone scheduled my time for an interview when s/he didn't meet the qualifications listed in the posting, and feel like s/he scheduled the interview under false pretenses.

This is why all those other threads about accreditation talk about how many of us think it's hard to justify attending a unaccredited program -- you never know when it's suddenly going to matter, throughout your career.

Good luck with the situation -- I hope it works out for you!

[netglow, ASN, RN]

IDK.

You have been hired with such in the past, can I assume?

There is nothing you can do to fix it now. Faced with needing a job, what can you do? You do have your school listed on your resume. I think if the employer wants to check you out thoroughly they will/should. That is up to them, as the requirements for the job are things they are looking for in an applicant and it is totally up to them to decide which things they deem necessary. They can take you or leave you. I, of course understand why it is important to go to an accredited school and was careful to double check that mine was. However employers routinely change their "wish list" for applicants on less than a whim, and some for example, even "facilitate" the hiring of certain groups of workers (that is another thread). I don't agree with the last action, but it's been going on for years in some places. Not a thing I can do about it.