got yelled at today- for volunteering

silverbells_star · Apr 2, 2010

I'm a volunteer coordinator for a health care organization and while I probably wouldn't have been so honest with you as that coordinator was, I would be annoyed too. Basically you are only going to volunteer until you get a job there which means she is going to spend lots of time training you and spend money on you (my office you need background check and TB test) and then in a short amount of time you will be gone and she will have to go recruit someone else and start the process all over again. However this is not abnormal, I get lots of people who are only volunteering to get something completed, either service hours for a class, gain a specific skill or improve a resume, and then they are gone. I've come to accept that it's just the nature of a volunteer program. I agree with her though, actively soliciting for a job while on the tour is rude and implies that you really don't care about volunteering.

Blackheartednurse · Apr 2, 2010

I'm sorry but the lady you described is a jealous idiot~

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Apr 2, 2010

While I do agree that volunteering CAN be a good way to get your foot the door at a hospital, I don't think that while getting your tour is the appropriate time to ask so many questions about what units are hiring new grads, how they treat their employees, etc. That says to the employees that you really don't care about volunteering for them one bit. I don't blame them for getting upset, really, although they could have responded better.

YOU know your reason for volunteering, but you don't want to advertise it that blatantly. It's off-putting, and looks selfish, which is the exact opposite of the concept of volunteering, KWIM? Asking so many questions also implies that you assume that they both would and SHOULD hire you, if you grace them with your volunteer hours. Rather than spending your orientation finding out what you could do to help them, you were finding out what they could do to help YOU.

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Apr 2, 2010

And yes, you were soliciting for a job, pretty much. You were asking which units were or would hire new grads, so that you could volunteer on those units. You asked about working conditions on those units. The only thing you didn't do was hand them a resume, it seems like.

Blackheartednurse, how was the volunteer coordinator a "jealous idiot?" Jealous of what?

juliaann · Apr 2, 2010

I'm sorry but the lady you described is a jealous idiot~

How do you get that the volunteer coordinator is jealous from the OP's post? I'm not seeing it...

Blackheartednurse · Apr 2, 2010

And yes, you were soliciting for a job, pretty much. You were asking which units were or would hire new grads, so that you could volunteer on those units. You asked about working conditions on those units. The only thing you didn't do was hand them a resume, it seems like.
Blackheartednurse, how was the volunteer coordinator a "jealous idiot?" Jealous of what?

There is not wrong with volunteering to get your foot in the door,that is perfectly understandable,I'm tired of mother theresa judging others on why they decided it to joint their volunteer team,she is there,doing it for free seriously why would anyone care that is she chatting with people and try to get a feel of what the place is like..Are we all mother theresa who decided to join nursing?

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Apr 2, 2010

There is not wrong with volunteering to get your foot in the door,that is perfectly understandable,I'm tired of mother theresa judging others on why they decided it to joint their volunteer team,she is there,doing it for free seriously why would anyone care that is she chatting with people and try to get a feel of what the place is like..Are we all mother theresa who decided to join nursing?

I never said it was wrong to volunteer as a means to get your foot in the door somewhere, and I don't think anyone else would, either. What's wrong is using your time with the volunteer cooridinator, when you should be learning what your duties would be and learning your way around the facility in the capacity of a volunteer, to talk to the nurses on the units to find out who is hiring so you can most conveniently position yourself.

It's still not "jealous." ?

netglow, ASN, RN · Apr 2, 2010

Well, OP I guess I feel that there was just a little too much a hissy fit about you too. Sounds like you got entry into one of Obamas parties uninvited :lol2:

Really, if there was no questionnaire asking if you are a licensed professional... then, it's on them for being unprepared/naive.

About getting to hear the staff's impressions of the hospital "ruining" their... what... scam?, well :lol2: good for you then, be sure to share with all your NG friends!!!

Emergency RN · Apr 2, 2010

So i'm a new grad and I've been trying to find ways to find a job in this tough market. I've been very interested in this particular hospital for a long time so I thought why not volunteer there. I've been trying to "get my foot in the door" somehow by volunteering and possibly try to network from there, and eventually see if this organization is for me. do you agree with me?
So today I did my tour around the hospital. I ended at chatting with charge nurses, CNAs, asking them how they like it here. Letting them know I might volunteer on their unit, and if they normally see new grads around here being hired. So I got a lot of good info on which unit was hiring and which isn't, how the employees are being treated, getting a general feel on the unit. I thought it was important to find out and work on a unit that does hire- before I commit myself to hundred+ hours of service.
I was excited to find out that one of the unit is a potential new grad friendly unit and it was the field I was aiming for, so I told the volunteer coordinator I wanted that specific unit. she was so curious as to why I wanted that particular floor. I already let her know that I was there because I'm interested in knowing more about the organization and see if its a great fit for a future career. She asked if I am a licensed and I told her yes. She blew up at me instantly and told me I shouldn't be there to solicit jobs?...?! She said I made her feel super uncomfortable i'm being so aggressive and i'm not being there to volunteer, rather than to find a job. arg!
if any of you new grads out there know how hard it is to find a job, and getting a connection within the hospital or "foot in the door" is probably the best way to go. I've had so many people telling me that the way they got the job is being aggressive and just showing up on the unit with a resume. That would be soliciting, but i'm probably not going to do that. I"m not quite sure if I agreed to her but I ended up "apologizing", and she even said " i would kick you out if I know you're here to look for a job". (my god) and that i'm "crossing the line, because i'm chatting with then nurses already". ***
Shouldn't the volunteer lady be even more willing to find you a placement that is fitting and understand that people come here to also volunteer to see if its a fitting organization for future job potential? I guess she was ****** off that I wasn't doing this for the greatness of my heart and to give back to the community. If i'm here because i'm interested in a possibly career with that organization... Isn't that legit enough?!
I'm trying my best to survive as a new grad (as if thats not hard enough), people like her really discourage me in taking the initiative to network.

No, you did not get yelled at for volunteering, but rather you were yelled at for misrepresentation. Some might even label it as fraud. Your primary purpose for your contact was to look for a job, yet you initiated your relationship with the institution under the pretext of volunteering. Let me ask you; how long did you intend to "volunteer?"

What you have failed to see is that in your attempt to better your own personal chances for employment, you used the volunteer offices' time and resources in interviewing and orientation, when you really had no genuine intention to volunteer at all. While you may not seem to think so, the volunteer office in most institutions is staffed by very dedicated and caring individuals, who generously donate their personal time and perform invaluable support services such as patient libraries, flower or gift delivery, and even patient transport. Some of those volunteers can be a harried nurses' best friend. :up:

I'm sorry, but what you did was not something benign. It was a pointedly selfish act dressed up in the guise of selflessness; perhaps that was the most galling part of it. :down:

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Apr 2, 2010

What else amazes me, OP, and I have to say this and then I can leave it alone, is the title of this thread, even. "got yelled at today-for volunteering" You didn't get YELLED AT FOR VOLUNTEERING. You got yelled at for taking advantage of a volunteer program as a means to get an "inside look" at the different units in this hospital. Your last sentence, then, is that this *nutbag* volunteer coordinator has "discouraged" you from taking the initiative to network? You totally took advantage of a situation, and of her time and position, and that's not fair. She had every right to be ticked off. If you wanted to network, get a volunteer position FIRST, and THEN go ahead and network your little heart out, WHILE you do your volunteer work. That would be an appropriate use of your time and position as a volunteer. The coordinator has a tough job. One being likely, never enough volunteers, and not enough people capable of doing even the simplest of things that need being done.

I don't know why this burns me up so much. Maybe I need a glass of wine or something. :) In truth, though, I think you might have shot yourself in the foot in getting a job there, though. Maybe not, but it's possible.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Apr 2, 2010

I don’t see anything wrong with what you did. Like any other volunteer position, I am sure you filled out an application. In that application, I am sure your educational background was requested. If I was a volunteer coordinator and seen on your application that you were a new grad, it would be clear to me your purpose for volunteering. While yes volunteers undergo background checks and TB tests, the hospital isn’t out any additional money if the volunteer is fire full time. So, that isn’t even a valid argument. No one volunteers their time at a facility for the rest of his/her life. It’s not even practical to think such nonsense. From a cost standpoint, wouldn’t it be better to pay to train a volunteer and conduct background checks and a TB test to see if the person likes the organization rather than spending about 8 times that amount on a nurse only to have her/him leave because the organization isn’t a good fit?

I wouldn’t worry about if the volunteer coordinator got upset at you. I would continue volunteering according to policy and procedure. However, if I was on the floor, I would still continue to network. It’s not your fault that the coordinator didn’t look at your application and put two and two together.