Hiring manager offered position, HR said no and won't tell me why.

Nurses General Nursing

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Im so confused and upset.

I've been a public health nurse for a year and 6 mos of cardiac pcu prior to that.

2 weeks ago I interviewed for a cardiac tele floor at ********, and it went wonderfully. The hiring manager gave me a tour of the entire unit and introduced me to almost every nurse. At the end of the tour/interview, she shook my hand and even gave me a hug and said, "Welcome to the team!"

She told me to wait and hear from the HR department. After almost 2 weeks of not hearing anything I gave the recruiter a call and she very rudely said that they would not be hiring me and that they hired another candidate instead. I explained how the manager that I interviewed with had offered me the position and that I was very confused and wondered if she could share what went wrong or why I was being denied the position (there were day and night positions available, btw). She said she couldn't say anything. Nothing about my references or what went wrong. Just that they weren't going to offer me the position, but could not tell me a single reason why. I called the hiring manager afterwards, since she had given me her cell phone number, and she could tell I was upset and said that she would call the recruiter herself because she really wanted to hire me but HR told her that she couldn't. She called me back about 5 mins later and told me that the recruiter said she couldn't tell her or myself why. I didn't authorize a background check or anything (not that anything is on it anyways). All of my references checked out because I called each and every one of them and all gave glowing references.

I'm so confused and upset. Has anyone else had an experience like this or have any feedback?

Happy nurses week to me. :(

Thank you for any input.

Oh well, it just seemed very unprofessional to me. I even applied for an apartment in the new city. That was money down the drain, I guess I just thought I had the position after the hiring manager said I did.

I think the thing that's making this seem like something went wrong is the fact that the manager basically spoke out of turn. If she had given you a more standard farewell after the interview ("We'll be making a decision in the next couple of weeks...") you wouldn't have heard back and if you called you simply would've been told that the position had been filled. It wouldn't seem so much like some big thing changed or went awry.

It's also possible that there isn't a great working relationship between this mgr and HR that is reflected in communications.

Or she's one of those people who takes every little bit of power very seriously.

What can you do. Don't let it drive you crazy.

Good luck with your job search.

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I think the thing that's making this seem like something went wrong is the fact that the manager basically spoke out of turn. If she had given you a more standard farewell after the interview ("We'll be making a decision in the next couple of weeks...") you wouldn't have heard back and if you called you simply would've been told that the position had been filled. It wouldn't seem so much like some big thing changed or went awry.

It's also possible that there isn't a great working relationship between this mgr and HR that is reflected in communications.

Or she's one of those people who takes every little bit of power very seriously.

What can you do. Don't let it drive you crazy.

Good luck with your job search.

That could very well be, you're right. It was just all so confusing/shocking and very disheartening. I wish I wouldn't have applied for a new apartment and spent a few hundred bucks on it haha. I guess it's my fault and I should have known better, but being a newer nurse, I did not.

It is what it is, like you said. It just seems my luck is not very good, hasn't been for as long as I can remember. Things like this always happen to me lol. But I'll keep pushing through. Thanks for your input! :)

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I wonder if one of your "good" references didn't have the nerve to be honest with you about their opinion(s). That's the only thing that makes sense to me as a possibility.

This is what happened to me. A manager promised a good reference and I found out he was doing the exact opposite, blacklisting me with future prospective employers. Whatever he said must have been very good, because at least one employer rescinded an offer after talking to him. So I had my attorney talk to his company, in writing.

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You might want to have the mods edit out the name of the hospital. It's a small world nursing and this thread might come back to bite you in the butt.

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You might want to have the mods edit out the name of the hospital. It's a small world nursing and this thread might come back to bite you in the butt.

How so? It's what happened í ¾í´·*♀️

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This is what happened to me. A manager promised a good reference and I found out he was doing the exact opposite, blacklisting me with future prospective employers. Whatever he said must have been very good, because at least one employer rescinded an offer after talking to him. So I had my attorney talk to his company, in writing.

How sad that someone would intentionally do that to you. I'm very sorry. Glad you got your attorney involved!

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Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

If you do have to relocate, you might have some luck in SC> The upstate has mountains, the low country has the ocean. :)

I'm realy sorry you had this happen. Sometimes HR just won't give a reason why. Best of luck in your continued search

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Unfortunately, it's common to see people plan around a verbal job offer but then are crushed when they never receive an official one...been there, done that, got the T-shirt as well. People--managers as well as applicants--forget that it's HR that calls the shots, and any legit job offer has to come from them.

There could be any number of reasons why you didn't get the job. But as as long as HR isn't discriminating against you based on a protected class, they haven't done anything illegal. It would be nice if they told you why you didn't get the job, but they also don't have to do that either. It isn't fair, but it is what it is.

I'm sorry this happened to you. But at least you now know for future job hunts that until you accept the job offer from HR, don't count on having the job.

Best of luck in your job search.

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How so? It's what happened ������*♀️

Because hospitals don't like to be talked about on social media. Because hospitals have people on staff whose JOB it is to scour the internet for any mention of their facility. Because most hospitals are now part of larger health care systems and speaking about one in a negative sense, albeit mildly, may torpedo your chances of getting hired into any of their associate hospitals. Because HR people talk to other HR people. Because nurse managers talk to other nurse managers. Because people have lost jobs over things they have posted on the net. Because you don't know if the involved people are already members of this site and you may have tanked your anonymity such as it is. It matters not if you are just telling the truth if the hospital you are speaking of does not appreciate it. But, hey, if you want to take that risk who am I to try to convince you otherwise? Best wishes on your job search.

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Unfortunately, it's common to see people plan around a verbal job offer but then are crushed when they never receive an official one...been there, done that, got the T-shirt as well. People--managers as well as applicants--forget that it's HR that calls the shots, and any legit job offer has to come from them.

There could be any number of reasons why you didn't get the job. But as as long as HR isn't discriminating against you based on a protected class, they haven't done anything illegal. It would be nice if they told you why you didn't get the job, but they also don't have to do that either. It isn't fair, but it is what it is.

I'm sorry this happened to you. But at least you now know for future job hunts that until you accept the job offer from HR, don't count on having the job.

Best of luck in your job search.

Thank you for your kind response ! I really appreciate that. Already feel pretty crappy about the situation and I appreciate those of you who have kind and encouraging words, rather than not. :)

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If you do have to relocate, you might have some luck in SC> The upstate has mountains, the low country has the ocean. :)

I'm realy sorry you had this happen. Sometimes HR just won't give a reason why. Best of luck in your continued search

Thanks so much for your advice! I will definitely look into it :)

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Specializes in Pedi.
How sad that someone would intentionally do that to you. I'm very sorry. Glad you got your attorney involved!

The nursing world is SMALL. I've been a nurse for 11 years. In my current job, I have patients that I have known in some way or another from each of my last 3 jobs. I have only 28 patients- 1 who I remember taking care of back when I worked in the hospital, MANY who are on service with the nursing agency I used to work for and several who are on service with my last company for either infusion or enteral services.

You specifically named the hospital/location. The manager who informally offered you the position only to have HR block it could be on this site. You generally want to stay as anonymous as possible on here.

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