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

[MiloRN]

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.

[Wuzzie]

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. :)

I expect that was a dig against me but what you don't seem to grasp is I'm trying to help keep you from digging yourself a giant hole. I'm sorry that this happened and I don't want a bad situation to be made worse for you.

[MiloRN]

I expect that was a dig against me but what you don't seem to grasp is I'm trying to help keep you from digging yourself a giant hole. I'm sorry that this happened and I don't want a bad situation to be made worse for you.

Thank you. If a mod could edit out the hospital, please do. I've only posted on this site once, am I able to edit it myself? I just wanted to share my experience to see if others had something similar happen or to try to figure out what went wrong. Now I have some ideas.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I didn't authorize a background check or anything (not that anything is on it anyways).

Doing that may have worked against you. A lot of facilities won't hire applicants without a background check.

If there's nothing in your background check to worry about, then there's no reason why you shouldn't authorize one to be performed--after all, you have nothing to hide. Whereas refusing to authorize that background check can give the (mistaken) impression that there might be something not-too-great on it that you don't want them to know.

Something to keep in mind for the future.

[MiloRN]

Doing that may have worked against you. A lot of facilities won't hire applicants without a background check.

If there's nothing in your background check to worry about, then there's no reason why you shouldn't authorize one to be performed--after all, you have nothing to hide. Whereas refusing to authorize that background check can give the (mistaken) impression that there might be something not-too-great on it that you don't want them to know.

Something to keep in mind for the future.

What I meant was that it never got to the point of me authorizing a background. I would have obviously authorized one, but HR didn't even inquire about it. So I just meant that I know that the background check wasn't the reason because they didn't attempt to do one or inquire about one. I tried to edit my original post to make that clear but I don't know how. I would have authorized a background check, I always have.

[Silly_Sally_RN]

I did get a call about an ICU postion in Fargo, ND 10 mins after this happened... but I don't wanna go from FL to ND! haha :) I guess beggers can't be choosers!

I would be cautious about even stating this. As Wuzzie said, hospitals have people who monitor the Internet, as well as not knowing where fellow AllNurses posters are from. It's a small world. This statement makes it sound like you would be settling for a position in North Dakota, and that attitude can be sensed by co-workers and managers.

No matter where you end up, even if it is North Dakota, look at it as an adventure. Look at the city's website, talk to the people you work with and find out what there is to do in the area. I was amazed at the things a nurse on my floor found going on in my city!

Good luck in your job search!

[MiloRN]

I would be cautious about even stating this. As Wuzzie said, hospitals have people who monitor the Internet, as well as not knowing where fellow AllNurses posters are from. It's a small world. This statement makes it sound like you would be settling for a position in North Dakota, and that attitude can be sensed by co-workers and managers.

No matter where you end up, even if it is North Dakota, look at it as an adventure. Look at the city's website, talk to the people you work with and find out what there is to do in the area. I was amazed at the things a nurse on my floor found going on in my city!

Good luck in your job search!

Sheesh, I can't do anything right lol. Thanks for the comment.

[AngelKissed857, BSN, RN]

If you posted your application on their website, they was probably lingo in there where you did consent to them checking references, etc. I actually had a similar experience last year, the recruiter was a jerk to me. I will tell you that it lead me to a much better position now that I am so happy in. I hope the same is true for you. This is one of those situations where you just gotta say, "It is what it is".

[ProperlySeasoned]

As a director, I have had a few times when HR blocked an applicant I was poised to hire. Among the reasons:

- Failed a background check (criminal, etc)

- University/training did not meet baseline accredidation standard for hospital system

- Candidate had the "wrong" degree for the position, according to broader HR polices

- Unable to come to consensus on compensation, or another detail of the contract/offer

- Bad reference

- Misrepresented self on resume (EG inflated title and responsibilities)

- Had discipline/stipulations on license, including those out of state (harder to find)

- postive toxicology screen

Be aware that the vast majority of the checking, which is expensive, happens after an offer has been made. That saves HR from having to dig into hundreds of applicants who will not be offered the job. As a director, I get to take the candidate at face value. HR needs to verify. More often, large hospital systems are outsourcing this function.

[MiloRN]

As a director, I have had a few times when HR blocked an applicant I was poised to hire. Among the reasons:

- Failed a background check (criminal, etc)

- University/training did not meet baseline accredidation standard for hospital system

- Candidate had the "wrong" degree for the position, according to broader HR polices

- Unable to come to consensus on compensation, or another detail of the contract/offer

- Bad reference

- Misrepresented self on resume (EG inflated title and responsibilities)

- Had discipline/stipulations on license, including those out of state (harder to find)

- postive toxicology screen

Be aware that the vast majority of the checking, which is expensive, happens after an offer has been made. That saves HR from having to dig into hundreds of applicants who will not be offered the job. As a director, I get to take the candidate at face value. HR needs to verify. More often, large hospital systems are outsourcing this function.

Thanks for your response!

I can't see any of those being the issue. They hadn't done any background check or tox and had all of my references back before offering an in person interview... but I guess I'll never know. Another recruiter from a different hospital did say this recruiter had just hired a bunch of new grads, maybe the position was given to one of them. That's the only thing I can think of. Bizarre if that's the case, to offer a position to a new grad vs someone with at least some experience.

Oh well, it wasn't meant to be.

Thanks again

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

Wow. Our human resource director doesn't have that much say in who gets hired for nursing positions. She isn't a nurse, and has no type of medical license/degree, so the decisions are left up to the individual managers. When we hire someone for nursing staff, they are sent to HR simply for the paperwork to be done, and that does include a background check, drug screen, etc., but HR doesn't make the hiring decisions.

[MiloRN]

Wow. Our human resource director doesn't have that much say in who gets hired for nursing positions. She isn't a nurse, and has no type of medical license/degree, so the decisions are left up to the individual managers. When we hire someone for nursing staff, they are sent to HR simply for the paperwork to be done, and that does include a background check, drug screen, etc., but HR doesn't make the hiring decisions.

I wouldn't think so either. I called all of my references who I have great relationships with and all of them said no one called them. All they had to do was an electronic email reference, and that was done before my in person interview. There was no background check done (or asked to be done), no references actually called. It still makes zero sense. The hiring manager even called HR herself and they wouldn't tell her why she couldn't hire me.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Wow. Our human resource director doesn't have that much say in who gets hired for nursing positions. She isn't a nurse, and has no type of medical license/degree, so the decisions are left up to the individual managers. When we hire someone for nursing staff, they are sent to HR simply for the paperwork to be done, and that does include a background check, drug screen, etc., but HR doesn't make the hiring decisions.

That's how it is with us as well. It's 100% the hiring manager's decision, with the exception of making sure the background check and licensure is in order.

I even had an applicant who was in a monitoring program for drug abuse, and while HR strongly discouraged me from moving forward with her application, the decision to do so was left totally up to me.