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?
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I agree with you, but the OP did ask for feedback/input. Most of theories put forward here about what happen don't point to the OP doing anything wrong. That might not make him/her feel any better about it, but, the point is, it likely is not the OP's fault.
This may sound mean, but I don't intend it to be mean...if you don't want these theories about what might have happened, then a public internet chat form is probably not the best place to come looking for input.
I just meant that people keep saying that something must have come back from a reference check, and she has repeatedly said that they didn't do a reference check. That is what I mean by frustrating.
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.
Check your references by pretending to be a potential employer.
You might want to see if the Director of HR can enlighten you, even if the Recruiter can't or won't.
Is everything in order with your work history? your credit report? your license? Is your hair purple? Do you have a nose ring, tattoos an employer might not appreciate, or any other obvious things of this nature? Did you pass the background test to be able to work with children, seniors, or other vulnerable population?
I have filled out references through e-mail for people before and were never contacted by phone. A lot of companies are doing this now. So just because your references weren't called doesn't mean they weren't contacted and gave information on you.
This may seem like a crazy question but did your references know you were going to be using them as references? I had someone put me as a refrence once and never told me. Had they told me, I would have told them to find someone else. When HR called me, I gave my honest opinion of the person in the nicest way possible. I didn't have a lot of good things to say about the person. They were lazy, not a team player, and called in all the time. I had to tell the recruiter that.
I have filled out references through e-mail for people before and were never contacted by phone. A lot of companies are doing this now. So just because your references weren't called doesn't mean they weren't contacted and gave information on you.
This may seem like a crazy question but did your references know you were going to be using them as references? I had someone put me as a refrence once and never told me. Had they told me, I would have told them to find someone else. When HR called me, I gave my honest opinion of the person in the nicest way possible. I didn't have a lot of good things to say about the person. They were lazy, not a team player, and called in all the time. I had to tell the recruiter that.
I was under the impression that bad mouthing a previous employee was illegal? Maybe I'm wrong...
Yes I told my references and I know it wasn't any of them. I am close with all of them.
Once you find the turd, well, you'll know what to do. IMHO I'd go 5:2 there's a big sneaky stinky in the reference bowl. Welcome the nursing!
I can attest to this-hypothetically as it can't be proven. Never ever had issues getting interviews and offers my whole career. Then a few years ago I was striking out after being interviewed, three times as a matter of fact. I had a former manager as a reference that I kinda had a suspicion might be somewhat passive-aggressive. I took her off the reference bank and had two more interviews complete with offers. Coincidence? Perhaps.
P.S., not thinking this is applicable to the OP seems like she had good references.
I was under the impression that bad mouthing a previous employee was illegal? Maybe I'm wrong...
Yes I told my references and I know it wasn't any of them. I am close with all of them.
It is not illegal to give an honest opinion of a former co-worker. This person was not my boss and was not my employee. (And bad mouthing an employee may be poor form, but it is not illegal)
Had this person asked me to be a reference, I would have told them no and told them why. I answered the questions that were asked of me in a polite way.
This seems a little off to me. I feel like if it were your references they would tell you. Also, since when does HR have a say in who the nurse manager hires if everything checks out ok?
I was under the impression that bad mouthing a previous employee was illegal? Maybe I'm wrong...
Yes I told my references and I know it wasn't any of them. I am close with all of them.
You can say anything you please when giving a reference for someone, as long as it is true. The law doesn't address employment references, in particular, but there are laws against defamation. Of course, in order for something to be considered defamation, it has to be false. It is in no way illegal for a past employer to say "this person was fired d/t repeated call outs and coming in late on days when she chose to show up" if that's what happened. Why would the law be interested in protecting bad employees from bad references?
You can say anything you please when giving a reference for someone, as long as it is true. The law doesn't address employment references, in particular, but there are laws against defamation. Of course, in order for something to be considered defamation, it has to be false. It is in no way illegal for a past employer to say "this person was fired d/t repeated call outs and coming in late on days when she chose to show up" if that's what happened. Why would the law be interested in protecting bad employees from bad references?
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
As in bordering Indiana? I'm in Chicago and willing to relocate. Do hospitals in that area hire ASNs going to school for BSN?
Kalamazoo County, Calhoun County, Van Buren County. Yep!
You have six years from date of hire to obtain your BSN, and they pay a little bit towards tuition reimbursement, too.
We've got five grad nurses starting this summer just in my unit alone (37 beds) and we have more people planning on moving on to other jobs/relocating, too. We have four agency nurses right now covering holes in the schedule.
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
I just meant that people keep saying that something must have come back from a reference check, and she has repeatedly said that they didn't do a reference check. That is what I mean by frustrating.