Question for Hiring Managers/Directors

[Southpawdown]

For those who are in positions to hire, I'm curious as to why there seems to be a lack of response to emails or call requesting an update post interview. I'm not talking about someone who calls 2 days later or multiple times, I'm referencing someone who interviews then follows up a week or two later but still receives no response. I get everyone is busy, things come up or a decision may not have been made or someone if off for the day/week. I also understand there may be some who are in positions to hire that don't feel they need to provide anything unless a job is offered but it seems more and more nurses, including myself, who are actively seeking positions, will spend hours (understandably so) interviewing/shadowing/sometimes second interviewing without learning the outcome and eventual realize, of course, the job isn't/wasn't going to be offered. I thought at first maybe it was just my experience or the area I live but after talking to a few other nurses, this seems to be the rule rather than exception. I am not looking to get bashed - I'm just seriously curious as to why this is the case or seems to be the case more often than not these days. Especially when, in some cases, a follow up or decision or way or the other, is promised.

[llg, PhD, RN]

It might be because they see their role as making the hiring decision -- and the Nurse Recruiter's Office role as interacting with the candidates before and after the interview. That's a very common way to divide up the responsibilities.

They may also fear that further interactions may lead them down a path of being harassed by the applicants whom they chose not to hire. Even worse, they may fear such a conversation leading to a lawsuit. So it gets punted back to the Nurse Recruiter, who is focused on scheduling the next batch of applicants for their interviews and on-boarding the ones chosen.

There are few things that make me more nervous than speaking with people I chose not to hire. I am always afraid of saying the wrong thing and causing trouble for myself down the road.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

This is common in all industries, not just nursing, unfortunately. I do find it amusing that some employers are now getting the same treatment from applicants they wanted to hire. Meaning, the applicant they have an offer for gets the offer, then disappears, never to be heard from again. They don't accept it, they don't reject it, they just ghost. It is starting to float both ways now.

[Southpawdown]

I understand the concern the hiring mangers and HR may have about applicants being pests, misunderstanding something they say etc. but by and large I don't think most who interview for a position are like this. I think most, myself included, are just asking for a courteous response given our time to interview/shadow etc is equally, though I know differently, as valuable as the person hiring. I do not understand the lack or seemingly lack of professionalism.To send an email stating "still interviewing" " position filled" whatever takes less than 10 secs. or the employers could have ways for an applicant to check their application weekly for updates but then again if they can't send an email or answer a voice message I guess updating things in the system wouldn't work either. It leaves a bad impression on the one who interviews of the potential employer. I know these days that probably doesn't matter to the potential employer since many are flooded with applicants. It's just the interview process and waiting are already so stressful or all involved, it seems some of that is a direct result of the lack of follow up.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

I interviewed for one particular job and I felt the interview went well. Then....crickets.

I agree, the professional thing for the recruiter to do is give a brief, truthful answer to someone who has interviewed and has an inquiry, and send a brief email to the an individual no longer in consideration for a job for which he/she interviewed. Obviously a lot of places don't function that way.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree that there should be some response after an interview -- even if it just a "form letter" saying either that the position has been filled by someone else, or that a decision has not yet been reached. Someone should be keeping the applicant posted periodically. But I can understand why the Hiring Manager isn't doing it. I believe it is the Nurse Recruiter's job to that -- or her secretary.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Our computer hiring system automatically sends out a generic email once the hiring manager codes the application "not interested". Those often end up in people's spam/junk folders, unfortunately.

[Quota, BSN, RN]

I'm a new grad still applying for jobs myself, first in person interview coming up on Monday. The hospital system I've mostly been applying to has an application tracking system: application received, application under review, interview, offer extended, hired, no longer under consideration. The majority of my applications have gone straight from received to no longer under consideration, a few have (still are) sat in app received for a long time. Guess I'll find out soon if this holds true after an interview, hopefully I'll move on to the offer stage.

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

I agree with this sentiment. I interviewed for a position about 6 weeks ago. I was an excellent fit and shadowed the unit for a good couple hours. I felt the interview went very well and was expecting a response, but since then I've heard nothing and I don't know if it means I am not considered or what. The reason is that this particular hospital have an HR portal and will update your application when it enters the next phase....either "offer accepted" or "not selected". This one just say "received" and doesn't change. The hiring nurse manager actually gave me her email and told me to call if I needed something so I waited 2 weeks and called her for an update and all she said was is that she's still interviewing and hasn't made a decision. So does that mean I'm still being considered? If I'm not selected I would expect the portal to be updated to reflect that. If I'm still in the running then why am I waiting 6 weeks later for some contact? I've never encountered this before. If she didn't want to hire me I would have expected her to let me know she hired someone else when I called. To keep someone waiting this long is really odd.

[JKL33]

I do find it amusing that some employers are now getting the same treatment from applicants they wanted to hire.

I was in a "captive audience" situation while one of the morning shows was on TV this summer and this is what was being discussed. I actually watched - pretty much in disbelief. It was like a mini-primer in corporate psychopathology.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

After an interview it's good to ask "When can I expect to hear back from you?"

[Libby1987]

If I love someone and want them on my team, despite our formal process managed by recruiting, they're going to hear from me thanking them for coming in, what a pleasure it was to meet them and hoping to speak again soon.

If they're an internal and not the right fit, then they're going to hear from me directly out of respect, our recruiting dept doesn't do those responses.

If they're an external that I don't wish to pursue, which is usually due to flags that went off in the in person interview, they're going to receive a response from my recruiter via email within a week. I don't contact them directly, and they wouldn't have been given my direct contact info, for reasons stated above.

My managers that report to me stick to the formal process and leave all responses either way to the recruiter.

Besides just believing it's the decent thing to do, we also do not want interviewees going out into the world saying we blew them off. Whether we have 100s of applicants or a hard to fill position, that's not who we are and not the reputation we want.

Those that do it differently, well I guess that's who they are.