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Discussion

Ready to throw in the towel

I am a nurse who has just moved to Houston late September with my (now) husband. I have 10 years of nursing experience, 9 in my specialty (neonatal intensive care) AND a master's degree in neonatal nursing as well as my permanent TX RN license and excellent references. I have been applying for nursing jobs since July and have applied for at least 15 jobs (probably more)...I am so frustrated! Every single application comes with another set of bs things to do, copy and paste your resume and then type all of the same info into your application, take another odd behavioral test or personality questionaire (I would never choose to blow up an airplane full of people, nor would I choose to torture people EVER, why do I have to pick one over the other, and what the heck does that have to do with babies?) I did not get a single response to any of my applications until I actually physically moved to TX. HR people have left messages for me, which I promptly return (as in minutes after they called), and then called back every few days, never to hear from them again. Most recently I had an HR person call (after my 4th application...different postings, same position) who was so excited about my qualifications she wanted me to come in the next day for a face to face interview...which I couldn't do because I had an early morning flight. She said someone would call me to schedule an interview when I got back, which was 2 weeks ago. I've called and left messages for this HR person, guess what? NO CALL BACK! I've had telephone interviewers that never call or call HOURS late. To top it all off, my husband is really pushing me to get a job and that in itself is stressing me out! :mad:

Anybody out there have any words of wisdom, encouragement, or support for me?

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    • Featured Replies

    Have you checked your GroupOne report?? :(

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    • Experts

    There's a glut of too many nurses in the Houston metro area. In order to get a job, you are going to have to accommodate the recruiters, nurse managers, and HR personnel because they will not work around your needs or accommodate you. Due to this terrible economic situation, the nursing job market is worse than it was five or ten years ago.

    The HR person who wanted to meet you the very next day for an interview was not going to wait until you came back from your flight because (s)he probably had hundreds of online applications in the computer from desperate nurses who would eagerly drop what they were doing for a next-day interview. In addition, 15 job applications since the summer is not very many. I would repeatedly apply to the same facilities on a weekly basis.

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    Houston hospitals do not use Group One. Totally agree with TheCommuter re: need to accommodate recruiters & hiring managers.

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    Don't schedule interviews too far in advance either... I did this a few months ago, I scheduled it one week in advance because I was working and couldn't get time off, and the day before my actual interview I was called, interview canceled, and told all of the positions where filled.

    It is a TOUGH market here, with many applicants for few positions.

    Also, I SERIOUSLY believe that recruiters do not look through the hundreds of resumes they receive. I am honestly amazed I got the job I have now because I have heard many people that applied to this unit with a lot more experience than me and were not even called for an interview.

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    The way recruiters and HR are treating candidates is ridiculous!!! To give you less than 24hr notice for a interview is unreasonable and then not call you back is slap in the face.

    Yes there are plenty of candidates looking for jobs but this doesn't excuse the current practices.

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    • Author

    Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate them. I realize it's a tough market out there...but this experience is insane! Getting my first nursing job was difficult. I was looking in Boston as a new grad and there were no jobs to be had, but I got a response to EVERY application I sent, either they weren't hiring new grads, the position was filled, or they just weren't interested.

    While I understand that I need to be accomodating, I told the hospital that said they definately wanted to interview me that I wouldn't be availiable for a face to face interview until November 14th during my first telephone interview. If they thought that was going to be a problem, why would they waste my time and theirs with a second telephone interview and have me take their crazy third party personality test (which I am certain they had to pay for)? Why would they tell me they definately want to interview me then never call NOR return any of my calls? This hospital has a strict policy that you cannot submit more than 5 applications in a 90 day period, so the whole apply every week strategy won't work here. Also, why would an HR person leave me a message telling me to call her back if she had no intention of answering or returning my phone calls?

    My other concern here is that there aren't that many hospitals that offer my specialty. If I've had two telephone interviews, is that logged in their system somewhere preventing me from having more telephone interviews? Ugh! I'll keep on keeping on!

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    Sounds like TCH...... reapply, delete the oldest application and reapply. keep on, be persistent, keep gutting put on the top of the pile.

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    • Author

    Thanks for all of your support guys! After an application blitz last week (sent out over 20 applications over 4 days), I finally got a job offer! The offer was from the same hospital that told me they "definately wanted to interview" me in November, but then never heard back from. Turns out the HR person who normally represents that department had been on her honeymoon that week...gah! At least I got to enjoy my holidays OFF, probably for the last time for years to come! It is a dream position, 12 hour DAYS (don't ask me how that happened), 10 min from home, and almost FOUR DOLLARS an hour more than what I was asking!

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    • Experts
    It is a dream position, 12 hour DAYS (don't ask me how that happened), 10 min from home, and almost FOUR DOLLARS an hour more than what I was asking!
    Congratulations!
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