Reapplying for a job

[Bkre8iv2]

I an reapplying for a job with a company I used to work for and I could use some advice. I did not leave by choice. It was my first nursing job and I made some mistakes. It was a very challenging and poorly run unit with a high turnover. I had not yet learned how to manage my stress and I got burned out. I worked there about 2 and a half years and have been gone for more than 5 years.

My question is how do I best discuss this in an interview? I would very much like to work for this company again. At the time, I was frequently 5 to 7 minutes late. I no longer have that problem. I have been at my current job about 2 and a half years and have been late maybe once or twice. The reason I was let go from that job was for the lateness and I got into an argument with another nurse in a common area. I have matured a lot since then and I've grown exponentially as a nurse.

Advice would be appreciated from anyone that has experienced this or any hiring managers that may have some input. I want to be honest but I also want to have a chance.

[Sour Lemon]

That was my first job and I was burned out. I have changed a lot since then. I really did enjoy working for the company and am looking at a different position at a different hospital.

Sour Lemon came across as exactly what his or her name suggests. That is the type of passive aggressive nastiness that I am dismayed is so rampant in nursing. Maybe I misconstrued it. However the follow-up comment suggests otherwise.

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

My actual "mood" in the first post was amused ....very amused.

My second post was sarcasm, of course ...but you weren't happy with my real answer. Some people jump straight to the "You can do it!" response, but I suppose I'm not as optimistic as those people.

I've felt incredibly burned out at times, but I've never gotten into a screaming match with a co-worker. Is it possible that you're the aggressive, "nasty" one in at least some of your encounters?

[mrsboots87]

Honestly, this sounds like a terrible idea and you have some big cahones to even apply after having been fired for excessive tardiness. They do keep that on file and there is a real chance that even though you have interview offers, that you will not be hired when they actually review your background and find your employee file.

During the the pre screen of your application, HR won't always want to do any leg work on looking you up in case you don't make it past the first interview anyway. But once you do, when they see you are a past employee, they almost always will look up your file. In it will be your excessive tardiness and the unprofessional conduct on the unit.

Sure, there is a chance they will see that it has been a while and give you a chance on hoping you have grown, but with the employment market the way it is in most areas, there is a real likelyhood you will not get offered a job, or it will get rescinded once they see your file.

Your best eat bet is to move on and work somewhere else. Also, you can work on your attitude. As you are reading snark from a perfectly valid response by sour lemon, I am feeling out some aggressiveness from you when things aren't sunshine and rainbows when "speaking" to you.

[Marshall1]

My only advice is to contact HR, like another poster said, about whether you are eligible for rehire or not. I too know someone who re-applied somewhere, interviewed twice, was offered the position AND accepted it only for it to be rescinded a few days later because she had left the company years before during the orientation period. Even tho' I live in an "at will" state and she was in orientation and she thought as long as she was honest about why she was not feeling the job was a fit for her at that time..evidently her thinking she could go back in the future was not an option after all. She was stunned and ended up jobless for awhile because she had already given notice where she was and her job was filled so staying wasn't an option. Just don't rely on the nurse manager, etc. In the end, if HR tells me it's a no-go, it will be a no-go.

[Neats, BSN]

I have rehired a lot of licensed health care professionals. Before the interview if I know they are a re-hire I ask them point blank how they have changed and how they have kept those changes in check. If they tell me about their changes they get an interview. If they start going down the road... where I work at now is even worse then where I was I just pass them by because clearly they would continue to not be a good fit.

I would not hold tardiness against someone if they were let go and wanted to be rehired, you just need to prove yourself harder. Just keep in mind the first time you are late do not bother coming in for work as long as you are a new hire I would just say this is not for you or our facility you are not a good fit... I would terminate you in a heart beat.

I adhere to the time policies if you do not then it is a miserable place for all.

[jena5111, ASN, RN]

Sometimes in HR, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Meaning there's a chance you're ineligible for rehire but no one knows it yet because they haven't checked. I agree with previous posters that you might contact HR for clarification before getting your hopes up.

[SnowShoeRN]

That was my first job and I was burned out. I have changed a lot since then. I really did enjoy working for the company and am looking at a different position at a different hospital.

I see. I would still contact HR though. Often times the "do not rehire" status is across an entire hospital network and not just exclusive to the one facility where you worked.

Good luck.

[canigraduate]

What you can say in the interview, if you get one, is exactly what you said in your original post.

Be prepared to give concrete examples of how you have changed and what steps you took to get where you are.

I can't stress enough what PPs have said, though. Check with HR before you go any farther so you aren't wasting time and energy if you were blacklisted.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Here is my personal mantra...never give any entity the chance to reject you more than once.

Being involuntarily terminated from a place of employment is a form of professional rejection since management no longer wanted the former employee's presence. Nonetheless, it would be wise to not allow this place to reject you more than once.

They've rejected you once and it will likely happen again if you continue to show unwarranted interest in an entity that lost interest in you some time ago.

Re-applying and sitting through an interview, only to discover that you are ineligible for hire, would be exposing oneself to unnecessary rejection. Instead of trying to revive a past opportunity that didn't work out, it is time to look forward to other workplaces that would value you and your skills.

Good luck to you!

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

IMO, confirm you are eligible for rehire before you proceed any further with interviewing. Better you find that out now than after you quit your current job for one here, just to be told, "oops, sorry, can't hire you after all."

[purplegal]

Well, I've never experienced this, as I've never applied to a job that I've been let go from (which is honestly something I would never do). As others have mentioned, I am curious as to why you would want to return to this workplace, especially if it was poorly run, and there were coworkers that you did not get along with. How do you know that the same nurse you had an argument with is not still on the unit? I would think it would be awkward to come back if that person is still there. Also, it sounds like you are at a job that is working well for you, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to leave that for one that didn't work out.

With that being said, in the interview, I would focus on why you want to return working there. Emphasize what you like about the company, and why it stands out to you more than other places of employment do. If you really have improved on tardiness, explain what you have changed in your life that allows you to be on time. Also explain how you better handle conflict with coworkers or patients.

I don't want to be discouraging, but even though you have interview offers, you probably are not on the top of their list of candidates. Even though you have been gone for more than 5 years, people remember things, and, if they don't, things are eventually found out. Best of luck to you. If you do happened to be rehired, I hope the experience is more positive for you.

[CalArmy]

I agree with a lot of the posts on here. But to flip the coin sometimes you can reapply when gone after one year. I would talk to HR and be up front about what happened before. It has been five years and they may not feel it affects you anymore.

[quazar]

I feel compelled to play devil's advocate here. First and foremost, having been that person who did not exercise the best professional judgment in my past at all times and having since grown both professionally and personally by leaps and bounds, I am inclined to give the OP the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she has had some major life experiences that have caused some personal growth. That's what happened to me. If people were to judge me based on who I was at my first job right out of school, well, their assessment of me would be very unfavorable and embarrassing. I am a completely different nurse and different person now compared to what I was then.

Second, maybe she wants a job on her old unit to prove to herself that she isn't a failure; that she CAN succeed at something challenging and difficult. Maybe this is her own personal mountain that she wants to conquer to prove to herself that she HAS grown professionally and personally, I don't know.

Just tossing that out there. Having personally had my hind end handed to me by the school of hard knocks and thus learning my lessons the hard way, I know first hand that people can and do change sometimes, given the right experiences. It happens.