Recent hiree - Do I need manager's permission to apply for Dream Job?

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 7, 2015

At my hospital, that would be the completely wrong way to do it. The correct procedure would be to talk with the Nurse Recruiter privately and tell her of your wishes. She could then discreetly check with the Director of the Dream Unit to see if she was still interested -- and whether this was a good time to apply or not. If not, the staff nurse would know not to make waves on her current unit and not risk her good relationship with the Manager/Director there.

If a Manager/Director knows you are not happy and looking to leave ... she may not consider you for good opportunities on her unit. She may choose others to attend a conference, get additional training to become a Charge Nurse or Preceptor, etc. It's best to keep your current unit in the dark about your plans to leave until it becomes necessary to divulge that.

Sure ... Managers/Directors want to know who on their staff plans to leave, but it's not always in the staff nurse's best interest to divulge that information until the move is imminent. A staff nurse should consult someone she trusts (such as a senior staff nurse, educator, or recruiter, etc. ) to find out the political climate of her workplace before she let's her manager know that she is looking to leave.

emmy27 · Aug 9, 2015

The original post is great advice if you have a great manager of the kind who values your growth and happiness and utility to the organization over her individual unit's success. But if you don't work in a perfect world but have one of the majority of managers who are primarily concerned with their own unit's success and their personal workload and staffing, or even worse one of those who are actively vindictive, giving them a heads up that your goals involve transferring to another unit while you're still a fresh hire and before that transfer is imminent is a great way to ensure they treat you as disposable- since, if you intend to leave shortly, you are. Why should she care if you get your time off/approved for training/good evals if you're jumping ship? Perceived staff loyalty plays a role in managers' evaluations and approvals for requests most places whether they admit it or not. "I have a long-term goal of being an X nurse" is one thing said in an annual eval, but casually dropping that you want to leave the unit four months in, even if you don't set a time frame on it, is likely to go over like a lead balloon with management. They've probably barely recouped the cost of orienting you at this point.

I would speak casually to the hiring manager on the other unit once you're transferable and make sure she's still interested in hiring you before you announce your intentions to management or start the official application process. If you're still on your current unit after a year, your annual eval, which usually involves discussing long-term professional goals, might be an okay time to bring it up. But don't just tell her now, unless you're REALLY certain that she's supportive of her staff pursuing other goals after very brief periods on the unit. That's just shooting yourself in the foot in a lot of work environments.

Wrench Party · Aug 10, 2015

Most nurses I've known who pulled off internal transfers did the following after a year on my team:

a) got the support of the unit manager and several staff nurses before applying to the unit in question

b) informed HR of their intention to apply

c) interviewed and conditionally accepted position

d) current unit manager was informed of the transfer through formal channels, although she often was given a heads up by the staff member themselves

e) transfer arranged with scheduling and paperwork

I believe it is done like this to prevent unhappy unit managers from sabotaging their staff from pursuing development opportunities and preventing unnecessary drama on the unit. I'm sure it also protects HR from liability.

Career Columnist / Author · Aug 10, 2015

but I do need manager approval prior to posting for a new job.

I took this to mean that that the OP's facility requires current manager approval at time of applying for a position in a different unit/transferring. But it wasn't entirely clear.

If so, that is a process specific to her/his facility (not done everywhere).

Internal transfers are business as usual and very common in nursing, which gives nurses wonderful opportunities. A wise manager will be supportive of change and not petty or vindictive.

Transferring to a different area doesn't necessairily mean you are unhappy. It can simply mean it's time to spread your wings.

Also, managers are colleagues and often friends. The ICU manager and the MedSurg manager and the ED manager all talk among themselves at meetings and over lunch.

With experience, managers learn to resign themselves to the fact that nothing is permanent, and nurses will always want to grow professionally.

JayHanig · Aug 10, 2015

I remember a nurse manager who tried to blow a transfer by me to another unit by bad mouthing me. I put up with it for a while but finally had enough. I went to the hiring manager and said I know my eval from my current manager wasn't positive. Then I told her I did good work and the current manager knew it; she was actively trying to prevent me from leaving by making me less attractive to other managers.

I pointed out to the hiring manager that when an employee is truly substandard and by happenstance wants to leave, the intelligent manager does absolutely nothing to slow down any potential transfer. Then when I turned out to be a dud on the new unit, she could profess surprise: "He never did that when he worked for me."

If she'd been smart and wanted me to stay, she should have damned me with great praise. That would have made the new manager wonder why she was so willing to see me go. Instead she made her wonder why she wanted me to stay, especially if I was so unskilled.

I got the transfer.

brewski09 · Aug 10, 2015

At my old hospital my managers I interviewed with wanted a 2 year commitment to recoup the costs of training. This was for ICU & PCU. I took the PCU job and was a very productive employee, but still felt like 2 years was an appropriate amount of time before leaving both from an experience point of view and from a longevity on one unit point of view. Also, my hospital just changed recently from 6 months minimum in position to 18 months minimum in position before they would even consider an internal transfer for unit stability.

wincha · Aug 10, 2015

Work your 6 months..then apply for the other position. If you get an interview..then tell your manager. Most companies require you to tell your current manager before an interview ..in some companies you can put that off for a 2nd interview if you have a screening interview. Tell the new manager that you really want to work in her unit and after you fulfill your 6 month obligation you will reach out to her.

Some bad managers will write up those who want to transfer or prevent them from leaving as many companies/hospitals have a policy that you cannot transfer.

You need to look out for yourself. No one else will not in this economy where there are many waiting for your job and your manager can use that against you. I've been an RN for over 30 years....watch out for yourself.

gatoraims RN · Aug 13, 2015

Thanks for all the advice! I got up the nerve to speak with my manager. She, the dream manager, and I have a lunch date scheduled to discuss my transfer. My manger was happy I came to her first and said that the dream floor manager is a close friend of hers. She said she is happy to see her floor nurses grow and go after their dreams. She did add that if my dream floor is not what I want it to be she will always have an open spot. She went onto say that my company loves to promote within and that I owe her or the floor nothing for orientation. She stated she only asks for 6 months out of experienced nurses because time spent on orientation is short and 6 months is all the company or herself expect in return.