Should I call?

[SweetNothings]

Hi everyone. Hoping to get a some advice. I've been an RN for a little over a year now. For about the past 8 months I have been working part time at a Public Health Clinic (due to this economy it's all I could find) while still actively looking for work at the hospital. I've also been caring for a child with specials needs off and on while looking for work. Like many new nurses out there, I have been unsuccessful in finding a hospital job due to "lack of experience", hiring freezes, etc. Recently 2 positions became available at one of the local hospitals In NICU, which is a floor I really want to work on. Even though it's a specialty floor, the job description stated that it required no experience so I applied for both positions. This particular hospital also has an RN internship(which I tried getting into last year) but I was told that I don't qualify for the program anymore because I now have more than 6 months worth of "experience" (sounds odd when all I hear is that I DON'T have enough side note: the majority of the jobs I apply for are med/surg). Anyway, I put in my application online for both positions. My question is, should I make the next step and contact the nurse manager of the floor just to kind of introduce myself and show that I'm really interested in this job? I just put in the application yesterday, so I definitely wouldn't be doing this until next week sometime. A few nurses that work/have worked at this hospital have told me it would be a good idea to contact the nurse manager because the HR department there is terrible and they don't always forward applications. I've always gotten mixed reviews on whether this is a good idea or not. I know competition is tough right now with so many people out of work, but I want to stand out from the crowd without over stepping my boundaries. Any advice on what I should do??

[CFitzRN, ADN]

Yes, absolutely call. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Please post and tell us what you do/did.

[BluegrassRN]

Yes, call!

I'm on the committee that interviews RNs for our floor. I don't call them, we see them after the initial interview with our director. I know for a fact our director is much more inclined to contact people who contact her first. She pays more attention if a resume and cover letter is faxed directly to her rather just to HR.

When you call, it should be short and sweet. Let the director know you are interested in the position, let her know your application and resume is already on file with HR, give her your name and contact info, and ask her to please contact you if she has any questions or would like more info. Give her the opportunity to be dismissive if she's busy or not interested, but also to ask you more questions if she has time and interest.

Have your calendar nearby if she wants to schedule an interview. Have a pen and paper nearby if she wants to give you her department's fax number so that you can fax your resume directly. Have your resume and references information handy so that if she asks you any specific questions, you have that info right there. Be ready for a brief, bland exchange as well as a full on phone interview. She might ask you about experience, schooling, long term goals, your salary expectations, outside interests, etc. If at all possible, find out what computer charting system they use (maybe you had experience with it in clinicals? That's a big plus when I interview new nurses, if they are already somewhat familiar with it), what pumps they use, what their NICU is like, that sort of thing. If you had any friends or classmates that did clinicals there, ask them about the hospital.

Good luck!