To call or not to call?

[Dm0807]

Hello, I graduated from nursing school in may, passed my boards in June and have been applying for jobs since. A nurse recruiter from the hospital I really want to work at called me in early October to tell me they had a job they think I would be a good candidate for. She had me select 4 references to complete a survey about me. She said I would be hearing back from someone in Human Resources shortly. I got my references done right away and kept waiting for the phone call. Two days passed and I heard nothing. I called the nurse recruiter back and she said the person who was supposed to call me had been sick and was out, so just keep waiting and she will call. I waited a few more days and called her back and she basically said that she had done her job, I may or may not be hearing back from HR, it was out of her hands now and I just had to wait and see. She made it pretty clear that she did not want me calling her again. So ever since then I have been waiting. The status online still says skill survey/references, so I'm not sure if that means I'm still in the running or not? It has been over a month. Should I call the general Human Resources number and ask if I'm still being considered? I don't want to seem annoying. I need a job so badly and this is the only place that has contacted me and I've been applying everywhere. At this point I'm thinking of applying for a cna type job just to gain some experience.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

HR departments are notoriously slow. And then there's the hiring unit. The manager may be out on compassionate leave or maternity leave or medical leave and the person covering may be uncomfortable (or not allowed) with hiring someone. They thought the person whose job they're hoping to fill was leaving in October, but they decided not to leave until November. They're annoyed with you for calling and have placed you at the bottom of the list. Perhaps they're waiting for your skills survey.

When I decided to leave my beloved west coast job due to reasons involving family on the east coast, I was shocked at how long it took the hospital I was interested in working for to get back to me. It was two months after my original online application before they expressed any interest at all in meeting or interviewing me. And then the interviews were scheduled weeks out. In all, it took me three months to get the job offer. The waiting was rough, and it was the first time it ever took me more than a day or two to get an offer. (Although to be fair, the last time I looked for a job was in 1990, and I had two offers on the same day I was interviewed.). As an experienced nurse with experience and expertise in the specialty ICU in which I was interested, I didn't really doubt that I'd eventually get a job. When you're new, you don't have that expectation.

I'm sorry this is happening to you. It's probably not that unusual,however. The next time you call -- and I'd wait a couple of weeks if you can stand it -- be sure to ask if there's anything else you need to do to keep your application active. Be willing to discuss why you're interested in working at this particular hospital.

Good luck!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I once got a call 3 months after I applied. Been there 12 years now. Patience.

[remorej]

Wow!! í ½í¸³

[Buyer beware, BSN]

More often than not, expect no miracles.

If no call in the allottment timeframe expect the "don't call us, we'll call you" cliche' to prevail.

This is just the job's way of thanking you for being the professional you are.

Kudos to the nurse recruiter for the pawn-off too.

Maybe a rotodialer would help.