Trying to stand out in a crowd of other new grad RN's

stillinschool · Sep 22, 2010

wow thank you for all the good info. i did give notice that the leave would be coming up soon but it was an emergency when it happened and it all was rather unfortunate. i did win an unemployment suit against them. thanks again

manager123 · Sep 22, 2010

Oh good heavens, I have to say this just in case. Do not mention that you sued a former employer. . . . ever. Win, lose, or draw a new employer does NOT need to know this and will consider you a very high employment risk. In this job market, do not give a future employer ANY reason to go hmmmm because there are at least 20 other candidates that are less complicated standing right behind you in the interview line!

Just tell them you had been in discussion with your manager about a possible leave or FMLA leave to care for a family member or whatever but that the situation occurred suddenly before the details could be worked out.

I "get" family crisis issues. Not everyone does. In this job market I don't know if evenI would be interested in hiring someone who sued a former employer even if the case was absolutely legitimate to do so.

ICUSkeenRN · Sep 23, 2010

Certs- acls, pals, ekg, wound care, etc.

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Sep 23, 2010

hi i will be interviewing soon in Dec/Jan.... just to clarify, dressing professionally? you mean nice slacks, crisp blouse right? not scrubs?
i have one emloyer on my resume where we did not part ways nicely, they let me go when i asked for personal leave to take care of a family member ill for 2 months. now this employer is giving me a bad rap. do i still include them on my resume? otherwise i have a great working record and history. thanks!

No, you don't wear scrubs to an interview. Did you work for that place for longer than a year/1250 hours? If so, how did they let you go when asking for FMLA? Or did you just want to take a leave of absence? Regardless.....I wouldn't put them on your resume, but your post makes me wonder why they really let you go. You can't let someone go just for asking to take a LOA, unless you are there less than 6 months and you are working in an at-will state.

manager123 · Sep 23, 2010

Most non union California hospitals are "at will" and yes, you can have a job loss. If they were in the wrong they learned through the unemployment hearing. If you work minimal hours or took a previous LOA within the previous 12 rolling calendar months that could have been the reason the hospital turned down the LOA request. Personal leaves are at the discretion of the manager and the hospital. I turned one down when the RN told me she wanted to work as a travel nurse for the summer.

That being said, you can't ignore this employer on the resume. You must list the employers. Failing to do so, and having one surprise employer show up, can be automatic grounds for retracting a job offer in most places. List it, speak to it briefly if you think they will say "not eligible for rehire" and let it go. Do not go "neener neener they were wrong" and I won the lawsuit against them as well, as that is the kiss of death in this job market for hiring.

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Sep 24, 2010

Yes, but even if you work in an at will state they have to have a reason to let you go beyond 6 months of employment. You can't just say "You can't take a LOA, you're fired because you asked for it." ....perhaps I interpreted the OP's question....but she said "They let me go because I asked for personal leave...." ??

manager123 · Sep 24, 2010

You can ask for a personal leave if you don't qualify for the FMLA. There is no obligation to grant it. Depends on the employee, the reason, and the amount of time requested off. Most places allow a maximum of 4 weeks personal leave. I think there was somewhere that mentioned 2 months to care for a relative. It could have been the reason the employee was let go. On the flip side, if the employer blew it with the refusal to grant an FMLA that was entitled that might have earned the employee the unemployment lawsuit win.

The only reality is that in this job market, it makes the interviewee a complicated hire. Does she stand out so spectacularly that the new employee is wiling to overlook it? That is the $64,000 question.

Any untruth or hiding on a resume will earn an immediate "look elsewhere" and possibly a termination during probation if there are any issues that implicate lying on the application. Those issues are what drove my advice for how to share about the former employer.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Sep 24, 2010

Try making copies of your resume and duplex them so there is a photocopy of your certifications and license on the back