Two Job Offers

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

I am in a horrible job that I am desperate to leave. I have been looking for a job with no luck for about six months. Suddenly I started getting calls for interviews.

I was offered two jobs.

One is to be case manager for a company that treats addiction with vitamins. I would be the only case manager, have no case management experience and have no idea how I would train for this job. The director said they will teach me as we go, but it still makes me uncomfortable that I don’t really have a preceptor or a mentor to go to as a resource . Plus, I don’t advocate this kind of care. I feel like they will be taking people’s money and not giving them treatment in return. Something feels very wrong about this. It feels unethical . The pay is better and I would have my own office .

The second job is working for a private company doing research They wanted me to be a site manager I was honest and said I don’t believe I have the skills for that position, but I would be very happy to work as a research coordinator. They met me in the middle and said they would bring me in as a senior coordinator and eventually team leader As I learn and grow they would then groom me to be a site manager . I said that I am thrilled to have an opportunity to be given the guidance I need to be a manager. We were all happy that between us all we came up with a solution that works for both me and them. The pay is not as much as the other job, but I don’t mind taking a pay cut to take a job I would enjoy. The work space is crowded and noisy, but people stick to their work. They don’t create distractions by goofing off. It’s noisy because it’s busy.

Meanwhile my partner said I would be crazy to take the research position and that I should go for the case management position. She said that I would have a better chance of being able to change jobs with case management experience versus research experience. I said that developing management skills is more to the point of why I want the research job. Also I know this is what I want to do

I know in my gut that that’s the right choice. I love research and I don’t want to do anything else. I’ve done it before and loved it, but gave it up because the commute was too much. Getting a research job closer to home is a dream come true.

We are both wondering if I’m not thinking about this clearly because I desperately want to quit my job. Is my desperation making it difficult to focus on what’s best? I don’t think so. I’m very clear about what I want to do, but my partner thinks I’m just desperate.

Care to weigh in?

[klone, MSN, RN]

Honestly, I would probably turn down both of those positions and keep searching. What area of research is it, and why do you think they want to hire you as a site manager without any experience? It makes me wonder if they're hoping to lend legitimacy to their project by hiring someone with an "RN" after their name.

[caliotter3]

If you want to do research, you want to do research. It sounds as if you know that you want to do research. But I would caution you that managing the site could turn out to be all management and no research, per se, on your part. Don't give any thought to 'desperation'. Six months has gone by whether or not you were desperate to find something else. You need to get out of your present job or resign yourself to putting up with it for a period of unknown duration. Good luck with your choice.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

Thank you.

I cant stay at my job one more day. My boss is a crazy person, a non-medical person who hates nurses. He likes bragging about “going after a nurse’s license” and lots of way more evil stuff. He is petty and vindictive. Anyone who goes over his head to complain gets fired. He is the most incompetent supervisor I’ve ever had, and is very skilled at blaming his mistakes on nurses and getting them fired. I spend 18 hours a day on my feet, then spend my day off on the couch because I’m tired and I have a long commute. There isn’t a single thing about my job that could get me to stay.

I do like research but I’m hopeful that I can grow into the leadership position. It might be a nice change from being thrown into a situation and having to figure it out - which has been my experience with most jobs I’ve had so far. Heck, I’m just glad to have job where I can sit down!

I supposed I could stay for a year or two and then move on if it’s not working for me. At this point though I’d work at a Walmart greeter if it would get me away from my evil boss.

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

That vitamin job sounds illegal and immoral. It does not sound like you would even be getting true case management experience. The research job sounds mmore appealing. What specific type of research would you do?

[Katillac, RN]

If you think the vitamin people are shady and unethical, it's a pretty good bet potential employers will wonder the same thing when they see it on your resume. With the competition for nursing jobs, you can't afford to carry the water for snake oil salesmen. And I get that you are desperate, but this is out of the frying pan into the inferno. Doing work you believe is fundamentally wrong may sound OK in comparison to what you're doing now, but it won't feel anything like OK in the long run. As for your partner, anyone who encouraged me to do something I feel is wrong because it will look good on my resume wouldn't have much credibility with me. Just saying.

[amoLucia]

Katillac - You expressed my same sentiments so much better than I ever could.

A bad fit is a bad fit regardless.

Of the 2 positions, the research position sounds better altho there are some grey areas that OP recognizes.

[hardworkpaysoff, MSN, RN]

What setting is your current position and do any of the positions align with your goals?

I wouldn’t per se take the case manager position just because of the title. It will not necessarily translate to other case manager positions and if your husband isn’t in nursing he may not know this but future employers looking at your resume may.

Both seem interesting but do they offer support?

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

10 hours ago, Katillac said:

If you think the vitamin people are shady and unethical, it's a pretty good bet potential employers will wonder the same thing when they see it on your resume. With the competition for nursing jobs, you can't afford to carry the water for snake oil salesmen. And I get that you are desperate, but this is out of the frying pan into the inferno. Doing work you believe is fundamentally wrong may sound OK in comparison to what you're doing now, but it won't feel anything like OK in the long run. As for your partner, anyone who encouraged me to do something I feel is wrong because it will look good on my resume wouldn't have much credibility with me. Just saying.

Thank you for that insight. Protecting my professional reputation is something I hadn’t considered.

As for my partner, she is usually spot on with things. She is rarely wrong, and you best believe it drives me crazy! So that’s why I asked. I usually trust her judgement, but in this case, my gut is saying otherwise. I thought I’d ask since it is possible I’m not thinking clearly. Makes me feel better to know that I am.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

11 hours ago, RNNPICU said:

That vitamin job sounds illegal and immoral. It does not sound like you would even be getting true case management experience. The research job sounds mmore appealing. What specific type of research would you do?

Thank you, I agree Whatever kind of Cade management I learn wouldn’t carry over to another position if I try to get a job doing case management someplace else, I wouldn’t have the eight kind of experience to be able to do my job, and it would be so embarrassing to not know what I’m doing

They do lots of different things, which is another thing that appeals to me. For example they do rheumatoid arthritis, COPD, migraines, pertussis, diabetes and ulcerative colitis.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

1 hour ago, hardworkpaysoff said:

What setting is your current position and do any of the positions align with your goals?

I wouldn’t per se take the case manager position just because of the title. It will not necessarily translate to other case manager positions and if your husband isn’t in nursing he may not know this but future employers looking at your resume may.

Both seem interesting but do they offer support?

My current position does not align with my goals at all. My boss is insane. I’m never getting out of there without some kind of black mark on my record. No one does. If I stay there I’ll get fired for something.

They both seem to offer a lot of support, but I’ve experienced being lied to before. They say the job is one thing, and then when I get there it’s really something else. As for the research position, I have a better gut feeling about it. The whole atmosphere is better. People who work there tend to stay. The plan they laid out for me is better structured than anyplace I’ve been so far. In other word, they aren’t just saying what they will do. They laid out a plan of action for how they will do it.

[Swellz]

If you're in a financial position to take the research position, I would take it. It seems unlikely you'll be more miserable than you are currently, and even if it doesn't work out as you imagine it will, you'll have research experience on your resume for when you pursue another job again. All that aside, you're talking about it pretty passionately, so it's clearly the one you want. Good luck with your decision.