I left a career in banking last year because it was killing my soul, slowly but surely. My wife is in nursing school and graduates this December with her RN, BSN. I am entering a Respiratory Therapy program this Fall and will be in school for 2 years.
When I left the bank I took an entry level job in the ER at a major hospital. I am not clinical at all, but I do interact with patients, doctors, nurses, etc. I am also getting great exposure to how hospitals function. I’m not really learning anything specific, but it is a good experience and most importantly it gets my foot in the door at the hospital.
But I have been shocked at how unprofessional the non-clinical departments are. It is really shocking. The management is awful. They are constantly putting out rules and the rules are constantly flagrantly broken by the employees. There is a revolving door of new, hard working people and a core of chums of the bosses that are horrible. The way they behave really makes me embarassed sometimes.
We just had a roll out of a new piece of hardware we are using to ID patients. I have been involved in IT related rollouts in other jobs and there is training and support. We have 8 workstations that we use to register patients (some are mobile). We received 3 of these new pieces of equipment. So we have 5 people at work, but only 3 can work at any one time. The other 2 people literally sit there doing nothing because we don’t have the equipment. This really isn’t relative but it just gives you some insight into how the place works.
I have never been late, have never missed a day, have superb ratings in every measurable metric, and have received recognition from patients and doctors about how I have helped by going above and beyond what is expected.
The company I work for have 5 hospitals locally. I applied for the same position at another local hospital via an internal application. The reason for the application was that the hours were more conducive to my school schedule. My current manager was aware and supportive.
I had a panel interview with the Team Leader, the Director of Patient access, and another HR rep. It was a plain vanilla interview and I did well, at least I think so.
The TL said the next step was a peer interview to be conducted in 2 weeks.
Two weeks came and went and I emailed the TL to express my continued interest. No response. That’s fine. The hiring process at the hospital is notoriously slow. It took 12 weeks for me to land the job I currently have.
I waited 2 more weeks and sent another email to the TL saying I am still very interested and inquiring as to when the peer interviews may take place. No response.
At this point I am taking a little offense. I deserve at least a response. I am, after all, a current employee simply asking for an update.
Two weeks later and I see online that the position has been filled. Now I am angry. I didn’t make it past the first interview for a job I already hold? I sent her another email, very positive and upbeat, asking for some guidance. I told her I would like to know what I could do better in the future to showcase my skills to the company. No response.
So 2 weeks later I emailed her and simply asked for her supervisor’s name. It was actually the Director that had been in the interview. I emailed her the same upbeat message saying I am very interested in my professional development and would like feedback on how I could do better when future opportunities arose.
Guess what? She never responded and its been 3 weeks now.
I’m at a loss. You would think that a person in a Director level position would be eager to offer some advice to someone who was a former professional in another industry but is getting the necessary education to move into the medical field. At least respond with “You did great but we had another candidate that was a better fit. Let me know how I can help in the future. Best of luck” or something like that. just…silence.
So now what? Email her again? Its obvious they are not eager to hire me and if I annoy them I diminish my future prospects even more. Email her boss and ask for some guidance? Now I become a trouble maker…not a great career move. Quietly slink off and apply to other positions?
Honesty it makes me wonder if this is an organization I really want to invest time and energy in.
Suggestions?
ETA - Once my wife graduates in December we will have more options. Until then, I need this job (or another) for insurance.