Didn't get a 2nd interview for lateral move...how far should I push this?

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.

There are lots of reasons you didn’t get the job. It might have been spoken for already, for instance.
Sorry to say some managers would rather not talk about it. If she did talk to you, she’d probably just say that someone else was a better match. Never expect someone to tell you the real reason (unless you have spies planted in the process) because they will expect you to say “but I have just as much experience” or something like that. And at this point you have sent a few too many emails, and she probably feels she can’t answer at this late date.

In my experience internal job transfers seldom work without serious networking beforehand. Did you go over there and talk to them before you did the application?
Your boss might have been supportive to you, but he might have told her that he really needed you to stay (not a bad thing) which would have quashed it.
It is always a good idea to find a job using contacts if at all possible, to make sure they see you as a person and not a resume or application. That might be tough for getting a job from outside, but is the only way to go for an internal transfer.
As for your current job, if you have a good boss you are ahead. I’m sure you’ll do a better job going after a transfer next time, and until then, just laugh at the craziness unless it affects you directly.

Is there a good reason why you didn’t just pick up the phone or stop by their office in person?

That’s it. One email. No more. Anything after that and you’re pushing. So you went four emails too far.

Is this the job you applied for because you didn’t like the uniforms at work? This is an entry-level job. You’re not owed a transfer. And by sending all these e-mails you may be poisoning the well as far as your future promotions go. You don’t want them thinking, "Newscrasher again?? Won’t he ever take the hint?

It seems to me that you’re putting a lot more stock in your banking background then HR would for someone going into a totally unrelated field. They don’t care that you were a banker.

Good luck finding something suitable.

StG

Well, that sucks.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have the “Does this help me? Then I ain’t doing it” mentality, and it looks like the people at the other site have that mentality. That, and they may have been burned in the past by telling someone why they didn’t get the job (generally, that person comes up with some reason it doesn’t apply and won’t you hire me anyways and no I’m not going away), so they don’t tell anyone that asks.

It is crappy that they didn’t tell you that you didn’t get the job though.

I know a lot of people that get 1000s of emails a day - maybe you are just being lost in the shuffle and/or they don’t think you’re worth the time to apply to. That probably says you wouldn’t want to work for them anyway…

Nobody ever tells you that you didn’t get the job. It’s a ridiculous thing to expect these days.

I think you’ve pushed it as far as it should be pushed. Many positions are posted to follow protocol. They have no intention of filling it with anyone other than their prior selected candidate.

If you want a leg up on a new posting, network with the people who are in the key leadership positions.

You need to ask your boss, or use the phone.

I work in HR in a large medical center, although not in Recruiting, as an FYI.

You need to lose the “I was a banker” attitude, IMO. The threads you started about this job seem to have this flavor of you thinking you are superior to your coworkers, the management and the patients. Even if that isn’t true, that’s how you come across. If you have great solutions then by all means, present them in a positive, “this us how we can be even better!” way and people will start to listen and notice.

Honestly, this is the reason people get the “sorry, you’re overqualified” when applying for entry-level jobs with higher credentials. To the hospital, you’re not this guy with a successful banking career behind you. You’re an admitting clerk who only has 4 or 5 months of experience as an admitting clerk. If someone else applied for that internal transfer and they had over a year then, guess what. They have more experience than you do. Also, is your hospital staff unionized? Seniority matters a lot in that instance.

This person is someone who works in another department in a large organization, I think you are overestimating how much they owe you. Yes they should have told you a polite “Thanks but we went with someone else.” But they didn’t owe you an explanation as to why, they don’t owe you any info that might help you do better on the next round. All you were really denied was the polite “No thanks” email, and this seems like a lot of energy to get info that you figured out on your own weeks ago.

If you really want career-building information then I would go to your boss and see if he heard anything, or wants to place a call for you, or possibly the HR person involved if there was someone communicating with you (setting up interviews, for example). But really … what info are you expecting to get? You’ve already decided these people are rude and unprofessional, are you really going to take anything they have to say seriously?

Could be industry specific. If you didn’t get an interview, yes not hearing back is normal. But when I was interviewing, I expected and received notice if I did not get the job. That was only a couple of years ago.

The most likely answer is that they filled the position by someone who already works in that department and has an advantage because they know the people who hired them. Contary to conventional wisdom, having the best resume or track record doesn’t ensure you’ll be the one who gets chosen for certain jobs.

I’ve never supported the idea of contacting an employer to ask for feedback on why you didn’t make the cut. Some people might not mind this, but other people (like me) might very well find it a discomforting conversation to have with someone they have no relationship with (and thus, no trust). So you take on the risk of annoying someone who could potentially help you out in the future by repeatedly asking for what amounts to as a favor. They are allowed to factor in subjective judgements when picking people, and they may be unwilling to tell you that they simply liked the other candidate"s personality (or whatever) better.

I disagree. I routinely notify people whom I didn’t hire for a position that I have open for internal bids. And if they want career development feedback, I schedule a meeting. I choose my words carefully, but I am honest. It’s my job to hire (and sometimes fire) people and I feel they are owed an explanation, no matter how brief. I do think it was egregious that OP didn’t get at least one reply. But I do agree that it was probably time to cut losses one email and one follow-up thereafter.

Employees talk among themselves. Feedback is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing. I want a pool if candidates when I have an opening. I do not want to develop the reputation of being callous and cavalier about the needs of employees. Many do not care for the reason behind the courtesy “I went with so-and-so” reason, but some do. It’s no big deal to offer a brief and honest explanation as well as a few pointers for next time (if asked).

Absolutely not true for an internal candidate. Any company that is serious about developing talent will give feedback to every internal candidate that was passed over for a position. At my current company HR gives feedback to those who post but are not qualified and the hiring manager gives feedback to those who interviewed but did not get the job. All the associate has to do is ask.

I’m sorry to say that I have nothing of value to add in regards to your problem. I just wanted to mention that I am also starting a Respiratory Therapy program in the fall and will be in school for 2 years. Nice to know I’m not alone!