Why are earth would I not be interviewed for this post?

[EleanorLavish]

I am a nurse, been out a few years, did RTP.
I was a skilled senior nurse before my time out raising kids.
I recently applied for a staff nurse band 5 post in a private hospital. They were advertising for wards, OPs, theatre and recovery. I have experience in most of these areas.
I didn’t even get offered an interview?!
Is it ok to ring and ask why? I’m an excellent nurse, if I say so myself, and always do well at interviews ( I have never failed to get any job i applied for).
I’m flabbergasted that nurses are in such short supply and yet they wouldn’t even interview me. Sorry if that sounds big headed, I don’t mean like I’m so amazing, but why would you not interview a good nurse? And are they obliged to give me a reason?
Thanks.

Do some agency work then you will be fine. It's because you have been out for a while.

were they hinting in the posting that a specific training course being needed (or/par specialty certificate).
do you know if the position was filled, sometimes hiring is based on funding.
lastly sometimes they have a candidate in mind and the posting is only up on a technicality.

I would definitely contact them to ask. Just say you were disappointed to not be selected and would appreciate some feedback on your application. The NHS jobs website is hard to navigate in part and you may have missed a bit or not answered something correctly. If you are planning to use that application for other jobs then it would be useful to know.

Rigamorph I actually read it there theee times before I saw the error!
I’m always doing that on here, never think to proof read.
My DH is a CEO and absolute pedant, he goes over the CV with a fine tooth comb.
I don’t want to say how long ive been out as the RTP course may be outing. More than 5 years. But nursing hasn’t changed that much!
Plus the RTP course is really intense. We were told they’d be biting our hands off as we were so up to date etc. Where I did my placement offered me whatever ward and hours I wanted as they wanted to hold on to me. Sorry again if that sounds big headed, but it’s true.
I actually have been offered a post, the first interview I went for. They did indeed bite my hand off, offered me part time (which I wanted) even though it is supposed to be full time.
I have accepted this job, but had already applied for he other.
My pride just took a major dent. Genuinely was amazed I wasn’t even offered an interview for entry level S/N post. They had plenty of positions available. I know someone who works there and she was like OMG apply, they’ll love you.
Wasn’t meant to be. Thanks for making me feel better anyway. Nowt like hurt pride to bring you back down.

If you are still looking, I have an idea that might interest you. PM me.

I suspect it might be the person shortlisting feeling threatened by someone who has been a higher grade.

My job I’m taking is NHS. It was a private hospital which turned me down (the feckers!)

if the posting was for entry level they may not have the budget for more.

I have actually worked in a private hospital before.
It was for general wards, but they advertised for wards/theatre/recovery & outpatients, they had quite a lot of positions available apparently. I was actually a bit worried about why they had so many positions available...

It's possible that they saw all of your experience and assumed you wouldn't be looking to stay as a band 5 for very long. Maybe they were concerned that they would
be used as a stepping stone until something better came along.

It's also possible that they would be worried that having spent so long working at high level for the NHS you would find it difficult to adapt to working in the private sector.

Good luck in your new post!

Have you been informed you weren't shortlisted or just 'if you haven't heard by so and so date you have not been shortlisted'?

If it's the latter I'd check. I once thought I hadn't been shortlisted till a few weeks later when I had a call asking me to confirm I'd attend the interview that day!

Regret that you have not been shortlisted for interview.
Thanks ladies. I am so excited to be getting back, but have zero desire to climb the ladder. I like just basic hands on nursing too much. I’d die behind a desk, sorting out budgets and off duty, no fun.

Overqualified They may not have the budget for a more experienced member of staff.

So did you just send an application in saying you just wanted any of the positions advertised or did you say you were applying for a position in X department?

I would definitely ring and ask why. I did it once. I was very apologetic and friendly but asked if there could possibly have been an administration error as my experience was XYZ which was perfect for the role.

Turned out that I had indeed been put on the wrong spreadsheet!

It was a general application form for all those departments.

I’ll be getting paid start of Band 5 again.

It was a general application form for all those departments.

I suspect that was the issue then. I wouldn't progress an application from someone who didn't demonstrate why they wanted to work in my department specifically. General applications just look flaky IMHO.

Also, you've said several times on here how senior you were prior to taking a career break. If that came across in the application you could appear overqualified at best, arrogant at worst.

Sorry, to clarify, you weren’t supposed to specify? Just fill in the form.

So there was no personal statement part?

Please ring & let us know what you found out about why you didn't get interview. Best of luck in your future job hunt.

I’ll probably just let it go. I actually was accepted for another job I’d applied for, the first one I’d gone for. So really looking forward to that.
Can’t lie, I was shocked I didn’t get an interview. Maybe I am just arrogant reallybadidea! I’m ok with that if so.

Did you definitely not get an interview or just haven't heard anything back? The private hospital I work for are ridiculously slow at arranging interview dates.

I think it's fine to ask for feedback, although if they aren't willing/able to share this with you then don't keep asking.

As a private organization, they are definitely not under any obligation to interview anybody (as long as they are following the law).

There could be lots of reasons they didn't invite you to interview. The most likely probably are:

-More candidates met the criteria than they could feasibly interview, so they picked the 5/10 who were most experienced/had the most relevant experience/had the most recent experience etc. I know you think this isn't likely, but they could have lots of applicants, especially if people are jumping ship from NHS to private or the jobs offer better terms/conditions/pay than the NHS.

-They received so many applications they didn't have time to process them all properly and just invited the first 5/10 people who seemed suitable to interview.

-They specifically want to recruit less experienced staff they can train to do things "their way".

-Your profile (more experienced/returning from a career break) may make them think that you aren't going to stick around/be happy in the role long term and they want someone who will be. I know you say this isn't the case, but the employer can never know if that's 100% true and they may have had issues in the past.

When you're used to getting employed it can be easy to take these things personally, but honestly, it's not a personal slight. It's just a business decision. Interviewing lots of people is hugely time consuming and costly, so companies do have to put limits on this.

It may well have been that you were seen as being over qualified and a 'threat' to whoever you would be working for.

Even though you might be adamant that wouldn't happen, some people do feel threatened by more senior applicants applying for a 'lower grade' type job.

My mother still goes on and on about the fact she was turned down for a M & S Christmas Temp job when she had experience of managing a Department store .