Unprepared interviewer

[armygirlabn, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Hello Allnurses,

I am a new grad/RN and recently went to an interview for a MED/Surg position. I was a bit nervous because it was my first interview for an RN position. When I arrived, I was initially interviewed by the Nurse Supervisor. She asked me a few questions and then called in 3 other nurses that worked on the floor. They were awful interviewers. They could not keep track of who asked me what and just looked unprepared. I asked them a few questions and they did not know the answer to it. One of the interviewers never once looked at me and just kept looking at the paper in her hand or the other nurses. I almost felt like I was being interviewed by a bunch of HS girls. I was very disappointed because this hospital prides itself as having high standards. I did not get the job but I figured I dodged a bullet in not getting hired.

Does anyone out their have familiar interview stories?

[AdultPsychRN]

My story isn't as bad in the interview portion. I was scheduled for an interview for a CNA position (back in the day). I drove an hour for the interview. I arrived, checked in, and sat down to wait. I waited for 45 minutes! I apparently was "forgotten about" and the DON (that scheduled my interview time) was not in the office. It took another 15 minutes for the hospital to scramble together to find someone to interview me. An HR staff member (who doesn't normally interview nursing staff) did the interview. The person was terrible at asking questions and I was in a dark corner office with the person. Needless to say I did not get the job, not that I would have accepted it!

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Hello Allnurses,

I am a new grad/RN and recently went to an interview for a MED/Surg position. I was a bit nervous because it was my first interview for an RN position. When I arrived, I was initially interviewed by the Nurse Supervisor. She asked me a few questions and then called in 3 other nurses that worked on the floor. They were awful interviewers. They could not keep track of who asked me what and just looked unprepared. I asked them a few questions and they did not know the answer to it. One of the interviewers never once looked at me and just kept looking at the paper in her hand or the other nurses. I almost felt like I was being interviewed by a bunch of HS girls. I was very disappointed because this hospital prides itself as having high standards. I did not get the job but I figured I dodged a bullet in not getting hired.

Does anyone out their have familiar interview stories?

Were these nurses currently working the floor and pulled off for the "peer" interview?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Hello Allnurses,

I am a new grad/RN and recently went to an interview for a MED/Surg position. I was a bit nervous because it was my first interview for an RN position. When I arrived, I was initially interviewed by the Nurse Supervisor. She asked me a few questions and then called in 3 other nurses that worked on the floor. They were awful interviewers. They could not keep track of who asked me what and just looked unprepared. I asked them a few questions and they did not know the answer to it. One of the interviewers never once looked at me and just kept looking at the paper in her hand or the other nurses. I almost felt like I was being interviewed by a bunch of HS girls. I was very disappointed because this hospital prides itself as having high standards. I did not get the job but I figured I dodged a bullet in not getting hired.

Does anyone out their have familiar interview stories?

The manager who was supposed to interview you may have gotten called into some sort of emergency and chose the 3 least busy RNs to interview you instead. Of course they weren't prepared! They probably got dragged out of their patient rooms and into the interview with no advance warning. Emergencies happen and you cannot always prepare for every contingency. In this case, the patients take precedence over interviewees. So at least you got your interview!

I had to do an interview in the Cath Lab (with a patient on the table) twice because the person who was supposed to interview me got called to do an emergency procedure. A couple of times, my interview was cancelled -- once I actually got into the office to interview but the surgeon who was interviewing me had to go flying out of the office to open a chest. And once I did an interview standing because the nurse manager had just had hemorrhoid surgery and couldn't sit down.

[armygirlabn, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

No, these nurses were expecting me.

[armygirlabn, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

The Nurse Supervisor interviewed me and the other nurses were not pulled from patients. They were sitting at the nurse station when I walked on the floor.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

The Nurse Supervisor interviewed me and the other nurses were not pulled from patients. They were sitting at the nurse station when I walked on the floor.

Are you saying that they came in from home to interview you and that they'd had a few days with your resume in front of them to prepare questions? That seems unlikely. It's more likely that they were the least busy nurses who were pulled away from their assignments just before you arrived. But I'm sure you know more about it than I do.

[adnrnstudent, ASN, RN]

For me, that would be my favorite type of interview.

The ones I laugh at is when the interviewer begins with, "Tell me about a time."

[armygirlabn, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Yeah, I had that question asked to me twice during this interview. They were not paying attention to what each other were asking. I was very disappointed with this interview because I had done clinicals on this floor as a student nurse and I was expecting professionalism and perfection (as what was expected from me during clinical) and they failed me. It was sad and disappointing.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I once had a very weird interview experience. It was for an infusion clinic. The interview itself went fine - not bad, but I've had better. When I got home, I tried to mail a thank you card, but it was returned two days later as undeliverable (I sent it to the physical address rather than the PO Box). So I called the clinic and spoke to the woman who interviewed me (we'll call her Mary), in order to get their mailing address. During the call, Mary gushed about what great experience I had (I started IVs a lot as an L&D nurse, but other than that, I didn't consider my relevant experience to be all that remarkable) and how she really thought I would be a great fit for the clinic, and could I come in later that week for a day and shadow one of the other RNs? I said sure, I'd love to.

I showed up on the day in question, asked for Mary. The receptionist said to hang on a minute, went in back, came back out a moment later, and then said that Mary was not in the clinic. I then explained I was here to job shadow, and does she know what RN I was supposed to be working with? She went in back again, came back out and said the RNs were really busy right now and couldn't see me right then. I said okay, would it be better if I did this a different day? The receptionist agreed and I left. I then called Mary when I got home, and left a message on her voicemail saying that I"m sorry the job shadowing didn't work out, but that I would happy to do it a different day, and let me know. I never heard from the clinic again.

What I suspect happened was that when I initially called to get the mailing address, Mary may have gotten me confused with one of the other applicants. Then after inviting me to job shadow (or perhaps when she saw me when I returned) she realized she made a mistake and was too embarrassed to tell me.

[armygirlabn, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Wow..that is kind weird. To bad the lady did not "man up" to her mistake and came out to apologize for her mistake. Thank you for your story.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I always try to remind myself that while it may seem like some interviews are a waste of my time, those are the times when the company shows you their true colors. The interviewers are representatives of the company. If the interview sucks - then most likely the job/unit will as well.