How do I "WOW" them in my interview?

Nursing Students Student Assist

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Hi Everyone,

I have an interview coming up to get into an LPN program. I'm really excited!! It's been a long time since I've been on an interview. So I guess my questions are how do I impress them? Should I bring a resume? I've read some of the older threads on the kind of questions that might be asked. Is there anything else I should prepapre for?

Whatever you guys can help me with, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

i interviewed people for nursing jobs mostly. my advice is to be honest. nothing ever irked me more than someone who was phony and got caught at it. if you had to fill out an application that included an essay i hope you made a copy of it because they may have it in front of them and ask you questions about it. it would be awful if you forgot what you wrote, especially if it was a lot of made up stuff. they are likely to ask you why you want to be a nurse or why you think you would be a good nurse. it would be good to know what an lpn does. you can find that out on websites like http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm (about lpn nursing from the u.s. department of labor). it shows that you have done your homework and you know what you are getting in to. as for the qualities of a nurse see this website: http://www.nursingschools.com/guidance/nursing-top-10.html - top 10 qualities of a great nurse. if you need ideas on what inspires you to nurse there are plenty of them on this thread that brian, the owner of allnurses, started a few years ago and it is interesting to read: https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/whats-your-story-346920.html. i will send members there when they don't know how to answer the question "why i want to be a nurse" so they can get some ideas. they may ask you about your goals and what you plan to do if you become an lpn so have an answer ready. i don't think its wise to tell them that you plan to go right into rn classes. why should they take you into their program? the qualities that we looked for in potential employees that we interviewed for jobs were:

  • initiative - autonomy
  • dynamism - energy
  • positive outlook - this is really important
  • responsibility
  • orientation to the client and co-workers (ability to provide customer service)
  • learning capacity
  • productivity
  • high adaptability - flexibility
  • leadership
  • team work
  • tolerance to pressure
  • analytic ability
  • professional development

not everyone is aware that my family owns a bunch of pharmacies and they employ pharmacy techs who go on to pharmacy schools. we write a lot of recommendations for them for pharmacy school admission and get a lot of feedback from them about their admission interviews. they get asked a lot about how they would handle a situation with an unpleasant or uncooperative student they had to work with in a group assignment. this is because they do a lot of clinical labs where they have to share things and from what my sil tells me the backstabbing gets pretty nasty sometimes. the stress isn't just in nursing school. a few things i have listed on my job interview page are this:

  • do not talk about your personal self or try to show off.
  • do not show your superiority in the situation.
  • do not show your agreement or disagreement with the things an interviewer says.
  • do not compare yourself with other candidates.
  • don't let them trick you into participating in any kind of gossip. don't respond to gossip--just keep your mouth shut.
  • do not interrupt the person you are with without reason (the interruption is accepted only with a specific purpose).
  • do not use or talk about technology you don't understand or know anything about. just admit you've never worked with that equipment before. [let me comment about a concern that a lot have that having no prior experience in healthcare might be a burden. . .i had no experience going into rn school and probably more than 50% or more don't either. where are we supposed to get this experience? where is the starting point? i think that where there is a desire is more important. cnas are caregivers and i don't belittle what they do. i was a nursing assistant for awhile myself. however, in nursing school we are being taught how to think and make some decisions about what to do for patients. we are being trained up to manage patient care as well as provide it and that is far beyond what cnas do.]
  • do not talk about irrelevant things
  • do not volunteer information until you are asked for it.

one thing you need to know about your future schooling as an lpn. . .it is training for a career. the instructors will be giving you your first recommendation for the first lpn position you will get. so, as well as teaching you, they are mentoring, watching and preparing you for your very first job. it's an awesome task. they are friend but some will see them as foe. the minute you graduate they are colleagues. i ran into several of my instructors after graduation and had a grand time working side by side with them as equals.

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Daytonite,

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your advice. I will be studying the links you provided.

Do I need to bring a resume with me?

Thank you again!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Not to an interview to get into a school. Resumes are only for job interviews.

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Great, thank you.

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Hi Daytonite...

Just wanted to let you know...

I must've really "WOW'd" them in my interview.......I GOT ACCEPTED!! Thank you for your advice!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Congratulations! :dancgrp:

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Include something about you being a great investment for their institution. This is a business deal right, you have to sell yourself in the interview.

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