Some Tips for Interview Questions? - by me or to me. ?

Specialties Operating Room

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Specializes in O.R. Nursing - ENT, CTC, Vasc..

Hi everyone. Now that I graduated I have time to be here!

I have an interview in three days at an O.R. where I did a leadership/management preceptorship my last semester of school. I got to know the assistant director - shadowed her almost everywhere for about 80 hours - and she was sooo busy, I got to see so much! -- but the interview will be with her, the director, and maybe one of her team leads. I did get to talk to the director a bit while I precepted there but not a lot. He seems cool.

Anyway, she told me to be prepared for some "situation"-type questions, to see how my critical thinking is. I think I'll be fine but is there anything anyone could throw at me to help me prepare for what might get asked? I don't know exactly how to work in an O.R. (thus the 6-8 months training) but I've shadowed and helped in them quite a bit.

Plus, what kinds of questions should I ask to get a feel for the job? Something that maybe would be good for a new nurse to know before getting into it. I know it's a stressful area to work but I'm not afraid :)

I'm pretty confident about making sure they know I'm willing to learn, I am not afraid to work, I learn easily and I'm a great team player. I just would like to make sure I do a good job of showing them I can "handle" it. I really want this job!

Thanks for anything! :)

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Specializes in O.R. Nursing - ENT, CTC, Vasc..

....Now I see some sites others have recommended for other posters...those are great. :)

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Specializes in O.R. Nursing - ENT, CTC, Vasc..

Thanks for the replies, LOL! :D Well I got the job :) The links for interviewing tips were great.

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Congratulations!!! I really hope I get a job soon!!! :yeah:

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Hi! Was wondering what links you used for the interview tips. I have an interview for the OR next week and am not sure what to expect them to ask me...any help would be great, thanks!

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Katie999, what surprised me most about my interview is that they really didn't ask questions about my skills. I guess it was pretty self-explanatory from my application that I was pretty "green"; or perhaps it's just the fact that regular floor nursing and OR nursing are worlds apart. Anyway, I did get a lot of interesting questions...... like, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" "If you were a shoe, what kind of shoe would you be?" I suppose they are looking for a certain personality more than anything else. I was asked what my favorite job had been so far and why.

If you truly know WHO you are, it will come across in an interview.... it is not something you can reheorifice beforehand.

Best of luck and do let us know how it goes!

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Specializes in O.R. Nursing - ENT, CTC, Vasc..
Katie999, what surprised me most about my interview is that they really didn't ask questions about my skills. I guess it was pretty self-explanatory from my application that I was pretty "green"; or perhaps it's just the fact that regular floor nursing and OR nursing are worlds apart. Anyway, I did get a lot of interesting questions...... like, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" "If you were a shoe, what kind of shoe would you be?" I suppose they are looking for a certain personality more than anything else. I was asked what my favorite job had been so far and why.

If you truly know WHO you are, it will come across in an interview.... it is not something you can reheorifice beforehand.

Best of luck and do let us know how it goes!

I am sorry, I hadn't checked back for the links to interview questions I found. But this post was true - not so much about skills at all. Mostly about what attracts me to the OR, how "committed" I am to being an OR nurse (because 6 to 8 months of training/orientation is a lot of time to invest in someone who will not be there a year or more...). Could I handle "all different kinds of personalities" (i.e. short-tempered surgeons, at times... other nurses.... all members of a team I am in charge of making sure are ready for the case .....). They were very interested in letting me know up front how challenging it is, that they don't expect me to immediately "get it", they'll train me, and people either really like the job, or they don't. But if I was up for it, it was a really rewarding job. It helped that I had already worked with these people, for a few weeks, a little bit in my leadership clinicals - and I didn't really do a single nursing "skill" while I was there, I just followed the manager around and sometimes helped check patients in in the holding area.

But if you really know what you are good at - in ANY job - how you handle people, etc., then you will find that the interview will go pretty smoothly (once you get over the initial jitters in the first minute or so, LOL!) I worked in a tough customer service job for the last 10 years, plus all my other previous jobs were customer-oriented, or in areas where stress was a factor, and I knew how I had handled myself, what I'd learned (especially mistakes I'd learned from), things I used to suck at that I was now good at.... I guess at the age of 37 I feel like I know myself pretty well :) Even though I still feel like I'm 13 most of the time!

Good luck... ! I may be back in here at some point talking about my new job!

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