Do you have any tips for telephone interview for a travel nursing job?

NedRN · Apr 2, 2015

Managers usually just describe their unit and pt population and ask you if you want the assignment! Depending on your specialty, they may ask some clinical question or about your comfort level with their pt mix if it is not clear from your work history and skills checklist.

The rest is all you. You will eventually learn what is important to you and ask about that in the future. For right now, I might suggest that you ask why they need you. Ongoing needs workplaces are very different from covering vacations or pregnancy leaves. Asking about floating and overtime often bring relevant answers. For a list of other questions you might ask, there is an article with a list on PanTravelers.

ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2015

Travel nurse interviews have been nothing like interviews for regular jobs. They have basically been like:

"'Ey, you got mad skillz?"

"Yeh I got mad skillz."

"K you got the job."

...Seriously. They just want to know if you're able to do the job. None of that "tell me about a time you've gone above and beyond for a patient." :) Don't sweat it.

Soliloquy, MSN, APRN, NP · Apr 8, 2015

My interview was about the Times I went above and beyond for a patient, etc. But I think it's because they're trying to get travellers to stay and they're trying to train them and include them and make them as much like staff RNs as possible.

The other interviews I went on were different.

dsteen · Apr 8, 2015

I tell my nurses to expect a 10-15 min phone interview tops. The facility already has skills checklist and references verified. They will discuss specific things about their floor- we see a lot of this, are you comfortable with that? or we use CNA's like this or we see this kind of patients a lot, etc. things that they want to make sure you are comfortable with.

After they tell you about their floor, always discuss the shift and start date to make sure it is still what the recruiter went over because that can change. Also, any scheduling issues or requests such as block booking or time off should always be discussed in the interview since all the schedule is done at the facility level.

That is about it! Easy peasy!

MsConstrued · Apr 8, 2015

I've never had a manager tell me truthful information on the telephone interview so it really doesn't matter. They will hire anyone whether you have the correct experience or not. I always ask about OT, how many techs there are per patient, patient to nurse ratio, floating requirements once I'm there, what my schedule will be like, etc. and it has never matched up with what I was told.

NedRN · Apr 9, 2015

That's a shame. I think with time, or perhaps better selection of agencies and assignments you may end up with a different idea about most managers. Most want a good fit and good morale I believe.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2015

My last phone interview with a manager was one hour long (!!!) ... I got not only the mad skillz questions but I also got a few behavioral ones. I thought it was an unusually long interview for a travel position (compared to a 20 min phone interview for my current assignment), but it was a pleasant conversation overall and I really wanted to work at this hospital. She called me during a 2-hour drive so I had time to talk lol. And she understood that I had to talk on Bluetooth so at least I proved that I could multi-task.

I got the assignment, I start in May :)

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

HikingNinja, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Apr 10, 2015

Travel nurse interviews have been nothing like interviews for regular jobs. They have basically been like:
"'Ey, you got mad skillz?"
"Yeh I got mad skillz."
"K you got the job."
...Seriously. They just want to know if you're able to do the job. None of that "tell me about a time you've gone above and beyond for a patient." :) Don't sweat it.

OMG I LOVE this! My interviews have been exactly as above. Basically the manager has decided they want to hire me and they try to sell me on the idea of working there for 3 months.

katelaughing · Sep 17, 2015

Anyone know resources for practice "behavioral" style questions? I have my first travel/phone interview tomorrow and don't have a lot of experience with that type of question.

perfexion, ASN, RN · Sep 17, 2015

I didn't even have an interview for my current assignment. My recruiter told the manager I was interviewing with another hospital and they automatically offered me the position. Travel nurse "interviews" are just a formality. If they call back they want you. The interview is just a chance for you to ask questions about the facility and if the manager says something crazy like "You have to float all over the building, " or "Our census is 60 and there's only 4 nurses per shift" or something then you can tell them no thank you before you sign the contract.

Dinsey · Sep 18, 2015

I used the Pan Travelers list of questions plus my own experience to make a list of my own. I have it saved so whenever I do a phone interview I can make sure I have all of my core questions answered.