Advice for interview

PedsRN1975 · Oct 1, 2010

Prepare for lot's of behavioral questions. Think of the patients you had and interaction with. Common questions are "Tell me of a time when you had to deal with an emergency? What did you do?", or think of conflict questions, with patient, family, other nurses or doctors. How did you deal with that? What they want to know is that if an emergency arises, can you handle it without losing your head. Can you think critically under pressure? Also, in a conflict, do you have the insight to not engage personally and hopefully diffuse the conflict? Also in a conflict with the physician can you rationally stand your ground, advocating for the best interest of the patient, while you maintain your professionalism? Do you know the chain of command ex: more experienced nurse whose judgement you trust, charge nurse, nurse manager, nursing supervisor etc? Also, do you have the humility to listen for advice and realize that you don't know everything? Are you aware of the patient safety and infection control rules? When you think of answering a behavioral question think about what are they really asking. If they ask you about an emergency, the outcome is not as important as the steps taken towards the outcome. What is important is 1. Did you recognized when you were in over your head? Did you do all you can do until helped arrived? Practice by yourself, even writing down, or with a friend. Then your questions will come out flowing naturally in the interview. Also if you get an question that you have absolutely no clue how to answer, say something like "can we come back to this question in a minute?" but don't forget to come back to it. I hope this helps. Good luck!

carolynms · Oct 7, 2010

NewRN1975 gave EXCELLENT advice! I went through many interviews with various medical centers before I landed my RN position. From that experience, I cannot stress how important practicing potential questions and scenarios will be for you to have a successful interview. You WILL feel silly practicing, but it will help! Writing things down helped me, too. ALSO, dressing professionally will help make a lasting impression. Wear a dress suit or something as close to this as you can. I assure you that the nurse recruiter will be dressing similarly. Dressing professionally will also boost your self-esteem!

Good luck!

Testa Rosa, RN · Oct 7, 2010

Do not wing this--prepare! Seriously, talk out some of your responses to those common questions to your family and friends. Interviewing well is a skill that requires practice. Some of the better students in my graduating class have yet to be hired because they choke in interviews.

Typing out scenarios where you contributed to a patients care or dealt with a unique nursing process is helpful--mostly because it forces you to organize your thoughts and come up with the right words and concise ways of getting your message across. And, review these notes just before the interview--and talk them out to yourself-- so you keep your replies short and sweet. I wish I had jotted down these situations while I was still a student, as I find they all run together into several pt and it's tough for me to get the story straight while under the stress of a panel interview. That's why you must prep!!!

Have a short paragraph typed up to answer the question: "Tell me a little about yourself." and so "Why did you chose nursing as a career" They don't want to hear your life story or have you crying over grandma's passing away but rather have a short, sweet, 2 minute delivery that gives them a couple good memory triggers.

I always seem to get the question, "how do you handle stress?" and "Tell us about a time you had a difficult pt and how did you handle it?"

Dress professional and come with several copies of your resume and attach a couple letters of recommendation to these. Read your resume and letters before the interview as this will boost your confidence and help you remember the nice things people say about you. Hand these out and at the end of the interview when they ask, "Is there anything else you want to say to us?" Point them to the letters and mention that you come highly recommended from XXX because of your YYY.

Also, come with a couple questions to ask--I always want to know what their training will be like as well as what the next steps will be regarding the interview process.

Always thank them for their time and the chance to interview. I so appreciate those that granted me interviews in this difficult economic climate despite the outcome. And, if you don't get the job, don't despair--there are so many amazing new grad RN's and so few spots. Take names and emails and keep following up and send them updates of your resume from time to time.

Always follow up with a thank you letter--if it's a panel interview, ask for the HR manager to forward your email to the panel.

Pray, Breath and know that you will find your path eventually.

Good Luck!

NurseVN · Oct 8, 2010

Do not wing this--prepare! Seriously, talk out some of your responses to those common questions to your family and friends. Interviewing well is a skill that requires practice. Some of the better students in my graduating class have yet to be hired because they choke in interviews.
Typing out scenarios where you contributed to a patients care or dealt with a unique nursing process is helpful--mostly because it forces you to organize your thoughts and come up with the right words and concise ways of getting your message across. And, review these notes just before the interview--and talk them out to yourself-- so you keep your replies short and sweet. I wish I had jotted down these situations while I was still a student, as I find they all run together into several pt and it's tough for me to get the story straight while under the stress of a panel interview. That's why you must prep!!!
Have a short paragraph typed up to answer the question: "Tell me a little about yourself." and so "Why did you chose nursing as a career" They don't want to hear your life story or have you crying over grandma's passing away but rather have a short, sweet, 2 minute delivery that gives them a couple good memory triggers.
I always seem to get the question, "how do you handle stress?" and "Tell us about a time you had a difficult pt and how did you handle it?"
Dress professional and come with several copies of your resume and attach a couple letters of recommendation to these. Read your resume and letters before the interview as this will boost your confidence and help you remember the nice things people say about you. Hand these out and at the end of the interview when they ask, "Is there anything else you want to say to us?" Point them to the letters and mention that you come highly recommended from XXX because of your YYY.
Also, come with a couple questions to ask--I always want to know what their training will be like as well as what the next steps will be regarding the interview process.
Always thank them for their time and the chance to interview. I so appreciate those that granted me interviews in this difficult economic climate despite the outcome. And, if you don't get the job, don't despair--there are so many amazing new grad RN's and so few spots. Take names and emails and keep following up and send them updates of your resume from time to time.
Always follow up with a thank you letter--if it's a panel interview, ask for the HR manager to forward your email to the panel.
Pray, Breath and know that you will find your path eventually.
Good Luck!

Excellent advices! I did all the above and they told me they would call "early next week." It is Friday of "next week" now - exactly 1 week from the interview date. Should I give them a call? Is it too pushy to call? THanks!

Testa Rosa, RN · Oct 8, 2010

So glad my advice was helpful to you--your note made my day. Seriously--thanks for keeping us updated.

At this moment I am having post interview meltdown--I'm sure I just seriously crashed and burned in my final one-on-one interview with the nurse manager yesterday afternoon. This is the job I've been waiting for above all other positions as it's where I precepted and where I want to work. This was technically my 5th interview for the same position if you count up all the HR and panel interviews to get to this point, so I thought I had already done the serious behavioral scenario questions and did not prep (like I told you to above!!!!)

I had thought it was going to be more a one-on-one getting to know you type deal--WRONGOLA--so was not ready for one hour of behavioral scenarios like, "tell me about a time you had a cultural missunderstanding and how you dealt with it?" Seriously--ummmmmmmm, blah blah blah. I couldn't think of a single example. AND had the classic situation where I had three pts info rolling into one example (like I warned you about!!!) so it was a long winded answer while I got the story straight and I could see her eyes glazing over. Epic Fail!!!

Woulda coulda shoulda taken my own advice!!!! It didn't help that I accidentally drove to the wrong place because I was on stressed out auto-pilot and was ten minutes late to the interview. I am so mortified today I feel like crawling in a hole and not talking to anyone. I really am a good nurse--especially after my 260 hr preceptorship AND 300 hr externship--I feel so ready to roll. Both my preceptors said I was the best student they had ever worked with. But I just suck at interviewing.

In light of all this, it make me feel a little better that I helped you. Hope others listened to my advice and learned from my failures, and that will console me today as I grieve and flog myself.

Keep us updated; Blessings on your Journey.

Testa Rosa, RN · Oct 8, 2010

Oh, and call them--you are well beyond the time limit they stated so NO it's not too pushy. Good luck!

SwimRN10 · Oct 14, 2010

Thank you all for the wonderful advice!

It did come in handy, all of my questions were purely behavioral! wowsa...anyways she told me I passed the first phase of hiring...again thank you to all the wonderful nurses on here!

subzer0 · Oct 14, 2010

So glad my advice was helpful to you--your note made my day. Seriously--thanks for keeping us updated.
At this moment I am having post interview meltdown--I'm sure I just seriously crashed and burned in my final one-on-one interview with the nurse manager yesterday afternoon. This is the job I've been waiting for above all other positions as it's where I precepted and where I want to work. This was technically my 5th interview for the same position if you count up all the HR and panel interviews to get to this point, so I thought I had already done the serious behavioral scenario questions and did not prep (like I told you to above!!!!)
I had thought it was going to be more a one-on-one getting to know you type deal--WRONGOLA--so was not ready for one hour of behavioral scenarios like, "tell me about a time you had a cultural missunderstanding and how you dealt with it?" Seriously--ummmmmmmm, blah blah blah. I couldn't think of a single example. AND had the classic situation where I had three pts info rolling into one example (like I warned you about!!!) so it was a long winded answer while I got the story straight and I could see her eyes glazing over. Epic Fail!!!
Woulda coulda shoulda taken my own advice!!!! It didn't help that I accidentally drove to the wrong place because I was on stressed out auto-pilot and was ten minutes late to the interview. I am so mortified today I feel like crawling in a hole and not talking to anyone. I really am a good nurse--especially after my 260 hr preceptorship AND 300 hr externship--I feel so ready to roll. Both my preceptors said I was the best student they had ever worked with. But I just suck at interviewing.
In light of all this, it make me feel a little better that I helped you. Hope others listened to my advice and learned from my failures, and that will console me today as I grieve and flog myself.
Keep us updated; Blessings on your Journey.

:yeah: :yeah:

caliotter3 · Oct 15, 2010

Good job on passing the first phase and good luck with the next phase!