Ok,I just had a job interview that I sort of blew due to "too much assertiveness and honesty",i think.. I'm really having a hard time answering questions coz im always caught between giving the truth or giving a lie but i know that's what an HR would like to hear...I am afraid that too much honesty wont get me any job at all...But on the other hand,I feel guilty when i lie...
So how do you answer questions like:
1. WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
>>>i know you should give answer that will reflect your desire to stay in that hospital in a long term basis...but we all know too that after a couple of years,we will really go out of the country..so do you tell them that you will go out of the country?coz if you do,then i will show that your just using them as your stepping stone..
2.HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR NCLEX?
>>> for me its a yes but i've heard some people lie about it...I've also heard some hospitals are hesitant to accept nclex passers..how true?
3.you graduated 200_..so meaning you didnt do anything at all for n years?
>>>do you tell them that while you were waiting for any calls from the hospital,you reviewed for your cgfns/ielts /nclex?
I hope you can share your ideas on how you handle common interview questions..
"Applicants wearing "dress to kill", high heels and a lot of makeup will make them think if this applicant can do bedisde nursing"
I've been thinking about that..Sad that most people base attitude and competence on how others look or project their selves..It's quite unfair to be judged right away just like that..First impressions are unfair..But I guess,we dont have much choice here but to dress the part..hehe
Thanks again Mr.Dhel for sharing all of this!It's very helpful. I hope other applicants will take time reading your tips too. :)
Sad and frustrating, but come to think of it...you only have like 5-10 minutes interview for you to make an impression and at the end of the day the HR recruiter had interviewed like 20 applicants or more. And you will hope that they will remember your 5 minutes.
Another tip, if the recruiter ask you in english, try to answer in english. If they ask a question in tagalog, pls answer them also in tagalog...specially if you're barely making a sentence in english....they'll know if your hardly trying or trying-hard.
orangestar,haha same here...I love dressing up even if im just passing my application or doing some follow ups to show that I am professional and that I mean business...Too bad some people may misunderstood it as being shallow and less "hardworking",especially that I am here in a small,laidback city. I once asked by a fellow nurse when I tried submitting my application if ever i'm sure to be in this profession. As she told me ,"OUR JOB IS REALLY STRESSFUL..IT'S NOT A BEAUTY PAGEANT THING".. (Stereotypes who think there is an indirect relationship between our competence and the height of our high heels )
Ok,i rant too much... hehe i really just wanna vent out coz it bothers me sooo much to be stereotyped as dumb and shallow...heheh I guess I dont have much choice but to take it down a bit and be that "hardworking":nurse: that they want...
wow superb thread! Just what im looking for! its really amazing that someone brought up this problem which many nurses are experiencing. And this thread would not be perfect without the expertise of Mr.dhel. Thaks so much Mr.dhel!! i will bear that in mind whenever I go to interviews.
It will greatly help many nurses like me. Im lucky to came across this thread.:heartbeat
I think its a lot easier for 1st coursers to pass the job interview than 2nd courser. I have been looking for a job since time immemorial...I think I'm beginning to have trauma during job interviews. I'm 30 years old, I really don't know if they are stunned with my resume. I am a microbiologist before I became a nurse. And yes I already have a career before shifting to nursing. And yes...being a microbiologist pays more than being a nurse in the Philippines. Most of my interviews all boils down to..."It must be hard to give up your better paying job to be nurse..." then this is usually followed by..."Let us be honest you did not gave up your career to work as a nurse here...you really intend to go somewhere else..." And before I knew it, I am on my way to the door knowing that I will not be hired. To top it all, I blame my catholic school and my parents for raising me an honest human being...I'm such a lousy liar...I easily squeal and croak.
Misspowers,that must be really hard... I know how it feels..I'm a lousy liar too that's why i opted to just say the truth before.. I'm afraid HRs will notice my lie since they're suppose to be an expert on observing people and behavior..But anyways,maybe you can try what mr.dhel has shared..Maybe you can reiterate to them your plan of establishing a career here in our country and that you don't have immediate plans to go out..
I think its a lot easier for 1st coursers to pass the job interview than 2nd courser. I have been looking for a job since time immemorial...I think I'm beginning to have trauma during job interviews. I'm 30 years old, I really don't know if they are stunned with my resume. I am a microbiologist before I became a nurse. And yes I already have a career before shifting to nursing. And yes...being a microbiologist pays more than being a nurse in the Philippines. Most of my interviews all boils down to..."It must be hard to give up your better paying job to be nurse..." then this is usually followed by..."Let us be honest you did not gave up your career to work as a nurse here...you really intend to go somewhere else..." And before I knew it, I am on my way to the door knowing that I will not be hired. To top it all, I blame my catholic school and my parents for raising me an honest human being...I'm such a lousy liar...I easily squeal and croak.
I can relate, when I first came here in the US I have 0 years experience as a nurse and my last title/job was Compensation Benefits Manager of a well known US company, and being doing it for the past 10 years...just imagine me being interviewed by a nurse recruiter asking me why the change of career??? I cannot even make it a reason that I will be making more money, because modesty aside, Im earning the same in the Phil inHR and as a US RN...
I hope I can say that it's as easy as answering the question, but I think more than answering the question, the most important thing is coming to the interview thinking that you want the job and you will get the job. If you yourself is not convinced that you will get the job and have the mentality "oh no, they will know that Im not going to stay", how will you convince the interviewer.?
If I am going to answer these:
..."It must be hard to give up your better paying job to be nurse... - I agree that it is hard, and it is harder if you are being well compensated. But I believe pay is just a fraction of compensation, and you have to look at the bigger and long term picture. In a hospital settings, you only need 1-2 microbiologist, and you can also say the same in other settings. But you need hundreds or even thousands nurses in a hospital. So to effect, a nurse offers more job security in the long run.
Let us be honest you did not gave up your career to work as a nurse here...you really intend to go somewhere else - I have been honest from the very start. I am a fair person and I know that your (hospital) is also fair. It is a common knowledge that there are a lot of people who took nursing hoping that they can have a better pay. But I believe that this hospital is also aware that US RN employment is closed and we are looking at 3-5 years or even more before they can open, and there are a lot of people ahead of me who they will be considering first. A lot has change since a couple of years ago, making it extremely difficult to gout of the country. So we are looking for a couple of years.
I plan to establish a career here and hopefully go up the career ladder, I am not saying that Im not interested working abroad... what Im saying is I have a better chance building my future here considering the current circumstances. And I will not be applying here if I intendto go somewhere else in the near future.
Your point is making the recruiter realize that everyone wants to go to the US and I am one of them, BUT, I have a better chance of staying here "longer" because I have plan of establishing a career. They have a better return of investment on you. It's the split second moment that at the end of the day, will make the recruiter remember you.
Misspowers,that must be really hard... I know how it feels..I'm a lousy liar too that's why i opted to just say the truth before.. I'm afraid HRs will notice my lie since they're suppose to be an expert on observing people and behavior..But anyways,maybe you can try what mr.dhel has shared..Maybe you can reiterate to them your plan of establishing a career here in our country and that you don't have immediate plans to go out..
Its not telling a lie, it pharaprasing your answer to improve your chance of being hired. You dont answer and lie that "I took nursing because I like to help sick people, and I do not have a hint of intention of working in the US, I'll stay in this hospital forever" rather your answer is "I think nursing is a vocation and not a profession, it takes a calling and genuine interest in people to become an effective nurse...its just fortunate that nursing can also be rewarding in terms of pay if you work outside so many people are misled and blindly taking up nursing hoping that they can work abroad and get rewarded tremendously. I wont convince you by saying that i have no intention to work in the US, but given a chance I rather work and establish myself here. I will let the long term future take care of itself..
Do you still think that you are telling a lie by saying the above statements?:chuckle
during interview remember to maintain eye contact...
always have a smile on your face all throughout the interview so they can see your serious and really confident bout the conversation...remember to greet the interviewer...
surely from the way you walk and the moment you start talking you all have the gats...:wink2:
Unfortunately yes! i answered like that in my first interview. I told them that i am willing to stay here if the institution is compensating its employee well plus it is a government tertiary hospital so there would be additional benefits. Best of all you can be with your family, you will not encounter being homesick. Moreover, you dont need to adjust big time to culture, patient, co-employee and weather.
It was a panel interview, they told me that none of their nurses are staying for that long... which is 5 yrs. I told them that i'll be willing to stay if the institution still wants me to stay and if i am happy with my work and the management. They asked me, if we will give you a 5 year contract will you sign it? I said definetly yes!
When they found out that Im a second courser they ask questions like are you planning to go abroad/US, I said yes I have a plan but my current priority plan right now is to become a nurse in this institution I also said that I have not taken any foreign exams and I plan to finance the said exam on my own and not to ask money from my parents.
May be they think that im lying. They dont believe that there are nurses who are willing to work in this country for a long period of time specially those second courser. My co-applicant who is also a second courser also failed that interview. This is a form of discrimination!
Come to think of it we trained in that hospital for 3 months. They said that the top 10 in the class will be the priority for hiring. Im not aiming to be on the top 10, I just did my best in every tasks they gave me. Evaluation came and fortunately I was on top 5, the other second courser im referring to earlier was on top 3. They should base their employment on that since it is their policy not by discrimination among second courser. It is their employee who evaluated our performance in the first place not by anyone else. It is the performance and the ability they should be looking for not by the intention of going out of the country.
Anyway, after that I never included in my resume that Im a second courser. I pity those kind of hospital who are empolying people superficially. They rejected the cream of the crab! hehe...
Its not telling a lie, it pharaprasing your answer to improve your chance of being hired. You dont answer and lie that "I took nursing because I like to help sick people, and I do not have a hint of intention of working in the US, I'll stay in this hospital forever" rather your answer is "I think nursing is a vocation and not a profession, it takes a calling and genuine interest in people to become an effective nurse...its just fortunate that nursing can also be rewarding in terms of pay if you work outside so many people are misled and blindly taking up nursing hoping that they can work abroad and get rewarded tremendously. I wont convince you by saying that i have no intention to work in the US, but given a chance I rather work and establish myself here. I will let the long term future take care of itself..
Do you still think that you are telling a lie by saying the above statements?:chuckle
oh my,HAHA! i should have thought of those lines before!! Yep,i guess the term then is paraphrasing...Hhhmm cant wait for my next interview and apply all these tips..:chuckle
Unfortunately yes! i answered like that in my first interview. I told them that i am willing to stay here if the institution is compensating its employee well plus it is a government tertiary hospital so there would be additional benefits. Best of all you can be with your family, you will not encounter being homesick. Moreover, you dont need to adjust big time to culture, patient, co-employee and weather.
It was a panel interview, they told me that none of their nurses are staying for that long... which is 5 yrs. I told them that i'll be willing to stay if the institution still wants me to stay and if i am happy with my work and the management. They asked me, if we will give you a 5 year contract will you sign it? I said definetly yes!
When they found out that Im a second courser they ask questions like are you planning to go abroad/US, I said yes I have a plan but my current priority plan right now is to become a nurse in this institution I also said that I have not taken any foreign exams and I plan to finance the said exam on my own and not to ask money from my parents.
May be they think that im lying. They dont believe that there are nurses who are willing to work in this country for a long period of time specially those second courser. My co-applicant who is also a second courser also failed that interview. This is a form of discrimination!
Come to think of it we trained in that hospital for 3 months. They said that the top 10 in the class will be the priority for hiring. Im not aiming to be on the top 10, I just did my best in every tasks they gave me. Evaluation came and fortunately I was on top 5, the other second courser im referring to earlier was on top 3. They should base their employment on that since it is their policy not by discrimination among second courser. It is their employee who evaluated our performance in the first place not by anyone else. It is the performance and the ability they should be looking for not by the intention of going out of the country.
Anyway, after that I never included in my resume that Im a second courser. I pity those kind of hospital who are empolying people superficially. They rejected the cream of the crab! hehe...
Good luck to US second courser!:heartbeat
Did you believe yourself when you told them that you want to establish a career here? Do you believe that you were able to to convince them that you are worth taking a chance?
I just notice one of your answer " i am willing to stay here if the institution is compensating its employee well plus it is a government tertiary hospital so there would be additional benefits." If Im the one interviewing you, I would hear from what you said is "if you pay me good I will stay, and I'll take your benefits as a bonus. But if I dont get paid good I'll leave in a second". I would suggest focusing on what you can offer to the hospital and if you can avoid talking about compensation unless your sure your hired. If they ask you how much salary are you expecting, my answer whould be "I am not comfortable discussing the salary. My first priority now is to know that I will be a good fit with this hospital, and how can participate in excellent patient care" wait discussing the salary until the job offer.
Eventhough you feel that your being discriminated it will help to avoid thinking about it during the interview...because it will show on your actions. The reason why they are doing panel interview is to evaluate you more in a shorter time. usually HR will coach the interviewer in a panel interview...one will focus on your answer, the other will look at your mannerism, while others will look for your non verbal cues. You may be saying something, but your actions are tellling it differently...
It is important to convince yourself first, that you want the job and you'll get the job..
I hope I can devote more time in elaborating more things to remember during an interview...
(Stereotypes who think there is an indirect relationship between our competence and the height of our high heels ) 
oh my,HAHA! i should have thought of those lines before!! Yep,i guess the term then is paraphrasing...Hhhmm cant wait for my next interview and apply all these tips..:chuckle
dhel28
291 Posts
Sad and frustrating, but come to think of it...you only have like 5-10 minutes interview for you to make an impression and at the end of the day the HR recruiter had interviewed like 20 applicants or more. And you will hope that they will remember your 5 minutes.
Another tip, if the recruiter ask you in english, try to answer in english. If they ask a question in tagalog, pls answer them also in tagalog...specially if you're barely making a sentence in english....they'll know if your hardly trying or trying-hard.
good luck