Bad Interview....I got the job!!! WHAT??

Nurses Job Hunt

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Okay. So. I have been a nurse for a little over 2 years and I have had a wonderful opportunity to work at a great hospital with many benefits and really love my job. However, I have to leave my job because I relocated and now have to return to my home town for child care and other personal issues with raising my young son.

I had an interview at one of my top choice hospitals and was super super nervous. The staff was not at all welcoming when I walked through the door and I had to stand in the hallway to wait for the person interviewing me to come out and get me. Once the interview began I fumbled over my words and sounded (I thought) really inexperienced. I left the office feeling down and embarrassed that I had not answered the interview questions correctly.

3 days later I was offered the position! OMG I was floored. What??!! I was terrible in that interview, how in the world did I land the position? Aside from my emotional feelings about the interview it must have been satisfactory and I did in fact get my dream job. Moral of the story is, just be yourself, be honest and sell yourself the best way you can. If they want to hire you they will, if not keep moving and keep interviewing. I drove myself crazy with guilt for a whole weekend and in actually I had done a really great job. Don't be so hard on yourself. Please comment and tell me of times when you were unsure of yourself and overly emotional about a job interview...how did it go? I want to encourage you if you are looking for a job to hang in there and keep pushing.....YOU WILL FIND A JOB!

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Specializes in Ortho-Neuro Rehab, CRRN.

Congrats!

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Thank YOU AllnRN

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Specializes in None at the moment.

We are our worst critic! Congratulations on your dream job!! Don't feel bad, we're human, and if I were you I would have done the SAME THING! I had such anxiety going into an interview a month ago for a great position (per diem, monitor tech while working toward my BSN) and I stumbled a little bit in my answers. What came of it? I walked out that same day WITH the job offer!!! Many blessings! I'm very happy for you!

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Thank you MochaFiend!

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

Congrats! They saw something in you they liked and wanted :)

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I felt EXACTLY the same way walking away from the interview for the job I have now. I was certain that I was by far and large the WORST interviewee ever. At one point, I was certain that the NM I was interviewing with was giving me a deer-in-the-headlights look and thinking in her head about how idiotic I sound.

But in the end, after I really thought about it, I couldn't have done that bad, since I got a great job out of what seemed like an ocean of qualified candidates!

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Great story! It can be so hard to gauge what interviewers are looking for, and what we think they want to hear. From my experience with two new graduate interviews, the only advice I can offer someone (or my past self) is to be genuine and just breathe.

The first interview was for my ideal specialty at my dream hospital. I didn't make a strong impression, but I wanted the position so badly that I left my portfolio materials with the panel, sent follow-up messages the next day, and phoned the unit manager a week later. It was heartbreaking not just to be left in limbo, but to ultimately be rejected via a change in the status of my account on their job website--no quick email, or phone call, or mailed paper notice while I lost my head for three weeks.

The next interview felt like more of the same: A perceived lack of warmth from the panel. Not a lot of smiling. Deafening silence as I paused to gather my thoughts after each question. This time, even though I was grateful and eager for the chance to work there, I wasn't passionate enough to give them my $30 binder or collect business cards to compose personalized thank-you letters. Two weeks later, the manager shocked the air out of me with a verbal offer of employment.

In the end, the worst they can do is say no. Every interview is an experience in and of itself, where we have an opportunity to practice the kind of thinking and performance art needed to sell our skills.

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Thank you Nurse Beth!

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I felt EXACTLY the same way walking away from the interview for the job I have now. I was certain that I was by far and large the WORST interviewee ever. At one point, I was certain that the NM I was interviewing with was giving me a deer-in-the-headlights look and thinking in her head about how idiotic I sound.

But in the end, after I really thought about it, I couldn't have done that bad, since I got a great job out of what seemed like an ocean of qualified candidates!

Congrats! it feels good to know I'm not the only one who felt this way....Snafu13

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Great story! It can be so hard to gauge what interviewers are looking for, and what we think they want to hear. From my experience with two new graduate interviews, the only advice I can offer someone (or my past self) is to be genuine and just breathe.

The first interview was for my ideal specialty at my dream hospital. I didn't make a strong impression, but I wanted the position so badly that I left my portfolio materials with the panel, sent follow-up messages the next day, and phoned the unit manager a week later. It was heartbreaking not just to be left in limbo, but to ultimately be rejected via a change in the status of my account on their job website--no quick email, or phone call, or mailed paper notice while I lost my head for three weeks.

The next interview felt like more of the same: A perceived lack of warmth from the panel. Not a lot of smiling. Deafening silence as I paused to gather my thoughts after each question. This time, even though I was grateful and eager for the chance to work there, I wasn't passionate enough to give them my $30 binder or collect business cards to compose personalized thank-you letters. Two weeks later, the manager shocked the air out of me with a verbal offer of employment.

In the end, the worst they can do is say no. Every interview is an experience in and of itself, where we have an opportunity to practice the kind of thinking and performance art needed to sell our skills.

I totally agree. While I'm interviewing I try to read the face of the NM to gauge how I'm doing and sometimes you just have to keep going and finish the interview with your all and hope for the best. Practice makes perfect!

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Amazing. Things like miracles do exist in my opinion. I had something similar like your situation that happened to me and it worked out fine in the end too. Congrats!

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