Bombed my first interview!?

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Hi all,

I am new to allnurses but I need some encouragement so I decided to start a thread.

I am 4th year nursing student, expected to graduate this May.

Today, I had my first RN interview...(my 1st choice, dream job) and I think I bombed it.

I can't get over with this :(

So it was a station type interview, where I had an one-to-one interview with 3 different people (HR, manager, and RN)

My first interview was with HR, she asked me behavioral Qs. Bombed half of the Qs she asked. I was telling a clinical story and it was kind of all over the place. AHH!! And I got so nervous, I was just keep talking BS. :( :(

Next, I was with an RN. was pretty bad too because it was all clinical Qs. I answered some very well but I talked soo fast. The RN even told me to slow down. Also, I forgot to mention very important points, for example, what would you do if your patient suddenly experiences SOB..Like I would have said it better but I was so nervous I forgot to say all the things that I wouldve said now.. but oh well, I am still a student so I think they will understand. I would give myself 6/10 on this part..because I panicked on some Qs. As a student..often I am not sure what to do when patient is in an emergent situation..its somewhat situational..idk. I think I did OK not good but not horrible maybe more on the horrible side

Last with the manager, I aced this part. Because she asked standard Qs about me. tell me about yourself, why should I hire you? Weakness? Why do you wanna work here? blah blah all about me. which I did great..I think she liked my answers too.

Now I have to wait till they call me. she said HR will contact me this week or next week.............!! What do you think..? It was a position for a new grad.. so hope they understand and pick me! This position was pretty competitive because i saw 5 other candidates there. After talking to them I went to a "better" school (more competitive to get in, better name-value), I had better GPA, experience..and so on. I believe I am a good candidate only if i answered some Qs in a more calm manner :( - Trying to make myself feel better here.

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All new nurses are like that. Just make sure you follow up with a thank you, don't forget to remind them a little of why you would be a great addition to the team. For your next interview though search online for most common nursing interview questions and write out your answers. Read it over and practice and read it before interviews. If it's a phone interview you can even read off the page. Remember clear, concise, key points.

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thanks!

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They know they are hiring a new grad (in your case, not even graduated yet), they aren't apparently looking for years of experience. You may have "bombed" in terms of the answers you gave, but in some ways your nervousness paid off. They saw how important it was to you, and how serious you were about wanting the position. Ms. calm, cool, cucumber may have had all the right answers but totally lacked enthusiasm.

I'm a pretty new grad (only been working 6 months). My interview freaked me out as well. I knew (like you) that I answered some things really well and that other things went over my head in terms of experience and I bombed the answers. At one point I actually cried! (yeah, not a good thing to do-but they asked about the worst thing I have seen, and relating the story of the abused infant made me cry), I kicked myself for that all night! My job wasn't specific to new grads. In fact, they preferred experience but I knew some nurses on the floor who helped get me the interview. my answers would have never been competitive with more seasoned nurses who applied, but my nervousness showed how badly I wanted the job, and I must have done something right because I was hired.

I'm sure that you did great, and what you lacked in experience you made up for in enthusiasm. Without knowing who your competition is, no one can tell you that you got the job (though I will keep my fingers crossed!) but if you don't, you got interview experience and that's awesome! The first interview is always the worst.

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I think you probably did fine. Relax. You got nervous because you cared so much. They understand. Let us know when they call you back. Good luck. And don't be so hard on yourself. Now and when you are at work!

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Specializes in Women's/Maternal Child Health.

I have a decade of experience and an MSN and I just recently bombed an interview for a management position. It was an 8 person panel interview and I knew every single person in the panel. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, a formality. I was wrong. It was more nerve-wracking interviewing with my friends than someone I didn't know. Even though I new the right answers, they were not available to my brain during that 1 hour. I am looking at it as a learning experience and moving forward.

You should not beat yourself up. You to can use yours as a learning experience also. Just think how much better of an interviewer you will be next time. The simple fact is, that you may have thought it was your dream job, but I believe wholeheartedly that things happen for a reason. Maybe it was supposed to prepare you to interview for a completely different yet more appropriate opportunity. I'm 48 and I've never not gotten a job a applied for, before. It was a humbling and learning experience.

You will find in nursing that there are opportunities around every corner to learn and grow. Embrace them, don't be afraid to fail, for in failure we learn about ourselves, life and the world we live in.

Congratulations on your nursing school accomplishments, and welcome to the sisterhood. I am confident this wonderful profession has many amazing things in store for you.

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You probably did better than you think. If you don't get the job use this as a lesson and practice answering common interview questions, especially with another person to help you. If you aren't sure what kinds of questions you may get just search RN interviews on youtube, there are tons of videos, I probably watched like 15 lol and I was pretty amazed by how spot on they were in types of questions.

Good luck!

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