Bombed my first interview!!

[NurseRose84]

Hey ladies/gents! First off, I guess I should say that I am a soon to be new grad RN/ADN (May, 2015) that currently works as a float pool tech at a large teaching hospital. Last Wednesday, I had my first interview with a Level 1 Trauma ICU in this hospital. I LOVE working there as a tech, and would love to work there as a RN once I graduate.

So, at my interview, I was super excited... Which unfortunately led to extreme performance anxiety. I was stuttering over my words, not answering the questions the ways wanted to... It was extremely embarrassing, especially given that I can normally carry on perfectly normal conversations with the manager and assistant manager when I work on the unit.

I spoke with the manager today, and was told that she was worried that I would experience the same sort of debilitating stress/anxiety that I did at the interview on the floor when I first started out. I agree with her completely. I end up being so worried that I'm going to screw things up that I do screw things up! On a good note, she did say she definitely wanted me on her team, so hopefully I'll be able to get one of the new grad positions, or a position in her progressive care units. 😄

My question to you all is, do you have any advice on how to chill out before an interview? This was my first nursing interview, and I really don't want to screw anymore up!

Thanks in advance!

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

I totally blew my very first phone interview fresh out of nursing school. When HR called after reviewing my app/resume, she caught me completely off-guard when she asked if we could do a phone interview right then and there. I didn't think it would be cool to say "No, can we do it in a few days?" so with a deer in the headlights look, I said "Sure!". Yeah, never got beyond that point, LOL!

On a much more positive note, I did land every nursing job I applied for after that, INCLUDING the one I started orienting for today, WITH that same hospital system =)

[emilyewrn]

The only advice I have is to be prepared. You'll always be nervous for interviews, but being well prepared really helps! I always write out a list of questions I think they'll ask a few days before, as well as answers to those questions. I usually read through my questions/answers the few days before the interview, as well as right before I go into the interview. That usually helps me to have my thoughts organized so I can communicate more effectively and avoid stumbling on my words. Also don't be afraid to say "Can we come back to this question?" if you can't think of answer right away. I've done that in plenty of interviews!

But don't stress too much, it was your first interview! I think that good interviewing skills do come with practice. Take this as a learning experience as far as what you can do better for your next interview. Good luck!

[lovetosleep]

I bombed my first Rn interview too. I think just the fact that I already screwed one up made me feel like I would do better in the next one, at least it can't get any worse. I did fine with my other later interviews.

The thing that tripped me up was jumping to immediately answer questions when I should have taken a second to get my thoughts straight. Don't hesitate to tell the interviewer, hmm give me to think about that if they ask you something

your not sure about.

[NurseRose84]

Thanks for the advice you all! I'm just so upset because I had previously talked with the manager about a position there, and was really hoping to get it. I think part of what really threw me off was that my school had us do mock interviews the week I had my actual interview, so I was answering questions how my instructor said to answer them, and they just felt stiff coming out of my mouth. They didn't sound like me at all!

Oh well, I've got an interview on the unit I first started teching on this week, so hopefully it won't go as horribly as that one did!!! I can always reapply once I get experience on the floor and know how I want to answer the questions.

Thanks again for the advice! I really appreciate it! 😃