Bombed New Grad Interview

[Crawdadssing]

How do you pick yourself up after a really terrible interview?

The manager took several phone calls during it, she made faces at a few of my answers and after every behavioral/clinical question she told me what I answered wrong and the answers she was looking for. I left feeling defeated. Is this typical? 

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

If the manager made faces at your answers and was unengaged during the interview as evidenced by taking phone calls.  this is not the unit you want.

Things would be the same if you started there. 

You are a new grad, you aren't going to be able to answer behavioral clinical questions perfectly. 

If a interviewing manager is too busy to appropriately listen and interview you, it will be worse if you worked there.

 

[Davey Do]

47 minutes ago, Crawdadssing said:

she told me what I answered wrong... I left feeling defeated. Is this typical? 

I did RN clinicals at  St E's in the Spring of 1990, about ten years before it became Wrongway Regional. I applied at St. E's and got an interview for a position in psych later that year. I was being interviewed by one of the supervisors who asked me if I knew psych meds. Having worked 2 1/2 years at Weed Rover Township Hospital in psych as an LPN, I said I knew my psych meds well.

The supervisor shot out some questions and I answered them all. Then, he asked whether it was safe for a patient on Lithium to go out into the sun. I said, "Well, Lithium doesn't typically cause photosensitivity, so I'd say it was safe for the patient to go out into the sun".

"Yeah!" the supervisor shot back, "but what if the patient perspired, got dehydrated and Lithium toxic?!"

The little voice inside my head said,

43 minutes ago, RNNPICU said:

this is not the unit you want.

Not until 2003 anyway. Then I worked at Wrongway until 2020.

A true test of character is to give a person power. Some use that power in order to belittle others so they can feel better about themselves.

We're either the A-hole or we have to put up with the A-hole, Crawdadssing. Consider the fact that, in this scenario, it's not you; you just had to put up with the A-hole.

The best to you.

["nursy", RN]

I agree that it sounds like this isn't a place you would want to work.  The only thing I would add is, reflect on the questions  that you got "wrong."   Were they obscure gotcha kind of  questions, or should  you have known the answers?  One thing I learned when I did research on how to interview well, there are some things that are part of almost any standard answer I.e.  "I would assess the situation and make sure the the ABC's (airway, breathing, circulation) are intact before I would .....blahblahlah...."   That type of reply allows you to start speaking in a coherent intelligent manner,  and buys you time to formulate the rest of the answer.  

Don't let one bad experience get you down.  Do some research on good interviewing techniques.  You can Google very specific queries such as "interview questions for  (fill in the position)  nursing position."    Good  luck!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

You dodged a bullet. Thank your lucky stars and move on. 

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

This was far from a typical interview. I have had  20 or more interviews.. no one took phone calls, made faces, or corrected my answers. There is no doubt that.. this is a manager you do not want to work for.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Zero stars, don't recommend. You definitely dodged a bullet. A hail of bullets. Can you imagine the misery of working for that person, or being that person? Yikes. 

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

Too bad you don't get a Press Ganey survey after interviewing there...

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

As others have said, this is not someone you want to work for. I also doubt that you did as poorly as your are feeling. We tend to remember all the wrong aspects of events, you probably had some very good answers. I would recommend for future interviews, just be prepared to acknowledge your inexperience. I have said things like "I'm not exactly sure what I would do in that situation, but I know that when I work with my preceptor and coworkers we will discuss things like that before I'm on my own". 

If she gave you some scenarios with answers that seemed plausible, you might reflect on those. However, it's possible that she was not going to give you credit for anything and just corrected you for the sake of correcting. Some people are not good with a little bit of power.

Keep your head up, the right situation will come along!

[Crawdadssing]

I just wanted to thank everyone for your responses. I did a lot of introspection and definitely could have improved in some areas and the rest of it I think was this wasn’t a good fit for me. I really appreciate all your comments about this isn’t the unit for me.

I had another interview and share day today that I absolutely nailed and developed a really good rapport with the panel and she told me to expect to hear from the recruiter tomorrow so I’m pretty sure I got the job. Everyone was really amazing and that supportive, positive culture is what I was looking for. 

[Crystal-Wings, LVN]

That happened to me once at an interview for a clinic position. The guy left in the middle of the interview to take a call from his mechanic. He also asked  (what I thought) irrelevant questions such as “Do you have any job experience in fast food or retail?” Didn’t get the job, but I don’t think I would have wanted to work somewhere where patient care is treated like working in retail. 

[VykingboyRN]

An “Interview,” is both ways, and I believe they showed you exactly how you’d feel working there.  “Antennas Up!!”

Best of Luck, and Prayers for your guidance and a position you’ll love, grow in, and be challenged by - to be your best.