Did my Interview go well? Or don’t count on a call?

[Adri1992]

A little background about me is that I have my BSN and graduated in Spring 2018. I have been working in a hospital bed surg unto for about 4 months and prior to that a specialty doctors office. My dream career is to be an L&D Nurse so I’m always applying with hopes that one day somewhere will give me the opportunity. I was shocked to get a call from a great hospital down the street from me last Wednesday and she asked me to come in for an interview the following day.

So I met with the hiring manager on Thursday and the interview went a little over half an hour she was on her lunch break. The interview was nice and flowed more like a conversation, she didn’t have set questions for me even though I prepared for the hard questions. We just talked about me and my experiences what I want to do and why I want to be a labor and delivery nurse. Then she talked about the job itself and what it entails and how orientation would be broken down week by week for me. I also prepared a lot of questions in terms of how the unit worked like if it was baby friendly,what’s the population they see in mainly and what computer systems they used and she seemed to be interested in by my questions and we went off of that for a while. She laid out a lot of information in terms of how the union works, scheduling, seniority, the preceptors etc. It ended with A tour of the unit then we went back to her office and she talked a little more to me and this is where I get a little confused.

So she told me that if I were to hear back the next people I would hear back from where HR regarding a tobacco test. That HR only calls Monday through Wednesday since you have to come in within a 48 hour period for the tobacco test since they are a tobacco free campus. Following that I would schedule my on boarding appointment. Then she told me she still has one more person to interview still for the position (which terrifies me since I have no L&D experience). And she also let me know that she is going on a vacation for a week and a half at the end of this week and won’t be back til early April, So for me to keep in mind that she will be away for a little. She also gave me her business card with her phone number and email in case it’s been some time going by and I haven’t heard anything so I can reach out and find out where they are at in the process. Later that night I sent an email thanking her for her time and just saying how much that unit impressed me and how I’d love to join the team.

And now I am just thinking over every little detail wondering if her saying that she had another candidate still to interview and her giving me her card saying if I haven’t heard back about the status I can reach out. I don’t know if I should make negative of those details. At the same time her saying that HR if they were to call call me on a Monday through Wednesday for a tobacco screening followed by on boarding seems like a lot of information if you’re no longer in the running. She was laughing and smiling the whole time and our rapport felt great but now I’m freaking myself out since it’s been 5 days.

How long does it usually take for take for an offer after interview? Does it sound reasonable that an offer may be delayed due to her vacation or am I just being hopeful?

[JKL33]

59 minutes ago, Adri1992 said:

How long does it usually take for take for an offer after interview? Does it sound reasonable that an offer may be delayed due to her vacation or am I just being hopeful?

There is just no way to know. It's more likely that she gave you all the information that she did because she knows the answer will not be as immediate as most candidates would like (HR processes, her vacation, etc.) and she wanted to give you a bit of reassurance about all of that. Probably less likely that she is an overall deceitful person who wasted her timing giving you all that info while already knowing you weren't a strong contender.

It's good to be hopeful and okay to be nervous with anticipation, but also good to realize that what's done is done and what will be, will be. It sounds like your interview went well.

Good luck ~

[Adri1992]

Thank you so much for your input. I’m just nervous because it’s my dream job and I keep seeing on other threads that if they wanted to hire me I’d get an offer sooner then later.

[klone, MSN, RN]

She let you know she’s leaving on vacation and won’t be back until mid-April. That means don’t expect to hear back from either her or HR until mid-April.

[Adri1992]

I know she let me know about her vacation at the end of this week and told me to keep that in mind but it was never made clear if that meant that she wouldn’t make her decision til before or after. She just said she still had one more candidate to meet with and that the next step IF I were to hear something would be From HR. I just get nervous what if her decision was made after interviewing the other candidate. I don’t want to reach out too soon and come off as annoying asking the status but I’m nervous what if her decision was made already? I don’t want to seem like I don’t want the position either staying under the radar. I don’t have a definitive timeline of when it would be ok to ask the status.

[EDNURSE20, BSN]

Wait! You finished a couple of months ago and you’ve already had two jobs? And already tried to get a thrid.

Secondly you ask what type of population they see? It’s L&D! There’s not that much variation.

Also asked if it was baby friendly? As in telling them essentially your planning on having baby yourself in near future. Or at least that’s what it sounds like

Im guessing it’s gone past that Monday to Wednesday time line, and you don’t want to reach out to them.

I think you have your answer.

[Adri1992]

I graduated in May and could only get an offer from a doctors office but then a med surg position in the hospital was willing to hire me in December. My dream is Labor and Delivery so I’m always applying even though the hopes of getting a position this early in my nursing career are slim.

Baby Friendly is an initiative that endorses breastfeeding over bottle feeding. Hospitals register as such and hire more lactation support.

Population means a great deal in terms of cultural competency. Different cultures expect different ways of delivering and taking care of the baby after delivery. Some cultures the mother prefers to rest and their mother in law does the work for a few days and other cultures consider it to be seen as “poor” if you breastfeed and “wealthy” to bottle feed.

and she said “a” Monday to Wednesday but she didn’t say if her decision would be made before or after vacation so I don’t know whichever Monday to Wednesday

[Luckyyou, BSN, RN]

16 minutes ago, Newgradnurse17 said:

Also asked if it was baby friendly? As in telling them essentially your planning on having baby yourself in near future. Or at least that’s what it sounds like

Baby friendly is a WHO initiative hospitals get involved in with regards to L&D, nursery and postpartum units.

[Adri1992]

Thank you @Luckyyou. My questions I asked weren’t silly. Baby friendly initiatives change a lot in terms of available lactation support and mother baby engagement.

[Luckyyou, BSN, RN]

2 minutes ago, Adri1992 said:

Thank you @Luckyyou. My questions I asked weren’t silly. Baby friendly initiatives change a lot in terms of available lactation support and mother baby engagement.

I don’t think your question about patient population was odd either. There’s a big difference between a unit where a majority of moms come in with birth plans expecting a certain kind of experience, and a hospital where moms may be more likely to want an epidural, to bottle feed, etc.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I understand you’re anxious. But if she told you that she was going to be out until mid-April, that was her way of saying not to freak out if you don’t hear anything before then.

[klone, MSN, RN]

27 minutes ago, Newgradnurse17 said:

Wait! You finished a couple of months ago and you’ve already had two jobs? And already tried to get a thrid.

Secondly you ask what type of population they see? It’s L&D! There’s not that much variation.

Also asked if it was baby friendly? As in telling them essentially your planning on having baby yourself in near future. Or at least that’s what it sounds like

Im guessing it’s gone past that Monday to Wednesday time line, and you don’t want to reach out to them.

I think you have your answer.

Speaking as an OB nurse, all of her questions were entirely appropriate.