Difficult Interview Questions

[adamsli88]

I'm going through interview questions and having a hard time answering some of them. Any help would be great. I wouldn't use the answers in the interview. Sometimes just hearing other people's experiences sparks my own memories. Thank you!

Tell me about a time when you:

1) Were very effective in your problem-solving ability. (I'm sure I have many of these, but I think I'm reading into it too much)

2) Utilized your leadership ability to gain support for what initially had been strong opposition

3) Identified potential problems and resolved the situation before the problems became serious.

4) Found it necessary to tactfully but forcefully say things others did not want to hear.

5) Had to make an important decision quickly even though you did not have all the information you wanted.

6) Had to make a decision you knew would be unpopular.

7) Didn't handle a stressful situation very well.

[EMcGrady]

Hi,

I've been spending time going over interview questions as well. During nursing school we all kept reviews of our performance each term. I foudn that a lot of what I reviewd on had to do with ethical, leadership, learning...ect...situations. Just go back over your clinical days and time in school and find things that apply. The big thing is to put a positive spin on your anwsers. For example, say you had a co-worker that was ignoring your request for assistance and you got annoyed with it, takl about how it was or was not resolved and what you learned from the situation.

If you'd like to message me with some anwsers to the questions above, I'd be happy to go over them and let you know what I think.

:)

[fridayannelpn1974]

These are very difficult questions, that I was (after 36yrs of being a nurse) never asked. To expect anyone to come up with answers to these vague questions - in an interview- is ridiculous- and unfair. I would ask the interviewer to give me the questions in writing and allow me a few minutes to collect my thoughts and put the answers on paper, as to make sure that I was able to answer them with the most correct representation of my feelings. The first question of this kind (vague) I would ask her to go to her next question and let me think about my answer to the previous. If all the questions are like this , that is when I would ask to have the questions given to me and allow me to review them prior to anwsering them. Any nurse manager, DON etc. should respect your request. No one wants a nurse who blurts out BS answers because they are nervous. It's OK to say you would like time to review the questions. If this is not acceptable to the interviewer, I would consider going someplace else to work. Most people, looking to hire new employees, will be impressed with, not only your unwillingness to answer these vague questions "on the fly", but also your savvy in asking to review the questions. If they view this as a weakness in not being able to answer these questions IMMEDIATLY-- Oh well -- Do you reallly want to work for this kind of person?????? Good Luck

[deboraclark82]

#1 Interview advice I've ever gotten ALWAYS follow up a red flag statement with a green flag statement.

IE: 7) Didn’t handle a stressful situation very well.

Give your statement of your stressful situation then follow it with a positive statement about what you learned because of way you handled it or how you would handle it differently because of what you learned. So for ex if you were under stress because you were checking in patients and had been requested to assist the physician with an exam and still had an injeciton to give so you assisted the physician, gave your injection then attended to checking in patients who at that point had been waiting more then 30 minutes past their appointment time and there for made the physician behind schedule. You miss managed your stress and tried to do everything by yourself and could have learned about working as a team and have gained the experience to pass on responsibilities to your coworkers who are capable of the job needing to be done so that you can properly attend to your responsibilities.

So follow up your bad things with good things, you tried to take on too much and were incapable of handling your responsibilities but because of that experience you have learned how to manage your time and responsibilites and know when you to ask for help so that the patients are not neglected.

I love this advice because its true in ALL areas of life. Not just interviewing (for any job not just nursing) but also when you are dating someone and they ask tough questions (why did your last relationship fail, why are you still single etc) you can state a negative message then follow it up with a positive one. It turns the answer around and makes you look so much better. I got my current job because I took this advice. Always end your answers on a positive note.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

All of these questions involve you thinking of a specific encounter you had as a nurse or student ---

I did X ... this happened as a result... learned I could have done a, b or c---now I do A, B and C ( or Y ) as a result of reflection on encounter.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

This type of interview has become the standard practice in my region. I have been working as a nurse for 24 years and noticed that employers switched from traditional interviews to behavioral based interviews about 12 years ago. There are numerous ways to prepare for these questions, you can look for books or human resources/career websites such as monster.com http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-preparation/behavioral-interviews-in-healthcare/article.aspx

you can also search the topic on allnurses because it has been discussed in the past, as an example see crufflerjj's post in this thread https://allnurses.com/retired-nurses-inactive/first-job-interview-364228-page2.html

I agree withNRSKaren, answer each behaviour based question by using the SAR/STAR method, describe the

1. Situation or task you were in

2. Action that you took

3. Result of that action

If you are a new grad and do not have work experience at a nursing job but have work experience at at a non-nursing job, you can answer some of the questions based on your previous work experience. Not all of your answers have to be based on your nursing student experience.

good luck with your future interviews