During a job interview, what do nurse managers expect from fresh/green/new nurses?

[extraordinary]

hello there amazing nurses!!

here's a little introduction .............................

i recently graduated with my bachelor's (big smile). after all the hard work, i've made it one step closer to becoming a licensed rn, considering i pass the licensing exams in october ( fingers crossed!).

but...... for now....

i'm looking into getting a job to function as a practical nurse (until i get my license as an rn) .. i've sent my cover letter, resume, certificates, and diplomas in already...

now>..... it's time to await for the time of the interview>>>>>>with the managers....

so my fellow nurses.....

can any of you with managerial type experience kindly give insight as to:

1. what is expected of us fresh out of school/green/new (very new with little experience, besides clinical internship) nurses during an interview?
   
2. what kinds of questions may be asked during the interview?
   
3. what are the appropriate/ expected answers to the questions being asked?
   
4. what can we do to go the extra mile, and leave a good impression?
   
5. what are the do's and don'ts?
   

examples go a long way so please feel free to give examples of the questions with the possible right/wrong answers.

and of-course, other nurses that have been through successful/ unsuccessful interviews are more than welcomed to post their insight and/or experiences....

many blessings your way and thank you all in advance.. ..keep shining!!!

[Bobbkat]

I don't have any advice as far as the interviews go, being a new grad myself (with no interviews), but I have a question. You say you are going to apply for practical nursing positions. Do you mean graduate nurse positions? Because unless your state has rules that allow it a GN can not work as an LPN unless licensed as a LPN.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Frankly, I would be concerned about hiring someone who was delaying taking the NCLEX for so long. It's generally true that the longer the wait, the worse your chances are of passing. Also, I would would wonder why you were choosing to wait so long. Is it because you are not confident in your abilities? ... not confident in the quality of education you received? I would want to know what the problem is.

Also, my facility rarely hires anyone who is not planning to stay in that position for very long. Looking at your application, we would suspect that you would leave your LPN position soon after getting your RN ... and therefore, would not be worth our expense of orienting you. We would rather hire an LPN who planned to stay with us as an LPN for a while. If we are hiring an LPN, we want an LPN. If we are looking for an RN, we want an RN. In this job market, we don't have to compromise on that and we won't settle for someone who is using us only as a brief stepping stone to something else. So unless the position can be easily converted to an RN position after you pass NCLEX-RN, and that is what you want to do long-term ... you might not even get a face-to-face interview at my institution.

If the position can be converted to an RN position and you are looking at this as a long-term job ... Then we would be asking about your strengths and weaknesses, educational needs, flexibility in scheduling, etc. ... all the normal stuff you will see on other threads here at allnurses. We would be looking for someone strong enough to handle stress, who can learn quickly and be cheerful about it ... someone who will persevere if things get a little tough and not run away ... someone knowledgable about nursing in general and genuinely interested in the population we serve.

[extraordinary]

In my country you study four years to get you bachelors. I just graduated this year.

Our Caribbean regional exam is in October, it's not called the NCLEX.

In the meantime you get your license to be a practical nurse.

Here once you do the four yrs. of school and pass the regional exam you are then called an Rn.

if you don't pass the exam then you remain as a practical nurse, until you pass the exam, you are considered an RN.

Here the Hospital hires us as practical nurses, and are supervised with our activities by the RN nurses who would give all IV medications to patients.

Once we have passed the regional exam, you move automatically from PN to RN.

[Bobbkat]

Ah, that makes more sense now!

I have my first interview tomorrow morning, so I will have to update with any questions I was asked.

[graceomalleyRN, RN]

Here are some questions I was asked in a phone interview:

Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult patient and what you did to solve the problem.

Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a patient.

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

There were more but they are all a blur now.

[tmarti09]

Is it me or did you forget that you have to pass the NCLEX-PN to practice as an LPN... and I have no clue why you are delaying the process for that long! It seems absurd!

[PediLove2147, BSN, RN]

Is it me or did you forget that you have to pass the NCLEX-PN to practice as an LPN... and I have no clue why you are delaying the process for that long! It seems absurd!

If you read the previous post you would see that the OP is from the Caribbean and there you can work as an LPN while waiting to take the regional RN exam, which only can be taken in October. I think we all had similar thoughts before the OP's explanation.

[llg, PhD, RN]

In my country you study four years to get you bachelors. I just graduated this year.

Our Caribbean regional exam is in October, it's not called the NCLEX.

In the meantime you get your license to be a practical nurse.

Here once you do the four yrs. of school and pass the regional exam you are then called an Rn.

if you don't pass the exam then you remain as a practical nurse, until you pass the exam, you are considered an RN.

Here the Hospital hires us as practical nurses, and are supervised with our activities by the RN nurses who would give all IV medications to patients.

Once we have passed the regional exam, you move automatically from PN to RN.

Thank you for explaining. I didn't realize that you weren't in the U.S.

I don't know what managers in the Caribbean are looking for ... but good luck to you!