extremely nervous about interview process

kargirl · May 1, 2009

Hi minicakes,

I hope you're still looking at this site for answers, since you posted this a week ago. I also get nervous before interviews. :bugeyes: My best advice is to be yourself. You obviously are smart, personable, caring and strong if you were able to graduate from nursing school. I have gone on soooo many interviews over the years, and the times that I did well was when I was confident in my abilities and didn't try to put on an act. I have a good sense of humor, so I try to use that a little in interviews to break the ice....don't get me wrong, I'm mostly serious in the interview, but realize that you are dealing with another human being, and a little charm & humor can go a long way. Also, if I'm really nervous I will actually tell the interviewer "Please bare with me, but I get a little nervous during interviews." The interviewer will usually respond with, "Don't worry about it ! or Don't be nervous." Once, I have gotten that out in the open I feel a huge weight lift off of me. I was in the business world for 15 years, in Sales..believe it or not, so you have to be pretty agressive in those types of interviews. Now I have gone on a couple of nursing interviews, and found the questions to be much easier. Be prepared with a couple of patient care stories in your mind, since they usually ask situational questions like, "Tell me about a time when you went out of your way for a patient ? " "Was there a time that you had to deal with an ethical issue ?" "How did you work as a team player w/other students or staff ? Can you give me an example? Why did you become a nurse ? What 5 words would describe you ? You should go on line to monster or other career sites and they will give you tips on interviews and questions. I wish you luck, don't worry about the accent or stutter, they're not hiring you to teach English Class, and practice in front of a mirror or role play w/friends. Sorry this was so long, but I feel your pain and thought I might be able to help !!!:typing Good Luck !!!!

Kevin RN08 · May 3, 2009

I will echo Kargirl's comments. Role playing is great practice.

My interviews (in or outside nursing) rarely have gone into specifics about the actual job I will be doing. The managers are more worried about how you will fit into their organization. They know they are "creating" a RN, you need to show them you are willing to learn from them in their style. You're knowledge is approximately the same as any other new RN that is looking for a job, so they want to see how you are different.

Are you "high maintenance"? Do you display a me first attitude? Are you strong enough to advocate for your patients? Are you task or goal oriented? Willing to own up to mistakes or blame others?

I was asked some question about how my clinicals prepared me to work in the ED, I deferred that and went to an experience from my job as a CarePartner. There was another question about Customer Service or Patient Service when I was asked to give an example of correcting a problem.

Your history of having a primary language other than english is an advantage, especially if there is a significant population that uses that language in your area.

minicakes143 · May 4, 2009

thank you so much kargirl and axshusz for all your advices. I will keep those in mind. I just finished my preceptorship today and I will start applying this week. Hopefully things will go well. Thank you again!!