Finally, an interview on postpartum unit. Now what?!

[MombearNurse]

I am a recent RN grad and have been very depressed about not finding a job since the largest percentage of my class are working already. Today I received a call to set up an interview for a night position on the postpartum unit. This is so amazing because even though I applied for the job, I never imagined they would actually consider a new grad!

Anyway, now how do I prepare for this interview? I have only had one interview and that was in March, and I don't think it went very well. What kind of questions should I anticipate and what should I ask the interviewers? During my previous interview, one of the panelist in particular seemed to focus on my knowledge of blood products and their use. I totally bombed it because although I had been exposed to learning how to administer blood, I was still in school and we had not finished the unit about blood products. Are these types of questions the norm?

This is a large regional medical center and I expect to be interviewed by a panel of about 3 people (would be wonderful if it's only the nurse manager of the unit!) Is it all right to bring a notebook with my questions written down? I did this with my other interview. I want this job so much!

[justshe]

Be prepared to answer situational/behavioral questions...like "tell me about a time that you have had to work in an emergency situation" ? From what I am hearing that is trend in interview techniques...It had been years since I've interviewed for a job so I was quite surprised.

[MombearNurse]

Thank you. I've had those types of questions at interviews for various types of jobs in the past ten years or so. However as a brand new nurse, I'm not sure how to respond to many of them since I have not usually been in certain situations as a student. As for postpartum, I had approximately 6 hours clinical experience while in school on this unit.

[justshe]

I had that problem too...nothing dangerous or exciting really happened in my clinical experiences so a lot of times I'm really stumped for answers. On my last interview the interviewer took my experience into account and allowed me to answer some hypothetical situations. I am taking more time to think of situations/scenarios before interviews. Good Luck with your interview..keep us posted!