First Nurse Educator Interview

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · May 8, 2008

i am having my first interview for a full time edcator :yeah:at a local community college. any advice for the interview would be appreciated. i am nervous about what will be asked!!!

hi & welcome to allnurses :welcome:

congratulations on your interview opportunity! some questions to anticipate:

why do you want to work here? how can you add to our faculty? what are your career & professional interests? how much clinical experience do you have and in what areas? what courses do you want to teach? why? where can you conduct clinicals? any objections to conducting clinicals in.. xyz... unit... facility (psych, ob, peds,,,,)? where do you see yourself in 5 years? how would you handle difficult content material (such as abg's or f & e)? how would you handle a difficult student? why do you want to leave your present job? (be careful with your answer to this - never "diss" a current or past employer.) what are your strengths and weaknesses? (again, be careful with this - be honest about your strengths - in fact, play them up a bit. however, don't list your weaknesses - you're only giving the interviewers reason(s) not to hire you. answer something like this - my weakness is i always try hard to do my very best, and sometimes may put a little too much effort into a project.) also, be prepared to be asked about desired salary. do your homework ahead of time, and find out what is the typical faculty salary.

you may want to bring a sample of teaching materials to the interview (such as sample slides from a powerpoint teaching). make enough copies for all present. also, bring copies of your resume & distribute to all present.

dress professionally, make eye-contact, be yourself! shake hands and be friendly with everyone on the grounds - even the janitor (and especially the secretary). afterwards, send the interviewers a brief thank-you note.

best wishes to you :) please let us know how the interview goes :)