Funniest thing you've heard in an interview

Nurses Humor

Published

So, this thread may belong in the 'Nursing Interview' section, but I'm hoping that it will get more traffic from experienced nurses here (as opposed to terrified new grads looking for help).

What's the funniest, weirdest, or wildest thing you've heard during a nursing interview, either from an interviewer or an interviewee?

Here's mine: At the end of the interview, the interviewer always asks, "Do you have any questions for me?" I usually ask, "What is your unit's greatest strength, and is there anything that you're trying to improve on?" It's basically the strengths and weaknesses question; the way that managers respond to the weaknesses element is very telling. As a weakness, one manager looked at me and said point-blank, "Well, we have a lot of drama on this unit." I must have looked dumbfounded because she clarified by adding, "You know, like, cattiness." When I asked if they were doing anything about it, her response was simply, "No."

...Thank you for your honesty, and I'd like to respectfully remove myself from the applicant pool.

Specializes in Hospice.
Peer interview, prospective hire asked "Now, just to be clear, you have techs that do all the gross stuff for you, right?"

Recommended the manager not tinder an offer. New hire starts next week.

Something tells me you're going to be participating in a LOT of peer interviews.

Peer interview, prospective hire asked "Now, just to be clear, you have techs that do all the gross stuff for you, right?"

Recommended the manager not tinder an offer. New hire starts next week.

:facepalm:

Something tells me that the peers in that interview might be sending a few 'goodies' his/her way during orientation: "Did somebody say digital rectal stim? How about a sputum culture? I've got the perfect orientee right here!"

Specializes in Palliative Care.

I had a panel interview for a position I really wanted on Friday. I had a pretty dry throat, so I sipped water throughout the questions. At the end of the interview, I asked about the unit: the culture, the people, the overall work environment. The day manager piped up that this was the best unit with the best nurses in the whole hospital. As I took a sip, the night manager asked if she'd ever worked on another unit. Her response? "No." Everyone laughed. And I...did a spit take. Water all over the table. Thankfully, everyone in the room just laughed again.

It must not have bothered anyone - I just accepted the job!

What is it with the animal question? I've seen that one before as well.

Specializes in Oncology, Rehab, Public Health, Med Surg.

I recently had an interview where the nurse manager told me that she hires strong nurses. --ok, that's good--

She continues to tell me that everytime she ends up in HR with her nurses, HR asks why she keeps hiring such strong nurses ------um, yeah. Are in HR often with your nurses??

A friend of mine was asked at a group interview when she was a child what did she want to be when she grew up (other than a nurse). She replied a dolphin. The other candidates all answered with professions similar to nursing such a social worker, doctor, teacher. She felt like such a dork.

The interview panel then asked why did they choose their answer and she figured in for a penny in for a pound and replied "because you get to swim around all day and jump and play in the sea"

She didn't get the job, but got a pretty good story.

The interviewer: what is a weakness you feel you possess or what is something you'd like to improve?

The candidate: I'd like to brush my teeth more often. Maybe, like every day or something like that.

I was interviewing for a position as a nurse at a LTC facility and it lasted almost 45 minutes. I wasn't asked too many questions but there was one question that kept getting rephrased and re-asked several times during the interview, "What would you do if you found an aide hiding in the closet?"

I was a bit dumbfounded by the wording so I just said what I was thinking, "I'd ask them what they were doing in the closet" and then continued with "So I could find out if there was a legitimate reason why they needed a time out. Maybe they were stressed and needed a couple of minutes to recollect their thoughts so that they wouldn't take it out on the resident. If I continued to find them off task then I would take the appropriate disciplinary action and escalate it up the chain if necessary".

This questioning went on for almost the entire interview. It should have been a forewarning to me that maybe this wasn't the best place to work for but I was in desperate need for a stable income that I wasn't getting through the HHC agency that I was working so I accepted the position. I worked that horrible job for almost a year and I never found that darn closet where everyone was supposedly hiding. I did find all of my staff in the break room when the hallways were lit up like a christmas tree on several occasions though:(

Specializes in ICU Stepdown.
I was interviewing for a position as a nurse at a LTC facility and it lasted almost 45 minutes. I wasn't asked too many questions but there was one question that kept getting rephrased and re-asked several times during the interview, "What would you do if you found an aide hiding in the closet?"

I was a bit dumbfounded by the wording so I just said what I was thinking, "I'd ask them what they were doing in the closet" and then continued with "So I could find out if there was a legitimate reason why they needed a time out. Maybe they were stressed and needed a couple of minutes to recollect their thoughts so that they wouldn't take it out on the resident. If I continued to find them off task then I would take the appropriate disciplinary action and escalate it up the chain if necessary".

This questioning went on for almost the entire interview. It should have been a forewarning to me that maybe this wasn't the best place to work for but I was in desperate need for a stable income that I wasn't getting through the HHC agency that I was working so I accepted the position. I worked that horrible job for almost a year and I never found that darn closet where everyone was supposedly hiding. I did find all of my staff in the break room when the hallways were lit up like a christmas tree on several occasions though:(

HAHAHAHA! I find this so funny because at the end of our evening shifts, my fellow CNAs and I would play pranks on the nurses. We would hide in the resident's closets (letting the residents know what we were doing) and get one of us to call a nurse to the room for help. Once they came in the room we would pop out and scare them. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but when it worked it would really work 😂 one time we turned on all the call buttons down a hallway and the CNA in charge of it was freaking out thinking it was a malfunction. We didn't realize a nurse was trying to help her turn them all off and we were hiding in a bathroom so when we popped out we thought it was the CNA but it was the nurse and she screamed so loud. Ahhhhh, good times 😭 but I realize there are reasons why we shouldn't have done what we did but from 9:30-11PM we were literally so bored.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I was once giving an applicant a tour of my unit. She got a funny look on her face and looked down. As I looked down too, I saw that her half slip had fallen down around her ankles. It was the first (and last) time a candidate's underwear had ever come off during one of my interviews.

Nice lady though ...

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

My manager asked how a candidate used AIDET at her current position. Candidate response: "I don't have time for AIDET". She was not hired.

Specializes in Hospital medicine; NP precepting; staff education.

Not everyone knows AIDET. I only do because I like Studer. That's an odd question. :/

+ Add a Comment