Help with interview questions

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 29, 2006

Hi, micmaddinschool!

As a manager I've done plenty of interviewing and asked a few of those questions. There's no way I can tell you where you can see yourself in 5 or 10 years. Only you know what your greatest strength and biggest weakness is or what kind of supervisor you would like or dislike. What are you good at; what are you lousy at? You've had a few evaluations from your nursing instructors. What have they told you about your performance? If you've had other jobs, what did other bosses say was good and bad about your work habits? What did your parents say you were good or bad at? I recommend that you think about what you would answer to these questions over the next few weeks. Sure, you can get opinions here and make up a bunch of stuff that an interviewer might want to hear, but once you are on the job and they discover you weren't truthful you will be in a very sticky situation. Just be honest and you'll never go wrong. As far as a doctor calling you stupid--we've all faced that one. What they're looking for is someone who would indicate that they would speak back to the doctor inappropriately or rudely which would indicate the person doesn't socialize well with others or attempt to compromise and get along with others.

I post these all the time. These are the most common characteristics that employers look for in professional workers. A good interviewer will try to figure out through questioning if the person has these characteristics. They will take those questions you list and tweak them to fit the conversation they are having with you and if they are very skilled will get an answer to them without you even realizing you've been asked about them. That's why I say, be honest. Here's that list:

Initiative - Autonomy
Positive outlook
Dynamism - Energy
Responsibility
Orientation to the client and co-workers (ability to provide customer service)
Learning capacity
Productivity
High adaptability - Flexibility
Leadership
Team work
Tolerance to pressure
Analytic ability
Professional development

Welcome to allnurses. :welcome:

micmaddinschool · Jun 30, 2006

Thanks so much for your reply. You are so right about being honest - and I had planned to be honest - but my answer to where I would like to be in 5 years - would be something like - working at the organization that I am interviewing - in a position I love and going back to school for my BSN.(of course I would still want to be there if I wanted the job bad enough.) and it would probably be around the same for the 10 year question except hopefully by then I would have my BSN. I am just wondering if this is enough?

This is an interview for a scholarship and position after graduation - so a lot is riding on how well it goes.

I am also at a loss at the weakness question. Some people say be careful here - so I am not really sure what kind of weaknesses they would be looking for.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2006

RE: weakness. If you don't say something, you sound arrogant to say you have no weaknesses. The trick is to acknowledge a weakness and indicate that you are aware of it and you are working toward conquering it. What you need to understand is that most weaknesses in people's behavior or habits take years to change and correct. To think otherwise indicates arrogance and immaturity, so how to respond to the handling of any weakness you disclose is very, very important.

RE: plans for the future. Again, this is an answer you can structure to kind of fit the job. Try to make it sound doable and practical. People's plans change, however. Most people are aware of that. Again, they are interested in seeing if you are interested in furthering your education and maturity in thinking. If you are just getting your ADN then getting a BSN is the next logical step. It took me 11 years to go from ADN to BSN. Once I finally got into a university it took 3 years of almost full time classes to finish off my BSN. So, tell them that in 5 years, hopefully, you'll be finishing up your BSN and still working for them and have decided what area of nursing you want to specialize in. Unless you definitely know what area of nursing you want to be in, you really can't say what kind of nursing you'll be doing, can you?

micmaddinschool · Jul 1, 2006

Thank you so much - that really does help - I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track and that the things I would say - were really ok. Thanks again.