help...new grad and wondering what type of questions are given at interviews

Good Morning, Gil · Oct 26, 2011

The types of ?'s asked on an interview just completely depend on who is interviewing you, and what is important to them. What you can generally expect:

Why do you want to work in this nursing area (psych, med/surg, ICU, etc)?

Why do you want to work here (in this particular hospital, clinic, etc)? (aka research the hospital on the website and know stuff about them)

How do you handle conflict w/coworkers and give us an example of one?

Name a most difficult situation you encountered, and how you handled it.

Name a mistake that you made, and what you did to rectify it.

At the end, they will ask, do you have any questions for us? (and you better have questions ready to ask lol).

There are a bunch of these you can find online....but just in general, be prepared. Think of your best and worst qualities (in case they ask you your strengths and weaknesses), research the employer, nursing stuff r/t your unit (if peds, you want to have some knowledge in case they ask you specific questions (behavioral questions)...like what would you do if a 5 yo child came in w/these symptoms.... or how would you intervene if they had x symptoms? I was super prepared for my ICU interview, and I think they only asked me 1 or 2 ICU-specific questions, but still, knowledge helps a nurse anyway, right? lol. They were more concerned with character and professionalism, which is equally important.

Good luck!! Just be prepared, dress professionally, and go in there KNOWING that you will get the job, and you will be more likely to get it. aka be confident that you're the best candidate! :) I know that sounds cheesy, but it has made the difference for me. When I was fresh out of high school, I was nervous, fumbly, not confident in myself, and it showed, so I had a few rejections. Now, I am completely opposite, I go in with confidence, and when I get the opportunity to interview, I get the job. So...there really is truth to the power of positive thinking, confidence in self (used to think that was BS, but it's really not). Don't sell yourself short. It seems like nurses are prone to this....well, I know I do it sometimes and know others that do. I come home after orienting one day, and I'm like.."yeah, that was awesome, I'm doing well" and then other days, I'm hard on myself (harder on myself than my preceptor is; they'll say good job, and I think good job? I still don't know so much lol), but I think believing that you need to improve, reflecting on your days, helps you to be a better nurse. Oh, and do know, your first year of nursing will be tough, it's a big responsibility, but you can do it. Just know this, so you're not in shock your first few months lol.

Gonzo13 · Oct 26, 2011

Congrats on getting an interview. I recall when I was being interviewed for my job there were two interviews. The first was with the nursing manager and to me it seemed that she was just trying to get a feel for me. The second interview was a panel interview and they asked some interesting questions. How do you deal with people that you don't get along with give an example, when was the last time that you took something personally and how did you handle it, why do you want to work here, what do you bring to the table etc... Then questions about the resume. Other than researching the company and having good answers for weaknesses and strengths the only advice that I can give is when asked a question take a breath before answering. It's not a race.

It turns out that the panel interviewer where just some of the nurses that had about 30 minutes free to sit in on the panel.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Oct 26, 2011

if you interviewed in my icu, you wouldn't be asked any "icu type questions." we figure we can teach you to be an icu nurse; what we really want to know is whether we can/want to work with you. are you reliable and dependable? do you realize that hospital work involves nights, weekends and holidays and are you prepared to work them? are you postive or are you a complainer? how "high maintenence" are you likely to be? have you got a plan for how to get to work during a blizzard, hurricane or riot (depending upon where you live)? do you have reliable transportation?

if you seem reluctant to work nights, weekends or holidays, you probably won't get the job. if you have multiple scheduling requests or "needs" from the get go, we probably won't hire you. (unless you're getting married, you probably won't get a vacation for the first six months, so be prepared for that.) if you come across as whiney or needy or difficult during your share time, you won't get hired. if, as one new hire did, you tell me that my co-workers are all "immoral" we'll seriously consider whether or not we want to work with you. (the specific co-workers she was commenting upon may have actually been immoral by most standards, but not her place to comment.)

if you show up for your share time or your interview dressing inappropriately, dragging your dog or your children (yes, it's happened) or have your daddy call the manager ahead of time to make sure she knows how important he is (also happened), we're unlikely to want to work with you. if you are overheard mentioning that you don't intend to work nights/weekends/holidays while you are in hr or on the unit, you won't get hired. (a nurse waiting to be interviewed in hr when i was also there for an interview mentioned to me that she had a social life and wasn't going to work nights. the secretary overheard her and passed it on. she didn't get a second interview.)

i know these are mostly "don'ts" and seem pretty obvious but you'd be surprised how many interviewees get it wrong.

RedDirtNurse · Oct 27, 2011

I am also a new LVN...had my first interview last week (and was offered the job!) and have another tomorrow. I was in the exact same position as this was my first time interviewing for a nursing job. I was taken to a peer interview with four interviewers. I was prepared for a lot of nursing knowledge questions but for the most part I felt like they were trying to get a feel for me as a person, not necessarily what I knew. A few questions I know they asked were:

~Tell us about a situation where you did something for a patient without being asked.

~Tell us about a time when you had a personality conflict, what is was about, how you handled it, and how it was resolved.

~You are getting ready for work when you hear on the radio that roads are closing due to snow and there is at least a two hour delay for commuters. What do you do?

~It is ten minutes until your shift ends and you have finished everything you needed to do. How do you spend those ten minutes.

~Describe a situation when you had to protect a client's right to privacy/confidentiality in regards to HIPPA requirements.

~Describe the most difficult patient you have cared for. What was the situation, why was it difficult, what did you do to make it work and what was the outcome?

There were several more, but they were along these lines. They understood (and your interviewers will, too) that I was a new nurse and that my only patient care experience came from clinicals, so don't worry about that. I was also able to incorporate some experiences from my previous jobs in banking, as a veterinary assistant, and a hunting lodge manager to round out my answers and not sound or feel like a total "job virgin". Life experience counts, too - it makes us better nurses!

Hope this helps you a little - I'm a lot less nervous for this second interview...maybe because I've already been through one, or maybe because I've already got a job lined up if this one doesn't work out.

Good luck to you!!!

alby_dangle · Oct 27, 2011

I posted on another question a similar response to this, hope it helps!

An interviewer i had really focused on any current positions I had and although yours aren't nursing, you could bring up qualities you have in that job that would apply to nursing. My lady told me that she had interviewed a couple other people for the position already (whether thats true or not I dont know) and asked me to tell her what made me stand out from the other applicants. What could I give her that would make me different and more likely to be hired...

She asked pretty general questions about how I would deal with staff under me (STNAs, CNAs etc.) and would I work well with them (The answer was of course, yes.)

She also asked about what it was that drew to me to apply to their facility and how did I hear about them, and so on...I would really research whoever it is you are applying with before you go for an interview that way you are able to focus on their aspects of care and values when you get there.

They also asked me a lot about why I wanted that particular job. (I had to think of a lot of things on the fly, because I just applied to the facility in general, but was then told the job was for the memory care unit IN the interview.) SO just be ready for that kind of stuff.

klone, MSN, RN · Oct 27, 2011

Behavioral interviews are all the rage. Google it for typical questions. (tell me about a time you...)

Good Morning, Gil · Oct 27, 2011

Wow, RubyVee. Some people really are not bright. I was surprised when they didn't ask me ICU specific questions, but I guess that makes sense. I can read, and they can teach me those things; they can't teach someone how to show up to work. Responsibility/positive attitude/integrity are ingrained, and not a good thing if a nurse doesn't have those qualities lol.

RedDirtNurse · Oct 28, 2011

Be sure to know what the hospital's or facility's mission statement is, and what their "slogan" is (like "Service, Compassion, Dedication" or "Courtesy, Compassion, and Care")

I was asked yesterday in my peer interview if I had seen the hospital's TV commercials and what their slogan meant to me and how I would apply it to my practice. I don't watch TV, so no, I hadn't seen it (yikes!) but luckily I HAD done my homework online and knew what the slogan was. :rckn:

LexiRN2 · Oct 30, 2011

I recently interviewed and the few tips that I can give are not to worry much about practicing interview questions because you don't want your answers to seem reheorificed, make sure that you give specific examples when asked questions like "tell me a situation when..." and just relax! Also, my interview questions focused on the fact that I'm a new grad so they asked questions about how I would handle a heavy workload and was behind (ask for help), what if I didn't know some sort of information (ask for help or look up the policy), and conflict resolution. Interviewers don't expect new grads to know everything, they teach you what they want you to know. Good luck!

vanna123 · Nov 9, 2011

thank you so much everyone! i really appreciate it and makes me feel a lil more comfortable to walk in there.