Interview this morning... Not sure how I did. :/

[simply_viki]

I had my first interview (ever) in November with the nurse recruiter in HR at a hospital after I showed up there with my resume (I'd previously applied online, but I decided to show up, too, since I've not had great results just applying online and it's been quite a while now since I graduated). I sent her a thank you card and as per her instructions, waited until January to follow up. She called me back two days ago and didn't seem to remember me, but called me back a second time a couple of minutes later and invited me to an interview today.

Today's interview turned out to be with the director and the team leader of the NICU. They seemed to really like me, responded well to my answers and my questions, but when they asked about my long term goals and I said that I'd like to become a CNM someday, the director said that I was an excellent applicant, but that the Mother Baby unit might be a better fit with my goals. She then called the director of the Mother Baby unit to see if they could interview me also.

They said yes, I just had to wait a bit for the director to get back from lunch, which was no problem and I thanked her and said I appreciated it.

At Mother Baby, I met the team leader first, and she told me a bit about the unit and asked if I knew anything about the hospital (I said yes, I understood they're a not-for-profit and a teaching hospital, which is one of the reasons I'd love to work there). She was very nice and smiled a lot. The director arrived and we began the interview. It seemed to go... OK, but not as well as the first one, I think. They weren't sure if there's much of a career as a CNM and suggested I look into that, for one thing. They asked what I'd been doing since I finished nursing school, and I said I'd been working at my full time job I've had since before school while I look for a nursing job.

Things seemed to be going reasonably well (although they did not necessarily look very impressed with me) until they gave me some scenario questions. Gulp. It's been quite a while since my obstetrical nursing class (I went through the part time track at my school, and graduated in April of 2011, so the OB class was actually in 2010 - IOW ancient history). I did my best, but... there was lots of stuff I forgot. I couldn't remember what a uterus is supposed to feel like after birth until after I left, for one thing. I think I correctly identified a possible clot in one scenario, but didn't remember the term DVT, and couldn't remember what to do about it, only that I should be careful not to dislodge it. In another scenario with a distracted mother on a cell phone while breastfeeding and a baby with blue lips (again, terms are escaping me - I can't remember what kind of cyanosis they said), I said I'd assess the baby's vital signs, but the interviewers prompted me to think about what could be causing the cyanosis while the baby is breastfeeding. I'd missed the fact that they said the baby was actually breastfeeding at the moment, but after they clarified that, I believe I correctly identified the problem was that the mother's large breast was obstructing the baby's nose and interfering with breathing, so said I would instruct the mother in repositioning the baby and teach the mother how to avoid that in the future. In another scenario, I couldn't remember either the term preeclampsia or that it leads to seizures (let alone what you do about it). After the director explained a bit about the scenario to me, I sort of laughed nervously and said that clearly I'm a bit rusty and need to read up on preeclampsia.

I feel like I did really badly on the Mother Baby interview, and I think the NICU probably won't hire me even though they liked me because of my CNM goal (maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it). I'll send thank you cards and follow up, but I'm pretty bummed out about it now because that was the hospital I most wanted to work at. I can read up on obstetrical scenarios in case another position opens up someplace, but it seems like too little, too late at this point.

[pugmom79]

just a tip- you always want to disclose your goals as something that fits in with whatever team you are interviewing with. you wouldn't tell a peds group that you ultimately want to end up in adult onc. you want to let them know you are committed to the team, otherwise why do they want to invest in training you?

it is great to have goals and ideas on your career path, but you don't have to disclose everything. sometimes you can be surprised at how much you enjoy an area, and goals are always flexible. life happens as they say, and sometimes the paths we envision for ourself have a different outcome. a better one :)

[jujubeee]

I agree with the previous poster. I hope it goes well for you though....keep us updated!!!!