Job interview jitters

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Specializes in General Medicine.

Hey all!

I'm a new grad (as of a month ago today!!!) and i have my temporary LPN license, i just got a call today about a job interview on a General Internal medicine unit at a hospital here.

And this is going to be my first job interview for an LPN (well any nursing) position. I was wondering if you have any tips you could give me to help my interview go smoothly. Or any tough questions i should be prepared for being asked.

all help is greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in General Medicine.

I can't believe nobody has any tips. Please i really could use some advice, i've never had a job interview in nursing before and i'm really really nervous.

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hi linda here sorry to hear you never got any tips..................

but here is some from me in UK

1. aLWAYS BE ON TIME (DONT MEAN TO PATRONISE BUT SOME PEOPLE YA KNOW)

2. dRESS RESPECTIVELY, YOU WILL FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF IF YOU FEEL SMART.

3. KNOW YOUR STUFF

4. lOOK INTO ANY HOT TOPICS IN NURSING THEY DO POP UP SOMETIMES

5. KNOW YOUR SUBJECT OR AREA THAT YOU ARE GOING INTO

6. TAKE YOU TIME TO ANSWER AND TAKING SMALL BREAKS SHOWS YOUR THINKING ABOUT YOUR ANSWER

7. DONT FIDGET

8. aSK A FEW QUESTIONS BUT TRY NOT TO ASK TO MUCH ABOUT HOLIDAYS OR PROMOTIONS MIGHT COME ACROSS AS BEEN A BIT FORWARD OR THEY MAY THINK YOU ARE JUST WANTING HOLIDAY (ALTHOUGH IMPORTANT)

HOPE THIS IS BETTER THAN NOTHING

REMEMBER ITS BETTER TO BE A LITTLE NERVOUS THAN TO COME ACROSS OVER CONFIDENT NO-ONE LIKES THAT......................

JUST REMEMBER YOU CAN DO THE JOB AND WILL DO YOUR BEST TO GET IT

LINDA

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ANYTHING ELSE I CAN HELP WITH OHH AND ITS NICE TO SHAKE HANDS WHEN YOU EITHER GO IN OR LEAVE......................

BEST LUCK :balloons:

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Specializes in Peds - playing with the kids.

[banana]good luck!!![/banana]

lets see:

1. dress professionally

2. be a little early

3. not too much jewelry or makeup

4. be calm

5. don't look at your watch (a bad habit of mine:nono: ).

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Specializes in General Medicine.

When you say no jewelry, i have a question there. i have my ears pierced 13 times (7 in one, and 6 in the other) I've never had a problem anywhere that i've done my clinical placements, relating to my piercings. They're all very plain looking studs, nothing dangly or outrageous. but my question is should i keep them all in for the interview? And then just ask about their policy with piercings?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

My teachers always said only one pair of dot earings.

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If you have some time before your interview go to your schools career counseling office and do a mock interview. Don't forget to take a copy of your resume and references. Take a deep breath and smile.

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Specializes in General Medicine.
My teachers always said only one pair of dot earings.

I've never had any of my instructors voice a problem with my piercings, and none of the units that i have done placements on (including maternity) have said anything about my earrings.

Do you guys think that i should keep them in, and then ask what their policy is during the interview?

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You could contact someone who works there to get an idea about the dress code. I think it would be a save bet to follow the rules before you get the job.

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Even if you have multiple piercings, lose the earings. One pair of them should be ok but anything more will look gaudy. Go light on the makeup and perfume. According to Careerbuilder.com, too much of these things is not good idea for a job interview.

Good advice about dressing professionally. I've read that the classic look is the one that makes the best impression so a suit would be ideal. Get there a few minutes early in case you need to fill out any paperwork before the interview, and bring a couple extra copies of your resume in case more than one person will be interviewing you. Read up a bit about the hospital so you have some idea of what new things they are doing in the community and bring a list of questions to ask about the hospital, staffing ratios, how your performance will be evaluated, how long your preceptorship will be, etc. You want them to think that you are really interested in building your career there so salary and benefits should neither be the first nor the only things you ask about. Also review some critical thinking processes and the typical rationales. It is not uncommon for nurse recruiters to throw scenarios at you and ask what you would do were you to find yourself in certain situations. Also, don't try to act like a know it all, its always safe to sell yourself as a team player who's willing to learn. They know you are new so they don't expect you to talk about your range of nursing experience.

There was an excellent post about all this stuff in the grad student nursing forum last year do a search there and you will find a lot of great advice about getting ready for interviews.

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I've never had any of my instructors voice a problem with my piercings, and none of the units that i have done placements on (including maternity) have said anything about my earrings.

Do you guys think that i should keep them in, and then ask what their policy is during the interview?

to be honest I would keep them out you want to make the best possible impression, its the last thing I would be worrying about. I would be concentrating on important hot topics in nursing that they might ask. If your successful I would then ask about piercings. dont mean to sound like a kill joy but gettting the job is more important:nono:

I do think they would judge you as first impressions last

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