I'm a new grad RN--I graduated in May and have been applying for every hospital new grad program, VA, county and state jobs, and clinic jobs. My specialty area is Pediatrics (the majority of my clinical hours are in Peds), unfortunately, I didn't get into the only Peds hospital in town. I have plenty of hours in adult care also, so I felt that I was still a likely candidate for adult care positions. This interview was for Med/Surg unit (with a possibility of going to PCU) and I felt that the interview was going fine until the manager asked a perfectly logical question, "You have a lot of hours in Pediatrics, what makes you think that you'd like to work in adult care?" Guilty as charged! In addition to my Pediatric hours, I'm currently volunteering as the school nurse at a middle school. I felt like a adult care RN imposter!
The honest (and unacceptable response) would have been, "because I desparately need a job and I didn't get into the Pediatric facility, please for the love of God, hire me, I have children to feed" but I ended up providing a response along the lines of referring to my first year and nurse externship in Adult care and how I'm a versatile RN who can work well with either population (adult or pediatric). I need to come up with a better answer if I ever get another opportunity to interview again but I just feel like I lost their interest after that response. I valiantly tried to save myself by mentioning that I was capable of researching and rolling out EBP on the unit floor. Great, except that the EBP project that I worked on and rolled out was a NICU based EBP--I felt like that was just another nail in my coffin.
Sigh. It's been unbelievably tough to find work here and I was so excited to get selected for an interview. I'd appreciate it if any of you seasoned RNs out there have any ideas or suggestions on how I could address this question in the future. I think I'm ready for a big slice of chocolate cake followed by a long session of watching reality t.v.
We all reassess our performance after job interviews and that reflection is a good trait unless you go too far with it. It is unfortunate, but we can't know what they are thinking!
I applied even for a correctional nurse. One of the first questions I was asked was,"Why correctional nursing?" I replied with something like: Because people do make some mistakes and I feel that regarless, they still should be treated with compassion and dignity. One may be able to make a positive difference in the life of an inmate while serving as a correctional nurse. I loved the looks on their faces! I believed that my answer impressed them.
Next day, interviewed at a hospital. I had a panel interview and 2 of the nurses were young new grads themselves. I beat myself up after the interview because I thought at one point I may have gotten to 'relaxed and personal' with these 2 nurses.
Guess who offered the job? Yep, the hospital! Wow! Thrilled and excited!
FLmomof5
1,530 Posts
We all reassess our performance after job interviews and that reflection is a good trait unless you go too far with it. It is unfortunate, but we can't know what they are thinking!
I applied even for a correctional nurse. One of the first questions I was asked was,"Why correctional nursing?" I replied with something like: Because people do make some mistakes and I feel that regarless, they still should be treated with compassion and dignity. One may be able to make a positive difference in the life of an inmate while serving as a correctional nurse. I loved the looks on their faces! I believed that my answer impressed them.
Next day, interviewed at a hospital. I had a panel interview and 2 of the nurses were young new grads themselves. I beat myself up after the interview because I thought at one point I may have gotten to 'relaxed and personal' with these 2 nurses.
Guess who offered the job? Yep, the hospital! Wow! Thrilled and excited!