New grad first interview help!

[Katie225]

Hello everyone,

My name is Katie and I am a new grad in Florida. I finished school last week and have my first interview tomorrow. The position is for PCU in the hospital I precepted in. I was told by the HR employee that it will be a "panel" interview. I am beyond nervous... should I expect scenario questions as a new grad? I have been studying possible questions, have a nice suit to wear, resume/cover letter/3 letters of recommendation from clinical instructors... What else can I do? Thanks in advance!!!

ETA: I precepted with the charge nurse in this unit and have already met the nurse manager and director of the unit. Will this help my chances at all?

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Sounds like you are very prepared!! Yes, knowing people opens doors, and having the people that work at the facility write your letters of recommendation (assuming you did well in your clinicals!) will help immensely!

As a new grad, I had behavioral questions. They expected scenarios from clinicals and CNA work I had done, so start thinking about those. Start thinking about specific examples from your clinicals and how you get along with people, handle conflict, your assessment skills, etc. They also let you use examples from school/classes/homework...another question I recently had was, name a time when your performance was disappointing to you, and the example I used had to do with one of my classes last semester.

Hope that helps. Best wishes!

[Katie225]

Thank you Suz! I appreciate your response and advice, it is helpful. Obviously every facility is different... but do you have any idea if there's any chance of them telling me right away if I got the job or should I expect a long wait?

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Everywhere I've seen except for really small facilities has a couple layers to the interview process- HR first, then the specific manager (possibly along with one or more of the unit employees). Prepare for a wait and then you can be pleasantly surprised if the wait is short.

[Katie225]

Suz, I didn't mention I have already had a screening interview with HR and an informal phone interview with nurse manager of unit before this... so this would be my 3rd interview... whew.. lol.