New Grad Interviewing in L&D! Tips & Suggestions...please help!!!

RedNavy · Mar 25, 2014

Anyone?

Selfie · Mar 26, 2014

Hi. Just tell them this is why you went into nursing. Let them know you are willing to learn and work in any area- some will want you to cross train.

Thank them for the opportunity to interview.

I worked in OBGYN/SCN for years, and a few nurses on the floor came straight out of school without any other experience (i'm not saying this is ideal).

Good Luck!

babyktchr, BSN, RN · Mar 26, 2014

Congratulations. I am not a by the book interviewer, so I don't know if my advice will be helpful or not. EVERYONE comes in and says OB is their dream job. Unless you have worked OB before, or have been a CNA, or intern, or extern, or volunteered on an OB floor, you really don't know that OB is your dream. Having a baby before, while fabulous, does not count in the experience column. With that said, I want to know why I need to take a chance on making you the best OB nurse ever. Why do I need to spend time training and molding you? OB is a think and react on the fly kinda place. What experiences do you have that you can share that will convince me you are up to the challenge? What was your worst day in nursing school? What was your best? How do you handle criticism?

In an interview, I look for authenticity. I don't want fluff. I don't want you to give me the canned responses you have been taught in school. Think about this really...why is OB what you want to do. Not just birthing babies, but what difference can you make to a paitient. OB isn't all rainbows and sunshine, or sitting around rocking babies.

I will tell you this much, and other managers can certainly say yay or nay to this, but once I hear "I want to help people" or "I have always wanted to be an OB nurse", I turn right off. I will give you that, "oh nice" repsonse then I am drawing smiley faces on your resume. I want you to tell me why I should hire you.

I hope things go well for you....best wishes in your interview.

iPink, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2014

Some questions that may come up in your interview include: why L&D, where do you see yourself in 5 years, how do you deal with stress, how will you handle conflict between coworkers, patient prioritization, how would you handle orders from doctors that you don't agree with. They want to make sure you know the chain of command. With some of these questions, the managers know all the cookie cutter answers. You would need to think deep within yourself and tell them something they might not have heard from other candidates.

Eye contact is very important. If you have more than one person in the room interviewing (sometimes it can be both the NM and ANM or Charge nurse) direct your responses to both of them.

Also make sure you have questions prepared for them such as nurse/patient ratio, required certs to remain working on the unit, will you be floated to different units as part of orientation, how long is orientation. Please don't bring up salary. All new grads will be staring on the same salary no matter the unit.

Once finished with the interview and they show you around the unit and introduce you to a few nurses on the unit, it may be a good sign. However, no matter what happens, send a thank you note.

Good luck and let us know how it went.

pbajil · Apr 1, 2014

Good luck! You are very lucky! I can not get a chance for an interview with my years of adult experience!

knufflebunny · Apr 3, 2014

I would definitely leave out the "dream job" comment. I think a great OB nurse is one that is able to quickly think on their feet, can handle any situation under pressure, and able communicate effectively. I feel like L&D is the most commonly misperceived area in nursing. Generally it is the "happier" place in the hospital (that's why I love it) but things can turn south VERY quickly and you have to be able to handle those situations effectively. I would definitely mention any stressful or high pressure situations you may have had clinically or other jobs and how you handled it.