How to Prepare for Your Interview

Nurse Beth, MSN

Your Interview Goals

Be focused and know what you need to accomplish during your interview. Your goals are to:

Be memorable and to stand out
Convince them that you are the best fit for the job

Three winning Points

Have three or four stories about yourself at the ready. The stories are designed to highlight your best qualities and can be tweaked when used as answers to typical interview questions.

Identify your best points ahead of time and pick three or four.

These are characteristics you know to be true about yourself, so it's easy to be genuine when you speak to them. Your winning points may be: "I'm a people person/supportive/loyal"

Next flesh each one out with an example.

Quote

I love to help people. In my class one of my classmates was pregnant and delivered early. The baby had problems and had to stay in the NICU. I organized a meal delivery service from us for her husband and other child for two weeks.We texted her a prayer every morning and later she told me that it was the kindest thing anyone had done for her in her life.

Stories are remembered.

Your goal is to communicate your three winning points during the interview. For example, you can do this when they ask "Tell us about yourself", or "Is there anything else you'd like us to know?" Look for an opportunity.

Now you are memorable.

Behavioral Questions

In addition, expect to be asked some version of "Tell us about a time you disagreed with your supervisor....resolved a conflict with a coworker...were given an assignment you felt was unfair.."

Pull from your experiences at a previous job, or from school.

Have at least one example ready that could speak to conflict resolution and one to illustrate customer satisfaction (an important concern for healthcare employers now).

If you've never worked, use examples from your life archives.

Know the Organization

The prepared candidate knows the organization. Know the mission statement, major service lines, community involvement. Don't recite the mission statement back to them, it will be seen as contrived.

The purpose is to understand what differentiates them from other organizations, and to show that you're a good fit.

If possible, talk to some employees. "What does the hospital pride itself on?" "How does the hospital characterize itself?" "What do you like about working here?"

New Grad

It's not necessary to spend time studying up on your clinical specialty. They are not going to quiz you on your understanding of the Kreb Cycle. They know you are new and lack experience. They will teach you what you need to know. Any clinical questions they ask will be designed to see if you are safe and if you ask for help.

They are looking for loyal, safe, teachable nurses who are a good fit for their organization.

Certifications

Many new grads amass multiple certifications in the hopes of enhancing their resume. If a certification is required for your job, your employer will provide it for you, along with any other training.

The value of having pertinent certifications is not that it shows expertise; certifications without clinical experience are not in themselves impressive.

Acquiring certifications shows initiative, and that's where you may score a point. All things being equal, the candidate with certifications may look better on paper than the one without.

I say "may" because not all managers put stock in having pre-emptive certifications that they plan to provide anyway.

First Impression

You have 30 minutes tops to make an impression. You need to make every minute count, verbally and non-verbally. First impressions carry an enormous amount of weight.

What kind of first impression do you project? Ask a few trusted people who know you well. Do you come across as open, warm, friendly? Genuine? Your body language is talking. Your facial expression, handshake, eye contact, posture must all be congruent.

If you suffer from interview anxiety, start finding ways to control your interview jitters now. Freezing up and going blank or rambling during an interview will not help your cause.

Being prepared will boost your confidence.

Finally, relax and be your authentic self. You want to come across as spontaneous, not reheorificed. Remind yourself that they picked you to interview from many others! They already like you and want to get to know you.

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