one year of nicu experience and landed an important nterview... WHAT DO I DO??

[Kcv19]

hey everyone. I have posted on here multiple times about my experience with my first nursing job in the nicu. i have gone back and forth of weather or not i should change specialties, change hospitals etc. well i finally decided to take a chance and applied to some different hospitals to see if a change in environment is what i needed. anyway i was lucky enough to be called for a job interview for one of the best hospitals (at least in my eyes) in nyc!!! SO my question for all you seasoned nurses and really anyone who as gone on interviews after working as an RN, what are some things i can do to prepare for this? what kind of questions should i expect? i heard that they can possibly ask scenario questions in regards to nursing care but i am not to sure how i could even go about preparing for those things. Any advice or tips you guys could give me would really help me out. Thanks everyone!

[nutella, MSN, RN]

It depends.

The latest trend seem to be peer interviews, meaning that you go to HR first usually for a small talk, after that meet with the manager and after that with a couple of nurses from the unit to interview.

HR usually ask about your resume, experience. Managers often say "tell me a little bit about yourself" and some specific question like "what would you do if" scenarios or "what is your biggest positive achievement" and "what is something you are not doing well" and such. In the peer interviews I had the nurses had a list of questions prepared because they do not interview that much. All common questions.

For my last interview I was also asked "what would your manager say about you" and some questions about ethical scenarios and how I view those.

I have interviewed plenty of times (successfully) and my advice is to dress appropriately (better to be somewhat overdressed than under dressed), I always print at least 2 of my resumes because sometimes HR or the manager forget to print it, do not have it handy. I take a good book and never play on my phone when I have to wait in HR or such - on the phone looks unprofessional. I prepare for some friendly small talk because you may walk in the hospital - talk about knitting or some sports or such or travels I have done.

Be prepared if they ask you where you see yourself in 5 years.

You can write questions down and practice answering them at home but make sure that it does not sound monotone when you actually have an interview.

Be confident and friendly, make eye contact and a solid handshake...

Good Luck!!!