panel interview advice needed

[ThisRNLovesToRun]

Hey,

I have a panel interview for my first RN position. I wanted to know if anyone could give any pointers or heads up on questions I should anticipate. I'm anxious that there will be scenario questions and not just questions about myself and situations I've been in. Has anyone had scenario questions before and if so can you pass out any examples or tips to be prepared for the interview. Thanks for the help!

[felineRN]

Fill us in on what type of position you are interviewing for. :yelclap:

[JaneyW]

Remember to get everyone's name. Maybe ask for cards? You will need to send thank you notes to each person.

[ThisRNLovesToRun]

It's not for one specific specialty, it's for the new grad orientation program, they'll have nurse managers from a few different specialties, ED, Oncology, MedSurge. Do you bring copies of resumes? I see people posting about brushing up on med calc, will they have you do problems in an interview? I have read up on some behavioral questions from the John's Hopkin's Nursing Website; however, I was wondering if they'll give you different scenarios and expect you to play out what you'd do, is this typical? Thanks for any help!

[brina8615]

I'm a new grad who still doesn't have a job, but I've been on a few of these type of interviews. They are intimidating at first, but I actually found that I felt more comfortable than the 1-on-1 interviews, because you can like look around the room and stuff, not just stare at 1 person the whole time.

Every RN interview I've gone on (6 so far...), they ask you situation questions. Mostly the same ones... tell me about a time that a patient was angry/upset and how you handled the situation? Tell me about a situation where you did not have enough information and what you did (I hate this one!)? You find a patient struggling to breathe/turning blue, what do you do? Umm... that's all I can think of right now.

They also ask you the typical: Tell us about yourself. Why do you want to work here? Do you want to work day or night shift? why? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What makes you special? Strengths/weaknesses? Etc.

Hope that helped. I have an interview on Thursday so it was good for me to start thinking about this stuff again! Good luck!!

[ThisRNLovesToRun]

Thanks for the heads up. I really appreciate it. Good luck on your upcoming interview. If you don't mind me asking, how did you approach the question about not having enough information and how you handled it. I don't know if I understand exactly what they are angling at with this question. I've seen lots of people asking about med dose calculations, they don't really do these during an interview do they? (crossing fingers) :)

[ThisRNLovesToRun]

I survived the panel interview. I cannot tell you how at ease they put me. I can only hope everyone else's is similar. They asked mainly situational questions about my past experiences from clinical and any prior work. They wanted to know why that specific hosptial, weaknesses, what I could bring to a team, what I struggled with and how I overcame it. They had me describe a crisis and how I handled it, what was something I overcame, when was a time when I wasn't the nurse I wanted to be, etc. They took notes and at the end allowed me to ask them questions too. I felt great about, I left it all on the boardroom table! Good luck to everyone else and thank you to those who posted their replies!