Phone Interview Help

jae_mc · Dec 8, 2012

I had a couple of phone interviews a while back. What I learned to do in the second one that I didn't do on the first one was to pick up the phone and say "Hi, this is ____." Instead of an awkward "Hello?" It shows that YOU are ready for the interview and that you were expecting them.

The good thing about phone interviews is the cheat sheet u can make. The night before I wrote questions down "why this company? Why hire you?" Questions that aren't situational, I answered them and wrote it down. I also had my laptop open to the hospitals About Us page. Think of it as an open book test and you'll be fine! Good luck!

NursieNurseLPN, LPN · Dec 8, 2012

A career services woman told me that it doesnt matter if we have work experience in some questions. We all have past work experience or school experience. Even if you worked at mcdonalds, and trained another new employee, you can find a way to use that to your advantage.

Think back to your clincals and use them as examples: a poor leader/instructor, a difficult patient, problems with co-workers/fellow students, your first death, etc, and then talk about what the challenge was, what you did to overcome the challenge, and what the outcome was. This reminded me of one very trying situation i had in clinical, that was so difficult at first, but i got my stuff together, and left clinical that night felling wonderful and knowing i did a great job. This one situation (theres more detail to it, so whatever u use, edit it to your situation), can be useful for a variety i different questions. Tell me about a difficult patient, tell me a time when you were proud of how you handled yourself, how do you deal with hard situations, when have you made a mistake and learned from, etc.

One of the best pieces of advice i received was: always follow up with an example."Im a team player. For example, this one time at work, I....." Im told that everyone can say things like im a team player, im committed, i have passion, etc but to follow up with an example really shows that you mean what you say and understand it.

Sorry for the long post! I just wanted to share thia and didnt know how to say it in a shorter way. Good luck!!!

NursieNurseLPN, LPN · Dec 8, 2012

Also, forgive the spelling issues! I typed too fast. : )

yourstrulyjmc · Dec 10, 2012

Also, forgive the spelling issues! I typed too fast. : )

Hahah no worries! I'm not a grammar or spelling Nazi lol

yourstrulyjmc · Dec 10, 2012

Thanks for all the responses people! I had one phone interview this morning and I think it went well. She was so nice and hopefully I made a good impression too.

Tomorrow is another phone interview for a different hospital and I don't feel as nervous because the one from today wasn't so bad.

Anyway wish me luck!!! The one for tomorrow is A LOT closer to home, so I really hope I get it. I'll be happy to get a job at either hospital though, because opportunities don't come around often for a new grad...

I typed out my responses and highlighted the main points I wanted to say, and I also printed out a copy of the hospitals mission statement, vision, awards, etc. ...helped me stay organized and focused during the interview. I was surprisingly more relaxed toward the end of the interview than I was in the beginning... haha

heyeveryone · Dec 13, 2012

Ohhh I hope you get the job by your house rather than four hours away!

What did they ask you???

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