Strange interview question

[sassyrn333]

So I'm interviewing for a per diem job in an ICU at a trauma center in the metro and one of the questions the HR guy asks me is:

"Do you like to clean up after parties?"

First I chuckled because I caught myself almost saying "No, I'm usually waaay too hungover to do ANYTHING:smokin:." Then I said: "I will help out if need be, but I would GLADLY pay someone else to do it."

What in the hell kind of question is that???? What kind of person LIKES to clean up after parties....

[MERRYWIDOW46]

HOW ODD. I am not sure how that pertains to your skills as an ICU/TRAUMA nurse for PRN pool.

[ShelbyP]

Seriously? Did he mean to say, "Do you like to clean up after patients?"

[PANURSE15009]

Well that question definitely came out of the blue.......Who knows what his ultimate plan was??????? :lol_hitti

Hope you get the position and stay away from the HR Guy!

Rhonda

[jschut, BSN, RN]

Weird.

[Music in My Heart]

I think that sometimes these out-of-left-field questions are intended to probe how easily you're thrown off stride. Some people might respond with an attitude or simply be dumbstruck... or respond with your "too hungover" comment (which would be bad, I think).

You responded with a rational, reasonable reply to what was an irrational, unreasonable question... and you emphasized your willingness to pitch in and get the job done.

Dumb question but nicely handled.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

maybe he was trying to determine if you will stay till the work is done, or leave as soon as you can hit the door.

[smn2010, BSN, RN]

the question does sound wierd for an interview but i understand it...

i worked on a pediatric unit for 2 years. there were several nurses who were always putting together pot luck events. they would set the date and then make sure staff would sign up to bring something in to eat/drink. after the pot luck was over....the food, drink would sit, and sit, and sit... it was the expectation that "others" would clean up the mess. of course, the nurses (managers included) that always arranged the pot lucks felt that it was beneath them to clean up. the day shift would always organize the event--often leaving the night shift out of the loop. so, often, the night shift was "expected" to do the clean up. most of the time, the night shift never even knew anything about the pot luck. we (night shift) usually brought our own lunch/dinner to work (or would order out as a group) to eat on so we didn't really eat the pot luck items that were sitting out. it became very annoying for us, working nights, to have to clean up the "mess" left by the day shift. eventually, it was decided that all pot luck items would be put away at the end of each shift and if the on-coming shift wanted to eat any of the pot luck food, they could get it out of the refrigerator/freezer, themselves.

the question sounds wierd and out of place; but, i would imagine the person asking the interview question was/is a person that likes unit parties....but doesn't like to clean up afterwards.

one thing for sure, that question lets you know what the interviewer (a manager i would imagine) thinks "clean up" is an important skill to have on their unit.

good luck with the job!

[TaliRN29]

I guess what the HR guy was trying to dig was How well do you do after care. I've had my related learning experience in an ICU years ago and it was a total care..that included after care of the patient. It was a one on one care, which means you are in-charged of everything. From giving medications to cleaning up all the patients stool or urine or in layman's term "POOP". Now a days, some facilities are laying off CNA or LVNs that is why most of them requires nurses to be ALL-IN-ONE function. They need nurses who can function well in terms of knowledge, skills, and Attitude. That if the case need them to clean up a messy patient who just defecated in his bed, she/he will not give any negative attitude towards it. ^^

The question thrown to you was actually appropriate, though the real intention and meaning was hidden. Instead of using medical terms, he chose to use layman's term. He works in a HR department thus his medical terms and ideas were limited, but the whole essence was actually there. He will get an idea on how well you will respond to such scenario, esp. for the position you applied for. ^^

[itsmejuli]

"Do you like to clean up after parties?"

Definitely a "are you a team player" kind of question that determines how you feel about assisting co-workers in not so pleasant tasks as well as determining if you're going to stick your nose up when it comes to bathing a patient and other "dirty" work.

I think its a good question :)

[waggykeeper]

My husband is a head of a department and often conducts interviews. When he just started the job he bought a book "how to conduct a successful interview". One of the suggestions in the book was to ask a totally unrelated, strange question to throw the interviewee off in order to get them thinking on the spot in case they have reheorificed answers to expected questions. Once he came up with a question " if you would be an animal, what would you be? "

It could be that your interviewer was doing just that.

[Music in My Heart]

Once he came up with a question " if you would be an animal, what would you be?"

Why a nurse shark, of course... not only is it a nurse, it's nocturnal so the NOC shift is a-OK with me.