The Job Market has Changed: Make Sure You're Putting Your Best Effort into Applying and Interviewing

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I have been involved in hiring decisions with my employer for about the last year and half. In just that very short time, a lot has changed. When I first took on this role,

• Turnover was incredibly high
• Over 50% of the unit staff were agency
• Morale was lower than in any other facility I've been in.

Compared to now:

• Turnover is practically non-existent - we had one nurse retire, one nurse graduate NP school, and a surgical technologist move closer to family to care for them in the last 4 months.
• We have gone from 50% agency to 5% and a vacancy rate of less than 15%
  • We've converted multiple agency to full time staff and had many who left to travel at the peak of the travel bubble return
• Morale is the best I've seen in over a decade.

Still Hiring But Seeing Low Quality Applicants

While things are much better, we are still hiring. However, the quality of applicants and their investment (or lack thereof) into the position has been shocking. We hire nurses without OR experience set dates throughout the year, and wrapped up interviews for our Summer class just after Memorial Day. As a tertiary academic center that gets all the complicated cases transferred to us, our orientation is just shy of a year to orient nurses to all of the surgical specialties we offer in both the circulator and scrub roles.

So let's break it down and look at some of the things we came across:

Resumes Submitted:

• Several resumes had a stated objective not even related to the position. For example, one resume from a nurse with experience outside of the OR stated that he was looking for a challenging job in case management. Now, there's nothing wrong with looking at multiple different areas when seeking a new job, but submitting a resume that states you're looking for something that is very much not what you applied for looks sloppy.

Interviews Scheduled:

• Fully one quarter of those who had interviews scheduled didn't show up. At all. Or even call to cancel. Every single one of them went on the do-not-hire list.
• Another 8-9 cancelled their interview with at least a full day's notice. No judgement here, maybe you found your dream job or maybe you were afraid if you didn't take a job that was offered you wouldn't find another. If things change and we have positions posted, go ahead and apply in the future!

Interview Questions and Answers:

Hoo boy, my leadership team has joked about writing a book about some of the answers we've gotten, but we'd probably have to publish it as fiction because nobody could believe this stuff.

Actual answers we've gotten to "Why are you interested in the OR?"

• Applicant #1: "My mom told me I should apply."
• Applicant #2: "I just want to work day shift."
• Applicant #3: "I had the opportunity during clinical to follow my patient to the OR, and I really like how everyone worked as a team and advocated for the patient who couldn't advocate for himself."

Guess which one of the three was considered? If you guessed Applicant #3, you're right! Applicants #1 and #2 didn't even really answer the question of why the OR was the place they wanted to be; one was just... mind-boggling and one only told why they wanted out of their current position.

Actual answers we've gotten to "Describe a conflict you've experienced in the workplace (or for new grads, in school) and how you resolved it"

• Applicant #4: "I had just transitioned from a CNA role on the unit to an RN role on the same unit after graduating. One of my former CNA co-workers refused to accept delegated tasks, stating that they knew I knew how to do it. Once we had a brief bit of a break in patient needs, I spoke to the CNA privately and expressed that while I did know how to do those tasks, there were also many tasks that I had to perform as the RN and that I needed to prioritize learning and doing those tasks in the RN role. We were able to establish reasonable boundaries and now work even better as a team than we did when we were both CNAs."
• Applicant #5: "Oh, I really don't like conflict. I either avoid it or get the manager involved."

If you guessed we chose applicant #1, you get a prize!

Actual answers we've gotten to "Tell us what you think a day in the life of an OR nurse looks like":

Applicant #6: "So I'll help get the patient ready to go to the OR, like starting their IV. Then once they're in the OR my role is documenting." While there may be some places where nurses are cross trained between the OR and perianesthesia, our facility is not one of those. It demonstrates a lack of research and truly paying attention during their pre-interview shadow day.

Applicant #7: "I didn't know some of this before I was able to shadow before the interview, but my day would start with getting my room ready, making sure I have all of the instruments and supplies I need. Then checking the patient chart to make sure all of the paperwork is ready and going over to interview my patient in preop. If I'm scrubbing for the day, I'll set up my sterile table instead. It's my responsibility to make sure the patient is safe- consents are complete and match the schedule and what the patient states is happening, doing counts, positioning and making sure pressure points are padded." And then goes on to give a fairly decent summary of what actually happens in our facility, demonstrating that not only did they likely research, but that they truly paid attention during their shadow day.

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When I first came into this role, we may have considered most or even all of these applicants (seriously, we were in the "you have a pulse and a license" phase of shortage). We get it; the OR isn't really an area that nursing school really shows the reality of, and some of the answers that weren't great may have simply come from a place of truly not knowing - education can fix that! Now, we have 10 applicants per spot in our orientation class, and the only reason we don't make someone a "Not Selected" status as soon as the interview ends is so that they aren't reading the email before they've even left the parking garage. Applicants #1, #2, and  #5 made the NO list; Applicant #6 made the MAYBE list but ultimately wasn't chosen once all interviews were completed. Applicants #3, #4, and #7 were the first three to be offered. We are currently in week two of the classroom/sim lab portion of their orientation, and all three (along with their fellow orientees) are rocking it!

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So what was the whole point of this? It's not to mock or make fun of people who didn't interview well. It's to reinforce that the face of nursing employment has changed. If you're looking for a job, you need to be on your game because that can make the difference between being considered for a position or being rejected very quickly.

1. Do research, especially if you're applying to an area you haven't worked in before. Know the basics of the role, even if it isn't the specifics of how that facility does it.
2. Prepare answers to common interview questions. Being asked why you want to work where you applied, handling conflict, and others are truly standard interview questions that you should practice answers to.
3. Practice interviewing. Whether that's with a trusted friend or, if you recently graduated/are still a student, through your school. Many offer resources for interviewing, including mock interviews.

You can either be your own best asset in the job search, or you can be your own worst enemy.

[luv2]

Apply to virtual healthcare nursing jobs. 

[Mrsexylegs]

But my mommy said I'm a really hard worker and I brought her so she could tell you herself in person.- what my fiancé told me what was said when she was interviewing for a new nurse position

[luv2]

Mrsexylegs said:

But my mommy said I'm a really hard worker and I brought her so she could tell you herself in person.- what my fiancé told me what was said when she was interviewing for a new nurse position

What? Are you trying to troll or thoughtfully add to the conversation?

[OnceIWas]

I agree the job market has changed but so have employers that conduct the interviews. I get what you are saying about the above mentioned applicants but this goes both ways, I recently went to an interview that was scheduled for over a week. I confirmed the day before. I show up, early, and am told the Director is not in for the day. I immedately reach out to the recruiter who was able to have the assistant Director step in the for the interview. This person was nice but yawned & checked his phone not once, but twice during the interview. The second time I point blank asked him if we needed to reschedule - he apologized. The interview took over an hour, way too long, because of the employers lack of preparedness. I questions I asked about scheduling, documentation etc were answered vaguely at best. Fast forward later that day I was contacted by the recruiter with an offer. It was no where near what was discussed wage or schedule wise. I declined the offer.

Professionalism, follow through and transparency is lacking on both sides and therefore makes the whole process of applying, interviewing, on boarding much for expensive in time and money for everyone involved. You are right, it has definitely changed.