Recently I was reading about bait and switch during preliminary interviews. I then recalled the worst interview torture that I was ever subjected to. It was a few years back and I had applied for a nurse educator position in a 74 bed hospital. I was greeted by 2-3 interviewers and we were located in a small conference room. There were probably 8 total chairs in there. During the interview a couple more people came in, then in a few minutes a few more came in, till at one point people were standing. At that time someone mentioned that we would be moving to a larger room.
I was escorted to a very large class room, more like an auditorium really. I sat and waited in front of the class at a small table and chair. As I waited more and more and more people came in, department heads, assistants of department heads, managers, secretarial staff, nurse residents, trainees, every single member of the HR department. Finally the crowd was all settled in and introductions began. Each person introduced themselves and what their position was. No way was I going to remember who all these people were. I'd say there were about 40-50 people there. I mean really? So they start hammering me with questions. Why do you think you should get this job? What makes you qualified? Talk about mob mentality. I felt like I was on the witness stand being drilled by a team of lawyers. There were a couple of mean ones in there too, staring at me as if I were a creepy little bug that they wanted to squash. The one I remember most was the nurse manager of the OR who would roll her eyes. Now, I wish I would have gotten up and walked out leaving them there scratching their heads.
At one point, I quipped, " wow, it looks like everyone is here, Who is running the hospital?" I got several laughs about it. The HR folks told me that they invited everyone who wanted to come (it was an open type of torture for anybody to join in on I guess). Yes, and this was the first interview. I decided I would never work at that hospital. They didn't call me back anyway but I don't think it would have mattered. I was ready to tell them that their practices were unwarranted and unfair and like the Spanish Inquisition. If they treated potential employees that way I couldn't imagine how they treated actual employees.
So... Tell me about your nightmare interview experience.
From your point of view, you may want to keep all of your personal situation private ... but from an employer's point of view, they don't want to invest thousands in orientation/turnover costs on hiring people who are unlikely stay very long (and therefore, be worth the investment). It is the Manager's job to assess the applicant's likelihood of being successful in the job and being worth the investment that the hospital will have to make to hire you. So any factors that might influence those things are her business.
By telling her what her concerns are, a manager gives the candidate a chance to address them -- to provide assurances that they will be a good investment in spite of those issues. I like to give people that chance when I can, but sometimes, I feel that I can't.
On 7/22/2019 at 6:59 PM, Crash_Cart said:
An employer cannot in any way, shape or form ask the candidate who they live with (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, parents etc) , because this is a way to determine the candidates marital status. Any questions pertaining to a candidates non-marital, or otherwise marital status is strictly illegal period.
Hopefully, this will help some nurses going through interviews. I found this on the Monster.com site:
Legal and Illegal Inquiries
Following are some of the key areas that are covered by fair hiring laws. You will see a trend in what is legal and what is illegal — essentially, you cannot ask questions that will reveal information that can lead to bias in hiring, but you can ask questions that relate to job performance.
Affiliations: Do not ask about clubs, social organizations, or union membership; do ask about relevant professional associations.
Age: Do not ask a candidate's age other than, "if hired," can a candidate produce proof that he or she is 18 years of age.
Alcohol or Drug Use: The only allowable question relating to current or past drug or alcohol use is, "Do you currently use illegal drugs?"
Criminal Record: Do not ask if a candidate has been arrested; you may ask if the candidate has ever been convicted of a crime.
Culture/Natural Origin: You may ask if the individual can, "upon hire," provide proof of legal right to work in the United States. You may ask about language fluency if it is relevant to job performance.
Disability: You may ask if candidates can perform essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodation; and you may ask them to demonstrate how they would perform a job-related function. You may ask about prior attendance records. And you may require candidates to undergo a medical exam after an offer of employment has been made.
Marital/Family Status: Questions about marital status and family issues are discouraged except as they relate to job performance, as in the child care example above.
Personal: Avoid questions related to appearance, home ownership, and personal financial situation.
Race/Color: No race-related questions are legal.
Religion: If Saturday or Sunday is a required work day, you may ask candidates if they will have a problem working on those days.
Sex: You may ask if a candidate has ever worked under another name. Be sure not to make gender-related assumptions about job capabilities.
How to Deal with Information that is Volunteered
Despite your careful preparation and question selection, some candidates will volunteer information that you would prefer not to know. The best way to handle this situation is not to pursue it nor to make note of it. You can't erase the information from your memory, but you can eliminate it as a discussion point and selection factor.
Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc.
If one is told ahead of time that it will be a group interview, fair enough. If they are not, I take that as intimidation tactics and very unprofessional. They say they want to see how you will act under pressure. I say it's intimidation and do not want to work with people like that.
I went for an interview for a resource position. The hospital wing was brand new. I was instructed to arrive at such and such location and they would let the manager know I was there. I was 15 minutes early. Gave the info to the concierge. They called the manager. I waited. They sent me to a different wing of the hospital, to a volunteer desk with a very harried lady. The unit was locked and she called upstairs for someone to come and admit me. I waited another 15 minutes. No one came. I repeatedly questioned whether the manager knew I was there. She was desperately paging through the booklet she had with all the units and relevant offices and staff.
Finally, I asked her to let me onto the unit, which she did. The unit appeared empty. I searched for someone, anyone, to direct me to the manager. I finally found a secretary. She didn’t know how to reach the manager by telephone but stated she thought she knew where the new office was. She didn’t. Now I was very very tardy. After rushing back and forth, with her knocking on various doors, she found the office.
I’m now sweating and having anxiety symptoms. The manager and staffing person greet me with “Hi. We wondered what happened to you!” Didn’t give me a chance to explain. Launched into questions. The manager then discovered she had read my resume incorrectly and had assumed I was qualified for an area I wasn’t. Needless to say, I really should have left at this point. I stayed for a tour (I was curious). Somehow got into a small argument with the staffing person, who to say the least, was giving very misleading information. I may have gently called her on it oops.
I wasn’t very surprised when I didn’t get the job.
I actually want to laugh as I relate this. It was the craziest situation I’ve ever been in.
I was so sick, I was not even embarrassed until I got home! I actually called back to work and asked if someone would please reach out to her to reschedule. She was wondering if I was ok, per my boss.
Like I said, she is a great CNA (who is now going to nursing school, yay!)
I look for this story from her perspective every time I read about bad interviews. ?
Imustbedreaming
18 Posts
Hopefully, this will help some nurses going through interviews. I found this on the Monster.com site:
Legal and Illegal Inquiries
Following are some of the key areas that are covered by fair hiring laws. You will see a trend in what is legal and what is illegal — essentially, you cannot ask questions that will reveal information that can lead to bias in hiring, but you can ask questions that relate to job performance.
Affiliations: Do not ask about clubs, social organizations, or union membership; do ask about relevant professional associations.
Age: Do not ask a candidate's age other than, "if hired," can a candidate produce proof that he or she is 18 years of age.
Alcohol or Drug Use: The only allowable question relating to current or past drug or alcohol use is, "Do you currently use illegal drugs?"
Criminal Record: Do not ask if a candidate has been arrested; you may ask if the candidate has ever been convicted of a crime.
Culture/Natural Origin: You may ask if the individual can, "upon hire," provide proof of legal right to work in the United States. You may ask about language fluency if it is relevant to job performance.
Disability: You may ask if candidates can perform essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodation; and you may ask them to demonstrate how they would perform a job-related function. You may ask about prior attendance records. And you may require candidates to undergo a medical exam after an offer of employment has been made.
Marital/Family Status: Questions about marital status and family issues are discouraged except as they relate to job performance, as in the child care example above.
Personal: Avoid questions related to appearance, home ownership, and personal financial situation.
Race/Color: No race-related questions are legal.
Religion: If Saturday or Sunday is a required work day, you may ask candidates if they will have a problem working on those days.
Sex: You may ask if a candidate has ever worked under another name. Be sure not to make gender-related assumptions about job capabilities.
How to Deal with Information that is Volunteered
Despite your careful preparation and question selection, some candidates will volunteer information that you would prefer not to know. The best way to handle this situation is not to pursue it nor to make note of it. You can't erase the information from your memory, but you can eliminate it as a discussion point and selection factor.