What is a "Situatioin phone interview"?

Columnist · Mar 2, 2008

As I understand it, a situational interview is sort of like a behavioral interview, except instead of asking you to tell a story about a past event (behavioral), the interviewer asks how you would handle a hypothetical situation. For example, the interviewer might ask, "How would you respond to a family member expressing anger about a patient's care?" (The behavioral interview equivalent of this might be: "Tell me about a time you had to deal with a family member who was upset with a patient's care.")

To prepare for any interview, you have to inventory your professional strengths (e.g.: efficient, good communicator, clinically competent, etc.) and compartmentalize them in your mind so you can emphasize them throughout the interview. For a situational interview, you need to think about possible scenarios that may arise in the job you're interviewing for, and then "plug in" the corresponding strengths within your answers to the questions. For instance, in the above example, about the angry family member, you could stress your communication skills: "First, I would allow the family member to vent. Next, I would try to determine, specifically, what aspect of patient care he's unhappy with. I would stay calm and empathetic." Etc. It's extremely helpful for both situational and behavioral interviewing to practice with friends.

A phone interview can be somewhat intimidating because you can't see your interviewers' reactions to your responses, and that makes it hard to gauge how you're doing. (I've participated on both sides of phone interviews before.) You should expect to be on speakerphone or a conference call with multiple interviewers. One hour seems like a long time for a phone interview, especially since one would think this is basically a screening interview. So you have my sympathy there!

Couple of tips for a phone interview: don't be afraid to pause to consider your answer, but if you do that be sure to say something like, "I'm taking a moment to gather my thoughts," so they know you're not floundering. Try not to stutter or use fillers like, "Um." Find a comfortable chair to sit in so you are able to BREATHE. (Seriously!) Smile when you answer, because it will come across in your tone. Avoid distractions; for example, put your dog out in case she barks in the middle of your interview, turn off the TV/radio, etc. Have paper and pencil handy and write down the interviewers' names so you don't forget; also, you can jot notes about the questions if you think you will find it helpful.

If you do a Google search on "situational interviewing," you'll find quite a few resources. Good luck to you! Maybe you could let us all know, after the fact, what types of questions they asked you and stuff, in case this is becoming a new trend in healthcare employment.

JuLeSx7d7 · Mar 3, 2008

Thank you so much!!! This information helps a whole lot. I'll be sure to let you know how I do and what types of questions they ask. I have my interview tomorrow afternoon.

Wish me luck!!

hope3456, ASN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

Good luck Jules and great info semisweet chick!

I interviewed for a job a couple years ago and I guess it was a 'behavioral' interview, b/c all the questions were 'tell me about a patient that you had a hard time taking care of,' 'tell me about a patient that you felt you did a really good job with', ect. I had a really hard time with it and it threw me for a loop!

Columnist · Mar 3, 2008

Good luck Jules and great info semisweet chick!
I interviewed for a job a couple years ago and I guess it was a 'behavioral' interview, b/c all the questions were 'tell me about a patient that you had a hard time taking care of,' 'tell me about a patient that you felt you did a really good job with', ect. I had a really hard time with it and it threw me for a loop!

Yes, that was a behavioral interview. The theory is that the best predictor of a person's future behavior is his/her past behavior. (For the record, I don't totally buy into that, but supposedly there is considerable research that backs it up.)

Like any other professional field, human resources is constantly evolving and applying new methods. One of the biggies was behavioral interviewing, which is still in widespread use. Now comes situational interviewing. Another new one is "stress interviewing," in which an interviewer constantly places you under stress (such as interrupting you or otherwise disrupting the interview) to see how you handle the pressure. Hopefully, none of us will have to endure anything like that!

You're right, though: these types of interviews require a discrete skill set in order to get through them successfully. It's worth bookmarking a few good websites so that one can brush up on the latest interviewing skills as needed throughout one's career.

JuLeSx7d7 · Mar 6, 2008

Blah!! So I got the results of my phone interview...no go I got a "thanks but no thanks" e-mail today from DH.

Most of the questions were:

Rate you self-worth, work ethic, dependability, etc.

Also, they asked me about what I would do with a disgruntled patient, a medeocre employee promotion, a group of nurses that did not like to implement change, an example of improvisation on my part. Questions on idleness in the workplace, what I do outside of work to keep me busy.

These are just a few of the questions that I remember. The interview mostly went for about 46mins of question after question. Oh well, it was a good experience and now I know what to expect. Next up, Porter and St. Joes. Hopefully, I won't have to go through too many hospitals before I find a job in this "in demand" healthcare field, LoL!!

Lots of luck and prayer to all!!!

Columnist · Mar 6, 2008

So sorry to hear you didn't make the cut this time. But, you have a great attitude about it, and that will stand you in good stead as you continue job hunting!

Thanks very much for coming back to fill us in on what transpired. It's very interesting to hear what you were asked. And, as I said before, I think an hour of fielding questions over the phone is a bit unfair. Sounds like a "stress interviewing" tactic, to me!

Good luck!

kocheli · Dec 2, 2009

wish you all the best

Benedina · Dec 3, 2009

To help you (and others) prepare a little better for the next interview you might want to take a look at this book: "What Does Somebody Have to Do to Get a Job Around Here?" by Cynthia Shapiro. It has good, practical strategies for preparing for these kinds of interviews from an experienced human resources manager.

Meanwhile I hope the job of your dreams finds you; your great attitude should serve you well.

Dina

dlzk123 · Dec 3, 2009

Please anyone can help me to find a job n texas?

IrishMama · Dec 3, 2009

I work at DH (in a non-nursing position) and I had to do the Talent Plus interview on the phone. It's annoying, but I passed. I think you can google it and see what they are looking for in those interviews.