Wondering why you can't get hired or promoted: Resume + Interview hints!
I've been reviewing resumes in my department and can't believe the resumes I've received: misspelling, words crossed off, no cover letter, including personal information about family life. Read to learn "Why am I not getting hired?!"
I was taught in LPN and BSN program how to prepare a resume. Is this a lost art being skipped??
Also agree with our BB members that calling facility and finding out who is department manager, then forwarding your resume to them along with hr is great idea.
I work in smaller organization than hospital but has taken me over two months to get open positions advertised and three weeks to get resumes sent to me...those that sent to me directly have interview same week.
Resume Writing
Resume writing and interview tips for nurses from Univ. of Pennsylvania:
If I called a member of your current staff and asked them to tell me about you, what would they say?
What actions would you take if you came on board?
How do you lead?
What's your secret to getting subordinates to follow you?
How do you motivate employees?
How do you reward employees?
Describe your management philosophy and management style.
Some managers supervise their employees closely, while others use a loose rein. How do you manage?
How have you improved as a manager over the years?
How many people have you fired? how do you go about it?
How would you deal with an employee who broke a policy (ie: late for work)?
How would you deal with an employee who was not open and honest in communication?
It is very hard to attract (critical care, er, or, ob etc.) nurses to this area. What are some strategies you might use to have enough qualified nurses to be sure patients get quality care in the facility?
What single professional event made you most proud to be a manager/leader?
What event made you least proud to be a leader?
In prior positions did you have budgeting responsibilities? If so, what was the size of your operating budget?
Do you know how to figure fte's?
What is your definition of empowerment?
What is your definition of quality assurance (QA), and who should be responsible, for QA?
Tell me about a time when your manager made a decision you disagreed with. What actions did you take and why?
Tell me about a time when you had to handle a disruptive employee. what did you do? what were the results?
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an irate physician, patient, employee etc. how did you handle it and what was the result?
How have you managed to foster a successful team in your past positions?
What methods have you found successful in determining the priorities when you start in a new facility?
What methods do you use to foster open communication with staff and management?
Tell me about a work incident when you were totally honest, despite a potential risk or downside for the honesty.
How did you handle a recent situation where the direction from above was unclear and circumstances were changing?
Describe how you motivated a group of people to do something they did not want to do.
Who is your most effective subordinate and your least effective subordinate?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? What have you done to develop each of these subordinates?
Tell me about some of the people who have become successful as a result of your management. What was your role in their development?
What are the major training and development needs of the people in your department? How did you identify them? What are you doing about them?
Are there any techniques you have found useful in identifying particular subordinates' needs and potentials? Tell me how they worked with a particular person.
What do you do differently than other managers? Why? Examples?
What is the farthest you've had to bend your standards in order to succeed?
What job duties would you like to avoid if at all possible?
Describe a time in which you weighed the pros and cons of a situation and decided not to take action, even though you were under pressure to do so.
All of us have been in situations where we assigned work to other people and they didn't do what we intended. Can you tell me about some of those? What were the circumstances and how did you handle it?
Have you ever had problems in getting your subordinates to accept your ideas or department goals? What approach did you use? How effective was it?
Have you ever needed cooperation from groups that did not report to you? What did you do to gain cooperation? What were the satisfactions and disappointments?
Is there a trait or characteristic about you that you find is frequently misunderstood, that surprises you when you find out that people think that about you?
What 3 things do you hope to accomplish in your first year?
What do you expect of those who report to you? If candidate responds with a one word answer (for example saying, "support" you can probe further by asking the candidate to describe three behaviors that she/he would view as being supportive.
If you had an unfavorable plan (I.e., budget) to implement, what would you do to get the managers' buy in and support?
With the current nursing shortage, what are two solutions you would like to see put in place?
What kind of support do you offer managers, directors and front-line staff, knowing the stress of the nursing shortage and the increasing acuity of our patients?
Tell us about a high level innovative idea/change that you implemented. Was it or was it not successful?
Questions to ask the employer:
What unique challenges has this unit faced over the last year? (I.e. successes, failures, etc.)
What sets this organization apart from it's competitors?
How long is the orientation phase and what can I expect?
Will I work with one preceptor throughout or will I have several different preceptors?
How does the administration view nursing in terms of importance to the hospital?
How much independence do nurses have in being creative problem-solvers?
What kind of professional advancement is available to nurses here?
What are some of the attributes of working for your hospital?
If I were to get a job offer from another hospital, why would I want to work for this one?
What is the criterion you will use to select the person you are looking for?
What kind of support can I expect from the nursing educators and preceptors?
How does the hospital handle new grads that might be slow in becoming oriented to their new jobs?
How long have you been the manager of this unit and what is your nursing background?
How many nurses have quit and how many hired for this unit in the past 6 months? How long have some of the nurses been working on this unit?
Who will be precepting me? Can you tell me something about them? Will I always have the same preceptor or will there be more than one?
Have you ever had a new grad who didn't seem to work out? How was it handled?
If for any reason it seems that orientation is just not going well for me what will happen and who should I talk to about it?
Questions about the following are illegal to ask at a job interview here in the US:
your personal life (married, divorced, children)
family planning
pregnancy
provision for child care
religious preference
club memberships
height
weight
dependents
age (birth date)
ethnic background
maiden name
native language
physical problems
psychiatric problems
spouse's employment and/or earnings
credit rating
home ownership
automobile ownership
Resigning from position
Check your facilities policy and procedures--most require that you give notice equal to amount of vacation provided, often 2-3 weeks; long term employed rns can be 4-5weeks.
Managers often need 1-3 months notice to be eligible for rehire -- Don't burn your bridges.
After hearing so many folks who are surprised at the difficulty getting a job, I thought I'd post a bit on my history.
I worked at my hospital as a CNA for .. about 18 years. Got into a scholarship program affiliated with the hospital (not funded BY it), which put me through RN, and then BSN. Got the RN in 08 and took boards that Fall. So as of Oct 2008 I'm "a nurse". Did they hire me? No.
Just about the same time, 1-the hospital became unionized (nursing union) and 2-the economy hit the toilet. Long story short, all the former intermittant nurses were scrambling for anything open, and since they were union - pretty much no one who wasn't was being hired. After about a year of applying in house, I started looking for "anything", so I ended up getting 2 weekend only jobs at 2 LTC places (oddly enough both were dementia units) even while I continued to apply at the hospital.
Then they d/c'ed CNA positions, as they wanted to switch to medical assistants in the clinics (I was a clinic float at the time). I couldn't get certified because I had the "wrong credientials", couldn't keep my job, and breifly transferred to Poison Control, where, well, it was a poor fit. I was within a week of losing my position at the hospital (and the rest of the scholarship) when miraculously I was accepted into Psych in Nov 09 (a little over a year, and 32 internal applications later). Oddly enough the fact that I had dementia experience had been a plus.
My take home? Apply. Don't give up. Get experience ANYWHERE even the places "I would never want to work" because any step is a good step. At any point in my months and apps I could have walked away, and I would have missed out on working in psych, and getting so excited about it that this is my specialty of choice as I pursue my NP doctorate.
During my RN education program, my instructors told me that it was OK to bring notes to your interview! It's better to be prepared than to spend 5 minutes thinking of an answer!
When writing a cover letter, how do you know who the recipient is? The HR staff member that contacted me for my interview is not the person who will be interviewing me. I only know the name and not the title? Any suggestions on generic recipients?
When writing a cover letter, how do you know who the recipient is? The HR staff member that contacted me for my interview is not the person who will be interviewing me. I only know the name and not the title? Any suggestions on generic recipients?
I would make a point of calling the HR staff member who initially contacted you and ask them who you should address the cover letter to and if they don't give you an answer then I would put "Nurse Recruiter" but only do that if they do not give you a specific addressee or if they request you to address the cover letter with that title.
I would make a point of calling the HR staff member who initially contacted you and ask them who you should address the cover letter to and if they don't give you an answer then I would put "Nurse Recruiter" but only do that if they do not give you a specific addressee or if they request you to address the cover letter with that title.
!Chris
Thank you. I have already submitted my application and have an interview scheduled today...I had submitted my application and resume w/o a cover letter...so is it a waste of time to give them one now? I guess I really wasn't all too prepared, just eager to get a new job! And good luck on your NCLEX today! I take mine July 12!
Wow! This seems to be extremely helpful. Thank you so much for sharing. I am working on a new resume now and have new hope of being hired as a "new grad". Thanks again!
I am a registerd nurse. I really need help from a recruiter to review my resume and cover letter. I have applied to many jobs over the years but can't get a job or even an interview. please help me.
Many resumes that I see are finctional in format. They state the job and job resonsibilities but do not include accomplishments. Always include your achievements in the workplace. Include the metrics to support them. Numbers, percentages, timing reductions, etc. are very important.
Format is ver important. You would not believe the number of executive resumes I receive that are poorly structured and lack the detail to show what a person has achieved. Below are a few examples of what I am referring to.
o Restructured Preoperative Services to enhance accountability, productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction
o Developed marketing strategies that enhance volumes, staff retention, and increased surgeon's
referral sources.
o Reduced inventory by $800,000.00
o Developed and implemented a Case Cart system
o Increased patient readiness 12 hours prior to procedure from 20% to 80% (goal 100%)
o Increased first case on time start from 22% to 85%
o Completed Phase II of the Perioperative electronic clinical documentations
o Implemented a Perpetual Inventory system which achieved a cost savings of $240,000 in the OR
o Restructured Anesthesiology to increase revenue by $3 Million per annum
o Developed and implemented processes to increase procedures by 47% above FY07 procedures
o Decreased room turnover from 1 hour to 30 minutes to our goal 20 minutes
o Developed and implemented Service Line Team Leaders, which has increased the depth of the organization
o Developed and implemented a Collaborative Practice committee with Surgeons and nursing
Take the time and put forth the effort to create a resume that will yield results.
This is great advice for nurses that have experience behind their belt but what about a graduate nurse whose only experience occurred in the clinical setting?
juschillin, MSN, RN, NP
94 Posts
WOW! What a store house of info!!! Thanks!