Would greatly appreciate input- had an interview and now...

[PeepnBiscuitsRN]

So, I decided to bypass the recruiters, and bring my resume directly to the nursing manager on a floor at a local hospital that had quite a few openings. It's a medical surgical floor. She gave me an impromptu interview right there. This could have gone so much better, had I been anticipating this, so I'm looking for input, because I'm sitting here driving myself up the wall, wondering if I got the job. This interview took place on the 25th of Feb, and she was out of town for the week following, and she was back on the 7th.

She asked me why I wanted to be a nurse, and naturally I felt like I was fumbling for words, basically I said: "well, if we want to get real deep, it's because I beleive it's my calling, it's God's plan for me, since I was 12. I love to take care of people, I love people in general, and the human body fascinates me, and I love seeing how it all connects, how the body can affect the mind and spirit, and I want to help people through that, and help them understand how it all works together."

She then asked me why this particular hospital (Regions, if anyone is interested) and I said that "I love the diversity of the patient population here (there is a huge diverse population, people from all walks of life, all over the globe). the nurses here seem to really and truly enjoy what they do. I can't say that of the other facilities I had my clinicals at. I had both my children here and have been in the ER here a couple of times and it's such a good, positive vibe I get here."

She then went on to explain about herself, and why she is a nurse, and what she expects of her staff on the floor, she said "as a new graduate you'll learn a lot of things, we see many complex patients, I need flexible staff." She went on to explain a little more and ended by saying "if this that is what you're looking for, this will be a good fit for you." To which I said "It sounds like a lovely place to work, I'd love to join your staff."

She asked what shift I would want, to which I said "being a new grad in this job market, it puts me into the beggars can't be choosers category, so I'm ok with anything" She smiled and said "well, you can always have a preference. So I said "Evenings", which is true, because then I can be home during the day with the kids. She said "I assume you could start any date?" Again, I said "yes, if you asked me to start tonight I would".

After a little more chit chat, she said she was glad I came in, glad to talk to me etc. She shook my hand and said "you'll be hearing from me". She then asked for my references, which I didn't have because I was told you don't put your references on your resume, you wait till the interview. She understood, because I wasn't expecting this interview. So I called her back about 10 minutes later with the phone numbers of my references, and she said she needed the e-mails (she, to me, sounded a tad irked, which worries me) so I tracked down e-mails, and called her back 20 minutes later and she sounded a little more happier.

All three references said they got the e-mails and sent them back filled out. Now, she also asked for my supervisor's contact info, which worries me. I, in my mind feel I didn't leave my last job in good eyes for her. I could accept the hours she was offering (I was on call, when I went back for my RN) and eventually, when Mike lost his job, and we needed to pull Max from daycare, someone had to be home with him when Mike got temp jobs, and that someone was me. So eventually my former supervisor had to eliminate my position. She DID say to keep in contact though. So maybe it's just me, thinking my former supervisor hates me. I just fear she'll say I was unreliable or a bad employee or something.

So here it is the end of the week this nursing manager is back, I see one of those positions was filled. There were 9, now there are 8. I haven't heard anything. I sent a thank you card (hand written) and on Tuesday I wrote a follow up e-mail, just saying I was still interested.

What are you opinions? Does it sound like I bombed it, or are those things she said encouraging, or just formalities? ("You'll be hearing from me" "What shift do you want?" Etc..)

[craziechiq, BSN, RN]

To me, it sounds promising and your answers were really good. Good luck!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I think it sounds promising. You gave good answers and she seemed to respond positively to them. But yes, some of the comments made at the end of an interview are formalities that she probably says to everyone (e.g. "You'll be hearing from me." etc.)

People who conduct interviews need a graceful way to close the conversation. It would be rude to say, "I'm done now and need to get back to working on other things. Please leave." So, they say things like "Thank you for your interest. I'll be in touch, etc." Don't read anything into those interview-ending comments. But overall, it sounds promising.

Good luck to you!

[sbostonRN]

It sounds very promising from my perspective. I just went on an interview and tend to second guess myself about a lot of my responses too. So try to relax and be patient. Good luck!