Your very first or worst interview experience

ArmaniX, MSN, APRN · Feb 24, 2015

During my first interview as an RN I was asked "What do you not like about nursing as a profession" ... I replied that I get annoyed that satisfaction is determined based on how fast I can get my patient apple juice and that is distracts from actual care.

I did not get that job. But it was a blessing in the end.

anon456, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2015

My first interview was a new grad fresh out of school. I entered a room to find myself sitting at the end of a very long table with about 8 nurses and an HR person sitting around it. They started asking me questions I could not answer, because I was a new nurse. I was nervous as could be. I was not really interested in that area of nursing and had no experience in it. I just wanted a job.

Later I found out that they hired some staff on their floor who had just graduated from CNA to RN, so the whole thing was probably just to fill a requirement to interview a set number of people before hiring who they wanted to hire in the first place.

The second interview was not a group interview, but in an office with two people. I was in a suit that did not fit well. I had gainedjust enough weight that the suit was a bit uncomfortable. I kept trying to suck in my belly. At the end of the interview she asked me if I had kids and I touched my belly for some reason when I replied that I did. I wonder if they thought I was pregnant? I thought it was a weird question anyway, but I also wonder why I kept touching my belly?!

The interview where I finally got hired- I had submitted enough applications to feel discouraged that NO one was going to hire me. I got called for an interview at a children's hospital, along with many, many, other applicants. I was like "to heck with it" and I ditched the suit. I dressed in a cheerful blouse in loud colors, a semi-casual skirt, no stockings and some flats. I didn't try too hard for that interview so maybe I was less stressed out. I just assumed I would not get the job again, and was using this as interview experience. I answered the questions honestly including the ones where I had to name a clinical situation in certain scenarios and I told them I was too new to have been in those situations. Then they gave me hypothetical situations instead and I answered those. I was told to go wait in a chair, and to my surprise was approached by someone in HR and they said I was hired on the spot!!

My lesson learned was to be myself and not try too hard. Which is easier said than done, of course.

ICURN3020 · Feb 24, 2015

This was a long time ago and not for a nursing position, but when asked what my biggest weakness was I blurted out, "I'm always late." :eek:

The thing is, I have always been a very punctual person and I, to this day, have no idea where that statement came from. Nerves, I guess. I have no other logical explanation. Needless to say, I did not get a call back.

Hang in there, it will get easier with time.

lucymalfoy · Feb 24, 2015

My very first interview as an RN was with the OR nurse manager for a nurse intern position in the OR that would lead to a permanent position upon graduation. My interview with him went very well. He was enthusiastic about shooting the breeze for a while, loved my availability and answers, even commenting "Okay, who coached you to say that beautiful response?" By the end of it, he said "I would love to have you back for a second interview with my nurse educator if you don't mind." Of course I agreed.

Within a few weeks, the nurse educator contacted me and offered me my second interview. I accepted and asked at the end of the phone call whether I needed to bring anything special with me besides a resume for her, implying that I was looking to see if it was going to be anything out of the ordinary like a group interview. She replied no, just a resume for me will be fine.

So I show up to this interview and she brings me upstairs to what I thought was her office. She opened the door for me to let me in to what was actually a conference room for a surprise 8-person group interview with her, the NM, the team leaders for each surgical service, and some general staff RNs. To say I tanked the interview is an understatement. I am kind of a shy person anyway, so I was too surprised by the room full of people to really ever recover.

All of my perfectly reheorificed and well thought out interview answers went out the window. I remember at one point someone asked me to tell them how my friends would describe me. Instead of talking about how helpful, ambitious, and motivated my friends think me, I discussed that they would say I'm "shy, quiet, kind of timid, but definitely nice." *facepalm*

It all worked out in the end. I didn't get the job, but I did get hired on the ortho unit at the same hospital just down the hall. The NM and I pass by each other quite often, but I can't tell whether he recognizes me.

JWG223 · Feb 25, 2015

My first nursing interview, the manager showed up late by 10 minutes, and immediately launched in on pay, benefits, etc. instead of asking about me, and telling me about her floor. In short, I didn't get the job nor was I displeased about that.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 25, 2015

1st interview for 1st rn position. Was on tele floor, went on for 45 minutes, i thought i was doing fine. Not really, manager summed up interview by telling me she had no intention of hiring me because you "have emergency written across your forehead" and she figured i'd be there a year and leave.

2nd interview for 1st rn position (2 weeks after above). Was in er. Went on for 45 minutes. I thought i was doing fine. Manager summed up by offering me a job pending my passing the boards. That offer was put in writing.

Anna S, RN · Feb 26, 2015

I had an interview where the mgr did not ask me any questions, didn't tell me about the unit- she basically didn't say much of anything. I wanted to fill the uncomfortable silence, so I just rambled on about my experience and such.

Two things she did tell me, which turned out to be not true- that the company did not offer health ins, but gave all employees a $300. a month tax free stipend to purchase their own, and she told me I'd get 36 hrs a week. I only got 30 hrs/week, 'til she was fired.

I had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but the job was in my home-town and I wanted to move back there, so I took the job.

Turns out I they only had 30 hrs a week for me, and the insurance stipend had been D/C several months before my interview.

The mgr was abusive, cruel, and psycho. She was fired two months after I started. Actually, to avoid firing her, the company banned her from entering the facility, but didn't actually fire her- weird.

I ended up being the only full-time nurse, doing mgr duties, plus my own job, with no help or communication from corporate, which was thousands of miles away. They did berate me for getting overtime, though- as I said, I was the only full time nurse, and doing two jobs.

Turned out to be one of the most dysfunctional, awful places I've ever worked. New mgr was hired two mos before I quit. I was hopeful at first, but all she did was talk about how much she hated nursing, (and the pts!) and criticize everything I did.

So glad to be outa there.

umad · Feb 26, 2015

My first interview was a one-way video interview. It was terrible. It was really awkward staring at myself on the computer screen. There were a bunch of long pauses and I stuttered the whole time. I don't know how, but I went through to the second round of interviews. I didn't get the job though.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Feb 26, 2015

One memorable interview was for a rehab hospital, about a week before I graduated. The interviewer said "You've gotta be called to nursing, otherwise you'll never survive." That told me all I needed to know. I was relieved that they didn't hire me.

A different facility asked 2 illegal questions during the phone screen. They ended up offering me a job. I'd been looking for 10 months, and had another job cancelled, so I accepted, despite my misgivings. It was a bad idea.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Feb 26, 2015

Not my first interview, but I really don't know why one place even interviewed me. They were so condescending.

I had 1 year of ICU experience and had just gotten my CCRN, and I got a call back from a very prestigious CTICU. Super fancy, nurses either had one patient or two nurses had one patient, ECMO, transplants, more devices than you could imagine in the room. The shadowing experience was actually pretty awesome, but it was definitely the worst interview I've ever been through.

Now, I came from a non-teaching hospital MICU. I was very clear about this in my resume and the initial phone screen. The interviewer asked me what kind of research I was involved in on my unit, and looked at me like I'd grown another head when I said no research was being done at my hospital. They asked me what my most complicated surgical patients were, and looked at me like I was crazy when I said we didn't get a lot of the complicated surgeries, that our patients were mostly medical. And then they pestered me about how often I do get surgical patients, and seemed disappointed with my answer. They asked me what type of cardiac patients I had taken care of, and looked bored when I said mostly pre/post cath, heart failure, more chronic-type heart conditions. Hello! What do you think a year of MICU experience looks like?! The most exciting cardiac things we got were post codes.

And then they called me while I was driving home, less than 30 minutes after the interview was over, to inform me I didn't get the job. Durr. Did they really think I couldn't figure that out by the way they talked to me? They clearly wanted experience in their specialty and experience at a teaching hospital, which I had neither of, and I can't figure out why the heck they wasted their time and mine interviewing me in the first place.

LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN · Feb 26, 2015

The worst interview I had was for a LTAC hospital.

The nursing recruiter interviewed me over the phone and loved my answers so she sent my resume on to the DON of the facility and he called me to set up an interview.

I get to the interview, and he is late by 20 min.

Then I hand him my copy of my resume and he states.." You don't have acute care experience" with a frown.

I didn't I was still a new grad with 9 months SNF experience.

So he takes me on a tour of the facility, all 3 floors.

As we are walking we kept getting stopped by staff with staffing issues that needed to be addressed.

We then go to his office were he again makes that statement that he is disappointed that I didn't have acute care experience.

He then begins to rapid fire questions at me that are ICU scenarios.

I told him "I am sorry I don't know the answers to those situations, but I am willing to learn"

To which he replied "yeah I didn't think you would know, you don't have acute care experience" " I don't think that we will be calling you"

Um ok....Why waste your time and my time if you never had any intention of hiring me. He was very condescending in how he spoke to me.

He knew from the beginning before I came in to interview if he had looked at the resume the recruiter sent him that I did not have acute care experience.

I am so happy I didn't get hired there as I love where I have now ended up, but geeez that guy was terrible