A job interview can be a nerve-wracking experience. For many people, it’s difficult to talk about themselves in a suitably upbeat fashion. Even worse is when an interviewer throws out a potential “gotcha” question that can completely change the tone of interviews for nursing jobs. Like most things, preparation is the key to a successful interview (a mirror isn’t a bad idea, either). Here’s how you can make sure you don’t slip up.
Gotcha Questions in Nursing Jobs Interviews
We’ll get to the sometimes difficult idea of talking about yourself later. But there is nothing worse than being unprepared for a gotcha question. After all, you can feel like the discussion is going well, and that you’ve successfully answered any questions about your experience. Then you get a curveball like, “What’s your worst trait?” or “Where do you have the most difficulty when it comes to nursing. The track of success starts to skip, and you run into a wall.
The thing about so-called gotcha questions is that they are fairly common. Just like, “Tell us a little about yourself,” or “What makes you a good candidate for this position,” the negative questions are fairly similar. They mostly focus on a negative trait of yours, or a time when you’ve made a mistake. Knowing this going into it, you can choose how you want to address them. For example, you might pick a false negative trait, like “working too hard.” You might also try to pick a trait that is a downside for you, but then tell how you’ve addressed it. You can make a similar story about a negative experience and how you turned it into a positive.
Telling Interviewers a Little About Yourself
Some people find it easier to talk to friends and family than to interviewers. Others find it easier to write their thoughts down on paper. If you have a copy of your resume, you should use that as your guide for self-summary questions. Either write down or tell your loved one what makes you the best fit for your job.
You’ll want to keep it brief, and it should use your resume as a baseline. But it also helps to differentiate yourself a bit from that piece of paper. So a good rule of thumb is to include one anecdote or piece of information that’s not included in your resume or cover letter. That way, you can keep the description fresh, regardless of whether or not your interviewer read your resume or cover letter.
Tags: job interview, nursing interview, nursing job interview
