Roles and Issues in Advance Practice Nursing

Behavioral Interviewing for MSNs Video Transcript

Hi. My name is Kaitlynn Arvidson, and I'm the Manager of Graduate Career Placement here at Regis College. Today, we're going to be talking about the interview process. Several PowerPoint slides kind of guide us in that conversation. The second portion of the training will be students and I performing a mock interview session that will look like a real interview. And the student's very excited to be helping me with this process.

So definitely, look forward to that, as the second part of this, you will see a real live interview in action that's been recorded for your usage. So let's get started, and I'll share my screen here with you so you can see the PowerPoint presentation that I have. And here it is.

The Interview: Tips for Success for Nurse Practitioners. The flow of an interview. We start with the arrival and check-in and the employer opening, your story, their questions, your questions too of course, and then closing, next steps.

The opening. It's always important to greet the interviewer and thank them for their time and mention why you're there. Of course, you're there to interview for XYZ position, whether it be for nurse practitioner, women's health, PD. Maybe it's a leadership role. Whatever that might be.

Then, you want to talk a bit about yourselves. All employers will start by asking you that proverbial question, tell me about yourself. So you want to talk to them about your background, your academic and career information, and keep it pretty succinct. That's really what they're looking for, to hear that you're working on completing your MSN and that you're in the process of searching for employment for when you finish. And then talk about any other expenses that you might have.

So maybe you're an RN currently, and you've been actively working for a number of years in specific specialties. I'd say about one minute for a response to this question is sufficient. And then there also ask why you're interested in the position. That's something you can definitely report on. Again, maybe it's the organization and its strong values. Anything of that sort would help you decide why it's a good fit position. Just make sure you think about that question ahead of time so you can answer it fluidly and very specific to that particular goal.

What makes you unique? That's important, too, because you want to talk about the different things you've done in your career that really separate you from other candidates that might be trying to achieve the same position. Of course, this is your opportunity to market yourself. So make sure that you're taking all these questions to account in terms of going forward and knowing how to talk about your interest in that position.

Employer-based interview questions. Tell me about a time when you had to deliver bad news, you exceeded someone's expectations, or you weren't sure how to get something done. What did you end up doing? And tell me about a time you had to work as a team. And tell me about a time that you failed.

As you'll notice, all these questions are very much based on a particular situation that's happened in the workplace. So for you, it might be hard to really think about all of those anecdotes on a very quick basis when the employer asks you about them. So make sure you make a list of the individual situations that might help answer some of these questions. So that when employers speak with you, you can have that list in front of you, and it'll help to jog your memory if you re-familiarize yourself with those situations that have happened.

Basically, all employers want to know is a summary of what happened, the action you took to correct it, and also the results of that action. So you like to call that the SAR method, S-A-R. And that will help guide you in terms of your responses and make sure that they're very succinct, to point, and sound very professional, and are filled with a lot of factual information to help the employer understand that you understand the position in which you're applying for by giving them facts of your behavior and how you acted in previous situations.

Here's some specific questions that might be asked of you as a nurse practitioner. Discuss one of your most difficult patients and how you handled the situation. How would you respond to these three patients? The first patient feels a gush of blood. The second has ruptured and is in early labor. And the third has a question about prescriptions before going home. How do you see your role as an NP enacted differently from what you were doing as an RN? Give an example of how an NP's communication with patients differs from that of a physician.

So this is for the employer to have a sense for you understanding how you work and collaborate on an interdisciplinary care team and how you'd support a physician. And of course, that your roles differ. So that might be something you want to think about, too. And also, how do you keep current on medical findings and practices? That's really important, too, to keep up with your CEUs, to attend seminars. What are you doing to keep on top of that?

As I mentioned previously, answer each question according to the STAR method, situation, the tasks that you had to complete in order to resolve it, the action you then took, and then the results. Questions you can prepare for. Tell me about yourself. Why were you interested in nursing? Strengths and weaknesses. That's a tough question, sometimes.

Tell me about a time when you failed. And if you could change one rule in the ER, what would it be and why? So these are all sorts of questions that might be asked of you. Strengths and weaknesses are definitely something that people talk to me a lot about. And a lot of times, students aren't sure how to respond to a question like that. That's definitely a question that you can kind of mull over and think about the strengths that you have that really contribute to the greater good in terms of your field and also your colleagues and, most importantly, your patients. And make a list of those.

As for weaknesses, the same thing is required. But make sure you're choosing weaknesses that can't really affect your ability to become employed. And also, if you're talking about a weakness, you want to make sure that weakness is something you've been working on and that you can provide evidence for that, such as taking a class on delegation or pursuing a workshop on PowerPoint presentations or Microsoft Excel and Access.

In your case, it might be the Epic software system used by most medical professionals. So something that you can definitely directly relate to your current job and show that you've done something to help that weakness out and make it better and develop yourself as a nurse.

Your questions. It's always important to have four to six questions ready and available for you to use during the interview process. Plan on asking about two or three of them, because oftentimes, questions will be answered during the interview when the employer gives you a sense for the types of things you'll be doing on the job, the job in general. Oftentimes, a lot of the questions can be answered for you. So you might find that two to three of them are left after you review your list.

Make sure that the questions have nothing to do with what you've read about online. Well, they have to do with the position, of course, but you don't want to find out that the answer to your question is that the job description of the role that you're applying for. So make sure that it's something that can't be answered by just looking at the website, either, that these are original questions that show that you've taken the time to look at the organization and really dig deeper and understand them and how you'd be a best fit.

What are the attributes that make PNPs successful at your organization? That's a great question. How will the candidate selected for this role be evaluated? Always a good question to ask, because it shows you're interested in really adhering to specific performance metrics. Do you have an orientation program for new PNPs? That's another good question. How do you offer backup support when needed? Fantastic question, especially for a new PNP.

How many patients will I meet with in a day? That's a great one, too, that gives them a sense that you're looking forward to learning the schedule. And also, another good question is, how much time you have set aside for documentation within your work day? Is that something you're expected to do on your own time, or is that something that's incorporated within your shift?

And in closing, make sure you always thank the person for their time. Reiterate your interest in the role, whether you're interested in it or not. It's always nice to end the interview as positively as you can. Because in the beginning, you're interested in the role. And sometimes you might want to take some time to really think about it when you get home, but it's important to let them know you're still interested, if that's the case.

And if there are three things I'd like you to remember me by— this is a really great statement. List three short and simple things about yourself that might stand out in their mind as the employer. And also ask what the timeline is for the selection process. This will help you follow up with the employer. So if they say that within the next two weeks, we're interviewing candidates. But on the third week, we hope to get back to our finalists and take next steps.

Then you know that within three weeks, if you haven't heard from them, now's your opportunity to reach out. Remind them that the elapsed time has gone by, so you wanted to take an opportunity to reach out to them and find out how the process was moving. And they can then give you some more information that way.

Thank-you notes. Ensure that you send a thank-you note via email to each person you met with for the interview. If applicable, follow with a thank-you note to the recruiter that arranged the interview. So that would mean two very separate thank-you notes, but very needed, too. In each email, reiterate your interest in the role, and site two reasons based on facts you learned at the interview.

You always want to have backup for everything you write about. This goes with your cover letter, too, and examples that are actually factual that you learned. State two to three reasons why you're a good fit for the position. Close the note letting the interviewer know if they require any additional information, they're free to contact you.

This concludes our session today on interviewing. I look forward to seeing you our next session, where we're going to be actually performing an interview. Thanks so much, and best of luck.