How To Prepare For Your Nursing Interview

Debbie shares her top tips on preparing for an interview in General Practice, from asking relevant questions ahead of time through to how preparation can help eliminate the unforeseen on the day.

Hello, my name is Debbie and I'm a Practice Nurse in London.

Today I'm going to be giving some general advice on how to prepare for your nursing job interview.

Will It Be In Person Or On-Line? 

So you've got a job interview, now what next? I think it's worth finding out and making sure you know whether it's going to be face-to-face or it's going to be virtual.

A few months ago I remember going for an interview and it was virtual and I was wondering, you know, I was quite shocked because the pandemic has somewhat subsided but there are some Practices still doing virtual interviews and it was two nurses and it was really good.

Treat ‘On-Line’ As If ‘In-Person’

I think my advice is just make sure you have good wifi connection and just make sure you still dress as though you were going for an interview, be presentable, have everything you need around you as opposed to saying, "Oh one moment. I just need to do this, so I just need to do that." Just have everything as you would if you were going for the interview face-to-face.

Now if it's a face-to-face interview there might be multiple steps, multiple stages to the interview.

So I've had three stage interviews. I've had one stage interviews. I've had interviews over the phone. And then you know, once they are happy with you, they will then call you in to come in and then they'll call you to come in again.

On The Day, Free Yourself From Other Commitments

I think my longest interview process was about three stages. Where the first one was on the phone, then I went in for an interview with HR and a nurse and then the final stage was with the partners. And so that's something that is a possibility and it's worth finding out how many stages there are.

Sometimes they will tell you right there and then on the phone that it is going to be this long. And so then that way you kind of have a gauge and know when you'll be able to hear back from them.

In terms of the time and length of each interview I think it just varies. Like I've had interviews that have been 10, 15 minutes. They ask you the questions that they need and that's it. And I've had interviews that have lasted an hour with one person just asking you question after question after question. Getting to know who you are, you know asking unconventional questions. It just seems like it's just a chit chat. Those interviews are great.

So I think when going into an interview, you know sometimes they'll put it in the email that it's going to be this amount of time, sometimes they don't. But just be prepared for any length of time.

If you have anything booked after or before, I suggest that you cancel it just so that your mind is clear. I mean I've done that before whereby I've had a very long interview and I've had somewhere to go the next day, not the next day, in the next few hours. And because it's so tight, you're then panicking. You're thinking about the next appointment or the next place that you need to go to.

There's been times where I've had two interviews in one day. You know, and I was thinking, "Oh my gosh I've got to get to the next place." If you can avoid it, have one per day so you can just focus on the interview that's at hand and you don't feel like you need to rush that interview.

The Importance Of Preparing A Portfolio

Now something that I think I've touched on before in the past, but I cannot overemphasise is making sure that you have a portfolio. This is something that is going to really, really help you structure your mind and structure your interview and structure your thoughts and what you speak about when you know all the trainings, the certificates that you have, your pin, you've got everything just together in one folder.

You can even put your passport in there when you're going for an interview, of course. You can put your utility bills for proof of address or any just key information on documents that you need. Make sure you've got it all together in one folder.

This doesn't just show organisation but as mentioned before, it really helps you, you know just keep track of the things that you've done, the things that you haven't done which you can disclose in an interview, that's completely fine. And just say that I've been able to do this and do that and show them proof.

I cannot overemphasise making sure that you have a portfolio. This is something that is going to really, help you structure your mind and your interview and your thoughts and when you speak about your trainings, the certificates that you have, your pin, you've got everything just together in one folder.

I think that this folder really helped me during interviews 'cause I remember them just asking, "Oh what skills do you have?" And I'll be able to bring up my folder and just show them that this is what I've done, and this is what I haven't done.

That's something that they can definitely tick off as opposed to, "Okay you may have done it but where's your certificate to show that you've done it?" So I think having a folder really, really helps with organisation and just helping the interview go smoother. 

I feel like I was a lot more confident every time I took my folder with me because it just helped me just embrace my competency in being able to do these things because I've got it in writing that I can do it and made me a lot more confident because I felt like they'd be more confident in me because I've got the proof here. So that's really helpful as well.

And then obviously having your CV with you in the folder as well. I think it's just important that before you even start your application process is making sure that you're gathering these documents together. When you have all of these things together you can go to the interview with just one less thing to think about really.

Ask Questions Ahead Of Time

And so I hope this helps someone, just get your things together, start looking on websites on what you need and what you would need to do. Ask the employer or the person interviewing, I always do that. Once they've sent me that confirmation email, I just send them an email back saying, "Is there anything you'd like me to bring?"

Sometimes they would like you to bring your pin and making sure that you have proof of that or your passport, whatever the case may be.

The last thing you want is to get to the interview and you feel stressed or you feel like, "Oh no, I've not done this right, I've not done that right."

If you send that email then you feel a lot more relaxed and just felt like, you know what? I've brought everything that they want me to bring and everything else is just, you know, surplus.

So yeah, I hope that this helps and that you are able to get an interview in the GP Practice.