OCTOBER 2000, VOL 72, NO 4 - Powers

Anatomy of an Interview t is 9 AM, and you are interviewing for a new job. In the past, your job interviews have been casual, and you received some job offers during the actu- al interview. This time is different, however. The I position you are applying for is one you really

want, in an area of the country that is fabulous. During the interview, you discussed the position, learned about the hospital, and talked about your background. The nurse manager interviewing you has just finished thanking you for your time, and you are on your way out the door. At this point, there are some questions you should be asking yourself. For example, how did the interview go? Do you know when to expect a call back from the nurse manager, or are you wondering what really happened and if you will hear from the manager again?

This article looks at the anatomy of the interview process. With adequate knowledge and preparation, anyone can interview more confidently and know what to expect when walking out of the interviewer’s door. At the very least, this article can help you prepare for interviews that, hopefully, will lead to job offers.

ACASESTUlW Sometimes the easiest way to

learn how to prepare for an inter- view is to look at an example. Here is a rather extreme example that actually happened.

Mary had more than 20 years of experience as an OR nurse. She lived on the East Coast and had worked in a large university set- ting for most of her career. Her background was excellent; she had scrubbed and circulated on a variety of cases, and she enjoyed mentoring other OR nurses. Mary

A B S T R

decided, however, that it was time for a change. Her daughter had relocated to the Western United States, and Mary wanted to be closer to her. After 20 years in the same hospital, Mary put together a resume and began looking for a new position. As she was visiting her daughter one week, she spent a few days looking for a job. She had an interview on Tuesday and wore a sundress because she was technically on vacation. The interview went something like this:

Interviewer: Good morning Mary, my name is Mrs Smith, and I’ll be interviewing you today. Could you tell me a little bit about your background and why you’d like to work for ABC hospital? Mary: Of course, Mrs Smith, but first, could I ask you a few questions? Interviewer (puzzled look on her face): Go ahead. Mary: Could you tell me what the salary is for this position? And, by the way, I hope your call schedule isn’t too bad, because I’ve worked for many years in the OR, and I am not up for taking too much call. My daughter just moved to this area, and I’d like to be closer to her. I think I’ll be a grandmother soon, and I really want time off to be able to svend time

A C T Interviewing well is one of

the most important skills that job seekers can possess. With the proper knowledge and prepara- tion, anyone can interview more confidently. By looking at the anatomy of the interview process, you will know what is expected of you when you walk in the interviewer’s door. AORN J (October 2000) 671 -674.

with my new grandchild. And I hope. . Interviewer: Well, Mary, 1 appre- ciate your taking the time to come in today. We’ll keep your resume on file and will call you if we have an opening that matches your qualifications.

SIX GUIDELINES TO INTuMEWllyG

This scenario is not as uncommon as might be expected. Mary actually was very qualified

L E E P O W E R S .

671 AORN JOURNAL

OCTOBER 2000, VOL 72, NO 4 Powers

for the position, and she did not set out to disquali- fy herself from the job in the initial interview. She did forget one of the first guidelines of the interview process, however-focus first on the employer’s needs, not your own. Mary may find herself fielding multiple job offers the next time she interviews if she follows these six guidelines.

Focus first on the employer’s needs, not your own. Dress for the occasion. Arrive early. Be prepared to answer behavioral interviewing questions. Ask appropriate questions. Ask for the job.

Focus first on the employer’s need, not your own. Sometimes job candidates are so focused on the “what is in it for me” syndrome that they forget about the main interview objective. The objective is to get to the next step in the process. If a candidate fails at the first step, salary, benefits, and flexibility do not matter. Leave questions about compensation and benefits for later in the interview process, and only ask them after the employer has expressed some interest in offering you the position. Additionally, candidates who have the qualifications the employer needs and who present themselves well during the interview could obtain a higher offer than they initially expected.

Dress for the occasion. Even if you are just going into a facility to pick up an application, dress professionally. Leave the sundresses, sandals, and other casual attire at home. If you wear perfume, use it sparingly. Even if the new workplace is casual, it is best to be conservatively and professionally dressed because interviewees may find themselves talking to someone on an impromptu basis. Dressing profes- sionally makes an individual look and feel more con- fident. First impressions count. One author notes that “It takes 15 second to make a first impression, so make a good one.”‘

Am’ve early. Arrive at least 10 minutes early for the interview and know the exact spelling and pro- nunciation of the interviewer’s name. Be aware of the person’s title, name, address, and the location of the organization, as this will be needed to send a thank- you letter after the interview. Spell the interviewer’s name properly. Several employers I have talked to ask how they can hire someone who does not even pay enough attention to detail to take the time to spell their names correctly.

Interviewees who arrive early have a chance to

locate the proper department for the interview and have a few extra moments to collect their thoughts. Furthermore, amving early gives them a chance to observe current employees and evaluate the overall atmosphere of the potential new workplace. In one case that I know of, a health care employer had a last minute change in the interview location because of some ongoing hospital construction. When applicants amved at the hospital for their interviews, they were instructed to walk across the hospital campus to another part of the building. This was a five-minute walk, so applicants who amved a few minutes early had no problem reaching the new interview location on time. Applicants who arrived at the original loca- tion right on time, however, actually were late in arriving at the new location.

Some applicants blamed the interviewer for moving the interview room, and the interviewer was able to tell quite a bit about prospective employees from their reactions to this unplanned scenario. The applicants who began making up excuses or blaming the interviewer were not selected for the position. The employer believed that if such a small adjustment in location caused such distress, what would happen to those applicants if they were hired for a position and had to make adjustments in their work setting? Flexibility is a trait that employers value.

Be prepared to answer behavioral interviewing questions. Behavioral interviewing is a technique that is becoming increasingly popular with many hir- ing managers. One author points out that the best pre- dictor of future behavior is one’s past behavior.*

In a behavioral-based interview, the hiring man- ager may ask a series of questions that probe deeper into previous on-the-job experiences or actions. For example, the hiring manager may say, “Tell me about a specific situation with your last employer in which you really were bothered by the actions of a cowork- er.” The manager then may follow up with another question that asks the applicant to describe the results of his or her particular action.

The best way to prepare for behavioral interviews is for individuals to write down their skills and then think about how these skills were used to handle a par- ticular situation in the past. Think of behavioral inter- viewing as a type of story telling, but make sure that the “story” is concise. An easy way for nurses to struc- ture their answers in a behavioral interview is to think about the interview process in terms of data, action, and response charting. The data is the dilemma or the situation that the nurse faced, the action is the specific

672 AORN JOURNAL

OCTOBER 2000, VOL 72, NO 4 Powers

action that he or she took to solve the problem or han- dle the situation, and the response is the outcome.

Applicants probably will be asked to describe both positive and negative work situations they have encountered in the past. Take the time to recall certain specific workplace situations, and be prepared to pro- vide examples describing how a less than optimal sit- uation was turned around for a positive outcome. Behavioral interviewing questions can pose problems for candidates who are unfamiliar with the process, but with the proper preparation, they will be ready to face behavioral interviewing with confidence.

Ask appropriate questions. The interview actu- ally is an opportunity for applicants to share informa- tion about their background, but it also is a time for them to find out about the employer. Questions ini- tially should be focused on the employer’s needs and should not be about salary or benefit packages. For example, the candidate may ask the employer about goals for the position in question, including immedi- ate and long-term goals. What challenges has the department faced in the past? What opportunities are there for the future? Who held the position before this? If the predecessor received a promotion, what accomplishments led to the promotion?

The information received from asking these types of questions during the interview will be invaluable, and applicants will understand the job, environment, and culture of the potential employer

priately. This is important because if the applicant successfully shows the interviewer that he or she can meet the employer’s needs, he or she likely will move on to the next step in the process.

Ask for the job. At the end of the interview, an applicant who likes the way the interview has pro- gressed should ask for the job. After thanking the interviewer for his or her time, the applicant should tell the interviewer clearly that he or she would like to be considered for the position.

Ask the interviewer what the next steps in the interview process will be and when he or she can expect to be contacted. At this point, the applicant should advise the interviewer that he or she will be following up with a telephone call if there has been no word by the date specified. Follow up with a writ- ten thank-you note to the employer. In the note, thank the interviewer for his or her time and mention your desire to become a member of the team.

ACHIMNG SUCCESS Interviewing is a skill just like other areas of

nursing. Sometimes, skills get rusty, especially if they have not been used regularly. Even in an economy with an abundance of available perioperative jobs, understanding the anatomy of the interview can help nurses land the job of their dreams. A

better if they ask the right questions. Additionaily,-by listening to the answers, applicants can tailor their responses to the interviewer’s questions more appro-

NOTES

Etiquette in Brief: The Competitive

Lee Powers, RN, BSN, is a recruitment and management consultant and is a medical and health care career colum- nistfor HOsPita~sO~P.cOm

Edge for Today’s Professional (Holbrook, Mass: Adams Media Corp, 1993) 13.

2. P C Green, Get Hired! Winning 1 . A M Sabath, Business Strategies to Ace the Interview

(Austin, Tex: Bard Press, 1996) 51.

New Product Logo Unveiled by AORN Look for this newly created logo indicating that a soft- ware vendor has a signed a licensing agreement with AORN to embed the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) within its soft-

ware system. The PNDS defines and describes the data elements of perioperative nursing practice. The use of this logo is restricted to vendors who have licensed the PNDS in its entirety. When evaluating perioperative software systems, know that this logo is the official logo for AORN authorized licensed vendors of the PNDS.

674 AORN JOURNAL