Nursing Student Coach
Join Lauren Chapnick, RN, as she takes you through the journey of becoming a nurse! On Nursing Student Coach, Lauren, who is a new nursing professional, along with her knowledgeable guests will give you the tools to succeed in your nursing career. They will discuss ways to reduce anxiety and stress, share tips on studying and preparing for your NCLEX, and so much more - you won't be alone in this adventure! New episodes air every Thursday.
Nursing Student Coach
Nursing Interview Tips with the New Grad Nursing Interview Coach
Ready to crack your first nursing job interview with confidence? Join us as we sit down with Mary, the genius behind YouTube's popular channel, "The New Grad Nursing Interview Coach." Our conversation with Mary promises to be a treasure chest of insights, techniques, and advice on preparing for nursing job interviews, especially for new graduates. Her unique coaching style, born from personal experiences and real-life anecdotes, emphasizes the power of confidence, connection, and early preparation.
If you're a new nursing graduate seeking an upper hand in your interviews, this episode is specially tailored for you. We steer the conversation towards challenges unique to novices in the field. Mary shares precious nuggets of wisdom on how to make an unforgettable impression during an interview and how maintaining an upbeat attitude can tilt the odds in your favor. Moreover, her advice on journaling and watching interviews to bolster your preparation could be the game-changer you've been seeking.
As we conclude our enlightening session, we touch upon some critical dos and don'ts for nailing nursing interviews. You'll learn the importance of portraying yourself as compassionate, patient-focused, and why it's a big no to impersonate difficult patients or family members during conflict narratives. The cherry on the cake is the constructive strategy to answer that age-old question, "Tell me about yourself," with a focus on personal narratives and motivation behind choosing nursing as a career. Soak up these gems of wisdom, and let's conquer the nursing interview battlefield together.
Mary's YouTube Channel: CLICK HERE
Mary's Website: CLICK HERE
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So you're saying no to people that you, that you do, want right. So how do you become the couple people that it's hard to let go of? It's the people that you connected with, people that you're like yeah, I had a really great time with them.
Speaker 1:I'd love to see them every day at work. I can see them getting along with the people at work. I can see them being really warm and kind with our patients. Like we need this person. It would be such a shame if another unit got them, you know. So to be that person, you've got to not be so nervous that it stops you from connecting with your interviewer who, at the end of the day, is just another human, you know.
Speaker 2:Nursing school is a wild ride, but that doesn't mean you have to run and hide when they're going. Gets tough. Don't leave your stress undiagnosed. You got to call the nursing student coach Real life tips from a registered nurse, in school and out. She's seen the worst. Now, without further ado, yeah, here is your host. It's the nursing student coach.
Speaker 3:Hi everybody and welcome to nursing student coach. My name is nurse Lauren and I am your host. I want to thank you so much for your support in the show and, as you know, it is my personal mission to help put more Great nurses into the world. That's why I started this podcast and I so appreciate all the ratings and reviews and positive comments and feedback. If you take the you know 60 seconds or less to pull out your phone and give us a quick rating on Apple podcasts or on Spotify, or if you're watching on YouTube, if you can subscribe and make a comment, it really helps to put the show in front of people who may not have found it otherwise. So I really want to reach as many Future nurses as possible. So thank you so much again in your help in doing that. Here's, here's the thing, guys nursing school ends and, before you know it, you will be sending out cover letters and resumes and you will get your first Interview for your first nursing job. And how are you going to prepare?
Speaker 3:Well, I came across a amazing resource, a YouTube channel called the new grad nursing interview coach when I was preparing for my own interviews, and I watched every single video that she had and, and she really helped me to prepare for my interviews. And she really breaks down Every single question that they may ask you, tells you how to answer it, the do's and don'ts of nursing interviews. And she's here today to talk to you. Her name is Mary, she is a registered nurse and she works one-on-one With nursing students to help them prepare for their interviews. Her website is New grad nursing interview coach calm. She can work with you one-on-one or you can watch the many YouTube videos that she has with her tips and mock interviews with other students. So she's here today.
Speaker 3:We're going to have a great conversation about how to prepare for those interviews. For all of you who are graduating soon, and even if you're not, if your interview is far off in the future, this episode is still for you because she tells you how you can be preparing while you are still in clinical and why that is the best thing you can possibly do. So thank you for joining us, mary, and I would like to welcome her to the show. So, mary, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm so happy to have you Welcome.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me. This is really exciting.
Speaker 3:Yes, I'm so excited to share this with nursing students. As I told you before we went on the air, I found your YouTube channel. I was so grateful that I came across you, because I listened to, I think, almost every video if not every video that you made and it helped me so much, and I got a emergency room residency for new grads, which is going great. So I thank you so much for all of your tips and advice. It was so helpful.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks for saying that. I want to also thank all the new grads that have been willing to share their answers with strangers on the internet. It's that people are willing to do that and it helps other new grads that are in their you know past position, so I'm always really appreciative to them too.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely, and for those of you who haven't seen Mary's channel, it is called the new grad nursing interview coach and she does mock interviews with new grads and you can learn so much from it and she'll stop them and interject and say what she thinks, and it's just really great. So, mary, I wanted to ask you how did you get into coaching new grads for interviews?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't actually think I've ever talked about this it's. It's kind of a funny story, I think, because my website says that I'm a new grad interviewer at a hospital. People think that's how it started. But I was actually doing this for free, just for fun with my friends. I, for whatever reason, interviewing was something that came really naturally to me and I didn't really understand why my my friends and my cohort were struggling so much with it. I was just like.
Speaker 1:Well, you just think about why they're answering the question, what is probably in their rubric. And you told them a time that you did that thing and they were like, how did you think of that? I'm like I don't know, it just makes sense. So I was in nursing school. I would do these, you know, hour, two hour long, like sessions with my friends to coach them, to help them get their first jobs. And then I was talking to my dad.
Speaker 1:Growing up he's always been really into the like self help books and the sort of business psychology stuff. And he'll ask me sometimes you know, who do you want to be a hero for? I'm like Dad, what does that mean? He's like Well, who? Who are the people that you think are just the best people and you want to help them? And I think new grads are just in nursing students are just the best people on the planet. They're so just like talking to them and seeing how excited they are to help people just kind of renews why I went into nursing and it's really therapeutic for me to like see how great they are and kind of be reminded of of that. I know this is this is kind of crazy, but maybe this could be a thing that I do now, like maybe.
Speaker 2:I can.
Speaker 1:Maybe I can start in like helping people prep for interviews, and so I started doing it and now it's just kind of a people are like How'd you get this job? I'm like I don't know, I just started doing it and yeah.
Speaker 3:I really like doing now, and it's, I think, what really saw that it was something you were good at and you could help other people doing it, and it just kind of float from there and I love that story and I love. I couldn't agree with you more about nursing students and new grads. I think I want to help them as much as I can, too, with what I'm doing, so I think that's. That's fabulous and your dad sounds like an awesome guy. So for all the new grads out there that are preparing for their interviews they might be graduating soon what advice do you have as far as how to prepare for their first nursing interview?
Speaker 1:It's, it's hard. I feel like a lot of new grads get in the situation where they think about interviews and they think, well, let me just get through Thursday's test, let me just get through the NCLEX. And then all of a sudden they heard back from this hospital that they're really excited about and the interview is in two days. Like oh my gosh, maybe I should look into this to see if what do I do?
Speaker 1:here, and then you know if we have time to squeeze in a time to work together, we do that. And then what I often hear from them is I know I have an answer to that question. I feel like something like that did happen, but now I don't remember the details of it, right, because they'll say things like, you know, their vitals weren't good and I'm like do you have like ballpark numbers? Or, and they're like, I wish I would have written it down, because now, now I don't know, right, and especially, when you're nervous in an interview to try to recall those numbers in a way that sounds put together.
Speaker 1:So I think the best way is to write like journal during after clinicals while you're waiting for pre-conference, post-conference to start. The other thing, too, is just watching. Maybe just you know one day, you know every couple of weeks instead of watching. You know what you usually watch. You know on your downtime If you just watch an interview in a low pressure situation. So your brain kind of gets primed of oh these are the stories that I'm going to need. This is kind of the info that my brain needs to look for and grab onto and write down, and it would kind of take the pressure out of trying to come up with everything at once.
Speaker 3:Right. Doing it in advance makes such a difference. I agree, and I love your idea about the journal. I think that is such a good idea to do it as you go, to reflect as you're going, because you'll have better stories that way. But what I did, and what I suggest doing, is to get a notebook or a folder at some point early in your final semester and just start writing out memories of stories that you have, know what the most common questions are and just start building your toolbox of stories, because you can use multiple stories for the same question.
Speaker 1:At least I think so. Yeah, 100%. If you have 10 good stories, that's about all you need. And then there's also a skill that you develop of being flexible, of knowing how to pair. Like, let's say, you have that critical story about your patient that was decompensating. You could use that story for tell me about a time when you had great communication yes, talking about all the people that you communicated with to get that person help. Or a time you had great teamwork, a time you collaborated Like it doesn't have to be the tell me about your most critical patient story, right? So, like you said, if you have these 10 or so stories that you feel really great about talking to a hiring manager about, you're already in a really good place.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you've sat in on a number of interviews with new grads. What would you say makes a new grad, or really anybody interviewing, stand out in both a good way or a bad way? You remember them because they said something really great or they said something that wasn't so great.
Speaker 1:You know, if I'm just kind of thinking about all the new grads that I've worked with, it's really hard to put this into words, but sometimes new grads have this. They bring this energy to their session or their interview way where they really want this job, and they kind of have this energy of like this is my dream job, I need this job. And it can go a couple of different ways. They can come across as just really frantic and nervous, or they can come across as sounding very rehearsed because they are so prepared, because they want this job so badly. And then when you're talking to someone and you can tell that nothing that they're saying is something that they made up in the moment, that this is all sort of like they're standing behind this wall of rehearsed things and they're not going to let you in or let you geni yeah, get in contact with them. It kind of feels like the person isn't willing to connect with you, that they're keeping you at a distance. So what you want to do is be prepared enough that you feel comfortable, comfortable enough to engage with because, if you can imagine, you're listening to candidate after candidate all day long and you have that one person or you really enjoyed that hour with them because you felt like they talked to you, like you're just two humans having a conversation and they connected with you and they smiled a couple of times each answer and you felt like you got a chance to really get to know them.
Speaker 1:It's it's it's harder. So let's say you have an interview and almost everyone is a yes, like, let's say, you got approval for three spots. You have to then fight to get those three people that maybe another unit also wants right, right. So you have to weed it down to just the amount of people that you have approval for to hire. So you're saying no to people that you, that you do, want, right. So how do you become the couple people that it's hard to let go of? It's the people that you connected with, people that you're like yeah, I had a really great time with them.
Speaker 1:I'd love to see them every day at work. I can see them getting along with the people at work. I can see them being really warm and kind with our patients. Like we need this person. It would be such a shame if another unit got them. You know so, to be a person, you've got to not be so nervous that it stops you from connecting with your interviewer who, at the end of the day, is just another human you know Exactly?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's intimidating, it can be, but they are just a person that you will be working with. Would you say that you have a number one do and a number one don't when it comes to nursing interviews? A?
Speaker 1:number one do. There's kind of a don't side to it too, right? So if you have, you bring to the table experience like being a nursing assistant or Something. You know, maybe you were an EMT or something like that that got you a lot of really great stories. If most of your stories are you acting in that role, the interviewer might think, oh, they don't think of themselves as a nurse yet. They're not really, like, identified with that role, right? So you know, I've talked to new grads who have gotten feedback that you know all your stories were about being a nursing assistant. While the the stories were great, you did your preceptorship here on our unit. Why didn't you talk more about that?
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, so I would say not to have more than two stories in your interview about that role and trying to have most of your stories about Things that you did with, like direct patient care in the nursing role. You know, for example, like a story about conflict. Don't talk about how you had a group project and it was the struggle in clarifying roles right. Talk about a discussion that you had to have to protect a patient in a clinical setting right. And if it was when you were a nursing assistant, you don't have to necessarily say that. If it's not Permanent to the story, you could say you know at this certain point in time, you know at this certain hospital or in in this type of unit. You don't have to say when I was a nursing assistant.
Speaker 1:Right because in some situations it doesn't matter. You would have done the same thing as a nurse you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I never would have thought of that, but that's really good advice. Yeah, because you want to see yourself in the role of the nurse.
Speaker 1:Another thing I guess, as a don't that is really easy to do is, let's say, you're talking about Either a conflict with someone or a family member or a patient, that was being difficult. As a human, it's really natural to sort of impersonate their voice, right? Oh no, yeah, yeah. So you know the. You know, if you're talking about a family member that was upset, you know like I, you know I was in the emergency room and there was a dad and a son that you know. The dad was really upset because they had been waiting so long and he was like you know what are you guys doing? Like I've been waiting so long, but like the words enough are. You don't have to do any kind of like head movement or voice change.
Speaker 1:Right, it's so easy to do, to kind of like pull people into your story, but it comes across as Very clear that you don't like that person, right? So?
Speaker 2:and also if you're using words like needy demanding frequent flyer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's better words that you can use instead. Choose your words carefully.
Speaker 3:Whoa. Yes, like you can quote them, but do the, do it in your own voice. Yes, I think. I think the the negative patient experience, the conflict question, is tough because you don't want to look super negative like you're complaining. So you have to choose, choose your story carefully and choose how you word it really carefully, put a positive spin on it. Would you say in your experience that most interviews start off with the question tell me about yourself.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and how would you go? What's your advice for answering that question? I guess, as a part B, do most of the interviews that you sit in on start that way, and if so, how do you suggest answering that question?
Speaker 1:The framework that I've found is kind of helpful to think about is almost as if, instead of tell me about yourself, it's sort of like why are you here today? Like, what are you looking for? How did you get into this? Kind of like, tell me about the story of you in nursing.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So most people follow kind of a formula of you know name, where they went to school when they graduated. I think it can be really helpful in building that rapport and being more of like a person with a story than just a candidate. In a time slot to talk about, like what initially got you into nursing right, you were taking care of your aunt or your grandma or I don't know, maybe you had an illness or you know, everyone brings their own really interesting story. There's so many different examples. Immediately within the first 30 seconds, you're a person with a story you know.
Speaker 1:So it kind of helps build that like person to person connection.
Speaker 1:So, talking about how you initially even because you know if you want to help people you could have been a social worker, right, If you really love medicine, you could have been a doctor like why nursing of all things, Like what gave you that idea? And then what were kind of the jobs or the volunteer experiences that solidified for you and why, Like, yes, nursing is what I want to go into, right. And then the next part is kind of gearing up towards that, that you tailor it to that specific job, how in school you realized you loved whatever it is, whether it's PEDs or ICU, like what rotation was the most similar? And talk about why you thrived in that environment. Was it that you loved you know the critical thinking aspect and like being challenged and working in a fast-paced environment. Or you really enjoyed working with children and like talk about how great that experience was to kind of make them see like, oh, this unit would be really good for this nurse, Right, this would be a good fit. And they can kind of like visually picture that.
Speaker 1:And then this part of the formula is sort of why this hospital? Right, like if you Google like the hospital name and then nursing careers, you can kind of skim and get some ideas of what are their, what are they pride themselves on, and maybe pick one or two words that you're like I really respect that and talk about it and some people wrap it up by you know some sort of gratitude piece of how grateful they are to be here today talking to or thank you for giving me the chance to speak with you. I'm so excited to get to know more about you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love that's a really good formula and it's specific. That's what's good, because I think some people can go off on a tangent just rambling, and so I think, if you hit boom, boom, boom, I actually led with the gratitude thing because I saw so many interviews where people are just like my name is this and I graduated from here, and so I just wanted to come right out and just say well, first of all, I'm so excited to be here. You know, I'm so excited to meet you and I had done my research like crazy, but I didn't rattle off the mission statement. I worked in some of the core values that they had, with my core values.
Speaker 1:And like having a like. If that flow comes more naturally to you, it's good that it's a little bit different than like. You don't want everyone following this same formula. And then knowing a little bit about the hospital. It doesn't just sound like you're just going wherever you reach out to you Like you are. This is something that you know what it's going to be, and it's something that you know you're going to like, rather than I'm just going to go wherever he mails me back. I just want a job, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure. So I know that this is on your YouTube channel, but what are some of the most common questions that people should have in their tool bell Like? What are like? Without a doubt, you will very likely be asked boom, boom, boom. What are some of those common questions in your experience?
Speaker 1:In my videos. I like to kind of go in that order because I know most people won't make it through the whole video, so I want them to get like at least the most likely questions. So most likely obviously is the tell me about yourself A lot of hospitals ask about. They want sort of that sweet story of you know a special moment you had with a patient and that could look like tell me about a time you went above and beyond or, yeah, about a time you provided compassionate care. Another super common theme is like related to mistakes and feedback. So they can ask you know a time that you made a mistake and how? In the kind of the points from that are usually about like how you made change, how you took accountability, made changes going forward. It's not enough to just like list a story about a mistake. It's like that kind of after piece. That's the critical part.
Speaker 1:And then the feedback story is they want to know that they're hiring someone who is open to feedback, who really wants to learn from their preceptor and their peers. And then conflict is sort of another genre of questions, right, and then they have to ask a question about conflict with a coworker, with a supervisor, with a doctor. So have you know conflict story? And if it's not exactly the kind of like let's say yours was about a coworker and they won't want about a doctor you can say like is it okay if I you know, tell this other sort of version of you know most of the time.
Speaker 1:And then other common ones, the sort of culturally conversant care like diversity type of story is often asked about, and it's not enough to just say I used a translator once, like they want to like help to bring what's important to that person, because you listen to what's important to them, to their bedside care yes, what you enjoy doing that.
Speaker 3:And then I know a lot of people who got that question. Yeah, yeah yeah, People ask and then there's always like a difficult patient. Tell me about a difficult patient. A lot of people got A difficult patient.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Yes, like almost every interview. And then there's also like, let's say, you're going for a pediatrics type of interview. They'll likely ask tell me about a time you had a difficult family member or a time you provide family centered care which is sort of the family version of the above and beyond Right. Other super common questions. There's always the strengths and weaknesses. Why should we choose you? Where do you see yourself in one in five years?
Speaker 1:Yes, and then oftentimes, at the end they'll say what questions do you have for us? So have a couple of questions prepared that way. But if you have good stories for them and also have a story about a critical patient, because, if you don't do that and someone else does, it kind of seems like they can be trusted in an emergency, whereas they don't know if they can trust you in an emergency, because you've never told a story about a time when you handle the emergency. Well, what?
Speaker 3:do you mean Right? What would you say to somebody who's minutes away from walking into an interview and they are just super nervous. What would you say to that person?
Speaker 1:I don't know where I got this tip. It's the tip that, for some reason, was the one tip I needed when I was going into my interview. I wish I'd googled to try to figure out where I got this from, because I had done an extensive search of possible questions and tips. It was to try to project openness and warmth Because for some reason I can't be nervous and also project warmth at the same time. It's like one cancels out the other.
Speaker 2:So if I just focused on being warm.
Speaker 1:The nerves took a back seat for the moment.
Speaker 3:That's great. I've never heard it put that way before. That's really good. Do you see any common themes or mistakes that are just so preventable, just kind of like bonehead mistakes kind of thing?
Speaker 1:When they sound too rehearsed. That's something that it's hard to tell someone. I don't believe anything that you just told me right now because you sound like you're just like reading everything I'm sure you mentioned it, but it doesn't come across as genuine and it's really hard to coach someone out of that because it's a. Thing that people do when they're nervous to be safe behind that and what?
Speaker 1:they'll say is I'm sorry, I'm just so nervous. So that's a common thing that is avoidable. With and having a recording of yourself answering these questions, it's always hard, I don't know. For me it's hard to watch myself talk on video.
Speaker 1:But it can be helpful for new grads to see am I coming across rehearsed? How does it look when I genuinely smile, when I'm animated and telling a story? Other kind of don'ts, obvious things like swearing or oh my gosh, yeah, being late, or I mean sometimes you'll hear I'll work with new grads who say things where it'll be like how would your last manager describe you? And oh, I was often late.
Speaker 3:Things where you're like come on, don't tell them that, no that seems pretty obvious that you wouldn't say that, but yeah, I could see some people.
Speaker 1:I think it's good for people to bring a little bit of themselves into what they wear. Like, if you want to go to super professional business sort of like Blazer and Blouse kind of route, that's great. If you want to wear a dress, whatever you look professional but comfortable in. That maybe shows a little bit of your personality. When I interviewed, I chose a light blue gray suit with a white top. I feel like the blue is a little bit bold, but I matched my resume colors and I don't know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I like putting a little bit of your personality into it, because a lot of people are just going to wear the black blazer, black pants kind of thing or skirt. I wore a pink shirt under my blazer, so there was a pop of color too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that I did choose to go with blots instead of heels, just because, I don't know, I just felt like I would move a little bit more comfortably. That way, I'm going to say whatever is going to make you feel comfortable and you're going to look like you, feel like yourself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, don't wear heels if you're not used to wearing heels. I wore flats too, because I knew they were giving me a tour of the hospital and I didn't want to be like limping all over the hospital if I wasn't used to these shoes. So be comfortable but professional, I think, is really solid advice. So, mary, thank you so much. This has been so helpful. I know you've already helped so many new grads and I know you're going to continue to, so just keep on doing what you're doing and crushing it. It's just amazing what you're doing. I'm so impressed and I just love it. If you want to see more from Mary, you can go to her YouTube channel. It's NewGrad Nursing Interview Coach, and that's also your Instagram handle, and I'll put all of this in the description of the show, along with your email and your website, if anybody wants to get in touch with you. Highly highly recommend. So, mary, thanks again so much.
Speaker 1:Right. Thank you for meeting with me, lauren.
Speaker 3:Absolutely have an awesome afternoon and I'll talk to you later. I'll talk to you too. Bye, Mary. Thank you so much for joining us today and for all of you out there who have an interview coming up for your first nursing job, please go to Mary's YouTube channel, NewGrad Nursing Interview Coach, or you can go to her website, newgradnursinginterviewcoachcom, and she offers one-on-one private coaching. That would be an amazing, incredible way to prepare for an upcoming interview, but you can also listen to every video that she has on YouTube and learn from the other mock interviews that she has on there. She's an incredible resource for you guys and I hope that you take full advantage. So until next time, guys. This is Nurse Lauren. It is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world. Thank you all so much for your support in helping me to do that and have an amazing day. Bye-bye.
Speaker 2:Thanks for tuning in to the Nursing Student Coach Podcast.
