From Classroom to Profession: Mastering Nursing Interviews and Careers

We explore effective strategies for succeeding in nursing interviews, including preparation tips, the importance of appearance, and how to present specific examples. Throughout the discussion, we encourage listeners to engage in self-reflection and preparation to ensure a successful job application experience. 
• Techniques for researching potential employers 
• The significance of specific personal examples during interviews 
• Tips for dressing smartly for interviews, both in-person and virtually 
• Best practices for practicing interview skills 
• The importance of asking insightful questions during interviews 
• Recommendations for shadowing units before accepting a role

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Episode Transcript

Christopher (00:00):
Welcome to Nursing Life 101, the most important
nursing class you never got totake in nursing school.
We will be traversing differentobjectives, like interviewing
what to do in nursing school,boundaries burnout and so much
more, if this interests you.
I hope you are taking goodnotes because class is now in
session.

Colby (00:45):
Hello and welcome to Nursing Life 101.
We're so excited to have youhere with us as we dive into the
world of nursing, sharing ourexperiences, insights and a
little bit of fun along the way.
I'm Colby and I couldn't behappier to introduce my co-host.

Christopher (00:59):
Hello guys, my name is Christopher.
Together, we'll be bringing youreal stories, practical tips
and discussions about all thingsnursing.
Whether you're a fellow nurseor just curious about the life
behind the scrubs, we'rethrilled to have you join us.

Colby (01:11):
Let's go.

Christopher (01:13):
So we finally have some listener submissions.
It's so exciting.
I have gotten to coin the termlistener pulse, coined the term
listener pulse and so if you areinterested in interacting with
Colby and I, you can alwayssubmit a question or comment or

(01:33):
concern about our well-being tonursinglife101 at gmailcom.
Or if you want to hit us up atany of our social media
platforms, you can as well.
Or if you want to hit us up atany of our social media
platforms, you can as well.
So the first listener polls istalking about my analogy towards

(01:57):
lifting weights and work-lifebalance.
They said I think that thelifting weights analogy in terms
of work-life balance isactually really good.
But to Colby's point, I thinkChristopher saying that he is
lifting just 10 pounds is alittle inaccurate.
It seems like he's lifting morethan 500 pounds.

Colby (02:10):
Yes, that's it, and that is an accurate statement.
Listener.

Christopher (02:15):
But still I'm lifting weights.

Colby (02:18):
The analogy you used works, yes, but I think you
tailored it to make it work foryou in the sense that the amount
of stuff that you've put onyour plate isn't that bad, but
it is a lot.

Christopher (02:33):
I mean, yeah, I have to make it seem like I'm
not doing much.
Sure.
So Listener 2 said and this isin terms of the puzzle pieces
that you were talking about inepisode one they said I never
thought about nursing school,giving the puzzle pieces while

(02:53):
the first couple years ofputting the puzzle together, but
would you say that the NCLEX isactually giving you the border
of that puzzle?
It's actually giving you theborder of that puzzle and then
the rest of the year, the yeartwo years is actually, you know,
filling in that, the rest of it.

Colby (03:11):
Yeah, you could say that.
I think that's fair.
Yeah, to like add on to that.

Christopher (03:19):
Yeah, because I was like and this I promise you,
it's not me, but when I sat andthought about it I was like man,
we just dumped on the inklights.

Colby (03:24):
Well, it's the worst, but I mean, obviously it's an
assessment of what you learnedlike and did you learn enough to
to do this job?
So yeah it, I mean itdefinitely.
Yeah, we can say it's theborder of the puzzle would you
say the border?

Christopher (03:39):
or would you say it actually gave you the picture
to go off of?

Colby (03:43):
No, I wouldn't say picture to go off of.
Oh, okay, think about that,though.
Like what we read in a textbookversus what we see in real life
, there's a vast like range inbetween there, you know what I
mean.

Christopher (03:57):
Yeah, it's completely different.

Colby (03:59):
Yeah, I'm not even saying like you'll never see any of
this stuff in real life.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm not even saying you'llnever see any of this stuff in
real life.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying there are somany different layers and
complications to individualpatients and that the NCLEX is
just a standardized test andit's an assessment of what you
learned.
That's great.
We definitely need something toset a standard, but I just

(04:23):
think that you're gonna learnthe application of what you've
learned is a lot different thanjust being tested on your.
The content, that's fair.
Yeah, so yeah, okay, I guess Iguess using the the term border
is more of a accurate statementthen yeah, okay, nclex and
nursing school, you can build aborder, sure oh, so you're okay

(04:46):
if you think about like okay,this is getting really deep, I
like to just we'll just go withthe original statement and then,
however you want to do youradd-ons, you can interpret how
you like that's why it's justlike the NCLEX.
Yeah, it's individualized toyou yeah, or they're all right
answers, but which one is themost right?

Christopher (05:07):
The orange is orange.

Colby (05:08):
Yeah.

Christopher (05:11):
And today we're talking about nursing interviews
.
I know that a lot of you interms of nursing students are
especially if you're kind ofstarting to graduate are
especially if you're kind ofstarting to graduate, you're
starting to kind of get intothat bill of interviews and
going, and I don't know,sometimes you even have the

(05:33):
opportunity to do like aninterviewing class in in school.

Colby (05:37):
Yeah, some schools do have like a prepare you for the
professional world kind of lastclass situation did you, you
take one of those.
Yeah, I think it was like itwas called something, but I
think it was like intro toprofessional development.
I think maybe that's what itwas.

Christopher (05:51):
I did not get one of those.

Colby (05:52):
Yeah, it was like a one credit course that we all were
like made to sign up for.
Yeah, it was like it was likean easy, like free, free a on
your transcript, but it didprovide a lot of information.
Yeah, yeah, we actually likegot to.
There was like a panel.
I remember this pretty clearlybecause I was like, oh, wow, I
actually learned a lot of ofnursing students that are sorry,

(06:14):
they were nurses that hadgraduated the year above us,
that came back, that stayed intown like that, were working at
the um, at the medical centerthat was associated with my
school, where they got theircareer started, and they
actually came as a panel andanswered a lot of questions
about like their first year andtalked about like interviews and

(06:34):
floor different kinds of floorsat that hospital and like
things like benefits, becausethis is probably for a lot of
people, this could be your firstlike interview for your first
like grown-up job.

Christopher (06:46):
Yeah, big boy job or girl job.

Colby (06:49):
And maybe you never had to have benefits before.
I still struggle signing up forbenefits.
I don't know what thedifference between this
insurance and this insurance is,but that gave me a little bit
of an insight or idea of what Iwas going to be experiencing
when I was doing my first jobbut no, yeah, and it's true
because, though I I had jobs inbetween and, interestingly

(07:17):
enough, none of them actuallygave me any type of benefits,
because I was like kind of likea contract worker.

Christopher (07:24):
It was never actually a full-time job, but
this was my first job that I waslike oh, I have to think about
my 401k my.
Hsa FSA benefits.
What?
How much do I want to pull outof my check?
I'm probably pulling way toomuch out at the moment, but you
know if I get into anythingserious.

(07:45):
I'm probably pulling way toomuch out at the moment, but you
know if I get into anythingserious, I'm covered.
Yeah, but anyways, we are goingon a real big tangent.
We're specifically talkingabout interviews today, and that
is something that I feel likegives a lot of people angst,
Because a lot of people in thenursing world it seems like
doesn't like to talk aboutthemselves, Like it gives them a

(08:08):
little bit like we're very muchgiving, and so when the
spotlight turns back on us, ittends to be a little.

Colby (08:16):
Kind of like a moment of freezing up a little bit yeah.

Christopher (08:19):
Yeah, and so what do you think of like interviews,
like not going into your first?
Interview or anything but likejust interviews in general.

Colby (08:28):
Just in general.
I mean, they could bedefinitely anxiety provoking,
for sure.
Yeah.
Um, I think you're.
I mean you're interviewingcause you want the job right, so
you're, you want it to go well.
Inevitably, every single timeyou go into an interview, you're
almost going in blind in asense, because you don't.

(08:49):
You can't fully predict, like,what questions they're going to
ask you.

Christopher (08:53):
So that alone causes a lot of anxiety yeah, I
don't think like interviews aregreat, and I think interviews
are good in terms of kind ofgetting a feel of a person to be
able to quickly adapt to thepeople that they're talking to.
Right, and that's what we asnurses do we adapt quickly to
the people we're talking to.
You might know Steve one day,but Joe the next is a totally

(09:19):
different person that you may ormay not have known, from Adam.
Yeah.

Colby (09:23):
Wow, all kinds of different names there well, I
mean, that's just like at thevery basis of our jobs, is like
taking care of our patients and,like you know, your whole group
assignment might be people whoare come from vastly different
backgrounds and have different,um, like personal goals and
morals and insights, and so youhave to be able to adapt back

(09:46):
and forth from room A to room toB, to whatever, like you've got
to be.
You got to show that you can dothat.

Christopher (09:53):
Yeah, yeah, and I think that's a good way to start
for an interview.
I think there are people thatstudy for interviews and I think
that shows and makes you lookvery good but, truthfully, could
be absolutely horrible yeah,you have an interesting
perspective because as someonein a management role, you are

(10:14):
doing interviewing yeah soyou're gonna have a lot of
insight in this, in thisparticular episode.

Colby (10:20):
I have worked at a lot of different places and I've had a
lot of positions at differenthospitals and I have done a lot
of interviews, so I feel likeI've got a lot of tips and
tricks to bring to this episodeas well.

Christopher (10:33):
Yeah, I think you do and I'm actually really
excited because it's definitelysomething I see on a regular now
because of the fact that I dointerview.
But yeah, it's, it's definitelydifferent.
So if you were asked by anewbie just fresh out of well,

(10:54):
fresh coming out of nursingschool how to prepare for a
interview, what, what, whatadvice would you give them?

Colby (11:03):
Okay, okay.
First is appearance, and thatmay sound like wait what?
yeah but I will say and I feellike I've seen it because I see
people come in for interviewsall the time there's like a vast
range of how uh perspectiveLike interviewer or interviewee,

(11:24):
I should say Like comes in.
And I think it's tricky Withnursing because our professional
Clothing is scrubs and I thinkthat's acceptable In some cases
and I think If you want to dressbusiness casual, that's
definitely acceptable, but don'tcome in jeans Ever.

(11:47):
I just think that that's like.
I mean, maybe maybe it doesn'tmatter to some people who are
interviewing, but I think ifwe're going to the basis, you
want to show up looking sharp,like you've got it together and
you're you're looking for yourfirst job, like you're serious
about working yeah, yeah, thereis a movie okay with will smith,
and he was.

Christopher (12:14):
It's the pursuit of happiness right.
I think that's the right, okay,yeah the pursuit of happiness
and he comes to the thisboardroom not in business attire
at all.
Homeboy looked wrecked andessentially he gets this like

(12:39):
stare of what the heck are youdoing here?
Why are you wearing what you'rewearing?
This is ridiculous.
But if you haven't seen it it'sa good movie.
That particular scene isactually pretty decent and kind
of overcomes the whole dressingto impress stereotype.

(12:59):
But I say that even if it's avirtual interview, do not sit in
your bed.
Do not have children, cats,dogs, et cetera, et cetera, in
the background.
Make sure you have some type oflike clear, solid background.

(13:25):
I even don't like when peopleuse the like ai backgrounds.

Colby (13:32):
Oh, you don't like that.

Christopher (13:33):
No, I'm like what are you hiding?

Colby (13:35):
okay, that is particular to christopher.
I think, like, if you, ifyou're in a situation where it's
a virtual interview and youhave a limited space, or you're
in an, in an area where, likethe, the lighting isn't great or
you have like art on your wallthat you just don't like, that
can be personal, you don't wantto share that and that's just
the area.
The quiet space that you haveusing an ai background is fine.

(13:57):
That's christopher's take on it, but I think it's okay.
I mean, don't choose somethingwild like you in space, maybe
choose one of the moreprofessional backgrounds that
looks like a fake office or likeyeah, like you want to choose
the right one, don't be crazy.
But, um, yeah, I would also say, even in a virtual interview at
least, I mean, they're justseeing like chest up, put on a

(14:20):
nice shirt, don't wear yourpajamas, don't wear a hoodie,
don't wear like I don't know,don't wear a shirt that has like
writing on it.
That could be, it could becontroversial, you never know.
Like you just want to look thepart you're.
You're here, you're sellingyourself for a role that you
want to to be paid for.
You want to come lookinglooking sharp.

(14:43):
You want to come looking,looking sharp.
You want to come looking likeyou're someone who cares, who
cares, just cares, point blank,period.
If you care, you're dressinglike you care, you care about
the job, you care aboutinterviewing.
Well, those are importantthings, very important.

Christopher (14:59):
So that's my first tip.
Wow so have you ever donemirror interviews?
I don't know what that termmeans.
Yeah, so mirror interviews are.
You have a set of questions infront of you and you look at
yourself in the mirror.
It allows you to connect withpeople with the eyesight and I'm
looking at the camera at themoment but you know it allows

(15:22):
you to not only sit here andtwiddle your thumbs and look at
your thumbs, but it gives youthe confidence.
If you can look at yourself asyou are answering a question,
more than likely you're going tobe able to answer the question
just as confidently if somebodyasks you.

Colby (15:36):
Oh, that's a great.
That's a great tip.
Yeah, no, I've never done thatbefore.

Christopher (15:40):
Yeah, it's something that I have encouraged
.
A lot of people that have askedme about interviewing and I
don't know why people and thiswas before I was even in the
managerial role, it's I guess Iexude this confidence.
It's fake.
But they would ask me.

(16:02):
They were like, how did you,how did you do your interviews?
And I was like I did I inpublic speaking class in college
, I was like in front of a, infront of a mirror, and I looked
at myself the entire time.
Yeah, like it allowed me toreally focus entire time.

(16:30):
Yeah, like it allowed me toreally focus.
And then I started to dointerviews with like a best bud
and that gives you that personallike.

Colby (16:36):
Hey, you said um, way too many times yeah, yeah, they can
give you actual, real timefeedback.
Right, that's right.
That's a great idea too, Ithink.
If you have a friend that youtrust will give you an honest
review of how you are soundingand how smooth it was or how
prepared you sound, it's a greatidea to actually practice in

(16:58):
front of an actual human beingas well.
If you are done with the mirrorone, you've said all right,
I've run it three times, let meput it in front of someone who's
who's a human.
I think that's a great idea aswell.

Christopher (17:10):
And it gives you the opportunity to adapt quickly
, because that person is aperson and they can change a
question off of what you said.
So they say oh, I had a patientthat went into cardiac arrest
and because I was a student, Imade sure that I wasn't in the
way because I wanted to makesure the patient's safety was

(17:31):
first.
And then, once I realized thatthe patient's safety was first,
in terms of all the people werein the right spot and doing the
right things I started to learnabout the different roles.
So then I come back with aquestion.
So where would you put yourselfin this situation?
If you had this happen tomorrow, what role would you assume?

Colby (17:55):
I was going to say what about, like, what role would you
have been most interested injumping in on in that moment, or
something like that.
Just to kind of get a feel oflike what, what they learned in
that moment, that's a great,yeah, great interview question.
Return interview question yeah,and I mean because it's, it's
you can.

Christopher (18:14):
You can look up all the questions you can on the
interviews and there there are.
There are plenty of questionsout there and I mean I'm going
to be honest, some, somemanagers, use some of those
questions For sure and I'm likeI mean I've used a question or
two.

Colby (18:32):
And there's nothing wrong with that Like using like
standard questions, because someof them are questions that need
to be asked regardless whenyou're interviewing for a
certain type of job.
And I also think like a lot oftimes you may come in with like
an outline or a plan, but thenif the interview is going well
and it's super, it can turnsuper, super organic.
And then the questions like inthat like you were just gave as
an example, like they shared astory and you're like oh, tell

(18:54):
me more about that.
Like it gets.
I feel like if you'reinterviewing well, it kind of
snowballs into a more organicconversation.
Anyways, it stops it kind oflike, does it?

Christopher (19:04):
it can deviate from the outline and then it doesn't
seem so cut and dry, the samequestions over and over again
yeah, and and that's the thinglike with with nursing
interviews specifically a lot ofthe times we are looking for

(19:25):
specific examples.
Don't give us a overarching.
Oh, I would like to be a betterteammate or I would like to
learn more about various fields.
Give us the specifics.
Give us I saw a cardiac arrestand was enthralled at the team

(19:51):
dynamic of CPR and ACLS and Irealized that I would be very
efficient at the chestcompressions, like I have the
arms, I have the stamina, I can.
I can go for days, you know,but some other people are like

(20:12):
I'm more of a recorder.
I can keep, I can keep mytimeliness, I can ensure that
I'm alert and attentive to allmultiple things going on, and
it's just giving those examplesspecifically helps us to
understand you and how you'regonna fit in the team and you

(20:34):
don't have to again.

Colby (20:36):
I feel like there are going to be questions that are
asked that'll kind of like leadinto these situations where
you'll have to give an exampleof you don't come up with
something just like off the cuff, like oh, one, one time though
you'll be asked a question andthen you'll be.
They'll be like tell us about atime when you were in clinical,
or tell us about a time whileyou, over the last few years,
while you were doing schooling,um, where you had this conflict

(21:00):
and how did you resolve it?
Like that kind of it's like anopen-ended question, and then
you you as the interviewee aretaking a situation or story that
you were involved in and andthen tailoring it to fit that
question.
So you don't you're not justlike coming up with like random
information.
It is, it is outlined andguided.

Christopher (21:21):
We try to make it as easy as possible.
We literally say tell us aboutan example.

Colby (21:27):
So if we say that, give us an example which is okay, and
so now that you have thatinformation like going in
prepared is super important, andso you might want to like, as
you're preparing and you'redoing your mirror interviews or
you have a best bud that can canbe your opposite in an

(21:49):
interview.
I would practice like usingstories not stories, but like
using examples of situationsthat you've experienced in
school, or maybe you're a techor whatever other role, and it
doesn't even have to be healthcare related, like because the
bottom line is is that it's likerelations with people and
patient.
People and our patients arepeople.

(22:09):
For example, we were talkingabout, I feel like being a
waiter or a waitress is superhelpful in this situation.
I mean you can easily connectthat to a question in an
interview and still have itcircle back and connect to being
patient related care, like ifyou know, I mean if you do
anything in public service, youyou work at a movie theater,

(22:32):
selling tickets I mean you'restill having human interaction,
like.
So I mean it doesn't have to beyour story or your example.
Doesn't have to be, um,healthcare related.
Of course, it's a bonus if itis, but it's honestly even more
impressive if you can takesomething from outside the
healthcare world and stillconnect it to the job that
you're interviewing for.

Christopher (22:51):
Yeah, because it means that you know essentially
the roles of a nurse.
Yeah.
To your point about thewaitressing.
You know that you have tomultitask.
You know you have to have greatcustomer service in order to
get the tips, like you said.
Like these are things where youhave to have great customer
service in order to get the tips, like you said.
Like these are things where youhave to really think about not
only what a nurse does but theessentials of what nursing is.

(23:13):
And if you're able to use thoseexamples to pinpoint those
things, you automatically startto peak the manager's ears for
that.
You know.
Yes, nursing is very short onnurses we are, but let me tell
you we are picky I mean youdon't want to hire so as as

(23:38):
someone in management that doesinterviews.

Colby (23:40):
And I've seen christopher interview people virtually
before because we had a wi-fiissue and my wi-fi issue and my
wi-fi was working and hissomething was going on with his.
So he came over and while I waslike quietly cleaning, he had
headphones and was asking peoplequestions, so I couldn't hear
the full back and forth, but Icould hear him asking questions.
I could hear him like, okay,that one was good, all right,
yep.
Moving on to the next person,like if someone and again like

(24:03):
something that we've alreadytalked about if someone is like
showing up to the virtualinterview and there's people or
animals making a lot ofexcessive noise in the
background or someone wasdrinking alcohol.
I remember you told me in theirvirtual interview people
wearing pajamas.
I was just yeah, I mean,obviously you're not going to

(24:23):
get hired and that's why myfirst point in the beginning of
the episode was like yourappearance actually does mean a
lot.
Yeah, just like I forgot aboutthe alcohol thing.

Christopher (24:34):
I was Jesus really Do you think that every nurse
should go to every interview?
They get an opportunity to do.

Colby (24:46):
I think as a new grad, you're doing yourself a
disservice if you don't.
I mean, if you have like 10, Imean that's incredible and good
for you to have that many offersfor interviews.
You might want to narrow itdown to two or three, but it's
also tough.
So when I think of my new gradinterview days, it was actually
really hard to find a new gradposition.

(25:07):
I left new England because Ihad a hard time finding a new
grad job 10 years ago and I cameto where we are now and I had
more interview opportunities.
I don't know if it was maybejust like a more saturated area,
because it's a smaller area andthere was a high, so there's a
higher influx of like new gradnurses.

(25:28):
You know that year there's alsonew grad programs that you have
to interview, uh, apply to andinterview early.
Um, I remember all my friendsmy senior year were like yeah,
we have, we have.
Like starting in february theystarted applying to stuff and at
that point I was like I have noidea what I want to do when I'm
done.
So I was not doing that.
And then the summer that Igraduated, I worked as a camp

(25:51):
nurse in Maine and I wasapplying for jobs all over the
place and I just wasn't gettinglike any interview, like no, not
even an email back.
But then when I moved out ofthe area I and I was looking for
jobs.
Then I was getting interviews.
So at that point the hospitalthat contacted me first I had
interviewed with three differentmanagers for three different

(26:15):
specialties of.
I picked off the vibe of thestaff like who I thought seemed
the most friendly, warm, open,like who had the good teamwork
at least it seemed like thatsort of thing.
So I think you you would do adisservice if you didn't

(26:35):
interview for more than oneplace.
Now my only caveat to thatwould be, if there is a
specialty that you are superinterested in and they seem
really excited to interview you,I mean, if you're set on it and
the interview goes well, great,I guess I wouldn't interview
for anywhere else.
But I just feel like you needto have some safety situations.

(26:57):
You may get to an interview andyou think that that's what you
wanted and then you interviewthe manager and you just don't
click.
You get a weird vibe from thestaff.
You don't let you.
You do like a shadow experienceand it just seems like way out
of the realm of what you thoughtit was going to be Like.
You don't want to put all youreggs in one basket.
If it, that's my opinion.

Christopher (27:19):
Do you differ?
So no, I don't.
I think, I think I honestly, ifyou have 10 interviews, I say
go to all of them.

Colby (27:28):
Okay, yeah, or that.

Christopher (27:30):
Yeah, I, and the reason why interview is a skill.
Interviewing is a skill and Iguess it goes back to me and you
know lifting weights and allthat stuff.
But, like, the more youinterview, the more comfortable
you are going to become ininterviewing.
Now, granted, your firstinterview might be your, your
best interview, but if your 10thone was the person you really

(27:53):
want, you had nine interviews,practice, you've listened to the
questions, you've adapted yourexamples to be more specific and
you really get to knock outthat interview and the 10th one.
So, like I I do say that it'simportant and I I highly suggest

(28:15):
people to to interview, tomultiple things, because you're
right, it's a disservice.
It's a disservice.
What if your fourth interviewis actually the ideal place for
you, with manager involvement,staff, team cohesiveness, it's

(28:39):
actually a population that'spretty cool and interesting.
But you stop at interview threebecause you were like, oh, this
is okay yeah, or they gave me ajob off right and you get
scared.
Yeah, don't I.
I said it.
I said that at the beginning orearlier.
Nursing jobs are open.

(29:02):
There's there's so many of themnow.

Colby (29:04):
Yeah, you're at a very lucky point in the current
atmosphere as far as nursingjobs.
I say in the past, if youreally wanted a job in a certain
specialty, it would be verydifficult to get that job as a
new grad nurse.
These days there's openings,openings everywhere and

(29:24):
everybody wants to.
I've been told this is this issome somebody told me this it's
actually easier to train a newgrad nurse in a specific
specialty than it is Sometimessometimes not all the time
sometimes than to train a nursethat has experience in a
different specialty, because youhave to like break all break,

(29:45):
not break them, but like youhave to break all the habits
that they that worked for themor worked for the specialty that
they were working with and liketeach them a new, a new way to
do things that should work inthis specialty.
So like sometimes if someonelike myself has experienced 10
plus years in like an mu medsurge or acute care and then
wants to go to ICU, like there'sgoing to be a learning curve.

(30:08):
So sometimes when you havesomeone who just has like a
blank slate, you can just moldthem to be exactly how an ICU
nurse is.
You don't have to break themfrom a different mindset.

Christopher (30:18):
Yeah, and I mean it very much, to the point of I
switched from cardiology totransplant and even that, even
though they were still acuitylevel, practically the same
transplant might be a littlehigher just because of the
delineation of some of thepatients.
But I, I, I did, I had to learn, I had to break a lot of stuff.

(30:44):
Yeah in order to rebuild and betransplant-specific.
So when, when interviewing, didyou ever give like your resume?
Did you print your resume outand give it to them, or did you

(31:06):
just hope that they got it inyour like initial application?

Colby (31:09):
so they're.
I think I definitely brought myactual hard copy resume to my
first job interview as a newgrad.
Yeah, they actually had it withthem in a folder.
I remember giving it to them.
They're like, oh, we actuallyhave a copy.
That was surprising.
I think like yay, yeah, I thinkthe way we use technology these

(31:30):
days, a resume, like when yousubmit your application, it's
usually it's obviously allonline.
Now a resume has to havekeywords in it, because it's
like an ai program that'sbringing yours to the top, yeah,
but I and I think I don't knowI'd love to hear your point of
view.
I, my perception is that yourresume isn't often looked at

(31:53):
these days, so I would love tohear what your view is on this.

Christopher (31:57):
Actually, yeah, we don't look at it.

Colby (32:00):
Yeah.

Christopher (32:01):
We don't.

Colby (32:02):
I mean you have to have one again because you're
submitting it in yourapplication and its AI program
is pulling words out of yourresume to bring your application
to the top.
So you have to have it, butdon't stress too hard about it.

Christopher (32:16):
Yeah, just get the information in that you're
supposed to have, and I meanlike I'll glance at it just like
just to see your previousexperience.
Yeah, and literally it's aglance like one minute, if that
yeah.

Colby (32:33):
So your descriptions don't have to be long, like
you're and and as a new grad,you're coming out of college, so
you don't have to put in likeevery honor society that you
were in.
Every like.
Honestly, I would just leavethat out unless it was
specifically related to yournursing program.
Like I was in a sorority, likeI put that I was like um because

(32:55):
I wanted to show that I hadleadership skills.
Like I wrote that I was likethe, the um, chief education
officer for my sorority, and Ilike put that on there.
You don't, you don't need to,it's not necessary, they don't
care.

Christopher (33:11):
You know I love this podcast because I'm
learning so much about you.

Colby (33:14):
Yeah, so keep it.
Keep it like abbreviated to onepage, really, and as a new and
as a new graduate nurse lookingfor a graduate nurse position,
you're not going to have morethan one page anyways, at this
at this time, like it just iswhat it is but I will suggest

(33:34):
keep it up to date like if youtransfer from one unit to
another, update it Just quicklittle yeah.
Again, because you're going toapply online and those keywords
are going to bring yourapplication to the front.
So it's important to have, butI don't think it's necessarily
important to like bring it toyour interview and give it to

(33:54):
them because, again, they're notgoing to look at it.
They've already seen what theywanted to see.

Christopher (34:04):
And that's why you're in the position to be in
the interview right and,interestingly enough, I've gone
to career fairs and you know II've gone to multiple nursing
career fairs and some peoplebring their resume, some people
don't, honestly in a career fairthat's not a bad idea, it's,
it's a good idea, but like,guess what?
I'm gonna look at it and I'mgonna send it to hr.

(34:27):
But it's not a mistake with methough when you send it to hr.

Colby (34:32):
What does hr do with it?
Because that's a paper.
They're probably just throwingthem away.
I love the idea of it.
I love like, because if you'regoing to a career fair, you're
obviously not in front of acomputer, so, like you want to,
if you have an organicconversation, you're really
connecting with the person thatyou're talking to.
Like, maybe, like specificallyfor Christopher, like he's he's

(34:52):
recruiting for the hospital, buthe'll also put a little plugin
for his unit.
And if you're, like, genuinelyinterested in the unit that
you're talking to that personabout, like it doesn't hurt to
give your a resume, becausechristopher could then keep an
eye out for your applicationonline and be like, oh, this is
that person that I have their,their resume, like that's not a
bad idea.
But again, like, if you're justlooking generally, like, unless

(35:16):
it's hr that's at the table andI don't even know if, even then
, like they're going toencourage you to go online and
submit it online, the paper,it's kind of a, it's almost a
waste of time, but it's not abad idea.

Christopher (35:27):
We have a QR code.

Colby (35:28):
Okay, there you go yeah.

Christopher (35:30):
Scan the QR code.
It sends you to the application.
It really and truly like.
I agree, if I am like man, thisperson is really good and I
want to remember them.
Yeah, I'll take a picture oftheir resume, okay, but and and
the cool thing is literally yeahthat picture.

(35:51):
I don't have to, I can send.

Colby (35:52):
I can take all kinds of pictures it's not going to go
missing, you're going to have it.

Christopher (35:55):
Yeah, I can literally search in my photos.

Colby (35:58):
Colby daniels, yeah, and it'll pop up you could even
search resume and it'll popright.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So it's not a bad idea, butit's not necessary.
Like I wouldn't like spend timeprinting off like 15 copies
before you go to a career fair.

Christopher (36:13):
That's not necessary at all or like when I
graduated I had this likespecial program that like made
my I put in the information, butthen it made it like really
flashy but I had to pay for it.
Don't do that.

Colby (36:29):
Yeah, that was like wow, you really went the extra mile.

Christopher (36:32):
It looks very good actually.

Colby (36:34):
There are a lot of templates online.
So if you if you, I mean thatare free and like Microsoft Word
, which most of you, as students, probably had to have on your
computer has a bunch oftemplates, and that's what I use
.
And I still use the same resumethat I made when I was a new
grad nurse and I've just updatedit and tweaked it here and
there since for the last 10years, and there's nothing wrong

(36:56):
with that.
Nothing wrong, it's one page,and I've again.
We've talked about thedifferent jobs and things that
I've done, so you just want tokeep it short and sweet.
You want to fit it all on onepage.

Christopher (37:08):
That's my biggest takeaways yeah, keep it basic,
don't go flashy.
Yeah, now it's time for scrubhacks.
In this segment, we'll sharequick tips, tricks and little
shortcuts that make life inscrubs a bit easier.
From time-saving tools to waysto stay organized during the
craziest shifts, these are thehacks that help keep us going.

(37:29):
Let's dive in and find a fewways to make your day run a
little smoother.
And we're going to stay on theinterview train.
I want to hear what yourinterview hacks are.
We already went through one,which was obviously dress
business, business casual.
Yeah, scrubs.
Dress for the job you want Dressfor the job, your appearance

(37:49):
matters.

Colby (37:51):
Okay, so that is a great hack, but I have obviously a lot
of experience interviewing fordifferent roles and I always
suggest doing a little research.
We touched on that, like reallybriefly, um, before we got into
scrub hacks.
But you want to know a littlesomething about the place that
you're, that you're working at,and they're gonna want to,

(38:14):
they're gonna want to know thatyou did a little research,
honestly, because they're goingto say why do you want to work
here?

Christopher (38:19):
yeah and then if you're just like uh, I just was
told by hr that there was anopening, so I was like I wanted
to go into ed but decided well,ed's full, so I'll just go to
you yeah, that's not what you're.

Colby (38:35):
That's you're like, okay, well bye, you don't.
Doesn't really seem like youhave an interest here.
Like you, you want to do alittle research on the hospital
system that you're oh, you knowthat you're applying to and the
unit I mean, and even if that isthe truth what christopher just
said, oh yeah, that's not whatyou want to say that was

(38:57):
verbatim when I heard it theother day yeah and it's like no,
no, thank you, I don't thinkthat.
I mean, maybe you say that maybeyou can turn it around, but
that's going to be quite theblight on your interview,
clearly, because chris are stillthinking about it doesn't want
to work here yeah, doesn't wantto work here.
That's at the top of the list.
So then they're thinking, okay,we hire them, they get their

(39:20):
experience and then they're outof here the first, the first
chance they get to go to the edright depends on how desperate
you are for staffing.
I'll say that all right.
But that's really desperate yeah, but that's off track for
interview hack.
But do some do a littleresearch on the, on the facility
, and I'll tell you.
I learned that from experienceand no, and if you, if you're a

(39:46):
nurse with experience and you'reinterviewing for a different, a
different hospital, know alittle bit about the hospital
that you're in right now.
So when I was yeah, so when Iwas leaving my first hospital, I
was interviewing to move to abigger health system in a
different state and I wasinterviewing to work at a level
one trauma center and they wereasking me if I was currently at

(40:09):
a trial at a trauma center and Iwas like, oh, I don't think
it's, but like on the spot, as,as someone with like one and a
half years of nursing experience, I, you know, I'm just working
my job.
I don't.
I never actually looked intolike what are we a critical
access community?
Are we even a level threetrauma?
I like had no clue, so, put onthe spot, I was like, oh, and

(40:32):
that didn't make me look verygood because I was like I don't
even know what kind of hospitalI'm working in now.
I don't have level one traumaexperience, hospital experience,
so know a little bit about thecurrent place that you're
working at, because that willalso potentially be asked in
your interview, and know aboutthe general.
Like the general is a level one, trauma hospital is a level two

(40:54):
.
Whatever, know about whereyou're interviewing as well.

Christopher (40:58):
And just for clarification on the level one,
level two and level three.
Level one means it's moresevere.
It's the highest in terms ofacuity of care of care.
Yeah, level three is the lowest, so you can kind of gauge that
also from maybe not, but you,you, you should definitely look

(41:22):
into that yeah, and a lot oftimes in interview questions
you're gonna get thatinformation through the manager
or the, the hiring person or hr.

Colby (41:32):
They're gonna give you that information early on
usually.
But if you go into it knowingthese things, you're going to
exude a confidence in theinterview because you are,
you're gonna be like okay, yeah,that sounds great.
And then sometimes you can tellwhen people aren't prepared,
because you say level one andthey kind of just like have a
confused look, just kind offlash over them real quick, like

(41:54):
and that can mean a lot ofthings.
But like having a goodunderstanding of what those are
is going to be helpful.
Do your research.

Christopher (41:59):
Yeah.

Colby (42:02):
Any others?
Yeah, I mean you want to.
I can give you.
I can go into more but, I, feellike we're going to touch more
on it after our scrub.

Christopher (42:09):
Okay, okay, mine Make sure you have questions.
Yeah, that's what I was goingto say.
This isn't.
Yes, it is an interview and weare interviewing you, but but
you should interview them too.
Yes, and you should be readywith what is your like.

(42:31):
These are the.
These are the four questionsyou should you should always ask
in an interview.

Colby (42:38):
Get your pens and pencils out on this one.

Christopher (42:40):
What is your nursing ratios?
Because that's important.
What is your turnover rate?
Mm-hmm.
What is the manager's idealstate for the unit, ideal state

(43:05):
for the unit?
And then, how do they seethemselves or, no, excuse me how
do they perceive the hardestthings for the unit?

Colby (43:12):
interesting, I think, in this I would ask a few more too.
I've've actually yeah, there'sa, there's a lot of questions
that you can ask, but you'resaying that those are the four
basics.

Christopher (43:23):
Those are the four basics that I would be like, I,
I, I kind of want to hear thosefour when I'm being, when you're
being interviewed when you'reinterviewing.

Colby (43:33):
I actually I've had some really good interviews where I
was told like, oh, wow.
Like when I was told, pointblank, this is.
I feel like I'm beinginterviewed, this is, this is
really good You're.
You're a really good candidate.
I literally told that in realtime during an interview Because
it shows that you're caringabout the unit that you're going
into.
Yeah, you just as much as asthey are interviewing you for

(43:53):
this job.
You are interviewing thembecause you don't want to get
into a situation where I mean,I've been in interviews where
I've talked to managers and I'veasked these questions and I've
been like this one's not goingto work for me.
Like I like to ask what wouldyou?
What do you, how, what do youperceive your management style
is?

Christopher (44:14):
Oh, interesting.

Colby (44:14):
I want to know like are you?
I want you to answer me like,like, truthfully, and you put
them on the spot.
Like are you a micromanager?
Are you super laissez-faire?
And you're like out of there bythree o'clock in the afternoon
and unavailable by phone whenthere's a catastrophe going on.

Christopher (44:31):
I hope nobody's told you that.

Colby (44:32):
No, but you can tell by you know certain answers you get
, like you know.
So I like I love to ask thatquestion.
I like to ask what is somethingas a unit you guys are working
on right now?
Okay, because you can get a lot, and again it's kind of
catching someone off guard.
They're not expecting you toask that question and if they're

(44:54):
good, they're gonna be honest.
Yeah, um, so I've been toldlike we're really working on a
culture shift of like aligningour PCA, pcts, which is a
patient care tech or assistantin our nurses and teamwork.

Christopher (45:10):
Also a CNA certified.

Colby (45:12):
Or, yeah, cna, sorry, we're aligning, we're trying to
align them and work on betterteamwork, like that's.
Like okay, that's really good,because I'm also a huge
supporter of teamwork between,like, our ancillary staff, our
techs, our CNAs and our nursingLike I personally my values.

(45:32):
I am no better than a tech, andif a patient needs help to go
to the bathroom and even ifthey're not my patient and I'm
available, I will go better thana tech.
And if a patient needs to needshelp to go to the bathroom, and
even if they're not my patientand I'm available, I will go and
answer a call bell and help apatient to the bathroom.
Like that's, you'reinterviewing the, the hiring
manager, and you're also givingable to provide examples about
why you would be a goodcandidate in this role as well.

Christopher (45:54):
Yeah, so those are the two Um do you have another
one, like another question youwould ask.

Colby (46:03):
Yeah, so hold on, Let me think about what I have.
I actually I might have a noteon this, just from my personal.
So OK, this is another thing.
Whether it's virtual or inperson, there's nothing
personally for me, there'snothing wrong with coming in
with like a notebook or a notecard.
Personally for me, there'snothing wrong with coming in
with like a notebook or a notecard and you can say do you mind
if I just take a look at mynotes real quick, Because there

(46:23):
are questions that I want to askbut I didn't want to forget?
There's nothing wrong with that.
It looks like you're coming inprepared.

Christopher (46:30):
I had a whole Word document paper.

Colby (46:32):
Yeah, there's nothing.
You're coming in prepared, likethat's what they want to see,
like again, like preparedness,doing your research.
You don't have to go all offthe top of the dome.
Going back to.
Interviews are very anxietyprovoking and you might just be
like so, like you might beinterviewing really well, but
your mind might be like oh mygod, I wanted to ask this

(46:55):
question.
I completely forgot until I gotto my car and I completely
didn't ask it, like coming inwith a note card or like a
computer or or whatever.
A list of questions is not notfrowned upon and is actually a
really good idea to show yourpreparedness for sure I think
another, Another scrub hack.

Christopher (47:18):
Make sure you take time to shadow the unit.
Mm-hmm.
And don't do it after theinterview.

Colby (47:31):
Like come back.

Christopher (47:32):
Come back.

Colby (47:33):
Okay.

Christopher (47:33):
Come back on a random day.
Obviously, you still have tolike orchestrate it with the
manager, but don't do it on thesame day that you interview
interesting.

Colby (47:42):
Why do you say that?

Christopher (47:43):
the reason why one if you come in business casual,
you didn't have to take time toactually get into like actual
scrubs, because it's just do yourequire.

Colby (47:57):
Require that Because I've seen I've seen it both, both
ways.
I've seen someone likeimmediately exit the um the
interview and then be paired upwith someone and just say you
can follow them around for anhour and they're in their biz
cash.

Christopher (48:10):
Well, yeah, and so I, we don't require either way.
Um, but just kind of me seeingand have done it a couple of
times now I think you as aperson are thinking about that
interview, so you're, you'rejust like not really focusing on

(48:32):
that's a good point, like beingin the in the moment trying to
ask questions for the nurses,Cause you, you should be like
hey, how does Christopheractually manage Like he just
kind of you get to fill out whatthe unit actually feels about?
the management staff feels aboutwhat's going on in terms of

(48:54):
their coworkers.
Yeah.
And you don't.
You don't get that, thatheadset and and that mind frame,
until you take a moment todecompress from that interview.

Colby (49:06):
So that's why I'm like you actually think that yeah, I
think that's a really good tipfor that reason alone, just like
you are in such a likeinterview headspace that you
might not be able to ask thekind of questions that you want
to ask.
Um, it allows you to like break, come back, even if it's the
next day.
That's fine if you have thetime.
But you get to come back in aclear headspace and you'll
probably feel more comfortabletoo.

(49:27):
Like you're going to you'll be,instead of walking around in
business casual, following anemployee around and the patients
are looking at you weird.
Like it's almost likeassimilating, like can go home,
come back another day and scrubs.
Like you're going to be morecomfortable in the environment.
That way.
That's totally fair to say.

Christopher (49:44):
I think that's a good good tip and I think also
in terms of interviewing andthen going to do like a shadow
you you really need to come atlike 0700 or 1900 at handoff,
because then you see how thehandoff is done, you see how the

(50:06):
beginning of a shift is startedand there's there's something
to say like you just don't getat three o'clock.
The med pass might be one thingright.
Like there's not really anythingthat you can learn in terms of
what the unit has to offer atthree o'clock.

(50:29):
In my opinion, I feel like it'smore of a you need to come at
the beginning of a shift, or oreven at the like till end of a
shift, going into another shift.

Colby (50:40):
That's interesting.
I think that's a good point.
But I also think, like I feelmost places doesn't have how do
I put this?
How I put this?
I feel like most units don'thave management that is
available that early or thatlate, because you're not just

(51:03):
going to show up and be likesurprise, I'm here to interview.
So I think I do recommendcoming earlier into a shift, but
maybe you show up at 9.
You do a 9 to.
You know it varies as far ashow long people stay for up at
nine.
You do like a nine to.
You know it varies as far ashow long people stay for shadows
, but you come for a few hours.
Nine o'clock's a good time, Ithink, for if, if you're, if

(51:23):
you're interviewing for a nightshift position, I definitely
agree with shadowing on thenight shift yeah, don't come in
the day shift yeah, in whichcase I would say yeah, come at
seven, because one managementwill sometimes at least my
management will sometimes staytill seven, so then they can
make that happen and that wayyou're not coming in at like

(51:44):
nine o'clock at night, likethat's a little bit of an
awkward time for night shift.
But yeah, I think like.
I think like like a 9 am shadow.

Christopher (51:53):
I'm going to put a dig into management.
If management isn't able tocoordinate with their charge
nurse that somebody's coming inat 7 o'clock, that's a problem.

Colby (52:08):
Yeah, sure.

Christopher (52:09):
I mean honestly if I say hey, I interviewed Colby
yesterday.
She's coming in at 7 o'clockand you don't even have to talk
to the charge nurse.
Send them an email.
That also shows how attentivethose charge nurses are to
emails that are going to beneeding to know what you need to

(52:32):
learn for your orientation andhopefully is being communicated
in an email if they're notpaying attention to it I think
it's just there's other problems, it shows other problems and so
, man, I am I didn't know howpassionate I was yeah, I think I
I'm sticking behind the the 071900.

(52:53):
Okay, I didn't realize.
Yeah, very passionate aboutthat one.

Colby (52:59):
So yeah, come early, you'll see more than what you
will, but you will.
You'll see more in the morningsor at the beginning of the
shifts than you will in theafternoons, afternoons.
Usually there's like a lullbetween 2 and 5 o'clock.

Christopher (53:16):
And then things pick up again, and that's when a
lot of the interviews are yeah,because there's a lull so you
can squeeze in.

Colby (53:26):
Cool, if you guys.
If anybody has anything thatthey would consider like a
interview tip that we haven'tgone over yet, feel free to send
us a little shout out on X oron Facebook.
We would love to share themwith you all.

Christopher (53:41):
Or.

Colby (53:41):
Instagram or Instagram.

Christopher (53:43):
Yeah, yeah.
Or if you just want to send usa Gmail email.
Yeah, or an email.
We are looking at that too.
So, do you remember your firstinterview Like, how do you like,
I'm sorry, this is 10 yearshere?

Colby (54:02):
I remember, I remember some of it.
Um, I remember I had a couple.
I told you I interviewed with acouple of managers, right, um,
I did like a.
So I did like a soft interviewwith three different managers
and then, based off my interests, I can move on.
So I moved on with the cardiac,like PCU unit, um the next.

(54:23):
So I came in just a few dayslater after the original one and
I did actually it was.
It was like it felt likeboardroom style interview where
it was.
It started off with a peerinterview.
It felt like boardroom styleinterview where it was a, it
started off with a peerinterview.
So this, I guess the softinterview with the manager, was
like my manager interview.
Then they had and I think that's.
I think honestly it's reallysmart and I I don't know if your

(54:45):
unit does it, but I would likefor my unit to kind of come go
back and I think at one timethey did something similar, but
like a peer interview, almostlike shared professional
government, like group okay, um,where they had like a list of
questions that, as the group,they came up with that were high
value, quite like high valuequestions, um, that the staff

(55:08):
wanted to see in in a potentialnew um, co-worker um, and I
remember I've used it as anexample earlier but I remember
them saying like how do you feel?
Or give an example.
I can't remember exactly howthe question opened up, but it
was around like teamwork and andanswering call bells and like

(55:28):
patient.
That's not yours and I thinkyou're.
It's pretty safe to say thatyou're going to get a question
in that realm, no matter whereyou interview.
But you know and you want toanswer appropriately.
But I liked that they, I likedthe peer interview.
It gave me a chance.
It was peer interview and thenshadow, so it gave me a chance

(55:51):
to really get a feel for thestaff that I would be working
with.
That's cool and what they'relooking for, like, you get you
know a clear explanation of like, what they about, what they
look for in a coworker, and youknow you get to show your.
You get to flex and show likehow, how you could meet those
standards.

Christopher (56:12):
What went well and what didn't.

Colby (56:14):
What went well and what, what didn't.
What went well?
I, they were very friendly andwhile it's very easy to be
intimidated as someone withbasically no experience as a
graduate nurse, to walk into aboardroom style like interview
process, like we literallywalked into a room where they
had meetings, it was, they wereall in a circle, which I guess
is better, that's more welcomingthan just being at a table

(56:36):
lined up in front of you andyou're by yourself.
So I would say what worked wasthat it was in a circle.
Everyone was friendly.
Nobody kind of carriedthemselves with like a better um
, we're better than you,attitude, um, and and ultimately
was really why I decided tochoose that unit was because I
liked the vibe of the staff.
I was like they're cool, likethey're really friendly, they
seem to like me, I like them,like I'm going to go here.

(56:59):
What didn't work was with theother managers.
They just, I remember one seemsso frazzled and disorganized
and like had like stacks ofpaper on their desk and I was
like good Lord and like theinterview wasn't bad, but you
could just tell like she was allover the place.
And then the other person hadlike a very snooty attitude and

(57:20):
I was like I don't want to workfor you.
So the one I went with she wassuper friendly, her staff was
super friendly and that's why Ipicked them yeah.

Christopher (57:31):
What about you Like what went well with your, you,
your part of the interview, and.

Colby (57:38):
I mean I think I just I gave good answers, like, and I,
I mean I got the vibe, I gavegood answers.
I mean that's because I did my,I did research and I, you know
you, I said I remember sayingthis, something about, like, I
remember saying something.
I was like oh, I'm toocomfortable with this.
These people already.

(57:58):
It was something about I waslike if someone needs their bite
wiped, I'll go and wipe it.
It's not above me.
And they all like laugh.
And then I was like, oh, I waslike maybe I'm a little too
comfortable, but I got hired, soit was fine.
But just be careful with yourwords.
Don't get too comfortable,because that can really tank it.

Christopher (58:19):
Yeah, it's interesting.
I am not one to use curse wordsvery often, but I've noticed
that if some people get toocomfortable they'll let one fly
and I'm like, oh interesting.

Colby (58:34):
You're definitely going to get clock're.
Definitely you're definitelygonna get clocked.
Yeah, if you're, if you'redropping, you know different
curses you definitely want torefrain from that.

Christopher (58:42):
And even the like, quote-unquote soft ones, like
yeah, I'm like that'sinteresting, I mean I'm okay, I,
you used it colorfully, butokay, like you know, is I, I
think, my first one though in in.
Well, I don't my first year.
I will say my first yearbecause I went through one two

(59:04):
three, four five, six.
I went through six of them and,interestingly enough, I had, I
had accepted a position at oneplace and then got an interview
opportunity for the currenthealth system we are at and I

(59:27):
was like, you know, I'll just doit for practice, going back to
interviews or just practice,I'll go practice, practice,
going back to interviews or justpractice, I'll go practice.
And so I went and interviewedand fell in love with the unit
and it was like oh, dang it.
And then I get the offer theday after and I'm like oh, dang
it.

Colby (59:47):
This is a.
This is a good, this is a goodexample, though.

Christopher (59:51):
Go ahead and finish and then yeah and so and so I
was like, well, and luckily Ihad a, a nursing mentor, and it
was actually it was a one of myhome health clients, daughters
and my home.
She was very instrumental in mechanging and kind of my mind

(01:00:12):
into going into nursing.
But um, she was like which onedo you like?

Colby (01:00:18):
and I told her my, the current health system we are at,
and she was like then go there,go there, yeah, like it's okay,
you can resend your acceptanceyeah you might burn a bridge,
but overall, you might you'retaking a risk, but the thing is
is, if you remain professional,right overall, you might you're
taking a risk, but the thing isis, if you remain professional
and you sent, like you know, youcan either have a follow-up

(01:00:39):
call with HR, I would say, dothat and then send also the
manager an email and justexplain, like what I was.
You know, while I was superexcited to you know, start a
career with you and your floor,another opportunity arose that I
just felt more aligned with andI wish you well in finding the
right candidate at this time.
It's not me and leave it atthat.

(01:01:00):
But I feel like if you and I'vedone this too, where it's like
it's just because you accept aposition doesn't mean that you
have to turn down one that comesup later, there's nothing wrong
with that.
I do say accept it because ifyou interview at another place
and they don't offer you aninterview, then you're you've
you know kind of what's thesaying bit your nose off despite

(01:01:21):
your face, Like you turned downa job that you could have had
in hopes of getting another onethat didn't fall like didn't
come to fruition.

Christopher (01:01:33):
I've never heard that phrase.
I've.
I've kind of okay, but no, I Imean I agree because really and
truly, and it was I had kind ofgotten pigeonholed into finding
out an answer.
I I had interviewed andinterviewed and interviewed and
then I was like waiting and I'mlike they were like we have to
know an answer.
And I'm like, okay, you know,and I did.

(01:01:56):
I'm not saying that I didn'tlike the help system that I was
going to go to.
I really enjoyed it.
I liked the area.
It was a really cool place.
It had good vegan food options.
I was like we're good, but Idid.
I ended up.
I didn't send an email.
I actually called the manager.
Yeah, um, and the manager wasvery understanding.

(01:02:20):
I was like, wow, did I make theright decision?

Colby (01:02:26):
So nice, so it made you second guess yourself.

Christopher (01:02:29):
Um, but overall, like I, I feel like my
experience has spoke to itselfthat I made the right decision
For sure.
Yeah, I definitely thought myfirst year.
One thing that I will say I didnot do well is I was asked

(01:02:54):
about group projects.
I loathe group projects andthat's what I said.
Don't ever say that.
Take this from Christopher Ifthey say something about group
project and you don't like it,spin it in a way that says that

(01:03:16):
you're Makes you look good.

Colby (01:03:17):
Yeah, Like spin it in a way where you're like I really
don't like them because I feellike I always end up shouldering
a heavy load of the assignmentand doing a lot of the work.
Yeah, I haven't often been putin situations where my teammates
on a group project werecarrying their weight.

Christopher (01:03:31):
Right, that right.
There is what I should havesaid.

Colby (01:03:36):
It's not what I said, and that's why I said I'm a good
interviewer.

Christopher (01:03:38):
Well, no, 100%.
I learned from that mistake andI was told because it was not a
group or like a peer interview,but it was the manager and then
two other nurses that were onthe floor and it was in their
office and so it was.
It was really like chill andlaid back.

(01:03:58):
But that later on that uh nursesaid you know, you remember,
when you said you hate groupprojects, I was like yeah, she
was like that was not the rightanswer.

Colby (01:04:10):
Yeah, but what they're assessing there so key for all
of our listeners and viewerswhat they're assessing there so
key for all of our listeners andviewers.
What they're assessing there islike, what is your team Like,
instead of just saying like,give an example of how you're a
team player, or like how you,you know perform in teamwork.
Like that was a good way to askit, because it's like not
directly asking that, but you'regetting an answer out of it.

(01:04:32):
So there's a reason why youdon't like it.
It's because you shoulder mostof the weight of the project,
but that shows that you'd stillbe a good team player.
You're going to be out thereworking.
It's not like you don't like,and I feel like that's why most
people don't like group projects.

Christopher (01:04:48):
I don't like that question.
I have never asked that in aninterview.

Colby (01:04:53):
It's a very tricky question.
It's sneaky it's sneaky.

Christopher (01:04:56):
I'm just up front like explain a time where you
were in, you know a teamworkatmosphere.
Where were you and like what?
What role did you play?

Colby (01:05:08):
yeah, what is one question, as you being the
interviewer, an intervieweeasked you and you were kind of
surprised by it.
You're like, oh, I wasn'texpecting that.
Like, what is one question thatsomeone's asked you in return?

Christopher (01:05:20):
The most recent one was how do you, as a manager,
involve yourself in the cultureof the unit?

Colby (01:05:32):
Yeah, that's kind of what I get to when I ask, like, what
is your manager leadershipstyle?

Christopher (01:05:37):
Yeah, and I know there was another one in terms
of what's the biggest struggleof the unit, as in in terms of
not culture but skills, and Iwas like oh, and then I was like
oh, and then I was like, hmm,let me think, when was that?

(01:05:59):
Just a year ago, when I was onthe floor, what was my struggle?
And I mean it took me a littlebit.
I was not ready for thatquestion.

Colby (01:06:09):
Yeah, because you feel like you're mostly focused on
the positive things, right, likeyou're mostly focused on the
positive things right, and Ithink it is an important,
important point to bring up forthe interviewee is to ask the
hard questions, um, especiallybecause you're going to catch
them off guard and then most ofthe time people are going to
give you an honest answer, butyou want to know those things
going in yeah and I guess I'mlike did I just clear my throat

(01:06:36):
in front of the mic?

Christopher (01:06:41):
I guess that one thing that goes to that is your
preceptors too.
How do you plan to orient me tothe unit?
What's the length of myorientation?
What's the preceptor?
How long have they been apreceptor?
To orient me to the unit, like,what's the length of my
orientation, what's the um,what's the preceptor?
How long have they been apreceptor?
How long have they been a nurseon the unit?

(01:07:01):
How long have they been a nurse?

Colby (01:07:03):
like those things too you have to really be mindful of,
because I mean, being honest,right now our unit is we busted
yeah the seams in terms ofensuring adequate preceptors and
preceptees, and yeah, it'sfinding the right balance,

(01:07:26):
especially in today's currentsituation in health care, is
it's really hard to get peoplewith experience to stay at the
bedside?
And I would say, like wementioned earlier early on in
the podcast uh, in this podcastin general, that, like me,
having 10 years experience andstill being at the bedside is

(01:07:47):
pretty rare these days.
It's very hard to have to getpeople to stay and be like these
, like seasoned preceptors A lotof hospitals and a lot of units
.
You're going to see likesomebody that has less than
three years of experience theymight have, they might be
amongst the group that has themost experience on the floor and

(01:08:09):
they're precepting a graduatenurse.
Is that an ideal situation?
No, but is that the currentclimate that we're in in health
care in general?
Yeah, you're gonna see thateverywhere.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's definitely tricky goingin and having that
understanding and you know thatas someone with experience.
If I was hired into a new role,um, in another, and not just I

(01:08:33):
mean it's, I'm not leavinganytime soon but if I was
leaving for a lateral position,I would want to know how, how
many years of experience do yourpreceptors have on average
right now?
Because am I coming in with 10years and somebody is, uh, you
know, pretty early on in theirpractice at two years and
they're going to be the onesthat are quote unquote
precepting me.
Like yes, sure I will, I'mgoing to accept that because

(01:08:56):
that's again, that's the currentclimate we're at in health care
.
But like also go in knowingthat, like okay, that's
interesting, like I have eightmore years experience on this
person and I probably know morethan them.
It's, it's going to be animportant mind shift to make in
your head.
Like you're going a new job soyou need to learn this
facility's ways, but like beopen-minded kind of situation.

Christopher (01:09:20):
And I think that's a good point, to put non new
grad positions Like.
That is something you can.
You have to somewhat humbleyourself.
Like it's it's.
That is a very humblingexperience for sure.
Luckily, when I transitionedfrom the unit I used to work for
into the unit I work for now,like the person that precepted

(01:09:46):
me was had years of experienceand so I very much was OK with
not knowing as much as they did,and I think when interviewing I
had seen this manager be veryinvolved on the unit so I didn't
have to really ask and I knewthe culture of the unit too,

(01:10:07):
because we shared a unit.
But I was shocked to hear themanager ask me what about?
The current unit I had been onis not pushing me away but not
keeping me there?

Colby (01:10:23):
Yeah, why are you deciding to leave?

Christopher (01:10:25):
Right, mm-hmm and.

Colby (01:10:27):
That's a good question actually that you should be
prepared for yeah, because itmight not be a savory answer, so
you have to make it morepalatable.
Yeah, because it might not be asavory answer, so you have to
make it more palatable, likeyeah, for you don't want to like
to answer that question.
You don't want to give thehiring manager like an answer
where you're excuse my language,but you're just like shitting
all over your last manager, yourlast job like you've got to.

Christopher (01:10:49):
You've got to have the framework of it being more
palatable yeah, I mean it's true, and but then, then this is
what really got me.
She was like have you talked toyour manager about it?

Colby (01:11:05):
I was like, oh, another good question yeah, like, have
you brought up your concerns atany point to have them addressed
, and it's okay.
Like your answer can still beno, right and and and no.
And then why, like, I don'tfeel comfortable, they're not
approachable, blah, blah.
Like that also goes to you know, like it's all about making it
palatable and being maintainingprofessionalism, because also

(01:11:28):
your answer to that question ifyou don't like that person
interviewing is going to takethat and be like okay, so they
don't handle conflict, well,they don't like that person
interviewing is going to takethat and be like okay, so they
don't handle conflict.
Well, they don't handledisagreements.
Like they're not goodcommunicators, it's like that.
That also, you know, is itprovides a lot of insight for
the hiring person on you how youanswer that.

Christopher (01:11:52):
For sure.
What did you learn from yourfirst interview or latter
interviews?

Colby (01:11:58):
uh, I think, well, I didn't need to be as anxious as
I was.
Okay, because, again, like youhave, you also have power in
that situation.
I think, going into the intoagain, anxiety provoking, you
want this job.
Presumably that's why you'reinterviewing, like you want to

(01:12:20):
show your best self, but alsoremind yourself that you have a
lot of power in that seat aswell.
Like, while they'reinterviewing you, like we said,
you're interviewing them, you'reinterviewing their hospital,
you're interviewing their staff,them, you're interviewing their
hospital, you're interviewingtheir staff, like you are also,
like want to know if, whilethey're looking, are you a good
fit for us?
You're saying are you a goodfit for me?

(01:12:40):
Right?
So I think I learned that in myfirst round of interviews.

Christopher (01:12:49):
Is that you have more power than you think you do
in that seat One hundredpercent.
And to give a specific exampleof that, when I transitioned
from CV to transplant, I was arotator in CV and the way that
we did it in CV was not healthyat all.

Colby (01:13:06):
CV is cardiovascular, just in case anyone was lost
there.

Christopher (01:13:09):
Thank you.
But one thing that I didappreciate the fact that I
rotate it.
And I told the manager ontransplant.
I was like the only way I'mcoming is if I stay as a rotator
.
And she was like, well, I'venever done it before.
And I was like I'm not pickinga shift, I'm not.

(01:13:32):
I'm like I'm doing six weeks ofdays, six weeks of nights and
rotating like that.
And I was okay with saying thatbecause I was okay with not
being accepted to that unit ifshe wasn't willing to adjust.
Yeah to make it work.
To make it work, yeah.
She adjusted and adapted to makeit work and now we have

(01:13:54):
rotators.
And now, from a manager'sperspective, I understand why
she does not like rotating.

Colby (01:14:02):
It makes balancing a little more tricky, but but I
mean it's you're not the onlyperson that that type of
schedule worked for and now youhave multiple people that are
doing it and that makes you moreflexible.
It makes you probably I meanhaving the option for, on one or
the other, Most hospitalsgetting hired.

(01:14:42):
Doesn't matter what levelexperience you have, whether
you're a graduate nurse oryou're coming in with experience
Most hospitals are hiring youin as a rotator.
So be prepared Graduate nurseswho have never pulled an
all-nighter, never worked, youknow graveyard shift it's gonna
happen.
You're gonna be working 7 pm to7 am, more than likely, unless

(01:15:03):
you're lucky.
I was lucky my first year um mynew grad position.
They didn't rotate and I got aday shift because everybody else
that got hired after me wasnight shift.
I I got.
I got lucky.
I got the a day shift becauseeverybody else that got hired
after me was night shift.
I got lucky.
I got the last day shiftpermanent position and I locked
that in.
Like, there were people whoused to work in that hospital

(01:15:27):
and came back and were angrybecause they had to go on night
shift and they were like Iworked days here for four years
and I left for six months andthey were like well, you left.
Yeah.
They're.
They're like well, you left andthat's what we have available
so you can come back, but you'regonna be on nights.
And they were angry, big timeangry, because I was just this
new little graduate nurse on dayshift.
But be prepared and just go inexpecting that, because then, if

(01:15:53):
you get the opposite, at leastyou've managed your expectations
and you can be like pleasantlysurprised.
You get to be on one or theother, whatever you prefer.
Awesome, true, yeah, I also saythat a lot of times.
If rotating, just like youtried it and it just doesn't
work for you.
From personal experience, whenI first started a job, I was

(01:16:13):
like my second job.
When I left my full-time dayshift position, I went started a
job.
I was like my second job.
When I left my full-time dayshift position, I went to a
hospital that was rotating oryou can pick just nights.
Rotating did not work for me.
I was insufferable to be around.
I just did not.
It was not good.
So I chose straight nights andit was much easier for me.

Christopher (01:16:33):
I worked a schedule that Wait, wait, wait, wait Was
it?
Was it insufferable because ofhow you were rotating, or was it
insufferable because you wererotating?

Colby (01:16:44):
It's probably a mixture of both.

Christopher (01:16:45):
OK.

Colby (01:16:45):
Yeah, I think the way you do it was just six weeks on,
six weeks off, which is like thelength of our schedule periods.
That would make it a lot easier.
I was flipping back and forthforth, like not in the same week
, but like week to week, yeah,and that's that.
I couldn't do, um, even in twoweek blocks, like two weeks of
days, two weeks of nights, likeI couldn't do that.

(01:17:07):
So it's, it quite literallyshortens your lifespan, like and
I don't understand how it'sallowed.
Truthfully, I think it'sinsanity.
I think if people want to dothat, they want to pick up, you
know, like a random night shiftwhen they're on a stretch of
days.
Like that's your prerogativeand your choice.
But to schedule people likethat is insane and I just don't

(01:17:33):
think it's okay.
But I, when I went to straightnights, I worked a schedule
where it was like three on, oneoff, three on, so I was
basically night for a week, likewe're living life as a night
shift person for one week, andthen I would be like when I was
off, I would that would stack mydays up, so I would have like
six days off, six or seven daysoff.

(01:17:54):
I would.
I would live as a normal humanbeing and that's how I made that
work.
I did that for like seven yearsand then the last few years I've
been just back on permanentdays because I just I basically
got lucky because when I cameback from traveling I went back
into a rotating position becauseI wanted days Like I was like
I'm going to do this, becauseI'm going to try to get on day

(01:18:15):
shift permanently, and then Ionly had to do it for a couple
of months.
I was having mental breakdowns.
I literally cried at work LikeI was.
It does not work for everybody,so just be prepared.
And then I, you know, I ended upgetting into a full-time day
shift position.
But it's just something that isa huge change in your, in the

(01:18:36):
way you live life, your firstyear, um, and it's definitely
something to go and prepared for, because I've seen like the
look of disappointment onpeople's faces when they realize
they're gonna have to work 12hours overnight and like did not
see it, come in and thenthought that you know, I'm just
gonna find a day shift job.
Good luck, because, becauseit's really rare- yeah, and

(01:19:02):
we'll.

Christopher (01:19:02):
since both of us have actually experienced night
shift, we will definitely havean episode of night shift.

Colby (01:19:07):
Tips and tricks, yeah.

Christopher (01:19:09):
Yeah so.

Colby (01:19:11):
To come on more.
To come on that, All right, Ithink that's that wraps us up.

Christopher (01:19:15):
Woo, to come on that, all right, I think that's
that wraps us up, classdismissed.
That's a wrap for today'ssession of Nursing Life 101.
We hope you found some usefultakeaways to bring back to the
floor.
Remember, nursing is a lifelonglearning journey and we're here
with you.

Colby (01:19:30):
If you want to connect, find us on Twitter at
NurseLife101, or on Facebook atNursingLife101.
And don't forget to subscribeand share with your fellow
nurses.
Until next time, take care ofyourselves and keep making a
difference out there you.