My First Real Nurse Interview

Friday was a bust too,

but I knew that.

The rational part of my brain is saying

if it took them a full seven days to call 

me back for an interview, then

there is no way I will have an offer 

before than.

So I went for some retail therapy.

Unfortunately for me (and the retailers)

there was nothing worth buying.

So for the other newbies,

lets talk about interview stuff.

You Are Here

The Call Back

  So just when I was ready to give up and admit that there was no way I would hear from Local Hospital again, my phone rings on Friday. Just about scaring the living daylight out of me, I look and it's a local area code, OK gotta get this. The voice on the other line is the recruiter that I met last week at the open house. She tells me my pleasant nurse in scrubs wants to schedule a "peer interview" (huh?) on Monday and what time would be best for me? So we settle on a time, I calmly hang up and then do a little dance across our hall to the Mr. I tell him that "we" have an interview on Monday. He of course has to ruin my little celebration by saying,

  

  "That's great! So what are you going to wear?"

  Uhhhh crap. My only pair of slacks now have a nice coke stain due to that little maneuver I pulled last week (read about it here) and what the heck do you wear to a "peer interview" and what the heck is a "peer interview"? Now the celebratory mood is quickly dissolving into uncertainty, time to research the issues at hand.

1. What the heck is a peer interview?
2. What does one wear to a peer interview?

Well after some research (asking a ton of people I know and Google) I came up with these answers.

1. A peer interview is when a panel of people that work in the area they are considering you for get to interview you and later tell the hiring manager what they think. They are often looking for fit in the department, will you be a pain to work with, how will you interact with your clients, and generally will it work out? From what I can glean, getting asked back for one of these is a good thing.
2. I learned what to wear to an interview varies hugely depending on who you talk to and what profession you are in. If you check out that link you will see what I mean. Thanks Business Week, that was NOT helpful. So I polled some Nursing School buddies and many of them agreed a suit was the way to go. The best advice I got was "Dress for the job you want, not the job you are interviewing for"

  With that sage advice I decided a suit was a must, I mean we go through school being told that we are going to be Healthcare Professionals and as nurses we have a ton of professional  associations and certifications to join and earn, so why not treat it as such and walk in attired as a professional. I mean the worst that can happen is I am totally over dressed and they can chuckle about the cute newbie later, right?