How to Prepare for a Nursing Interview: 2022 Tips & Tricks

Nursing interviews can be nerve-racking, but with the right preparation, you will be well positioned to impress the interviewers. With your convincing answers and your professional appearance, you’ll demonstrate that you are the ideal fit for this role.

So if you’ve been invited to a nursing interview, read this article carefully. We’ll break down in detail how to prepare for a nursing interview so you can shake the recruiter’s hand with confidence.

Nurse Interview Prep: 6 Things You Should Do

Review Your Resume

There’s nothing worse than being asked about something on your resume only for you to not quite remember what you wrote. At best, you seem disorganized and forgetful. At worst, you look like you’ve lied or exaggerated on your resume.

It’s an easy mistake to make: you update your resume so often, adapting it to every job application. So make sure to save a copy of each resume you submit and review it before you walk into the interview.

Research the Healthcare Facility

Reading up about the healthcare facility is an important part of nurse interview prep. It will inform your interview answers, as well as demonstrating to the recruiters that you care about this opportunity. Plus, of course, it will help you know if it’s the right workplace for you.

Make sure you’re familiar with key facts about the facility, including the brand and mission. You should look through the website and social media, as well as the job listing. Try to identify what sets this place apart from other facilities, from the perspective of both a patient and an employee.

Prepare the Practicalities

There are so many easily avoidable things that can go wrong before an interview: a creased shirt, a missed train, a croaky voice because you forgot to bring a bottle of water… Avoid these by preparing the night before. Use this checklist to help you:

Clothes: Iron your clothes the day before, and try them on in daylight hours. Make sure they look good in both synthetic and natural light, and that you feel comfortable sitting, standing and walking in them. Twist a little, as if you were looking from one interviewer to another, to check that nothing rides up. Make sure that buttons don’t gape, either, and that your shoes don’t rub.

Now, just in case, add another layer to your outfit and prepare an entirely different backup outfit. You don’t want to be shivering or sweating through your interview. Neither do you want to be raiding your closet 10 minutes before you’re due to leave because you’ve spilled coffee down your white shirt. If you’re wearing tights, it’s also worth putting a spare pair or two in your bag in case they ladder.

The route: How are you going to get there? If you’re relying on public transport, don’t aim to get the last possible bus or train. Make sure you have the fare ready or that your travel card is topped up and in your wallet. Alternatively, if you’re driving to the interview, allot extra time for traffic jams and work out a back-up parking plan.

The location: Once you arrive at the interview location, do you know where you need to go? If not, ask the recruiter. Or, if you’re reading this at 9 pm the evening before the interview, give yourself extra time in case reception proves hard to find.

Your bag: Ideally, you’ll bring several items with you. These include a bottle of water, a notepad and a couple of pens, the recruiter’s phone number (in case you’re running late) and potentially a copy of your resume and the job listing. The resume isn’t for the recruiters. It’s in case you want to double-check one last detail before you arrive.

Your schedule: What time do you need to leave home? Given that, what time do you need to eat breakfast, shower and wake up? It’s worth setting multiple alarms, including one 10 minutes before you need to head out.

The interviewers: Do you remember their names? Do you know how to pronounce them?

Practice Common Interview Questions and Answers

Many nurse interview questions come up again and again, so they’re easy to prepare for. In fact, we’ve written several articles on common nurse interview questions and how to answer them, from nurse practitioner interview questions to OR nurse interview questions, clinical nurse interview questions, ICU nurse interview questions and nurse manager interview questions.

Take the time to review these articles and draft answers to the questions. Practice them with a friend, and try answering them from memory at home. Say the answers aloud: it will help you realize where you need to review or tweak the answers.

Decide What You Want From the Role and Interview

Are you happy to accept any job? Or are you looking for a certain salary or work environment? How important are training and career progression to you? Make a list of what matters to you, as well as the information you would like to discover in the interview.

Knowing this will ensure that the interview is as useful for you as it is for the recruiters. It will also guide you through choosing between multiple job offers and negotiating your salary.

Additionally, when you know what you want from a job, you’ll be able to more honestly answer the interview questions. In doing so, you’re increasing the likelihood of receiving an offer from a facility you would truly like to work in.

Stay Calm and Confident

An interview is not a test. It’s a chance for you and the recruiters to get to know each other and discover if you would be a good fit for the role. However, it’s hard to do that if you’re nervous or second-guessing your answers.

What calms you down and keeps you confident? Whether it’s breathing exercises or reviewing your prepared answers for the thousandth time, do it before the interview.

Highlight Your Best Features with a Nursing Resume Template

Writing a strong resume is the first step in preparing for a nursing interview, because it’s what will set you up for success.

Your resume won’t just get you invited to nursing interviews. It will affect what questions recruiters ask you, and potentially, what salary you’re offered. Recruiters often review resumes before interviews, during them and right before they make job offers.

Your resume should draw attention to your strong points while being customized to the job and company you’re applying to. It also needs to be machine-readable so that applicant tracking systems don’t discard your resume before a recruiter reads it.

Our nurse resume builder will help you craft a professional resume and make a positive first impression on recruiters. It will suggest the ideal structure based on your experience and qualifications, along with recruiter-approved phrasing. Your resume will be machine-readable — and what’s more, it will take you just minutes to write.

Create your resume today so you can get hired quicker.