Nursing Interview Questions and Tips

Hi, everybody. Hi everybody, welcome. It's Friday, so it must be the Connetics USA for nurses onwards and upwards. We are so excited today we have a full packed show on a very interesting topic. My name is Tanya Freedman. I'm the Chief Executive Officer of Connetics USA. We help healthcare organizations all of the United States with the nursing shortage by bringing in internationally educated nurses. And I have with me today Don Hudson. Hi, Don. Welcome. Hey there. We also have Alison Bakewell. Hi, Alison. Welcome. And then we have Netra. Welcome Netra. Yes. Estelle and Angelique. We have a full panel today. So very, very exciting. And the topic today is New Year New Korea, how to find your dream job in the United States. Everything that you need to know about a resume, how to put together a resume for the United States. Everything that you need to know about how to prepare for a an in for an interview? What are the kinds of questions you might expect how to prepare for those questions. We're going to be talking about virtual interviewing how to interview over the internet. We're also going to be talking about cultural differences in interviewing. So please stay tuned. And we've got a full packed hour for you with all the things everything that you need to know about interviewing and preparing for that interaction with a US employer. So I'm going to start off with introductions. So I would love it if everybody on the panel could introduce themselves. Just tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. Let's start with Alison. you unmute Alison.

I thought she may do. Well, I am a nurse graduated my bachelor's degree many years ago and worked in a hospital for a number of years. And after that, I have been in recruiting for also a number of years. And I work for right now a very large nursing home company headquartered in Michigan. And we have started to bring in some international nurses and we love it so we want to get some more. Perfect. Thank you, Alison. I love the fact that you come from a nursing background and You've interviewed a lot of international nurses already. So I think it's gonna be really interesting for everybody on the everyone around the world who's watching 1000s of nurses watch our show every week. And I think it's gonna be really interesting to hear your perspective. Netra Do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? Yes, ma'am. Hi. Hi, everyone. I'm a travel D. I'm from India. I'm graduated from India. So Institute of Nursing Education is my you know, College of Nursing, where from where I have completed my graduation, and I'm working in government hospital here in Mumbai in India, since last around 20 plus years of work experience bedside work experience I have. And now I'm looking forward to reach or they're in a queue. Next week, I have my visa interview. I'm hoping you litoris coming to Siena, so we can't wait, we so excited for you Nitra. Tell everybody who's watching how long have you been trying to come to the United States?

Ah, actually in 2007. I started with this process. But that time I got I passed all my examinations like and click CGFNS eyes and everything was actually completed. But my interview got postponed and there was retrogression for around well, before. So yeah. Okay, so we know through Connetics, my dream, going through Connetics. Allison is doing the happy dogs. Excited for you natural after all these years to be able to come through to the United States congrats. Happy for you that you have been able to, to make your dream come true. And we're going to you're going to be sharing your story about your interview process with Ghana and what that was like. So it's going to be really interesting from a nurses perspective. We also have Keith who's just joined us. Hi, Keith, welcome. Hi, good morning, Tanya, how are you? Good, good. And Keith, do you want to tell everybody a little bit about yourself and your background? Sure. I've been a nurse for almost 26 years. And I'm a nurse podcaster and freelance writer. And my main job these days actually, as a career coach for nurses, I work with nurses all over the US and around the world. Thank you, Kate. So Keith is our expert today. We've got a really fun panel because we've got two different clients. So we got I'm going to call on Don to introduce himself. Next. We've got Keith who is our expert. And then we've got three nurses are going to be sharing the experience of putting together a resume and the interview. Don, go ahead and introduce yourself, please.

Hello, everybody. My name is Don Hutson. I'm the chief talent officer for Methodist water health care and Tennessee. Beautiful state I love for you to come visit us here. It's a wonderful, wonderful place to live. And I am honored to be among so many great nurses today. I am not a nurse. So my wife is a nurse and my daughter is in college, studying to be a nurse she will graduate in December from college. So we're super excited. I think it's a fantastic career. It's very much needed in the United States. And you know, we're very excited about our partnership with Connetics and, and their partnership with each one of you because it's a partnership of caring. And that's what we're all about. We're about caring for our community. Thank you, Don, well, you're almost a nurse with your wife and your daughter and working with so many nurses every day. And we certainly love working with Donna with the Methodist team. And I think Don is also going to be able to add another perspective because he is coming from a healthcare system but different to Allison. He's coming from an acute hospital system. So I think that's kind of an interesting perspective. Angelique, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? Hi, I am Angelique and I graduated from USD here in the Philippines. I've been a nurse for six years already. And currently I am assigned that the cardio telemetry unit in the Medical City.

Okay, thank you, Angelique. And do you want to tell everybody how long you've been wanting to come to America and what's your latest update on your case? Oh, I've passed my NCLEX last 2018 and I'm flying to the US this March. Okay. Yay. Very excited for Angelique. Tell everybody where you Going Anjali or I'm going to be with Bizet Cooperstown, New York. Okay. Angelique is going to a teaching hospital in upstate New York. And last but not least, Estelle. Hi everyone installed the deadlifts. I'm a registered nurse in South Africa. It's been spending 15 years in nursing and 15 years in training. So and looking forward to moving to America just had my visa interview this week, and had some good news. I think we'll be receiving it soon. And we'll probably be flying end of March as well. work in a hospital in Clatsop. It's a small rural area. So not a huge hospital, and mainly med surg experience. Okay. Thank you, Estelle. And for those of you might hear similarity in our accents. Estelle and I are both from South Africa. That was my home country. And so I came here 21 years ago, and to very proud American right now. So South Africa will always have a very special place in my heart. And we've decided for Estelle, who's going to be joining us in America as well soon. I see. We have a lot of people watching from all over the world. So I see. We've got Janine Yeah, we've got Democrats who also from South Africa. We've got Selma who's asking about nurse aides are some are we going to be talking about nurse aides? Stay tuned. We've got Nikki Bryan and who's from? We've got Nikki from Philippines. We've got a Robbie, lots of choice Rossi, Nikki, and Deva, how's the job market for nurses and Deborah's asking Dawn and Alison house, the job market for nurses in America.

Great. Opportunities for nurses in the United States. Eternities lots and lots, there's really never been a bit of time to come to America, then right now there are more opportunities for international nurses then. I mean, I've been personally been doing this for almost 15 years than we've ever seen. Right now the visa bulletin they typically 140,000 visas available this year, there are just under 290,000 visas available, because a lot of visas were not used up in the pandemic. So if you are thinking about coming to America, like Netra Angelique and Estelle, now is the time really now is the time there's never been any better time than now. Okay, so let's get started on our topic for today, which is New Year New Korea, how to prepare your resume, how to prepare for the interview, lots of questions, I'm going to bring up our success path, you can find this on the Connetics USA international nursing agency website. This is really the roadmap for nurses of how to go about starting your journey of coming to the United States because many nurses say Well, I'd love to come to America, but I really just don't know where to start. So you can see the first step is the NCLEX very important in order to prepare for the interview. What we are doing today is under that second category, which is preparing for the interview, and then you would have the visa framework, which is to come on a TN visa or green card. Four Stages credentialing and licensing five is the Get Ready game plan. That's what our most natural Angelique and Estelle are doing right now. Number six is the rival sequence and seven isn't join prosper. So these are really the seven steps that you can expect in your process. And today, we're really going to be tackling that second quadrant, which is which is the interview piece, how to prepare your resume how to prepare for the interview. So we're gonna get started on the resume and network. Can you share with everybody how you prepared your resume?

When you when you decided you were going to try for the US again? Yes, ma'am. About resume I can see that actually, I was quite confused and I was unaware that I need to prepare my resume and I need to submit I was thinking that on phone telephonic interview will be there and it will proceed like that because in previous agency, I didn't do that. So my friend, one of my friends, she's actually a Connetics nurse Christine Matthewman must be knowing. And through her I came to know about Connetics and she explained the importance operation and how to prepare that so I was searching something on YouTube and Google I was searching but she told me to get help from Miss Jocelyn who is my case manager and She guided me how to prepare your resume everything means how to be that you know, so adding all those things all your experience or your applications and your achievements, all those things how to add in. So she helped me a lot. And Christine gave me a copy of her resume to organize because we in same hospital, we were working together in a same hospitals all together experience and all those things achievements were all about nice. Same. So with the help of that I organized my day to me.

Okay, so interesting for many nurses who are watching all over the world, you might not realize that you need a resume. Because you know, that was nitrous experience. And it can be a little bit confusing to know how to start. So asking friends asking your Connetics, USA representative Googling, it can be some options. Angelica and Estelle, how did you approach the resume? Let's start with Angelique. I wrote the basics, like my name, my contact details, my educational background, and my seminars and trainings, my affiliations, and references. I also asked my family members if they can proofread my resume so they can help me. And I also asked some of my friends on what to put on or what to add. And they also sought my friends told me to add the equipment's I know how to operate, and the cases I've handled, so my employer would have a background on what kind of patients and the cases that I'm able to handle. Okay, so there's some good tips for getting people to proofread it. Because the last thing you want to have, and I know Keith will probably talk about this is any typos or grammatical errors or things like that. And Estelle, was your experience any different anything you want to add to what Nitra and Angelique have said about putting together the resume?

No, no, it was quite similar. I think what was just interesting to me is that they, you know, what would, what they considered valuable with, for instance, the size of the hospitals, to how many beads, the experience that you have, how big was the hospital and what kind of specialties you've worked in? And just elaborate more on that, because I think when they interview, they also wanted to try and determine what would be the best fit for you, you know, so they wanted to know about that. And also the biographical data, and that there was some things that would be in a curriculum vitae, that, you know, we would usually in South Africa submit information that shouldn't be in a resume. And that was quite a surprise to me. So I do think you need to familiarize yourself with the format, you know, that they want.

Okay, so they are also I mean, in South Africa, we call it a CV, we don't call it a resume. I don't know, if they still do that. It's still, when I was there. 21 years ago, we didn't even use the word RESUME. We call that a CV. And then what are some of the differences? Like what would you have put into a South African CV as opposed to a US resume? A lot more information like age, for instance, that I was advised not to include, you know, and so the format was also quite different, I think more focused on, you know, recent experience, and maybe even a little bit shorter. If you've had a longer career like me, it's quite a challenge. You know, you don't want to put in too much detail. But you do want to give them an idea of what your experience.

Yeah, typically, you'll find us resumes are much more concise and to the point, then maybe what you would find outside of the United States, and Allison and Don, from a client's perspective, what are the what are the requirements that you typically going to be looking for in nurses quick first question. And second question, what do you like to see or not see in a resume? Let's start with Allison ladies. So everyone covered it very well. But basically, a resume is a summary of your background, work experience and education. And the only information that we really need would be your name and contact information. Sometimes we see age and religion and other areas that aren't typically included on a US resume. So we generally are interested in your experience, but a short synopsis of the experiences. If you had different hospitals or different work locations, you would highlight each of those and also your educational background. And then any special trainings you might have or equipment is also very helpful. And if any special accomplishments that you might have had a few were no, selected to be the educator for your unit or received any type of awards. We're always interested in those types of things. But one page, even for a long career is not unusual. As long as it's, you know, summarizing in a few bullets, bullet format is pretty popular as well, rather than the paragraphs. So, you know, you can summarize a long career even on one page, so one to two pages would be pretty common. Yeah, typically one to two pages. And so thank you for that insight, I think that's really helpful, because it's kind of interesting for a nurse to be able to understand what the employers are looking for, and what they want to see in the resume, Don, anything to add to what Allison has spoken about, and how it might be different for an acute care hospital setting, as opposed to maybe, and the long term care, senior care setting.

For an acute care hospital, there's lots of opportunities for a nurse to help. So we'd like to know what your experience is, and the different types of units. So what's really important for us is, how, what hospitals have you worked in? How long did you work there, so the years, and even the months that you work there? So we can we want to be able to count experience. And we want to basically add up all your experience from all the hospitals that you've worked in, at bedside so we can give you credit for that, because that affects the salary we pay our salary based on how many years of experience that you have at the bedside. So it's very important that we can count up the number of years and the number of months that you've worked at a different hospital. It's also important to us that we know what type of work you did at the hospital, were you a medical surgical nurse, were you an intensive care? Nurse? Were you an emergency nurse or an O R or operating room nurse, so labor and delivery, all those kinds of things. So we want to know how long you worked in each. And ultimately, we you know, when we talk to you interview you, we want to know what you're really passionate about what type of nursing Are you passionate about? And what do you what do you want to work when you come here, so we can help get you to a place where you can be most successful and enjoy it the most. Okay, thank you, Don. So you raised a really important point. And that is about the years and the months, I think that very, very important to include that and a lot of international nurses might not realize that. And I think the good thing just to mention is that from a Connetics USA perspective, we focus on direct hire, which means that you are employed and sponsored directly by the healthcare facility.

And the big advantage of that is that you get credit for your years of experience overseas. So you get paid the same as an American nurse. And that's why as Don says, Those years and months are critically important, because they really want to give you credit, for whatever experience you've had like Estelle, if you've been doing it for many years, or Netra, for many, many years, you want to get you want to get valued for your experience, and US hospitals where and healthcare organizations want to give that to you. So that's really important to include in the resume. And as Allison said, as well, I just want to raise one thing is, you know, we see resumes where people have put in things like the age or the religion, or sometimes even their wage, oh, my goodness, I don't want to put my weight on my resume. But that's not uncommon overseas in the US, you will never see that on a resume. So those are the kinds of things that you can cut down and focus on the worksite. And, Keith, I know that you have a graphic a slide where you kind of like sum up the guidelines. Can you walk us through this summary. And for everybody who's watching give them kind of a an overall takeaway of what to include.

Sure. And there's some things I'll add Tanya, that we didn't include here. But contact information is important, like was said earlier name, phone number, email address, and also the city and province or state where you live so that they have an understanding where you're coming from way of what email address is I actually also like to include a professional summary. Oftentimes, resume will just start with experience or with possibly with education, but I think a short paragraph or two summarizing who you are and what differentiates you from other candidates, what makes you special. I think that's really important. And sometimes we'll include a highlighted skills section. And this will be a section with bullet points of what the specific skills are that you have that are really related to the position for which you're applying. And I want to emphasize that that Your resume should reflect the skills and experience you have pertaining to the position addition to which you're applying, you really want to be very targeted in your resume look for what they're looking for, and then use the resume as a way to communicate to them that you can fulfill what that particular facility and unit is looking for. So the highlighted skills might be that you understand how to use PICC lines or midlines, or tricks and ventilators etc.

Your professional experience is what everyone's been talking about. It's a list of where you've worked, how long you've worked there. And some descriptions of the facility like was said, how many beds what type of facility is an academic teaching facility is that a research facility? Is it a level one trauma center, etc. Employers like to hear about that and know the details of where you've worked. Licenses and certifications is pretty self explanatory. They'd like to know any certifications you have. So I know sometimes nurses are a little shy about what we say here to us, which is, you know, tooting your own horn or really, quote unquote, bragging about yourself, but it's not really bragging. Well, it's true. So if you can list the certifications, or awards are special things you've accomplished, that says a lot about who you are, and community service and volunteerism really shows your gives a more well rounded view of who you are. And especially if you've done community service, or volunteerism related to health care, or nursing or medicine in some particular way, and honors and awards of flickable. Those are things that can make you stand out, you've been chosen as nurse of the year or you've received an award from your unit, etc. These are also ways to make you look different than other candidates it differentiates you. And something you don't want include as everything that's been mentioned already age, weight, religion, et cetera, also your hobbies, people will sometimes include their hobbies, it's not something I recommend, including on your resume. And also an objective statement. It's been very common for many years to use an objective which is seeking employment on a med surg unit, where I can learn new skills and work as part of a multidisciplinary team that's kind of understood. And I like the professional summary instead, which talks about your hard skills, which we call, you know, the skills you do with your hands, those task based skills, like using event or, or dealing with tricks, and what we call here in the US soft skills, your skills in communication, collaboration, emotional intelligence, those also can differentiate you and show that you really understand how to communicate and be part of a team and create really strong effective nurse patient relationships. So there's much more, but those are some of the most important basics.

Okay, great key. Thank you so much for summarizing that because I think it kind of puts it into one nice summary and overall guideline of how to actually go about putting together the resume. So I see we have some comments and questions in the chat and feel free to put your comments and questions in the chat. We love to see where you are all over the world. And the questions that you're asking, I'm going to try and get through as many questions as I can, from everybody who's watching all over the world. Nikki is asking, is there anyone I can talk to about applying the answer? Nikki is yes, you can go to Connetics USA and apply. And our team will be happy to speak to you about all the opportunities that we have at the moment and see what's going to be the best match for you. And I see Leo is tagging a friend, thank you for doing that, Leo. That's what the onwards and upwards show is all about is really nurses helping nurses and experts helping nurses and any nurses. It's kind of everything that a nurse needs to know in order to come and live and work in the United States. So thank you for doing that. So bananas, saying Hi, great team. Thank you, Bill, lonely, and Nikki saying I haven't a years of our experience before and back to the hospital justice January.

Can I apply for hospital base position? Nikki? The answer is yes, we have hospitals all over the United States with different requirements. So our team will be able to look at your experience and see what is going to be the best fit for you. And that takes me to the next segment, which is the pre screening that happens on the kinetic side. So our recruiters, we like to call them our career matchmakers. And they have a list of questions that they will ask you and we have a graphic that shows that list of questions. And these are some of the things that they are going to be asking you to see where it's going to be the best fit so they'll ask you about matter what type of cases you work with, what climate you're looking for, if you are looking, for example, to have a white Christmas, we're going to place you with Allison in Michigan, if they say and if you say I really want a reasonable cost of living, and a place where I can save a lot of money in a good area, well, maybe they're going to pace you with dine in Tennessee, they're going to ask you a number of beds, they're going to see if you've got your NCLEX your IELTS, Nurse patient ratio you've worked with, what experience you've had, what equipment you've used, if you've worked with electronic medical records. So these are some of the questions that our career matchmakers will ask you. And our methodology is to then look at the things that you're looking for to find you the best fit. So if you say, I really, I you know, I have a sister in Tennessee, well, then we want to place you with Don, because you know, if you have the skills that he's looking for, we want you to be close to family. So that's really typically how our career matchmakers work. And let's talk about the interview process. So preparing for the interview is really important. Interviewing is actually really a skill. I think for many nurses, they don't realize it's a skill. And it's something that you can learn. So and Estelle, tell us how you prepared for your interview. And I see we lost Angelina Angelica, and I'm not sure what happened. Hopefully she'll rejoin us. Go ahead. For your interview.

Thanks, Danielle. I think probably the first thing is to manage the nerves a little bit. You know, and I think the preparation helps with that. So I tried to do sort of think what kinds of things they would be interested in, you know, so there was a preparation I did from a practical perspective, making sure that because it was an online interview, that my internet was stable and checked that the site was really you know, that it looked okay, if I on camera that I was audible. So, to me, that part of the preparation came in now that we have these more team meetings and electronic interviews. So that was part of the preparation. And the second part was trying to think, what would they be interested in as much? You know, and, and not? And preparing for those questions like we all know, they want to know more about you, you know, and you think you can just tell them, but it does make sense to decide beforehand, what you want to share with them, you know, and how to share it in a clear, concise manner. And not speak too much if you nervous, you know, or if you're a very introverted person not speak enough when you nervous. So I always prepare for these questions. I tried to think of different possible questions, they could ask around conflict management, or assertiveness or things like that. And I tried to think of scenarios I could choose, you know, so I really sat down and did some thinking about recent experiences and, and what I wanted to share with them if they did ask about those kinds of things. So I made a few notes. Although I didn't answer I don't read my answers. But I did put a few prompts for myself, you know, against the wall that I wanted to remember if I'm nervous, what I wanted to say so just bullet points two or three at the back of the screen that I that I prepared for. So that was mainly it. You know, and then just make sure that you look, I made sure that I look presentable, I think it is important.

Absolutely, because it's still an interview, it doesn't matter if it's virtual. It's still an interview. So you need to dress appropriately and be professional on time, all of those things that we take for granted or that everybody knows about interviewing. So some really good points they sell so things like preparing to connect really can calm your nerves somewhat because it is nerve racking. And it's really nerve wracking to do it in a virtual setting where you don't have that kind of face to face contact. But preparing I think really important and putting yourself in the shoes of the interviewer and what do you think they are going to probably want to hear natural was your preparation any different to Estelle anything to add only thing that I want to add you is that about resume if you're honest with your resume then you will be confident when you're facing interview. So my resume I prepared armies whatever experience I have whatever equipment are handled by a patient ratio, and then drugs and cases are handled match humans. Everything was there in my listing resume was true. And that's the reason I was confident for the interview. But that was my first this thing was an online interview. It was because before that I attended wide interviews but those were face to face. But this was my first online interview except As I was anxious as ma'am, told that, that is really your law breaking, but I was confident with my resume. And that's the reason I could answer all those questions about your basic education and work experience.

And after that, she asked me about some behavior based sessions, like you know about how you handle certain situations, or like she asked me about conflict management and about you know about, about change, if there is a change how you will embrace that change. So I just explained whatever my experience because my friend, one of my friends, she told me, they might ask us what your experience, what your education, what you learn how you are going to implement in the workplace, so that they are going to ask you, so only thing whatever we are riding on or he may it will not work means how you're suppose I'm a graduate nurse, but I learned so many things, but at workplaces in clinical area, how you're going to implement that is very important. And they want to hear that Miss whether you are able to implement or if you have graduated, but are you confident in communication in conflict management, in change, embracing all those things, you are doing that experience, they want to hear from us. So she prepared me for that. So accordingly, I keep certain situation in my mind about conflict, I get one situation in my mind. Change about change, I keep one thing in my mind. And so it was quite easy, easier for me. So that repression what I want to say that preparation is very important. Don't just go that I'm confident, I'm confident that but little bit repression should be there.

Yeah, I thank you. So you saw right, the preparation is really important. And you know, if you have everything on your resume is true. If they ask you questions about it, you will feel confident because it's true. And you've done it, you've lived it. And but I think you know, as you and Estelle have both said, preparing beforehand is really important. Because the interviewers want to know that you have done your homework and you want to be able to share that. Angelique, I know that you're having some Wi Fi, so hopefully we can get a hold out. And I think it was Keith, who spoke about bragging. I know, for many international nurses, you know, it's very commonplace to be taught to be shy, to be humbled to be more a little bit more timid. How was that for you in your preparation? Because for many nurses interviewing, especially when it's virtual, it can feel very scary, was it? How did that feel for you? And how did you overcome trying to brag a little bit? I agree with prep, for a show on preparation is very important. And regarding about my achievements, I think I'm not bragging but I'm just really proud of my achievements, because I worked hard for them. And I am. And I'm just being honest. And I don't think it's about the bragging, but just sharing my achievements, because these achievements inspire me to do better and strive for more and to be excellent. And these serves as my inspiration. Okay, well, thank you for sharing that. Allison, have you had times where you've interviewed a candidate you probably have. But if you had times where you've interviewed a candidate where you were you just know that they're not prepared? Can you share maybe one or two stories like that? you unmute? Well, maybe we can't hear you.

Everyone that we talked with through Connetics was pretty prepared. There. You know, some were, I think, very nervous. And I actually started this process before COVID. So the whole idea of zoom was not even very familiar to some of our nurse managers, much less everyone overseas. So we've all been learning and we've come a long way. But I do think the folks who are not prepared to talk even about their experiences are, you know, I can tell that they miss what haven't necessarily been prepared. And it makes it a little bit harder to get to know the person and for the interviewer to have to ask a lot more questions. A lot of times we want to ask a little bit more of an open ended question and hear more from the candidate. And rather than having to continue to ask a lot of very directed questions, so if you're not prepared to speak about your background, then you're going to give very short answers and It'll, it hinders the flow of the interviewer. Yeah. And that's the thing, you know, I think Estelle said this, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer and think what they want to hear. And usually, if you're an experienced interviewer, as most of our clients are, you'll be able to pick up if somebody's not prepared. I mean, if you ask the question, why do you want to work for Siena? Why do you want to work for Methodist, and the person doesn't even know anything about the organization or doesn't know about the location or anything like that, that's going to be a massive red flag, and it's going to be a bit of a turn off for an interviewer. And Don, and I think it was Netra spoke about some of the behavioral based questions. I know that we have a graphic on behavioral based questions. Can you maybe talk us through what a behavioral based question is? Sure. So sorry, sorry, I think we got the wrong slide up here. It's the one about the stars. And so if we can just put that one, there we go. Thank you.

Yeah. So I want to share some information with you, I believe everybody on this call is a superstar. And you do a very important work in healthcare, and you take care of people and you save people's lives. And, and you make their life better because of what you've committed your life to be. And what I want to do is teach you something that I teach my own daughter, and I teach anybody else on how to be a superstar when you do an interview. Because as it's been said, already, what people want to know is, you know, we believe that past behavior predicts future behavior. So the reason people ask behavior based interview questions is they want to know, what did you do in the past that made you successful? And does that predict what you'll do in the future that will make you successful? So what I want to do is to teach you a format give you a format for how to tell a story, because the people who tell the best story, get the best opportunities. And so we I use this format, my whole life, when somebody asked me a behavior, best based question, I tried to think of a situation or a task that I was given, maybe it was a situation I was in. So somebody mentioned about a conflict. So think about a time when I was in conflict with one of my co workers. What did I do? Or say, What actions that I take to navigate through that situation? And ultimately, What result did I get when I did those things, so maybe the conflict got better, or we began to understand each other in a way we didn't before.

Or, you know, we realized that the conflict wasn't about each other to conflict was about a limited resource that we were both trying to get access to. So we solved the problem on how to share that resource. And so you want to be able to tell your story, use this format, because this, this will help like Allison said, people want to know the whole picture, and not have to keep asking follow up questions to get to the answer. So the best way to give them that total picture, is to do it in this star format, describe the situation or task, maybe it's a, we want to know if you're a great advocate for the patient. We'll talk about a time when you thought the physician was maybe not doing the right thing for the for the patient or some other care team member might not have been doing the right thing for the patient. What did you do or say, to advocate for the patient, and that's your action, right? And then what result occurred, you know, the patient, you know, got better or the results the thing you were measuring the equipment you were using, registered a better result. And ultimately, the patient, you know, was very grateful for what you did in that moment. So, again, tell that whole story and then you'll be a superstar in the interview.

Yeah, that is a great explanation done of the STAR technique. And as I said, In the beginning, interviewing is a skill you really can learn how to interview you can be a great nurse and not know how to interview. So learning how to interview is really, really important. And that's why we just love doing the show, because it's sharing free information for nurses of how to project yourself in the best way. And often with international, we're not international nurses, but with all interviewing the we don't know what questions the interviewer is going to ask. And that's where, as Estelle said, you want to write down some talking points. And the good practice that we often suggest to our nurses is to write down three to five so situations of where you have excelled as a nurse. So for example, as Don said, when you have a star, when you're looking for a star, it's like a specific situation in your past. So you might say, think of a specific situation in your past where you experienced conflict, or a specific situation in your past where you showed Initiative, or a specific exam time in in your past where you excelled as the nurse in some way, you know, you got some award, you got a compliment, you got a note from a patient, you handle the difficult doctor, some the word I always find this kind of helpful is to think of specific situation in your past. Because the mistake that many nurses make is when they asked about how did you handle conflict is they say, often will say, Well, how I would handle conflict is in this way, that's not what the interviewer is looking for. They're looking for a specific example, in your past of how you did already handle conflict. So we have some specific questions. And the panel is going to walk us through how best to answer those kinds of questions. And things like, tell me about yourself, or your strengths and weaknesses. We're going to put up a graphic now with some specific questions. And that panel is going to ask, it's going to talk us through those questions like strengths and weaknesses.

And those kinds of questions. So one of the questions that you might get is tell us about a time you had a conflict with a colleague, and how did you resolve it? So we know now that that is a behavioral based question, Keith, what's the best way to answer that question specifically? Which question, Tanya, I'm sorry. The one tell us about a time you had a conflict with a colleague, and how did you resolve it?

Right? People have a hard time talking about this particular topic, because conflict is something we like to avoid, generally, as human. So you have to think back on a time when there was some sort of disagreement or some sort of conflict where you needed to come to some type of positive resolution. And it doesn't have to be a conflict where you're yelling and screaming at each other. Hopefully, it was not, it just has to be an area of disagreement. And that's what we often mean by conflict. So if a physician was making an order, and you agreed with the order, and that might not be some thing that doctors were would question a doctor. But here in the United States, it's quite common for a nurse or a doctor, that that order, I'm questioning why you're ordering that particular medication, or I think that dose might be incorrect. So that's very common here. And it's expected of a nurse to actually be able to go to a physician in question in order, because you will be held responsible if you wrong medication or the wrong dose. So it really goes back to that the STAR method in a sense, where you have the situation at hand, and then the action you took and speaking with the doctor sense and how you actually approached that person, with the job at hand, how it was resolved, what was the resolution? What was the what was the conclusion of that situation? So this is a very difficult one, to be prepared here in the United States, I would say that's a very common interview question. And you need to have a couple of polls so that you can bond to it the show how you communicate. And one thing I want to add, Tonya, that any questions asked in the interview, I always tell my career coaching clients always say, think about asking, and why are they asking me this question? What do they truly want to know me? So when they're asking a behavioral type question, think in the back of your mind, what does this person really want to know? What are they after? And try to answer the question in relation should be very helpful?

Yeah, that's a great tip Keith, because often when you are, you know, it just talking about like that question about the doctor for many international nurses, they come from cultures with the doctor is not to be questioned. And, you know, it can be quite difficult for that for nurses to ask that question. But at the end of the day, the employer is really just looking to see if you are able to handle conflict and resolve it in a positive way. Allison, what's your best advice to nurses when they are asked the question, what are your strengths and weaknesses? Well, something that we haven't talked about here, but one of the first things that I want to know is is, you know, why did they become a nurse. And I want to know, you know what they like about being a nurse what they don't like about being a nurse. And I want to note that they're caring and compassionate, because you can teach a lot of skills, but you can't teach caring. So that's one of the first things I want to hear about. And I'm hoping that that's someone's strength. So I generally, you know, look for some behavioral qualities and strengths, and then maybe also some skill based qualities in their strengths. And then, you know, weaknesses, I think, are always hard to address. But I think of maybe what are some things that you're working on, or trying to improve about your nursing practice? And if you think of it that way, you know, it's not so much that you're revealing a weakness, but you are thinking about how you can improve.

Okay, so most employers like Allison, want to hear about your love of nursing, they want to hear about your passion. So don't be scared. Don't be scared to actually share that. And to the say that, Don, how would you address that question about weaknesses? What is the best way to present yourself? When if an employer asks about weaknesses? Yeah, I think one key thought about emotional intelligence and emotional intelligence is the ability to receive feedback about a weakness or an opportunity. And, and then to improve to to understand what you can do differently going forward. So what I would say is, if you've ever gotten feedback, I would share that, you know, I would say, this is the feedback I've received about some of my opportunities when I first started in nursing. So initially, it was a weakness, it doesn't mean it's always a weakness, right. But what's really more important is that you had the courage first of all know that when people give you feedback is because they care, right? They care about what you're doing, and the result that you're achieving. And ultimately, they care about you. So they're given the feedback because they believe that you could do something with it to be even better as a nurse. So, so tell your story, right? Tell your star story about a time you got some feedback, maybe some weaknesses that have been, that you've recognized in yourself or others have recognized, and what you've done to overcome those and turn those weaknesses into strengths. So never be afraid to share a weakness, but also share how you learn to make that a string.

Oh, that's a good tip. So I think that's really helpful. And I think, Keith, anything to add on the streets, strengths and weaknesses, question? Yes, absolutely. I, we covered it. But I want to echo something Don said and build upon it, that when talking weakness, Don is right, turned it into a strength. So one of the psychological. It's not a trick, but it's just a way to approach a weakness question, Jim, my clients is that when you're talking about a weakness, you don't just have to talk about it as if this is my weakness, right now, you can talk about that you recognize this particular area where you need to grow. And you don't even have to use the word weakness in your response, you can say, well, this is the area where I'm really working on growing is. And you can paint a picture of how you already have recognized that area and how you're already working on changing it. And it's basically demonstrating to the employer, your sense of humility, that you're able to admit that there's an area where you're not particularly strong, but also showing that employer that you have the wherewithal and the personal insight, to know that it's an area where you need growth, and that you're actually actively working on it right now, in this very moment. And I think if you can turn it into a positive for it's not really a negative, it's a positive. If you can spin it in that direction, that's a term we use here in the US, we spin it in the right direction, then the employer will see oh, this person seems reasonable have a lot of self knowledge and they're really working on themselves to be better. And I think Don and Alison would agree that that's, that's a really good approach to the weakness.

Okay, good. I love that. I think very helpful because at the end of the day in interviews about selling yourself, it's about showing the employer why you are a good fit for their particular facility. A question that we often that is often asked in interviews is why should I hire you? Estelle or natural Angelique? Did any of you get that question and if So how did you answer it? Well, it's not. Yeah, I don't think it was directly like that. But you know, they wanted to see if you could sell yourself, you know, and I think you, you have to think about what is it that you've got to offer. So for me, one of the things I shared is that I think in South Africa, we deal with a lot of diversity. So I shared that I said, I work with different people all the time, I'm used to talking to different people, I work with diversity often. So I tried to think what is it that I've got to offer, you know, and share that with them? And I think that's what they're looking for is what makes you stand out a little bit, you know, you've mentioned your achievements in your resume. So, you know, that's one of the things that I think distinguishes you from other clients. But also maybe something that's very unique to you experience that you could share that could make it a good fit for the hospital as well. We all have something to share, I think you just you need to share what you have and what you think you've got to offer.

Yeah. And that's where for many international nurses, it's can be very challenging, because you feel shy. Don, did you have something to add to that?

I really do this. I'm very passionate about that question. So here's what I believe every organization has problems. And what they're really hiring you to do is be a problem solver. We saw process problems, and we saw people problems. So let me give you some magic words. So why should we hire you? Here's what you should say. Because I'm a problem solver to solve process problems, and I love to solve problems with patients, patient families, and my team members. right braid up dawn, I absolutely love I've never heard that one before. I love it. Thank you for sharing that. I can't, we are almost at the hour, this hour is like flown by we've got so much to talk about. And we can't get through everything. And we wanted to just share some tips for everybody about interviewing virtually because our lives have changed since the pandemic and one thing that is probably here to stay is virtual interviews. So we have just a fun graphic that we put together for everybody about what not to do during a virtual interview. These are members of the Connetics team. So don't underestimate the importance of a background, make sure that it's neutral and clutter free. No eating or chewing gum. And don't be in bed. Oh my gosh, we saw this once there was a nurse who was laying kind of in bed and no, that's a no, this is still an interview voice be professional. And also place your webcam properly. I have a client in upstate New York that they that loved one of the nurses because they placed their webcam in a place where they could see their whole face and commented on that to us. Don't be checking your cell phone, make sure it's turned off. Don't have pets around or children in the background. Look at the camera like you're talking directly to it. And don't become distracted by your own image on the screen. So those are just some fun tips to bear in mind for virtual intervene. And things to bear in mind because obviously, first impressions count and you're going to have 3040 minutes with the interviewer. So you want to make sure that you put your best, your best self forward. Okay, we are almost at the hour. Estelle, what would you say is your best, most important takeaway to anybody who's preparing for an interview? Any global nurse around the world is watching what would you say is your best piece of advice?

I think I would say be yourself. You know being authentic because even though it's a virtual interview people know you they want to get a sense of you. So be yourself. And I know that that's fine. Because you won't be able to keep up appearances anyway forever. So they want to get a feeling for you and don't be scared. Just be yourself and talk enough. You know, don't be ashamed more than talk too little. I think it's important that people get a strong feeling of who you are. Good, good advice. Detra. What's your best piece of advice? My advice can be a be harnessed to that is what I want to see is what on resume as I said previously, if your resume it's true, then you will be more confident And while speaking, don't hide anything, and don't just tell us stories, you know? And what sir has explained about that star that we need to remember that when we whenever you're answering your questions based on behaviors, so that started situation task, then your action and your reason when you are putting any story in that format now you will be very confident to explain to answer any questions easily. So that's very important about that STAR method that everyone knows should remember that.

Very, very valuable advice. And as I said, we don't know exactly what the interviewer is going to ask. So if you prepare a few situations from your past beforehand, hopefully one is going to fit the question that the interviewer is going to ask you. Thank you, Netra. Angelique, what's your best advice? My best advice would be prepared. Preparation is really the key. Like what Nadler said, be honest, be confident. And just be yourself be genuine, because the interviewer will see through you. The interview process is like get to know you stage with the employer. So just be yourself and be confident and just stay positive. Smile.

I love it. Be confident, even if it feels a little uncomfortable to sell yourself. This is an interview you have to sell yourself. Allison final words, I tend to smile. Smile. Yeah, we want people who are caring and you know, who are going to take great care of our patients. So you know that will come through when you talk about yourself. I all for all of you. I know that you're all stars, and you've been working very hard wherever you are, as all nurses do. So Oh, absolutely. Still, what was it still voted for? I think for 20 years running the most noble respect most trusted profession. most trusted? Yeah. Thank you, Alice. Er, is no question. We love nurses key.

I would say think about what Ferencz creates you from other candidates? What makes you unique and special? And how can you communicate that as clearly as possible to an employer? And sometimes we call that your value proposition? What is the value that you bring to them when because they're going to be investing a lot in you. In order to hire you onboard, you orient you and have you as an employee. So what are you bringing to the table? What are you contributing to their community and their family? And I think being yourself is so important. And Oscar Wilde, the British playwright, once said, Be yourself, everyone else is taken. So really be and make sure that that you communicate your individual uniqueness. Okay, fabulous. So Oscar Wilde said Keith said it, I see our Lena saying it in the chat, be yourself and sell yourself. That is great. Thank you key done. Last but not least, number one priority in health care is the patient. And the number two priority is team. Because we can't do it by ourselves, we have to work within a team. And then the next priority is me. But sometimes I have to get out of my comfort zone, I have to be courageous enough and care enough to have the right conversation on behalf of the patient. And on behalf of the team. So be courageous, build in care, care deeply about what you do, which you already do. And project that confidence, as has been said, to show where you've been courageous, and you've cared enough to have a conversation that you might have not been comfortable having. But you had it because it was the right thing to do for the patient. Or it was the right thing to do for the team.

Okay, love it. Well, I couldn't say it better than that. So thank you so much to the team. This is to the panel, I should say they're the team. And then you're done. And this has been such a fun, informative discussion. I know there have been some questions I haven't been able to get to in the chat. So our team will make sure to answer any questions that we were not able to read to get here. And as Alison and Don said, there are many opportunities all over the United States. So if you've not already done so, please apply to Connetics USA and our Korea matchmakers are on hold. They are waiting for your call. They are ready for you and looking to find you the best fit and the best match. Thank you everybody for joining Are some of the shows that are coming up soon. And just to share with you and our and we have our stateside show next week will be which will be live as a nurse in Kentucky each. Each month we showcase a different state what it's like to live in that state. In February we have our clients showcase once a month we have our client showcased and Methodist Don will be back because Methodist will be our client showcase on the February 4, then we have our immigration Q&A on the 11th.

The Lefora talk show, it's all about taxes on the 15th. In stateside, we're doing North and South Dakota on the 18th. And then we have a whole show about the IELTS with one of our partners Niners on the 25th. So these are the shows coming up, stay tuned every Friday. And last but not least, our Connetics initiatives just wanted to share with everybody just to remind everybody, so remember all Connetics, USA nurses get a free IELTS scholarship. This is an initiative we started at the in 2020. During the pandemic, it's our way of paying it forward for nurses and it's our gift to you. So if your place for the Connetics employer, you get a free IELTS course only with Connetics, we also have a NCLEX scholarship. This is a free review course for selected global nurses. And I saw in the chat, there were a lot of people that were looking to write the NCLEX. So please apply to the scholarship and you might be selected. And we'd love to help you with that. We also have a for our free promotion, ultimate free promotion, which is extended until the end of January. If you refer a friend with NCLEX, you get $1,000 referral fee. We have one of our international nurses, Jake J. Cole, who has referred I think, close to 100 nurses, he will be getting $100,000. So lots and lots of helping lots of his friends and colleagues but also earning a lot of great money for himself. So refer us your friends for NCLEX. Please listen to our podcasts. We're in the top 10% of podcasts worldwide. We have a Nurse Aide program, watch out, oh, and with the show onwards and upwards, and we also hire for allied knee. So these are just some of the Connetics initiatives to share with you. Thank you, everybody for joining us. We'll be back next week. Thank you again to the panel. And as we say, onwards and upwards. Thank you, everybody.