The interview is a chance for schools to put you on the spot and test your readiness and composure, but it’s also a chance for you to prove why you’re an excellent candidate who would be a great student at their school. In nursing school interviews, you need to show that you understand and care about the nursing profession, have the background needed to study it and have a personality suited to the field.
Prove You’re the Right Person
- Before your interview, take time to research and learn about the nursing school, so that when you go in you know what the school is looking for and are ready to explain why you’re right for them. Look at admissions statistics for the school to know how your grades and test scores stack up to others accepted, and look for other things the school or its students say about what they look for, like previous volunteer and work experience in hospitals or other clinical locations. In the interview, try to focus your answers to questions on your strong points, but also be prepared to explain your weaker points if they ask about them directly. Tell them how you’ll overcome weaknesses rather than make excuses for them.
- Find a friend or family member to practice typical nursing school interview questions with. Nursing schools will want to know about your experience with related subjects, about why you are considering nursing school and about what kinds of nursing you are interested in. In the interview, you don’t want to give answers that sound scripted, but you also want to be prepared so you can give clear answers without hesitation.
- You should also think ahead so that you can ask intelligent, relevant questions, specific to nursing school and the particular institution you’re interviewing with, on things like their coursework and their relationship to the local community, to show that you are knowledgeable about the field and interested in the school.
Look and Act the Part
- Nurses are usually expected to have a clean cut and well groomed appearance, and to have clothes that look nice while remaining practical for tough work. You can look the part and show that you have the right personality and demeanor for work as a nurse by going in to your interview with trimmed nails, tattoos covered, facial piecing removed, and shoes you aren’t going to trip over.
- Though proving you are calm, collected, and socially adept is important in any interview, it is extra important in a profession focused around working with other people and dealing frequently with stressful situations and important decisions. Though everyone understands that interviews make people nervous, your interview is a chance to act the part and show that you are the right kind of person for nursing work.
