C areer g u id a n ce
How to respond at interview Jane Fish, Nightingale and Guy’s College of Health, London Interviewers use a wide range of questioning techniques to explore candidates’ potential. Understanding the techniques helps the candidate make a response. This is the first of two articles which consider questioning skills and how to respond.
uestioning is the key skill required 1to master the art of interviewing. Experienced interviewers use a wide range of questions to elicit the information they require. If you are invited to be an inter viewer you need to understand questioning techniques and be able to identify the cir cumstances under which different types of questions can most effectively be used. If you have prepared extensively for your interview, as recommended in the previous article, then you will be expecting a broad range of questions (Fish, 1992). The psy chological build up is extensive and you will want to be given the opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise. If the interviewers are skilled, you will feel under slight pressure as the panel questions you on a wide range of topic areas. If the panel does not give you this opportunity, you will leave the interview feeling cheated, as you will not have had the opportunity to sell yourself. The range of questions avail able is extensive (Table 1). The first six of these will be examined in this article, and the remaining six in the next issue. They will be discussed in relation to what the in terviewer is looking for and what the nature of the response should be.
Q
Open questions
Mrs Fish is Nurse Tutor in staff nurse development, Nightingale and Guy’s College of Health, London
252
Open questions are structured to allow can didates a range of possible replies. Health Care Education Associates (1987) suggest that they are useful in determining atti tudes, feelings and opinions. They are often used at the start of an interview so that can didates settle down by talking about their experience to date, e.g. ‘Can you tell me what you have done since qualifying as a registered nurse?’ This question enables you to talk about familiar experiences with out being stretched initially. Listen careful ly to the cut-off date given, e.g. if you have had 10 years postregistration experience, the most recent 3 years being oncology re lated, then it is likely that the interviewer will ask you only about your experience since entering the speciality. This is a likely
question and therefore you can plan in ad vance what you are going to say. It is im portant that you state the main areas of your experience and briefly mention your achievements to date which the interviewer can then further explore. You must aim to be succinct and capture the panel’s interest from the outset. One response to this ques tion could be: ‘On qualifying I developed and consoli dated the knowledge and skills gained during my general training as a staff nurse on a general medical ward. Team nursing was operational and I was able to work closely within a team, utilizing the team leader as a role model. I devel oped an information booklet for patients coming to the ward which has been evaluated positively.’ This extract gives the panel insight into your skills and achievements.
Broad diagnostic questions Broad diagnostic questions are designed as a springboard for opening up discussion or eliciting the candidate’s opinion, e.g. ‘What do you consider the stressors of working in oncology?’ This type of question gives Table I. Example of the wide range of questions used in selection interviews 1. Open questions ___________ 2. Broad diagnostic questions 3. Hypothetical situation questions 4. Questions of extension 5. Probing questions 6. Summary questions 7. Questions of support 8. Questions of clarification 9. Mirror questions 10. Closed questions
____ ______
11. Priority questions
__________
12. Leading questions ___________
British Journal of Nursing, 1992, Vol I, No 5 Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview
( Interviewers commonly use questions o f extension. These explore a candidate’s analytical ability and capacity to think clearly and logically. 3
you scope to develop your response. Your reply could be: ‘Having worked in oncology for 3 years I have found that it is a speciality that can be stressful. The client group, be cause of the nature of their disease, may have a poor prognosis. There can be times when there are a lot of deaths on the ward, often in young patients of my own age group. One of the ways of over coming this is to have a supportive at mosphere on the ward and give col leagues the opportunity to express how they feel about it.’ This response gives you the chance to use your own experience in order to give credi bility to your reply.
Hypothetical situation questions Hypothetical situation questions are com monly used in nursing interviews. They are designed to discover what the person would do in a specific situation or under a given set of circumstances. Health Care Educa tion Associates (1987) suggest that they are a useful way of identifying how candidates would act in certain management situations, e.g. you are in charge of the ward and rela tives are initiating a complaint in the middle of the open ward. What would you do?’. This type of question requires you to ‘think on your feet’. However, as a candi date you can practise responding to hypo thetical situation questions before the inter view in a mock situation (Fish, 1992). An extract from a possible reply could be: ‘My initial response would be to approach the relatives concerned and quietly request that they accompany me to sister’s office where we may discuss the matter.’ This enables the staff nurse to discuss the situation in private, away from the patients on the ward who may be distressed by witnessing such a heated discussion. The nurse will also be concerned about confidentiality as it is undesirable to discuss aspects of care in the open ward. Finally, by walking with the relatives to the office, the nurse may find the time lapse has as sisted in defusing the situation which will then enable a rational discussion to take place. The remainder of your response could include giving the relatives time to express their complaint, taking the com plaint seriously and attempting to resolve the issues concerned at ward level.
Questions of extension Interviewers commonly use questions of extension. These explore a candidate’s British Journal of Nursing, 1992, Vol l,N o5
analytical ability and capacity to think clearly and logically. They are often used to extend the candidate’s response to the previous question, e.g. a question of exten sion related to the previous question could be: ‘What are the implications of the rela tives’ complaint not being resolved at ward level?’ This gives you the opportunity to show you can resolve the hypothetical situ ation and confirms your ability to manage difficult situations to the interview panel. Your response could include the following: ‘If I was unable to resolve the complaint at ward level I would give the relatives the name and address of the hospital ad ministrator to whom they could direct their complaint. I would inform the ward sister when next on duty of my actions. At the time I would carefully document the relatives’ complaint and the action I took. If it was a serious alle gation I would contact the senior nurse or on-call hospital administrator to see the relatives before they left the ward.’ This response demonstrates your ability to handle the situation and to follow the rec ommended hospital policy relating to com plaints. It is important to emphasize the need to document what happened and the action taken. It is common for complaints to reach a high level of administration or even the Health Service Commissioner be cause they have not been dealt with swiftly and a lack of documentation indicates a poorly managed complaints procedure (Buck, 1992).
Probing questions Probing questions are designed to elicit fur ther information and gain further depth to an initial response. For example, an internal candidate, Anne, is a senior staff nurse who is being interviewed for the post of ward sister on the same ward. Patient care is cur rently managed using patient allocation. At interview she may be asked: ‘Is there any thing you would change in the way the ward is managed?’ This question requires her to give her opinion on how the ward is already managed and to state her inten tions for the ward. Her response could in clude: ‘I believe the ward is currently managed effectively and patient care is of a high standard. However, I have had previous experience as a team leader and several staff nurses currently working on the ward have expressed a desire to imple ment team nursing. I would be interest ed in doing this as it enhances continuity
253
Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview
of patient care and job satisfaction for staff. However, this is a major change and would require extensive discussion and preparation prior to implementa tion. If I were appointed I believe it would be important not to make any major changes for 3 months to enable me to settle in to the role of sister and to become established as sister on the ward.’ This response confirms that she has given this matter careful consideration. It also shows that she has clearly thought through the consequences of taking on a new role and the implications of a major change for the ward staff. Most interviews for F grade and above probe the candidate on how he/she would approach and implement change in his/her clinical environment. In a management po sition, with the exception of minor changes or an area which urgently needs attention, it is advisable to orientate and establish yourself for a period of approximately 3 months. This enables you to build a rapport with staff and involve them in any changes
What have you done since qualifying? What interests you in this post? How will your role change if you are appointed to this post? What knowledge and experience will you bring to this post? What are your strengths and weaknesses? How do you see your role in relation to sister? What will you be looking for from your ward sister? What will you be looking for from your manager? What will your priorities be in the first 6 months of this post? How do you know that the care delivered on the previous shift was of a high standard? ________________ What aspects of nursing care can be used as an indicator of quality? How would you set and monitor standards of care? What are the benefits of primary nursing? How would you deal with a conflict between two members of staff? How would you create a positive learning environment? How would you manage a learner who is not meeting her objectives?
How do you keep yourself up-to-date? Can you summarize a piece of nursing research you have read in the last 8 weeks? What is your long-term career plan? Why should we choose you as opposed to any other candidate?
254
Summary questions Summary questions are used to determine the candidate’s ability to synthesize infor mation as well as recognizing key points, e.g. Anne may be asked: ‘What experience and skills have you gained from your pres ent job?’ This is asking the candidate to summarize the key areas from her extensive range of skills and experience. It is recom mended that you should focus on the skills required in the job for which you are being interviewed. Anne’s reply could be: ‘As senior staff nurse on the ward I have gained extensive management experi ence, deputising for sister most of the time. I set a high standard of patient care and have been involved in develop ing standards of care to enable us to monitor and evaluate patient care. I have an excellent knowledge of develop ments and current treatment in oncol ogy nursing gained from the ENB 237 course (oncology nursing) as well as ex perience gained on the ward. I have been involved in implementing an appraisal system for junior staff nurses and feed back suggests this is effective.’
Table 2. Common questions asked at interview
How do you recognize and cope with stress?
you may make. It also gives you time to become familiar with the ward and clearly identify the changes that may be required. Wright (1989) confirms the importance of ownership in relation to implementing change. He suggests that this will increase your chances of success in effecting and sustaining the change. A skilled interviewer will be perceptive to obvious omissions and will use probing questions to identify the extent of your knowledge and skills and therefore these can be among the most chal lenging used at interview.
In this response Anne has summarized four key areas: management, standards of care, knowledge of oncology nursing and staff appraisal. While Anne has gained experi ence in many other areas, she has selected those which demonstrate her potential as a leader and innovator and which are out lined as important in the job description. Selection interviews in nursing generally have similar topic areas. Common ques tions asked at interview are shown in Table 2. However, as part of your preparation, careful scrutiny of the job description and person specification is the most compre hensive way of identifying possible areas to be covered in the interview (Fish, 1992). Nevertheless, a list of possible questions may help you to identify these topic areas and the questions that may be asked.
British Journal of Nursing. 1992,Vol l,N o 5 Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview
Conclusion The range of question types is extensive and a knowledge of these can assist in interview preparation. Similarly, as a manager, in or der to interview staff, it is essential to pos sess questioning skills as staff selection is crucial to the service your unit aims to pro-
KEY POINTS • Experienced interviewers utilize a wide range of questions to elicit the information required. • Being knowledgeable in questioning skills can assist you in your responses. • Hypothetical situations are used to test the candidate’s management skills in a given situation. • Probing questions can be the most challenging type of question used in selection interviews. • Interviewers need to be skilled in asking questions to identify the person who meets the requirements for the job.
vide. Finally, nurses spend a significant part of their time using interviewing skills, e.g. when admitting a patient to hospital, there fore a wide range of questioning skills will enhance the quality of information obtain ed. The range of questions discussed should be part of your repertoire of communica tion skills. The next article in this series will con sider the remaining types of questioning techniques commonly used in selection in terviews (Tabic 1) and will suggest possible responses.
Buck A (1992) Minutes of Evidence and Appendices 1990-1991 Health Session Service Commissioner. HMSO, London Fish J (1992) How to succeed at an interview. Br ] Nurs 1 (4): 201-4 Health Care Education Associates (1987) Interviewing Skills for Nurse Managers. CV Mosby Company, St. Louis Wrieht SG (19891 Changing Nursing Practice. Edward Arnold, London
British Journal of Nursing 1992 Conferences Nursing the cancer patient
23 June
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Wound care
22-23 July
University of Birmingham
Quality in cancer care
28 July
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Dermatology
2 September
Birmingham Polytechnic
Paediatrics
29-30 September
Kensington Town Hall, London
New developments in breast cancer
27 October
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Haematology
3-4 November
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
Partnership in audit
4-5 November
York Race Course
Head and neck cancer
l December
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
For further information contact: The Conference Manager, Mark Allen International Conferences, Croxted Mews, 288 Croxted Road, London SE24 9DA. Telephone: 081-671 7521. Fax: 081-671 7327 ,ir‘Iish Journal of Nursing, 1992, Vol I , No 5
255
Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview Jane Fish, Nightingale and Guy’s College of Health, London Interviewers use a wide range of questioning techniques to explore candidates’ potential. Understanding the techniques helps the candidate make a response. This is the first of two articles which consider questioning skills and how to respond.
uestioning is the key skill required 1to master the art of interviewing. Experienced interviewers use a wide range of questions to elicit the information they require. If you are invited to be an inter viewer you need to understand questioning techniques and be able to identify the cir cumstances under which different types of questions can most effectively be used. If you have prepared extensively for your interview, as recommended in the previous article, then you will be expecting a broad range of questions (Fish, 1992). The psy chological build up is extensive and you will want to be given the opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise. If the interviewers are skilled, you will feel under slight pressure as the panel questions you on a wide range of topic areas. If the panel does not give you this opportunity, you will leave the interview feeling cheated, as you will not have had the opportunity to sell yourself. The range of questions avail able is extensive (Table 1). The first six of these will be examined in this article, and the remaining six in the next issue. They will be discussed in relation to what the in terviewer is looking for and what the nature of the response should be.
Q
Open questions
Mrs Fish is Nurse Tutor in staff nurse development, Nightingale and Guy’s College of Health, London
252
Open questions are structured to allow can didates a range of possible replies. Health Care Education Associates (1987) suggest that they are useful in determining atti tudes, feelings and opinions. They are often used at the start of an interview so that can didates settle down by talking about their experience to date, e.g. ‘Can you tell me what you have done since qualifying as a registered nurse?’ This question enables you to talk about familiar experiences with out being stretched initially. Listen careful ly to the cut-off date given, e.g. if you have had 10 years postregistration experience, the most recent 3 years being oncology re lated, then it is likely that the interviewer will ask you only about your experience since entering the speciality. This is a likely
question and therefore you can plan in ad vance what you are going to say. It is im portant that you state the main areas of your experience and briefly mention your achievements to date which the interviewer can then further explore. You must aim to be succinct and capture the panel’s interest from the outset. One response to this ques tion could be: ‘On qualifying I developed and consoli dated the knowledge and skills gained during my general training as a staff nurse on a general medical ward. Team nursing was operational and I was able to work closely within a team, utilizing the team leader as a role model. I devel oped an information booklet for patients coming to the ward which has been evaluated positively.’ This extract gives the panel insight into your skills and achievements.
Broad diagnostic questions Broad diagnostic questions are designed as a springboard for opening up discussion or eliciting the candidate’s opinion, e.g. ‘What do you consider the stressors of working in oncology?’ This type of question gives Table I. Example of the wide range of questions used in selection interviews 1. Open questions ___________ 2. Broad diagnostic questions 3. Hypothetical situation questions 4. Questions of extension 5. Probing questions 6. Summary questions 7. Questions of support 8. Questions of clarification 9. Mirror questions 10. Closed questions
____ ______
11. Priority questions
__________
12. Leading questions ___________
British Journal of Nursing, 1992, Vol I, No 5 Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview
( Interviewers commonly use questions o f extension. These explore a candidate’s analytical ability and capacity to think clearly and logically. 3
you scope to develop your response. Your reply could be: ‘Having worked in oncology for 3 years I have found that it is a speciality that can be stressful. The client group, be cause of the nature of their disease, may have a poor prognosis. There can be times when there are a lot of deaths on the ward, often in young patients of my own age group. One of the ways of over coming this is to have a supportive at mosphere on the ward and give col leagues the opportunity to express how they feel about it.’ This response gives you the chance to use your own experience in order to give credi bility to your reply.
Hypothetical situation questions Hypothetical situation questions are com monly used in nursing interviews. They are designed to discover what the person would do in a specific situation or under a given set of circumstances. Health Care Educa tion Associates (1987) suggest that they are a useful way of identifying how candidates would act in certain management situations, e.g. you are in charge of the ward and rela tives are initiating a complaint in the middle of the open ward. What would you do?’. This type of question requires you to ‘think on your feet’. However, as a candi date you can practise responding to hypo thetical situation questions before the inter view in a mock situation (Fish, 1992). An extract from a possible reply could be: ‘My initial response would be to approach the relatives concerned and quietly request that they accompany me to sister’s office where we may discuss the matter.’ This enables the staff nurse to discuss the situation in private, away from the patients on the ward who may be distressed by witnessing such a heated discussion. The nurse will also be concerned about confidentiality as it is undesirable to discuss aspects of care in the open ward. Finally, by walking with the relatives to the office, the nurse may find the time lapse has as sisted in defusing the situation which will then enable a rational discussion to take place. The remainder of your response could include giving the relatives time to express their complaint, taking the com plaint seriously and attempting to resolve the issues concerned at ward level.
Questions of extension Interviewers commonly use questions of extension. These explore a candidate’s British Journal of Nursing, 1992, Vol l,N o5
analytical ability and capacity to think clearly and logically. They are often used to extend the candidate’s response to the previous question, e.g. a question of exten sion related to the previous question could be: ‘What are the implications of the rela tives’ complaint not being resolved at ward level?’ This gives you the opportunity to show you can resolve the hypothetical situ ation and confirms your ability to manage difficult situations to the interview panel. Your response could include the following: ‘If I was unable to resolve the complaint at ward level I would give the relatives the name and address of the hospital ad ministrator to whom they could direct their complaint. I would inform the ward sister when next on duty of my actions. At the time I would carefully document the relatives’ complaint and the action I took. If it was a serious alle gation I would contact the senior nurse or on-call hospital administrator to see the relatives before they left the ward.’ This response demonstrates your ability to handle the situation and to follow the rec ommended hospital policy relating to com plaints. It is important to emphasize the need to document what happened and the action taken. It is common for complaints to reach a high level of administration or even the Health Service Commissioner be cause they have not been dealt with swiftly and a lack of documentation indicates a poorly managed complaints procedure (Buck, 1992).
Probing questions Probing questions are designed to elicit fur ther information and gain further depth to an initial response. For example, an internal candidate, Anne, is a senior staff nurse who is being interviewed for the post of ward sister on the same ward. Patient care is cur rently managed using patient allocation. At interview she may be asked: ‘Is there any thing you would change in the way the ward is managed?’ This question requires her to give her opinion on how the ward is already managed and to state her inten tions for the ward. Her response could in clude: ‘I believe the ward is currently managed effectively and patient care is of a high standard. However, I have had previous experience as a team leader and several staff nurses currently working on the ward have expressed a desire to imple ment team nursing. I would be interest ed in doing this as it enhances continuity
253
Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview
of patient care and job satisfaction for staff. However, this is a major change and would require extensive discussion and preparation prior to implementa tion. If I were appointed I believe it would be important not to make any major changes for 3 months to enable me to settle in to the role of sister and to become established as sister on the ward.’ This response confirms that she has given this matter careful consideration. It also shows that she has clearly thought through the consequences of taking on a new role and the implications of a major change for the ward staff. Most interviews for F grade and above probe the candidate on how he/she would approach and implement change in his/her clinical environment. In a management po sition, with the exception of minor changes or an area which urgently needs attention, it is advisable to orientate and establish yourself for a period of approximately 3 months. This enables you to build a rapport with staff and involve them in any changes
What have you done since qualifying? What interests you in this post? How will your role change if you are appointed to this post? What knowledge and experience will you bring to this post? What are your strengths and weaknesses? How do you see your role in relation to sister? What will you be looking for from your ward sister? What will you be looking for from your manager? What will your priorities be in the first 6 months of this post? How do you know that the care delivered on the previous shift was of a high standard? ________________ What aspects of nursing care can be used as an indicator of quality? How would you set and monitor standards of care? What are the benefits of primary nursing? How would you deal with a conflict between two members of staff? How would you create a positive learning environment? How would you manage a learner who is not meeting her objectives?
How do you keep yourself up-to-date? Can you summarize a piece of nursing research you have read in the last 8 weeks? What is your long-term career plan? Why should we choose you as opposed to any other candidate?
254
Summary questions Summary questions are used to determine the candidate’s ability to synthesize infor mation as well as recognizing key points, e.g. Anne may be asked: ‘What experience and skills have you gained from your pres ent job?’ This is asking the candidate to summarize the key areas from her extensive range of skills and experience. It is recom mended that you should focus on the skills required in the job for which you are being interviewed. Anne’s reply could be: ‘As senior staff nurse on the ward I have gained extensive management experi ence, deputising for sister most of the time. I set a high standard of patient care and have been involved in develop ing standards of care to enable us to monitor and evaluate patient care. I have an excellent knowledge of develop ments and current treatment in oncol ogy nursing gained from the ENB 237 course (oncology nursing) as well as ex perience gained on the ward. I have been involved in implementing an appraisal system for junior staff nurses and feed back suggests this is effective.’
Table 2. Common questions asked at interview
How do you recognize and cope with stress?
you may make. It also gives you time to become familiar with the ward and clearly identify the changes that may be required. Wright (1989) confirms the importance of ownership in relation to implementing change. He suggests that this will increase your chances of success in effecting and sustaining the change. A skilled interviewer will be perceptive to obvious omissions and will use probing questions to identify the extent of your knowledge and skills and therefore these can be among the most chal lenging used at interview.
In this response Anne has summarized four key areas: management, standards of care, knowledge of oncology nursing and staff appraisal. While Anne has gained experi ence in many other areas, she has selected those which demonstrate her potential as a leader and innovator and which are out lined as important in the job description. Selection interviews in nursing generally have similar topic areas. Common ques tions asked at interview are shown in Table 2. However, as part of your preparation, careful scrutiny of the job description and person specification is the most compre hensive way of identifying possible areas to be covered in the interview (Fish, 1992). Nevertheless, a list of possible questions may help you to identify these topic areas and the questions that may be asked.
British Journal of Nursing. 1992,Vol l,N o 5 Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
How to respond at interview
Conclusion The range of question types is extensive and a knowledge of these can assist in interview preparation. Similarly, as a manager, in or der to interview staff, it is essential to pos sess questioning skills as staff selection is crucial to the service your unit aims to pro-
KEY POINTS • Experienced interviewers utilize a wide range of questions to elicit the information required. • Being knowledgeable in questioning skills can assist you in your responses. • Hypothetical situations are used to test the candidate’s management skills in a given situation. • Probing questions can be the most challenging type of question used in selection interviews. • Interviewers need to be skilled in asking questions to identify the person who meets the requirements for the job.
vide. Finally, nurses spend a significant part of their time using interviewing skills, e.g. when admitting a patient to hospital, there fore a wide range of questioning skills will enhance the quality of information obtain ed. The range of questions discussed should be part of your repertoire of communica tion skills. The next article in this series will con sider the remaining types of questioning techniques commonly used in selection in terviews (Tabic 1) and will suggest possible responses.
Buck A (1992) Minutes of Evidence and Appendices 1990-1991 Health Session Service Commissioner. HMSO, London Fish J (1992) How to succeed at an interview. Br ] Nurs 1 (4): 201-4 Health Care Education Associates (1987) Interviewing Skills for Nurse Managers. CV Mosby Company, St. Louis Wrieht SG (19891 Changing Nursing Practice. Edward Arnold, London
British Journal of Nursing 1992 Conferences Nursing the cancer patient
23 June
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Wound care
22-23 July
University of Birmingham
Quality in cancer care
28 July
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Dermatology
2 September
Birmingham Polytechnic
Paediatrics
29-30 September
Kensington Town Hall, London
New developments in breast cancer
27 October
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Haematology
3-4 November
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
Partnership in audit
4-5 November
York Race Course
Head and neck cancer
l December
Royal Marsden Hospital, London
For further information contact: The Conference Manager, Mark Allen International Conferences, Croxted Mews, 288 Croxted Road, London SE24 9DA. Telephone: 081-671 7521. Fax: 081-671 7327 ,ir‘Iish Journal of Nursing, 1992, Vol I , No 5
255
Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.237.122.245 on January 16, 2019.
