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AdvDip Nursing Interviews - My Experiences and Guide
----------------------
Hey everyone. This is a guide that I wrote because people facing interviews for this course were only given a vague outline, so I wrote this to let them know roughly what they should expect.
The opinions stressed are my own and do not reflect those of others who were interviewed.
I was thinking of putting it on Ciao.com because when I was waiting for these interviews to happen I had a mega-stress and did maths revision every night for four weeks and it just wasn't necessary.
Feedback would be appreciated, positive or negative. Beware, it is a long post!
Thank you!
NN x
________________________________________________
Advanced Diploma Nursing
Interview Guide
Hey there! I just wanted to give you guys a rundown of my experiences in interviews for this course. In each instance I was given an unconditional offer. Although I was applying for the mental health branch, this guide may be helpful to potential adult nurses too.
My Interview Experiences
I applied to three different universities. Well actually - five, but two university interviews I did not attend, as transport and accomodation costs were simply too much. Bear in mind I live in Newcastle Upon Tyne and was applying to southern universities. The institutions don't give you much notice for your interview and last minute train tickets are very expensive. We're talking hundreds of pounds.
The universities applied to were Northumbria University, Middlesex University and the University of Brighton.
----
Northumbria University
The interviews were held at the Nursing campus, which is easy to get to and had comfortable, pleasant surroundings.
There were adult branch and mental health branch students in this interivew.
The staff were extremely helpful and pleasant throughout.
The morning consisted of a slideshow and a talk by one of the heads of school about the facilities available and the profession.
Then there was a written piece to test your writing skills. The subject we had to write about was "what is the role of a nurse?"
There was a short icebreaker where we were required to say something about ourselves.
We were grouped into fours and sent off to get to know one another while we had our lunch break.
The groups of four turned out to be the groups we were interviewed in. We each had the chance to answer questions in our own words. I believe this was a test to see how we interacted with one another and to see if we were right for the course.
There was no maths test.
I waited for six weeks for the results and UCAS track showed me I had an unconditional offer.
-------------
Middlesex University
I'm trying my best to stick to the facts here, but I have to mention that this was an extremely unpleasant experience.
The interview was held at a London hospital, which was a poor choice as it did not have enough seating, there were no windows and few administration facilities.
There were mental health and adult branch students being interviewed.
We were required to sign a register on arrival with two meeters and greeters. It sounds silly now, but in my rush to double, triple and treble check that I had packed all of my papers properly I had forgotten a simple pen. Upon asking for one, the meeters and greeters spoke down to me, laughed at me and told that I wouldn't be able to do the written work and would have to leave, and they weren't joking. They were very rude and intimidating. One of them told me that if I had read the breakdown of the day I would have realised that I would have needed a pen. I explained to her that I had indeed read the breakdown, but also that I had come off a train from Newcastle an hour ago and was very rushed and stressed and it was a simple error. A lady from my group gave me a pen instead. I was on edge for the rest of the day and it influenced my decision not to choose this university.
We were called into the lecture theatre and a presentation started promptly at 9am. If anyone was late, apparently they were refused entry.
There was a maths test. If you failed it you were asked to leave and weren't reconsidered, so if you'd come from far away, tough, and that was it! The maths test was fifteen minutes long and comprised of ten questions. The ones I can remember are simplifying fractions, converting km to m and cm to mm, reading a measuring scale, temperature, percentages and arithmatic. A calculator was allowed in this test and it was an seven out of ten pass rate.
Next was a written paper. There were three questions and you had to clearly mark the one that you had to write about, you were only allowed to choose one. I can't remember for the life of me what these were, but they were related to the NHS and ethics and things like that.
Then we were allowed to break for lunch while our scores were calculated and our fates decided.
When we came back, the people that had failed the test were told to leave and it wasn't terribly discreet either. The rest of us were told to go upstairs. We were all made to wait in an incredibly hot, windowless room with no water or reading material for hours. People were called in one by one and there were only two people interviewing on one panel. There were about thirty people to be interviewed. I waited three hours and people were waiting after me.
We were called into individual interviews. Though quite hostile and cold at first, the interviewers did eventually warm up a little bit as it went on and they offered me a place straight afterwards.
I was told to take my documents into an office, where the same meeters and greeters from the morning were. I was promptly told to "get out, please" by one of them, even though I had been told to go in with my results.
--------------
University of Brighton
The interview was held at the Eastbourne campus which, though a little bit out of the way, was held in beautiful grounds and comfortable surroundings.
The atmosphere was friendly and the staff were professional.
There were only mental health students at this interview.
We were called into a hut and we started half an hour late to accomodate late arrivals.
We were given a maths test. This had twenty questions and required a pass rate of 16/20. Questions were mainly dividing and multiplying by multiples of tens, decimals, converting measurements, percentages and fractions. There were no calculators allowed in this test. If you did not pass and did well in the rest of the interview, then you would be given a conditional offer and a chance to resit.
We were then given a written paper. The question was, "you see your neighbour's daughter smoking cannabis outside of a pub. What would you do?"
Then we had a group activity. The scenario was, "most of mankind has been wiped out by a pandemic and as far as you know, you are the only ones left. Make a list of your priorities and how you would work together to survive." We were given flipchart paper and entered a group discussion, writing down our answers. The interviewers observed our communication skills during this exercise.
After lunch, we were called into our individual interviews. There were a few people doing the interviewing so the wait was not too long. I was asked what made me want to be a [mental health] nurse, had I had any previous expereince, how would I react to bodily substances, what could I offer the profession in terms of skills and manner, was I fully commited for the next three years and so on.
I recieved a phonecall a few days after my interview to tell me that I had been offered a place.
-------------
My Advice
• If you are offered an interview, read all of the literature you get throughly. Make sure you make a note of the interview date in your diary, on your calender, on your phone or on your fridge. Anywhere you will be reminded of it.
• Googlemap or Multimap the location and print it out. Check if there is a campus map, and if there is, take it with you. Plan your route. If at all possible, do a practice run to see what buses or trains you need to get and how early you need to leave. If you aren't confident with public transport, keep some money aside for taxis, and save a taxi number onto your phone for the local area.
• Make a checklist of what you need, if the uni haven't already provided one. Tick the things off and keep everything together, and do a double check before your interview.
• Revise for your maths and written papers. Bear in mind that they aren't looking for Carol Voderman - they're looking for level 2 stuff. Think BBC Skillswise or a GCSE textbook.
• Write down contemporary issues happening in the NHS right now. I chose to talk about cancer patients not getting the drugs they need because they are too expensive, and the outbreaks of MRSA in the wards.
• Book your train tickets, flights and accommodation as soon as possible and ensure that you have the university’s phone number. Take your phone charger with you. Remember your qualification certificates, passport photographs and I.D.
• Dress smartly. A blouse, black trousers and plain black pumps worked fine for me. A shirt, black trousers and black shoes will be fine for men.
Remember a pen! Best of luck! You’ll do fine!
Hey everyone. This is a guide that I wrote because people facing interviews for this course were only given a vague outline, so I wrote this to let them know roughly what they should expect.
The opinions stressed are my own and do not reflect those of others who were interviewed.
I was thinking of putting it on Ciao.com because when I was waiting for these interviews to happen I had a mega-stress and did maths revision every night for four weeks and it just wasn't necessary.
Feedback would be appreciated, positive or negative. Beware, it is a long post!
Thank you!
NN x
________________________________________________
Advanced Diploma Nursing
Interview Guide
Hey there! I just wanted to give you guys a rundown of my experiences in interviews for this course. In each instance I was given an unconditional offer. Although I was applying for the mental health branch, this guide may be helpful to potential adult nurses too.
My Interview Experiences
I applied to three different universities. Well actually - five, but two university interviews I did not attend, as transport and accomodation costs were simply too much. Bear in mind I live in Newcastle Upon Tyne and was applying to southern universities. The institutions don't give you much notice for your interview and last minute train tickets are very expensive. We're talking hundreds of pounds.
The universities applied to were Northumbria University, Middlesex University and the University of Brighton.
----
Northumbria University
The interviews were held at the Nursing campus, which is easy to get to and had comfortable, pleasant surroundings.
There were adult branch and mental health branch students in this interivew.
The staff were extremely helpful and pleasant throughout.
The morning consisted of a slideshow and a talk by one of the heads of school about the facilities available and the profession.
Then there was a written piece to test your writing skills. The subject we had to write about was "what is the role of a nurse?"
There was a short icebreaker where we were required to say something about ourselves.
We were grouped into fours and sent off to get to know one another while we had our lunch break.
The groups of four turned out to be the groups we were interviewed in. We each had the chance to answer questions in our own words. I believe this was a test to see how we interacted with one another and to see if we were right for the course.
There was no maths test.
I waited for six weeks for the results and UCAS track showed me I had an unconditional offer.
-------------
Middlesex University
I'm trying my best to stick to the facts here, but I have to mention that this was an extremely unpleasant experience.
The interview was held at a London hospital, which was a poor choice as it did not have enough seating, there were no windows and few administration facilities.
There were mental health and adult branch students being interviewed.
We were required to sign a register on arrival with two meeters and greeters. It sounds silly now, but in my rush to double, triple and treble check that I had packed all of my papers properly I had forgotten a simple pen. Upon asking for one, the meeters and greeters spoke down to me, laughed at me and told that I wouldn't be able to do the written work and would have to leave, and they weren't joking. They were very rude and intimidating. One of them told me that if I had read the breakdown of the day I would have realised that I would have needed a pen. I explained to her that I had indeed read the breakdown, but also that I had come off a train from Newcastle an hour ago and was very rushed and stressed and it was a simple error. A lady from my group gave me a pen instead. I was on edge for the rest of the day and it influenced my decision not to choose this university.
We were called into the lecture theatre and a presentation started promptly at 9am. If anyone was late, apparently they were refused entry.
There was a maths test. If you failed it you were asked to leave and weren't reconsidered, so if you'd come from far away, tough, and that was it! The maths test was fifteen minutes long and comprised of ten questions. The ones I can remember are simplifying fractions, converting km to m and cm to mm, reading a measuring scale, temperature, percentages and arithmatic. A calculator was allowed in this test and it was an seven out of ten pass rate.
Next was a written paper. There were three questions and you had to clearly mark the one that you had to write about, you were only allowed to choose one. I can't remember for the life of me what these were, but they were related to the NHS and ethics and things like that.
Then we were allowed to break for lunch while our scores were calculated and our fates decided.
When we came back, the people that had failed the test were told to leave and it wasn't terribly discreet either. The rest of us were told to go upstairs. We were all made to wait in an incredibly hot, windowless room with no water or reading material for hours. People were called in one by one and there were only two people interviewing on one panel. There were about thirty people to be interviewed. I waited three hours and people were waiting after me.
We were called into individual interviews. Though quite hostile and cold at first, the interviewers did eventually warm up a little bit as it went on and they offered me a place straight afterwards.
I was told to take my documents into an office, where the same meeters and greeters from the morning were. I was promptly told to "get out, please" by one of them, even though I had been told to go in with my results.
--------------
University of Brighton
The interview was held at the Eastbourne campus which, though a little bit out of the way, was held in beautiful grounds and comfortable surroundings.
The atmosphere was friendly and the staff were professional.
There were only mental health students at this interview.
We were called into a hut and we started half an hour late to accomodate late arrivals.
We were given a maths test. This had twenty questions and required a pass rate of 16/20. Questions were mainly dividing and multiplying by multiples of tens, decimals, converting measurements, percentages and fractions. There were no calculators allowed in this test. If you did not pass and did well in the rest of the interview, then you would be given a conditional offer and a chance to resit.
We were then given a written paper. The question was, "you see your neighbour's daughter smoking cannabis outside of a pub. What would you do?"
Then we had a group activity. The scenario was, "most of mankind has been wiped out by a pandemic and as far as you know, you are the only ones left. Make a list of your priorities and how you would work together to survive." We were given flipchart paper and entered a group discussion, writing down our answers. The interviewers observed our communication skills during this exercise.
After lunch, we were called into our individual interviews. There were a few people doing the interviewing so the wait was not too long. I was asked what made me want to be a [mental health] nurse, had I had any previous expereince, how would I react to bodily substances, what could I offer the profession in terms of skills and manner, was I fully commited for the next three years and so on.
I recieved a phonecall a few days after my interview to tell me that I had been offered a place.
-------------
My Advice
• If you are offered an interview, read all of the literature you get throughly. Make sure you make a note of the interview date in your diary, on your calender, on your phone or on your fridge. Anywhere you will be reminded of it.
• Googlemap or Multimap the location and print it out. Check if there is a campus map, and if there is, take it with you. Plan your route. If at all possible, do a practice run to see what buses or trains you need to get and how early you need to leave. If you aren't confident with public transport, keep some money aside for taxis, and save a taxi number onto your phone for the local area.
• Make a checklist of what you need, if the uni haven't already provided one. Tick the things off and keep everything together, and do a double check before your interview.
• Revise for your maths and written papers. Bear in mind that they aren't looking for Carol Voderman - they're looking for level 2 stuff. Think BBC Skillswise or a GCSE textbook.
• Write down contemporary issues happening in the NHS right now. I chose to talk about cancer patients not getting the drugs they need because they are too expensive, and the outbreaks of MRSA in the wards.
• Book your train tickets, flights and accommodation as soon as possible and ensure that you have the university’s phone number. Take your phone charger with you. Remember your qualification certificates, passport photographs and I.D.
• Dress smartly. A blouse, black trousers and plain black pumps worked fine for me. A shirt, black trousers and black shoes will be fine for men.
Remember a pen! Best of luck! You’ll do fine!
Scroll to see replies
You are really kind for doing this. I'm sure it will help alot of people. Your Middlesex one sounds terrible, I've heard similiar storied about Manchester Uni. I don't expect interviewers to be all nicey-nicey and sugar coated but I can't help think that if they are that hostile and rude at just that early stage, imagine a whole three years of it!
I'm really worried about the group interviews to be honest. I fall apart at the seams at presentation/ group work type things!
I'm really worried about the group interviews to be honest. I fall apart at the seams at presentation/ group work type things!
I glad you mentioned Middlesex as i am now more prepared for it as i have actually applied to Middlesex university as one of my five choices for 2010 entry and like you are also hoping to do mental health nursing.I already knew i would have to do a english test which i have no problems with,its just the maths really.But thanks so much for this deeper insight into what to expect
Fantastic thread! I feel a little bit less daunted now, I was worried about maths tests etc having loads of calculations to do with medical things which I have no clue about as yet!
I am quite looking forward to actually getting interviews (I hope!)
Thanks again!
I am quite looking forward to actually getting interviews (I hope!)
Thanks again!
I'm so happy this is helping people. The unis are so vague (maybe intentionally so) and people fear the unknown and stress out so much. But I'm actually on my course now and it's all worth it in the end, believe me. There is virtually no info about interviews out there. It would be super cool if other people described their interview experiences so that we get a broader idea than my three interviews!
I think i will also do this if i get shortlisted for interview.Its a good idea telling potential nursing applicants what to experience
Wow, Middlesex sounds awfully organised...
wow my uni of nottingham interview sounds really mild
I was 10 minutes late due to the crappy parking, but turned out they were running 20mins late anyway, had a presentation which was snoooozeville, by two lecturers, and then got an informal chat by two other lecturers (one of which was one of my assignment tutors lol). They offered me a place there and then, and it was fairly laid back, we got loads of tea..free lunch, no tests..and interview questions, although tough were fair
I only went to one interview, rest of the places i applied for were september 09, or gave me an unconditional without one
I was 10 minutes late due to the crappy parking, but turned out they were running 20mins late anyway, had a presentation which was snoooozeville, by two lecturers, and then got an informal chat by two other lecturers (one of which was one of my assignment tutors lol). They offered me a place there and then, and it was fairly laid back, we got loads of tea..free lunch, no tests..and interview questions, although tough were fair
I only went to one interview, rest of the places i applied for were september 09, or gave me an unconditional without one
Subcutaneous
wow my uni of nottingham interview sounds really mild
I was 10 minutes late due to the crappy parking, but turned out they were running 20mins late anyway, had a presentation which was snoooozeville, by two lecturers, and then got an informal chat by two other lecturers (one of which was one of my assignment tutors lol). They offered me a place there and then, and it was fairly laid back, we got loads of tea..free lunch, no tests..and interview questions, although tough were fair
I only went to one interview, rest of the places i applied for were september 09, or gave me an unconditional without one
I was 10 minutes late due to the crappy parking, but turned out they were running 20mins late anyway, had a presentation which was snoooozeville, by two lecturers, and then got an informal chat by two other lecturers (one of which was one of my assignment tutors lol). They offered me a place there and then, and it was fairly laid back, we got loads of tea..free lunch, no tests..and interview questions, although tough were fair
I only went to one interview, rest of the places i applied for were september 09, or gave me an unconditional without one
could you give example of these questions please? AS many as you can remember?
*Cherry*Blossom*
could you give example of these questions please? AS many as you can remember?
No, because they were personal to my application and not general questions
Subcutaneous
No, because they were personal to my application and not general questions
were there any general questions throughout the interview?
*Cherry*Blossom*
were there any general questions throughout the interview?
maybe? but im being stubborn, i dont think its right to tell others what sort of questions were asked, if you don't know the answers to them when in the room, then thats your problem
Subcutaneous
maybe? but im being stubborn, i dont think its right to tell others what sort of questions were asked, if you don't know the answers to them when in the room, then thats your problem
Oh
Well, i'm really nervous and stuff so I would find it helpful if you could help me
*Cherry*Blossom*
Oh
Well, i'm really nervous and stuff so I would find it helpful if you could help me
Well, i'm really nervous and stuff so I would find it helpful if you could help me
well you're going to have to deal with tough questions and on the spot issues as a nurse aren't you?
Subcut, I get what you mean... to be honest I think that the people who are genuinely not suitable will not get in regardless. They could know the question but still give a an unsuitable answer, a bit like a mock exam or practice papers.
The cool thing about the questions they give you is that, aside from the maths questions, the same thing can be answered in so many different ways and might not necessarily be incorrect. And since every interview is different, luckily a candidate can't just go in and know the answers.
So Cherry Blossom I wouldn't worry, you know why *you* want to be a nurse and the impression I get is that interviews are for the benefit of both the institution AND the student. Because this course is such a big commitment, they don't want you enrolling, spending a few months on it and not being able to handle to pressure. Because it is very hard work!!!
Just try your very best, make sure you're prepared and have confidence in yourself.
The cool thing about the questions they give you is that, aside from the maths questions, the same thing can be answered in so many different ways and might not necessarily be incorrect. And since every interview is different, luckily a candidate can't just go in and know the answers.
So Cherry Blossom I wouldn't worry, you know why *you* want to be a nurse and the impression I get is that interviews are for the benefit of both the institution AND the student. Because this course is such a big commitment, they don't want you enrolling, spending a few months on it and not being able to handle to pressure. Because it is very hard work!!!
Just try your very best, make sure you're prepared and have confidence in yourself.
NorthernNoodle
Subcut, I get what you mean... to be honest I think that the people who are genuinely not suitable will not get in regardless.
yet we still have to work with awful and incompetant nurses who got in!!!
I know... it goes for every job. I'd like to be an optimist and believe they're the minority though. There are some kick arse nurses out there and I have total respect for them. I just wish they'd recieve as much publicity as the few bad eggs, but that's the media for you! I wish people wouldn't believe everything they read but that's wishful thinking on my part.
NorthernNoodle
I know... it goes for every job. I'd like to be an optimist and believe they're the minority though. There are some kick arse nurses out there and I have total respect for them. I just wish they'd recieve as much publicity as the few bad eggs, but that's the media for you! I wish people wouldn't believe everything they read but that's wishful thinking on my part.
theres atleast one on every ward!
Like I said, optimist. 
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