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First nursing job??

coolclar

Hello everyone!

To those who have been offered a job already, where and which area will be your first RN job? :smile:

What kind of questions did they ask you in your interviews?

xx

Reply 1

ButterflyRN

I was just browsing and noticed that this thread had not been answered. I have been qualified for 3 years and I am still in my first nursing post. I work in DME (acute medicine for the elderly). It depends which NHS trust you are applying for. In my Trust, you have to apply for a post as a newly qualified nurse through Clearing House. This means that you submit a generic application, then may have to go through several interviews before you actually get offered a job on a ward. When I applied through Clearing House, I knew that I wanted to work in medicine, and wasn't really fussed where, I just wanted a job. I sent off my application, then I was invited to a selection day. I had to do a maths test (including drug calculations) and a literacy test. I then had a group interview and an individual interview. Once I passed that stage of the interview, I was then invited back for another interview. I basically had 10 minutes per ward interviewing for jobs to sell myself, and why they should employ me. I was lucky because everyone who got through to this stage in my group were guaranteed jobs, but obviously some people who were last on the list didn't get their preferred job. I was lucky, I got the ward I wanted and was picked first. I tend to find that, although you might not go into your dream job through Clearing House, the support and training you receive is a lot better than if you enter a job not through Clearing House. You follow a structured training programme and are guaranteed study days and you have the support of a preceptor and the professional development unit. I felt extremely supported and I was eased into my role gently, rather than just jumping straight into the deep end.

All wards will have a preceptorship scheme and some sort of newly qualified training package regardless if the post is offered through clearing house or not, but from what I have heard these can be variable and some NQ's can feel very unsupported.

Basic questions they will ask in interviews will usually include the 6C's, the Francis Report, how you would deal with a difficult situation, what you have done to improve practice and usually something relevant to the area that you are working in.