NQN interviews @ Host Trust
To keep it short, I didn’t get the job. Interviews were for my Trust, not the department. I’m waiting for my interview feedback, but I don’t think I did badly at all. I’m not sure why I’m writing this, maybe this is a rant. Is anybody else in a similar boat?
The things that upset me most, outside of not getting a job in the place I’ve thrived in for 3 years are as follows:
- Staff on my management placement, management included, were interested in taking me on, but they were told that they’re explicitly not allowed to despite how happy they are with my clinical ability and work ethic.
- staff have also argued that our Trust’s specific interviewing technique isn’t a fair evaluation of our nursing abilities. The interviewers, some who were not even nurses/clinical staff, have never been present to see us “in action”. In the words of one of one of the managers: “you could be really confident in interviews, but be a sh*t nurse, or you could get really nervous in the interviews, fail, but be a great nurse”.
- interviewers since told me that they were told that the employment team would be deciding the pass grade AFTER the interviews, insinuating that it’s a money-saving technique
- we were sold a small lie on the day of the interviews. I know this isn’t big, but we were told private interviews, enclosed space, no distractions. But in fact, we were placed in open booths, I could hear my neighbouring interviewers more than my own, and prior to going in, an education lead came up to me & a few others to tell us that “they’re not assessing your knowledge, just how you ensure patient safety”. I don’t think this was entirely the case. Some of the questions were way too specific to just be safety-based (I can’t remember if he word-for-word on these unfortunately).
- & to top it off, like rubbing salt into the wounds, staff have said and insinuated that I would be the preferred choice out of the rest of the students. For more context, yesterday one of the students who got the job asked ME how to write a patient note. Both in our management placements.
To conclude, yes I realise this may present as a little salty, but it’s just frustrating that in a time where nursing shortages are so prominent, staff are burning out, after 3 years of hard work, proving my worth, the start of my career is decided over a half-planned interview process.