Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a relaxing break over Christmas and New Year!

As I’m about to start my final ever placement as a student paediatric nurse next week, I sat down and began thinking about when I was attending university interviews this time 3 years ago (crazy how time flies…). As none of my friends were applying to do nursing, I did a lot of research before I attended the interviews about what they might ask, things to research or the style of interview I might experience. So here are my top tips for preparing for your nursing interviews…

How can I prepare before?

Usually when a university invites you to an interview day, they will email you all the details you need to know – check the bottom of the email for any attachments such as practice Maths and English papers, information on the type of interview and any expectations for the interview. For example, they may give you a topic area to revise such as “current healthcare issues in the NHS” or may tell you to prepare a short presentation for the interview. However, in my experience, don’t stress yourself by trying to over prepare! After all, the purpose of the interview is for the university to see your raw passion for nursing, not a rehearsed script, so just be yourself!

As soon as you arrive at the interview, you will be being assessed in some way whether you think you are or not. When I got to my interviews, I spoke to as many of my fellow applicants as possible and tried to make friends (you never know who your fellow course mates might be next September!). It was also good as it really calmed my nerves and made me feel more relaxed – after all, everyone is in the same boat!

Types of interview

• One-to-one interview: This style of interview is less commonly used in nursing at undergraduate level. This involves you being interviewed by a panel (number of people would depend on individual institution), usually consisting of lecturers from the university, a representative from the hospital trust and in some cases, a service user will also be in attendance. One-to-one interviews can sometimes be the most intimidating, as you are on your own, but take some deep breaths, think about your answers and if unsure, ask the interviewer to clarify their questions – you won’t lose any points for that! As well as what you say, think about how you’ll act in front of the interviewers… Think about eye contact, body language and signs you are listening to others contributions and being supportive – the interviewers are looking for these skills too! In this style of interview, you may get questions such as “why do you want to be a child nurse?” “Why this university?” “Can you tell me about a time when you showed…” or “name a time when you’ve used team working skills to complete a task?”
• Group interview: This style of interview is also commonly used in nursing as it promotes good communication skills and team-work, which are essential components to be able to display when aspiring to work in healthcare. The group interview may be centred on a discussion or a group task, but this will vary depending on the university. But remember, it’s not always the loudest or the person who speaks the most who stands out in a group interview! It’s about quality, not quantity. In this situation, speak when appropriate and think about your answers before you say them. As with one-to-one interviews, think about eye contact, body language and signs you are listening to others contributions and being supportive – the interviewers are looking for these skills too!
• MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews): This style of interview is becoming more common in nursing as it allows the interviewee to show evidence of care, compassion, communication and problem solving skills whilst being involved in a scenario. For example, a question, which may be asked, could be “If you were walking down the street and witnessed a child falling over and injuring themselves, what would you do?”. When answering these questions, take a minute to think about what you would do, but also think about the question being asked and what issues you need to consider before answering.

Numeracy and Literacy tests

At some universities, they will do numeracy and literacy tests on the same day as the interview, others will do testing prior to interview so if you haven’t completed any tests yet, don’t worry! It is an NMC requirement for universities who offer nursing courses to test applicants to ensure their English and Maths skills are at a certain level. However, it varies from university to university as to how the tests are set out and what kind of maths they include.

Numeracy: Some universities will allow you to use a calculator and some won’t, but don’t worry, if they won’t let you use a calculator, the maths will be easily done without one. Many of my entrance tests included addition, subtraction, division, percentages, conversions and reading measurements. However, some universities I attended asked these questions as more complicated scenario questions, so it required a bit more problem solving! If you want to practice your maths, I would recommend using “SNAP” or “BBC bite size”.

Literacy: These tests were very similar at all 5 interviews I attended. They usually involve a short grammar test, reading comprehension and a short essay question. The question is usually simple and relates to nursing, such as “What do you think the role of a children’s nurse is?”. These questions are looking at two things: your perception of what a children’s nurse does on a daily basis and your writing skills, for example: grammar, sentence structure and spelling.

Don’t forget your documents!

When you attend at interview, most universities will ask you to bring certain documents with you, so they can verify your identity and your current qualifications. For example, the documents I took with me to my interviews were: Passport or/driving licence, birth certificate, GCSE (or equivalent) qualifications, AS/A-level qualifications (or equivalent) and a passport sized photograph of myself (not all universities ask for this). Universities also ask if possible, for you to bring photocopies as well as originals documents. These are usually returned to you after the interview.

What do I wear?!

Looking back, this was a big question I was constantly asking people because I kept thinking, “well I don’t want to go too dressed up, but I also don’t want to dress too casually”. From my experience, people turn up to interviews in all different types of dress… But for me, as long as you look smart, that’s the main thing. After all, you will need to be smart in your nursing uniform. For girls – you can’t go wrong with some smart trousers or a skirt and a nice top. For boys – wear a suit, or smart trousers and a shirt and tie J

 

My final and most important tip is… Don’t stress, be yourself and just go for it! Let your passion for nursing shine through.

 

Alex 🙂