5 Common Phone Interview Questions to Ask Nursing Professionals
Interviews are a crucial part of the vetting process when hiring nursing professionals for your team. However, in-person interviews can take up a lot of time and resources, so many recruiters conduct an initial phone interview to screen promising applicants. If you’re in charge of these at your facility, you may be looking for common phone interview questions to ask.
In this article, we’ll outline a list of top questions that will help you evaluate potential candidates over the phone. We’ll also provide general tips on how to conduct the interview and what to listen for in a candidate’s answers.
What Is a Phone Screen Interview in Nursing?
During the hiring process, a phone screen is an initial interview that’s conducted over the phone by a healthcare recruiter. If a recruiter receives a strong application for a role, they can set up a phone interview to get a better sense of the person behind the resume. This allows them to more thoroughly vet an applicant and determine whether they’re qualified for an in-person interview with the nurse manager.
Essential Tips for Phone Interviewers
A phone interview is a more casual opportunity for you to share information about your facility and get to know each applicant. Because of this, the etiquette can be a bit different than that of in-person interviews. Follow these general tips to help your phone interviews go smoothly.
Introduce Yourself and the Role
While you should always schedule a phone interview with an applicant ahead of time, make sure to re-introduce yourself on the call. If you’re wondering how to start a phone interview as the interviewer, remember that this is a more casual (but still professional) conversation. Starting the interview can be as simple as introducing your name, the role you’re hiring for, and confirming whether you’re speaking to the right person.
Be Upfront About the Purpose of the Interview
As the recruiter, you want to accurately get a sense of the candidate’s fit for the role. So, it can be helpful for both you and the applicant to clearly explain the purpose of the phone screen. Make sure the applicant understands that this is a chance for them to get to know the culture of your facility, just as much as it’s an opportunity for you to get to know them.
Leave Time for the Applicant to Ask Questions
After you’ve asked questions, it’s important to leave time for the applicant to do the same. They’ll likely also want to get clarification on a few things before advancing to the next step of the hiring process.
Additionally, you can learn more about the candidate from the questions they ask. For instance, are they more focused on pay, or do they seem genuinely interested in your facility’s mission and goals? The topics that they ask about can provide some good insight into their motives.
5 Common Phone Interview Questions for Nursing Professionals
Since the phone screen is a more general introduction to an applicant, it’s helpful to ask broader questions that assess their overarching values, goals, and demeanor. With that in mind, here are five common phone interview questions to ask your nursing applicants.
1. Tell me about yourself and what brought you to nursing.
This is one of the best phone interview questions to start with because it invites the candidate to give an elevator pitch of their professional background, interests, and goals. You can get a better sense of both their professionalism and personality from the way they answer this question.
What to listen for:
- Personal experiences that inspired the candidate to pursue nursing
- Genuine passion for helping patients and contributing to the healthcare space
Potential follow-up questions:
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What do you like most about working in healthcare?
2. Why are you interested in working at our facility?
This is a straightforward question that evaluates why a candidate applied for the role and some of their primary motivations. It also gives you a chance to gauge whether the candidate simply mass-applied to roles or truly took the time to research the role and your facility.
What to listen for:
- Knowledge and understanding of the type of work being done at the facility
- Clear indication that candidate researched the facility’s mission and values
Potential follow-up questions:
- What does our facility’s mission statement mean to you?
- What strengths do you think you would bring to our team?
3. Tell me about a time that you went above and beyond to provide patient care.
This is one of the most common phone interview questions to ask nursing professionals, because it evaluates each candidate’s approach to working with patients. Not only does this evaluate a candidate’s ability to stay within their scope of practice, but also their willingness to meet the highest standards of care.
What to listen for:
- Ability to provide exceptional care while following all applicable laws and policies
- Willingness to put the patient’s needs first and help other members of the care team
Potential follow-up questions:
- How do you advocate for a patient’s needs to the rest of the care team?
- What does cultural competence mean to you?
4. Have you ever had a conflict with another member of the care team? What steps did you take to resolve it?
Since nursing is such a team-based profession, it’s also important to evaluate interpersonal skills during the initial phone screen. This question assesses whether a candidate is able to effectively communicate and work well with others, even in difficult situations.
What to listen for:
- Ability to remain respectful and professional when dealing with interpersonal conflicts
- Willingness to self-reflect and take ownership of mistakes when appropriate
Potential follow-up questions:
- What would you do if you noticed another nurse was breaking protocol?
- How do you know when it’s time to ask for help?
5. What excites you most about this role?
This is an open-ended question that can help you get a better sense of what a candidate expects out of the role. Their answer can shed light into whether they have a good understanding of what the job entails and also what they might be interested in learning.
What to listen for:
- Excitement about working with the patient population/team on the unit
- Eagerness to learn and pursue opportunities unique to the role, such as career ladders
Potential follow-up questions:
- What new skills and technologies are you interested in learning about?
- How do you keep up with new, evidence-based standards?
Build a Stronger Pool of Nursing Applicants
Now that you have a list of common phone interview questions, you may be looking for applicants to move along the screening process. Need to reach the right candidates faster? Post to IntelyCare’s job board today and reach over 1 million nursing professionals who are ready to work.