SEAPCI Interview for EMT-Basic Position

TIPS TO PREPARE FOR A SKYPE INTERVIEW

EACH APPLICANT IS ALLOTED 12 to 15 MINUTES

SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO SHOW YOUR BEST.
First impression counts!
 Dress professionally.
 Be on time and be prepared! Be online at least 15 minutes prior to scheduled date.
 Prepare your surroundings. Whether your call is video or telephone, do it in a quiet,
businesslike setting, ideally in a room with a door.
 Be sure to inform anyone else at home about the meeting; you don’t want to be
interrupted by a sudden blast of stereo music or someone bellowing your name.

Speak with a clear and audible voice!

Make sure you can be understood. Don’t mumble or speak with a very soft voice as it may appear
that you do not have confidence. Also avoid speaking too loud as this may make you appear
arrogant, cocky and over confident.

There may be some warm up questions that would make you feel comfortable. It can be as simple
as talking about the weather. Or they may ask you… Tell me something about yourself. In this
context, they want some personal information but keep it short. Here’s my example…
“I am Maria Cruz, 30 years old and the oldest of 5 children. I grew up in central Philippines, about
an hour from Manila by plane. I was raised and educated in my home province. My two younger
siblings are college educated and my younger ones are still in High School. Both my parents are
school teachers and encouraged all of us to finish college. I was an honor student from grade
school and completed college on full scholarship for academic performance. “Think of what to
say and prepare to speak in case they ask you to “tell us about yourself”.

The following line of questions will be asked to assess your readiness. Employers want to know
if you have the skills, competence, willingness to do the job and you’re “fit” to the team or
organization.
 SEAPCI Interview for EMT-Basic Position

Why should we hire you? What can you bring to this job? Hope you did research
of the facility via internet to have some idea of the place.

You want to come across confident when answering this question. You have to do an inventory
of your skills as a nurse. Refrain from answering this question with …. I am hardworking and will
do anything. A farmer or a carpenter is hardworking and will do anything but they cannot be
qualified as nurses! Avoid using the word “I think” because it sounds tentative, not sure of
yourself. Instead use words like “I believe... I know… I am confident... I am sure”

I am giving sample responses and do not use this otherwise you all will sound the same. Modify
but zero in on your skills as a nurse first and foremost. The key is to write down your responses
and practice so you come across confident. Executives, trainers, and circuit speakers practiced in
front of the mirror before giving talks early on in their career and would record themselves to
know how they sound like. Get someone more experienced than you to critique you. At the same
time, do not memorize otherwise you sound well-rehearsed and it will not come across
spontaneous. It is OK to have a piece of paper and jot down key points so when you are lost, you
can jog your memory. Your note card may say “ clinical competence, joint commission accredited
hospital, cultural competence, chain of command, conflict resolution, service excellence, patient
safety, evidence-based, etc.”

Keep in mind... your goal is to get a job offer so give it your BEST SHOT. You have to sell yourself.
Speak slowly and articulate your thoughts clearly. Our samples will last 1-2 minutes so you have
to expand on these to give you at least 5 minutes talk time.

“I have been a staff nurse in an ICU at Hospital XYZ for 5 years. I believe in my five years’
experience, I am clinically competent in the care of patients in an ICU setting. We care for patients
with cardiac, pulmonary, GI problems and also complicated post op cases like use examples. My
last performance evaluation showed that I am rated a 4 in the scale of 1-5 with 5 being the top. I
receive letters of compliments from patients and families. I am also actively involved in unit
activities. I am a member of a committee that addresses clinical problems. One recent project
was….explain what the problem was and your role in resolution and implementation. I believe
given this experience, I will be a contributing member of your nursing staff to provide quality care
to the community you serve. Working at NMC will enhance my clinical skills and professional
development, goals that are very important to me.”
 SEAPCI Interview for EMT-Basic Position

“I graduated from one of the top schools in the country so I believe I have a strong educational
foundation plus my 10 years nursing experience prepare me for employment abroad. I have a
total of 10 years nursing experience and currently working as a staff nurse in the Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the past 2 years. Hospital ABC is a government hospital with 300
bed capacity. Most of the cases we see in our NICU are …. We are a full service hospital so
trauma cases that would require surgery are done in our facility. I act as the charge nurse in the
absence of the nurse manager. In this role, I make sure that we have adequate staffing coverage
for the number of patients we care for and the unit runs smoothly during my shift. I address
patients, family and physician issues and use my resources if I am not able to resolve it. THIS IS
VERY IMPORTANT CONCEPT... KNOWING WHEN AND WHERE TO GO IF YOU DO NOT KNOW
HOW TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. WE ALL CAN NOT BE EXPERTS ON EVERYTHING SO IT IS
IMPORTANT TO CONSULT WITH YOUR CHAIN OF COMMAND.

I bring into this job 10 years of nursing experience. I have worked in the Middle East for 4 years
and recently returned home after completing my contract. My plan was to find another
employment abroad where I can use and expand my clinical skills. Although there are many
foreign employers recruiting here, I wanted to make sure I get to the right facility and country
where my professional goal of enhancing my clinical skills can be achieved. I have researched
your facility and I am excited of the possibility of working in a tertiary teaching facility, a Joint
Commission accredited hospital and learning more about western standards of care. I am a quick
learner and have learned to adapt to different cultures having worked in Saudi Arabia. I can speak
Arabic and I believe I am culturally competent in caring for Arabic patients”

If you have received awards for clinical work, have done research or involved in committee work,
implemented evidence based practice in your unit, performance improvement etc. be ready to
give brief description of what was the problem, what actions were planned, implementation and
result. For example we know hand hygiene (not hand washing) is the key in infection control. It
is cheap (soap and water) but staff do not wash their hands upon entry and exit of patient room.
Are you doing something about this in your facility? It can be as simple as providing waterless
hand soap (Purell and whatever is the local brand) in each patient bedside so MD, nurses, techs
or anybody touching the patient (includes family and visitors) wash their hands. Do you do
random observation of staff if they wash their hands per standard? If your goal is 90% of the
time, staff will wash hands, what’s your stat?

Check what evidence based practices you are doing. Evidence based practices are those written
in literature and proven to be effective. Do you give antibiotics prior to surgery because evidence
 SEAPCI Interview for EMT-Basic Position

shows that it prevents infection? Do you remove Foley catheter 24 hours after surgery unless
contraindicated to prevent UTI? Do you use anti-embolic stockings for post op orthopedic cases
to prevent emboli?

If you are involved in community outreach and volunteer work, mention that too. We want
applicants who are not limited in nursing world but can see beyond the walls of the hospital. It
can be as a volunteer at church, member of the choir, organizing kid’s activities so they do not
get into bad activities when they are bored, community clean up etc.

Be prepared to give examples of clinical or administrative problems you

encountered and how you solved it.

Recall a situation where it created conflict. Identify the problem, who were the major
stakeholders, how did you resolve it, what steps did you take to solve it, you tried the steps
needed, did it work?

NEVER EVER SAY YOU HAVE NOT ENCOUNTERED ANY! IF YOU HAVE NOT ENCOUNTERED ANY
THAT MEANS THAT YOUR EXPERIENCE IS LIMITED OR YOU DO NOT GET INVOLVED OR IGNORE
IT. WE ENCOUNTER IT IN OUR EVERYDAY WORK LIFE. It can be someone who consistently do
not record medication administration, calling in sick a lot, not completing her work, consistently
late, being negative, a physician who screams at nurses in public places, a patient/family refusing
a certain nurse to care for patient, etc…etc…
Do not use short staffing as an issue because they will never understand in a country with over
200,000 unemployed nurses why we are short staffed. “In situations where someone calls out
sick and you are one nurse short, staffing office will allocate replacement based on available
resources.” It is a complex issue for us… you have enough nurses to employ but the health care
system cannot afford to pay for more nurses. Oversupply of nurses is an economic imperative
with the goal of getting employment abroad and the remittances sent to family back home to
support the Philippine economy.

You may be asked of your memorable patient encounter. I am sure every single
one of you will come up with one. You can even use this as an example of why you
love what you do and why you enjoy being a nurse.
 SEAPCI Interview for EMT-Basic Position

Have a copy of your skill checklist and make sure you review them. Most likely
they will ask you about your skills so be prepared to answer those questions.

When would you know the interview is coming to an end?

The clue is the interviewer will ask you... “DO you have any question for us?”
NEVER answer “NO”
Be prepared to ask at least two questions. It can be any question you have from your earlier
conversation or interview questions or new ones.

These are just sample ones so please do not use the same questions. I am sure you all can come
up with your own questions.

“What are the next steps in the interview process?”

“Are there any other areas on my resume or from my background that I can further address?
“How long is the orientation period?”
“Do I get a preceptor during orientation?”
“How often do I get feedback?”
“What is your experience with Filipino nurses?’ “What are your recommendations for us, based
on your experience?”
“Are we required to speak Arabic? Do you offer classes for non-Arabic speaking staff?”
“Is there one person we can go to during our transition period for questions and concerns for
non-clinical related topics?”

AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW, THANK THE INTERVIEWERS FOR THEIR TIME.
YOU WANT TO END THE INTERVIEW IN A POSITIVE TONE.

Do NOT beg for the job or come up with a sad story of needing this job otherwise
someone in your family will die…Remain professional! The interviewers want to
know if you will be a “good fit” in their facility.

Here are some samples of giving a good impression and make an effort to create
your own….
 SEAPCI Interview for EMT-Basic Position

“Thank you for your time and the opportunity to interview with your team. I am very much
interested and I look forward to a favorable result.”

“Thank you for coming to Manila to conduct this interview. I hope you give me a chance to work
at NMC. I will give my very best effort to provide quality care to the people you serve.”

“I am thankful to be selected for this interview. I hope I have answered your questions
satisfactorily. I hope I am one of the selected candidates.”

“I am grateful for this opportunity. I am clinically competent, mature, adaptable and willing and
ready to work abroad. I hope to get a favorable response from your team.”

“Thank you for this opportunity and I hope to be one of the selected candidates. I assure you,
will do my very best.”

GOOD L U C K!!!!!