As a former interviewer here's a few to do's and not to do's when interviewing:
1. RESEARCH the hospital specifically. Look at the news articles on them, search the child life department, check the hospitals social media and you can find so much more and ask specific questions about the hospital. We know you're not just looking at us as your hospital choice BUT please please make it seem like we're your top choice no matter what. You don't know if you will get 1 offer, 5 offers or none so please show your enthusiasm for the hospital you're at.
2. When you're on a tour of the hospital make sure you have a steady flow of conversation and prepare talking points/questions for when you have those awkward moments in the elevator. It can be about the hospital or even the area if you're not from there. We love to hear how excited you are to see our hospital and love to hear your questions that show your interest in being there.
3. SMILE and greet each and every person with a handshake. Not every hospital but a lot of hospitals will actually give you ACTUAL points for doing this. My former hospital actually gave a 1-3 point for each question and for your introduction. That's an easy one guys, first impressions are everything.
4. PREPARE for the interview. They will ask you developmental questions, scenario based questions and questions that you can pull from your own personal experience. If these are phone interviews so ahead and get a few cheat sheets together and write down piaget and erikson's developmental stages along with your best examples you want to apply to questions. Now don't waste time flipping back and forth between papers because that's tacky (I know this because I've been on the other side as the interviewer now too and we can hear you!). Just be prepared and have some quick references together in case you freeze up. We are also totally okay with asking us to re-state the question or if you have to say you need a minute to think about it. Just don't take longer than 60 seconds or so because they may think they lost you on the other side of the phone.
5. DO NOT stick post it's/sticky notes/notes onto your computer if you are interviewing via skype. Y'all we can't see the sticky notes but we see your EYES and they are a giveaway that you aren't looking at us. We used to sit in a big conference room and you're on a big screen where we see you in a much larger version than you probably want to be. So just go with your gut or take a minute to think of your answer instead of looking at those notes.
6. Make sure you pay attention to what exactly the question is that is being asked. Countless times we asked applicants to give examples of a time when... and they would never actually give an example. Even if you have to pause to think of a time when that applied to you, do it! We would rather hear a good example where you had to stop and think about it than you just spitting out the first thing you thought of and it wasn't really answering the question. Again, ask to repeat the question or clarify what they're asking if you're unsure of what they're looking for.
7. Be yourself and personable. We love hearing your personality come out during the interview. We know it's nerve racking (I actually got nervous for the applicants!) so it's okay if you're a little shaky at first but get comfortable and let your true self shine. We are going to spend countless hours with you and want to know that you are someone we want to spend that time with.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about the interview process or need some guidance while you're in the process of interviews.