Staff Nurse

We analyzed 249 interview reviews for Staff Nurse from various job sites, social network groups and forums.

Here are the most frequent job interview questions asked by HR managers during initial phone or onsite interviews. This list does not include technical or factual questions.

10 frequent non-technical questions for Staff Nurse:

According to our research, hiring managers looking to fill Staff Nurse role ask soft skills interview questions 48% more frequently than for other roles.

1. What is your greatest weakness? top question

How to answer

This question ranks as the most challenging for many people. Fortunately, Mr. Simon is here to help!

Interviewers are not out to trick or trap you! They ask this question to gauge your level of self-awareness, your honesty and openness, and your capability for self-improvement.

  1. About Yourself

    No one is perfect and your interviewer doesn't expect you to be perfect either.

    While it is good to be honest and open, it will not help you to put yourself down.

    What's important is to find a weakness that you have overcome. How you turned what might be considered a negative into a positive.

  2. About The Company

    Research the company (website, social media, etc) to learn about the company culture.

    What personal and professional qualities do they value?

  3. About The Fit

    This is the time to clearly state a true weakness that you have overcome.

    Be as specific as possible and stay away from vague cliches like “I work too hard.” It would be difficult for anyone to try and explain how they overcame a weakness like that

    Mr. Simon emphasizes the Present-Past-Present method of responding to behavioral questions. When you are asked about your greatest weakness, you should be able to successfully use this approach as well. Here is an example of how someone might answer this question.

    Present - "I have always had a fear of public speaking, and believe this may have held me back in my career, especially when having to make presentations to management."

    Past - "Last year I learned about Toastmasters International and decided to join this group to help me gain confidence in myself and improve my ability to present to others in just about any situation."

    Present - "By overcoming this weakness I believe that it has made me a much stronger candidate for this position, someone you can count on to make presentations to management, conduct training and communicate at a high level."

    It's important to show how well you've overcome a weakness by motivating yourself and learning a new skill to grow professionally.

Pro Tip

Use this question to sell yourself!

2. Tell me about a stressful situation and how you dealt with it

How to answer

Stress on the job comes in many forms and from many sources including tight (perhaps impossible) deadlines, difficult bosses and co-workers, family issues, hard-to-please customers and clients and numerous other causes. There are also levels of stress ranging from the ones that are so common that we consider them normal, up to those that can really skyrocket.

Your future employer wants to know how you will behave in such times, whether you will be a helping hand or a burden.

  1. About Yourself

    In order to form a response to this question, think back to a time when you encountered a stressful situation at work, and answer the following questions.

    • Was the situation a challenge just to you personally or to your entire team?
    • What was your approach to the problem and how did you handle it?
    • What role if any did emotions play in the process of dealing with this situation?
    • What was the outcome, was it successful?
    • Did the outcome meet the company’s expectations as well as your own?
  2. About The Company

    • What do you know about the company, where you may encounter a stressful situation?
    • Are they working on a major project which is approaching a due date?
    • Are they going through what appears to be a difficult time where cost-saving is a top priority? Perhaps the company culture is full of negativity and mistrust, or they have gone through massive layoffs. Is there any chance that customers are being neglected?

    Any of these situations may lead to stressful times at the company, and you should try to know more about their expectations, and how realistic those expectations are.

    Or, are they just a dynamic, highly agile company run by smart and creative folks, which may work excellently for some people and be confusing and mind-blowing for others?

    Do your research.

  3. About The Fit

    Once you have determined which STAR story will best answer this question, use the Present-Past-Present method for your response. The following is an example of how someone might apply this method.

    The candidate started with the Present by telling the interviewer that she is able to rise to the challenge of the situation regardless of the level of stress that may come with an assignment.

    She then went back to the Past to describe when she and her team had to hit a tight timeline for a customer that depended on the outcome of her team's work. It was an emotional time in which the team worked long, hard hours with lots of overtime. As hard as it was at the time, in the end they successfully completed the assignment and the customer was so pleased with the results that it increased its business with her company.

    Finally, the candidate came back to the Present to explain how much she enjoys taking on challenges because they help her grow as a professional and she knows that she can successfully complete assignments for the company, no matter how stressful or difficult.

Pro Tip

Think of your ideal workplace environment.

  • Does this company feel like it would be ideal for you?
  • Do you feel excited and enthusiastic about taking on the kinds of stress you may encounter here?
  • Would you prefer to work in an environment where the stress levels were lower or at least more manageable?

If you feel compatible with this company culture and enthusiastic about the challenges you expect here, this is a good chance to mention it and to show your excitement.

Explain your approach or rationale when you give your example from the past.

If you cannot remember any stressful situation with a positive outcome, you can use one with a less than positive outcome but it must be accompanied by your lessons learned and how you were able to use the lessons to help you move on.

3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

How to answer

This question belongs to a family of behavioral, or even more precisely, reflective questions.

The interviewer wants to learn two things about you by asking this question.

  • They want to know what you think about the job you are applying for. Remember, they are interviewing you for the job that's open right now. Are you a good fit and will you do a good job for them?
  • Just as important, they want to get an idea of your ambitions and goals for yourself and if your goals align with their needs, especially going into the future.

In this way the employer should see how you see yourself today, and whether you are ambitious and strive to grow as a professional, and whether you like to learn and develop your skills.

  1. About Yourself

    What challenges do you like overcoming? Where are you starting from and where might you be going?

    For example, let's say the position you are applying for is junior accountant. It includes a wide range of tasks such as basic bookkeeping, financial analysis, and reporting. If accounting is your chosen field, then you would most likely want to move in the direction of obtaining your CPA so that you might step up to more responsibility as an accounting manager or senior auditor within the next 5 years. Your responses should make sense in how you see yourself growing in your professional career.

    However, at this point, if you are happy just where you are and want to further your current skills, that is also fine as long as there is a growth path for you that can be imagined and described.

  2. About The Company

    Research the company to learn what career opportunities may be available in the department you are applying to, and what the trends are in the company in general.

    • Is the business expanding, are they opening new locations, or starting new projects?
    • Or are they heavily automating and cutting staff?

    Let’s say you are applying for a UX designer position for a brand-new product.

    In the future, if the product becomes a success - which is what the company hopes for - the company will hire more designers and you may become a lead designer, or you may become a product manager.

    On a side note: If you train your mind to be open to opportunities you will be amazed at how much this world has to offer to you!

  3. About The Fit

    And, of course, try to see where the perfect fit lies between your own potential and aspirations, and the company’s trends and hopes.

    However, beware of the risk of showing too much excitement for future opportunities compared to your attitude towards the current position.

    As we said earlier, you must show interest and enthusiasm for the position you are applying for. If the interviewer senses that you are more enthusiastic about future growth than about the current position, they may conclude that you are not the right person for the job at hand.

Pro Tip

This question gives you a good opportunity to showcase your Key Selling Points (e.g. “As I am very good at delegating tasks, I can easily see myself leading a team of software testers in the future…”), and end your statement by asking about current initiatives and goals at the company.

In thinking about the possibilities that may lie ahead, you also might want to consider taking a personality test (I recommend 16Personalities which is based on the Myers-Briggs test), research the internet on what career paths are possible with your skills and current job.

It is generally NOT a good idea to say something like:

“Oh, I cannot imagine what happens to me tomorrow, let alone in 5 years”.

This will show you as a person who is unimaginative and not forward-thinking enough to grow with and be a good fit for the company.

4. How would you handle a customer with difficult behavior?

How to answer

People skills are highly valued in every company, especially in a company that occasionally deals with difficult customers. It is important to show how you can manage difficult personalities.

  1. About Yourself

    Look back on your experience. Have you dealt with a difficult or disruptive customer? Remember how you diffused the situation and how you turned things around.

    • Do you have certain principles, or methodology, to deal with difficult people?
    • Do you have strong people skills, are you good at conflict resolution?
    • Are you high on emotional intelligence? Can you give an example?
  2. About The Company

    • What have you found about the company and its culture?
    • What have you learned about how the employees value each other?
    • How do they treat their customers?
    • Knowing their line of business or industry, what can be some examples of difficult customers?

    Do your research.

  3. About The Fit

    When a question like this asked in an interview, it is an indication that you will probably encounter difficult customers, or other difficult stakeholders while working for this company.

    This would be an excellent opportunity to use the Present-Past-Present approach to respond to this question.

    Start with the Present. Speak about your “conflict resolution” skills and how you apply these today.

    Next go back to a Past situation - remember your Star Stories to relate a relevant situation that happened in a previous job where you resolved a problem for a difficult customer.

    Finally, come back to the Present, summarizing what you learned from past experiences and how you will apply them to the job you are interviewing for today.

    If you can give an example of how you handled a difficult person in the past in a situation similar to what this company may require from you, this will strongly increase your chances of showing yourself as a good fit.

Pro Tip

One methodology for diffusing a difficult situation is called “the triple A” approach:

  1. Acknowledge - what the other person is feeling,
  2. Apologize - for the way the other person is feeling,
  3. Admit - that there was an issue that you are working on to get it resolved.

If the difficult situation involves a customer, it would add that extra touch if you added another "A" to your approach by Asking for the customer's contact information so you can update them of any progress on their issue.

5. Describe a time when you resolved a conflict with a colleague in your past role

How to answer

Wherever you go, you will always have to work with people and this means that there is always going to be a chance for conflict. Employers ask this question to gauge how well you handle disagreements and how you resolve contentious issues with your coworkers. Remember, if conflcts are not properly handled they may cause disruption in the running of the department or even the entire organization.

  1. About Yourself

    Think of the times you had to deal with conflict.

    • What were the different ways you were able to address the situation?
    • If you were the cause of the conflict, how did you handle it and what role did the other person play in helping to resolve the conflict?
    • What were the key lessons you learned through your experience?
  2. About The Company

    Research the company and its culture.

    • What do they value?
    • Is there anything that you can find about how they deal with conflict resolution?
    • Do sites such as Glassdoor give any indication of the kinds of conflicts that might occur and how they are handled?

    Reading comments on the company's social media posts often prove helpful to see how they react to customers' complaints.

  3. About The Fit

    Consider the Present-Past-Present method to tell a story of how you addressed conflict and how it turned a negative into a positive.

    Start with the Present to expain to the hiring manager how you always ask questions and listen carefully to your coworkers perspective to understand both sides of an issue and apply your sense of fairness when it comes to resolving potential conflicts with others.

    Then go back to the Past using the STAR method to frame your story. Here is an example of how someone might relate just such a story:

    "My coworker, who started with the company about 6 months before me explained the process the department used for tracking certain data metrics. In my "wisdom" I thought I had a better way. Without telling my colleague what I was doing I went ahead and tried my own way. Unfortunately my way did not quite do the job and as a result we had to start again. He was naturally upset but I brought out my best listening skills to understand his perspective and we agreed to start again with the next reports. I learned a lesson and we have worked together very well since that time."

    Finally, come back to the Present to explain how you skills at listening to and doing your best to understand the other person's point of view is a valuable asset and makes you a strong candidate for the position.

Pro Tip

A key to addressing conflict is listening, communication and emotional intelligence. Highlight these skills.

If you're able to, turn the question around and ask the interviewer if they have experienced the same thing. This will start a conversation, which is the goal of an interview.

6. Why and how did you choose your career?

How to answer

By asking this question, the interviewer tries to understand what led you to choose your career path and hopefully to find out how enthusiastic you are about the work you do and how well you will fit into the job that you are applying for.

The answer will show whether your desire to work “here” and if it is a determined part of your overall career plan or it is just a stop along the way to other things.

  1. About Yourself

    • What characteristics and skills do you have?
    • What makes you good at what you do?
    • What attracted you to your career path?
    • What strengths do you possess that make you the best candidate for the job?
  2. About The Company

    Do your research and learn as much as possible about the organization and the career path you might forge there.

    Match up any of your skills and experiences that relate to the requirements of the job. How can you apply them to your new position, as well as the future?

  3. About The Fit

    Don’t just explain how you originally found this career.

    Show you’re still glad to be doing it, that will put the hiring manager’s mind at ease that you’re motivated to do the work, and that you’ll be a big success if they hire you.

    Your answers should provide the basis for a discussion about your passion for the work you do, your qualifications, and your skill set.

    Make a list of factors that led you to this choice.

    At the interview, tell only about those that characterize you and the situation in a positive light.

    It may have been a successful internship with a similar function, which confirmed your desire to work in this field.

    It could be a successful example of your parents, relatives or friends, which is indicative to you. You might have been motivated by your own academic success in this field which led you to enter it.

Pro Tip

Say that your chosen career best reflects your interests and you see it as continuing to be the most promising one for you.

Here’s a simple formula for answering this question:

First, address the origin of your motivation by tying it to your personal history. Then, explain what keeps you energized about the work on a daily basis that led you to where you are today. Finally connect your story and motivation to this job, the one you are interviewing for.

7. What would your previous coworkers or clients tell me about you?

How to answer

This question is another way of saying, “Tell me about yourself” but from another person’s point of view.

Most prospective employers ask this interview question to compare your self-assessment to how your references might describe you and to assess your soft skills to determine how well you’d fit into their group dynamic and company culture.

  1. About Yourself

    Spend some time reflecting on how others perceive you so that you can speak smoothly without overinflating or undervaluing yourself.

    Recall conversations with coworkers or managers in which you received acknowledgment or feedback.

    It is an opportunity for you to share your best traits (your Key Selling Points).

    • Would your coworkers and clients say that you are dependable, trustworthy, flexible, honest?
    • Do you always show up to meetings on time and promptly reply to emails?
    • Would your coworkers say you are punctual and responsive?

    If you frequently lend a hand when co-workers or customers struggle, your colleagues, clients and managers would highly likely say that you are helpful.

  2. About The Company

    Research the company to learn what the employer or interviewer values.

    Compare their values with your qualities that you think would be a good fit and carefully read the job description.

    The employer's job posting is a great guide for what employers want to see in candidates.

  3. About The Fit

    Use the question as an opportunity to emphasize your strengths.

    It’s important to highlight how well you communicate and how well your personality and work style will match the company and team culture.

    Using the STAR method, describe a successful team project from your previous job mentioning how well you interacted with your colleagues.

    For example:

    My past coworkers have told me that I am highly organized and quite good at time management. During one specific project, my team members gave me praise for developing and sticking to a timeline for all the different aspects of the project. We ended up successfully completing the project ahead of time, and it went really well! I’d love to have a similar relationship with my team members in this position.

    If by chance you didn’t get along well with your coworkers at your last job or your coworkers would be likely to note that you didn’t fit in, it could mean that the company culture wasn’t a good fit for you.

    Make sure that if the job you are interviewing for has a similar company culture, or you may not be deemed a good fit for that either.

Pro Tip

A potential hiring manager may check your references, so it’s important to be honest and consistent with the feedback you give the interviewer, and the feedback the former manager or colleagues will give to you.

8. What is the biggest lesson you've learned from a mistake you made?

How to answer

It’s important to know how to answer a job interview question about mistakes.

They ask questions like this to learn if you are upfront and honest about mistakes that you made.

They also want to know if you learned from your experience and how you met the challenges to improve your performance.

  1. About Yourself

    Do your best to tell a positive story about how the mistake was made, how you dealt with it and what learned from it.

    We all make mistakes from time-to-time. Answering some of the following questions will help you understand your own view of dealing with mistakes and their consequences.

    For instance:

    • How do you use a mistake to improve your abilities?
    • Are you self-aware enough to acknowledge failure and weakness?
    • Do you take smart risks?
    • How do you view success, failure, and risk in general?
    • Do you take responsibility for past mistakes instead of putting the blame on others?
    • If the situation repeats, what would you do differently? What would you do again?
  2. About The Company

    Before the interview, look over the job listing, research the company.

    Try to think of a mistake you have made in the past that is not too closely related to the requirements of the job you are interviewing for. What kind of challenges might you face if you get the job here?

  3. About The Fit

    It’s your opportunity to emphasize the skills or qualities you gained from your past negative experience that are important for the job you’re interviewing for now. The best way to answer a question like this is to use the Present-Past-Present method.

    Start with the Present by ensuring the interviewer that even though you have made mistakes in the past, the lesson that you learned is to always carefully double-check your work and to make sure you plan ahead for any possible contingencies.

    Next go back to the Past to relate a STAR story that will tell the interviewer about a time when you made a mistake but were able to make the right adjustment to turn a potential negative into a positive. You might say something like: "I was responsible to provide one of our best customers a time frame for completing an important project. In my eagerness to impress them I miscalculated how long it would take and we missed the deadline. The customer was very disappointed and we nearly lost their business. After my manager explained the problem to me I worked very hard to improve my approach to project management and meeting timelines and nothing like this has happened again."

    Finally come back to the Present to tell the interviewer that you have the ability to learn from negative experiences and going forward you will approach all tasks with a mindset that will enable you to adjust quickly.

Pro Tip

Make absolutely sure that the interviewer understands that you learned from the experience.

Never blame others for what you did (however, if you were part of a team failure, you could relate this experience, just be sure to own up to your part in it).

Always be accountable for what you could have done differently in the failure. Demonstrate that you’ve had the maturity to benefit from previous “lessons learned” and you can move on with increased wisdom and competency.

9. What experience do you have in this field?

How to answer

This question may help you convince the interviewer how smoothly you would fit into the position to which you are applying. It's your chance to WOW them! Be sure to focus on the experience that is relevant to the company and position.

  1. About Yourself

    Start with defining your Key Selling Points you want to emphasize for this position.

    • What job experiences brought you to those points?
    • What were the job titles and the most relevant responsibilities?
  2. About The Company

    Do your research of the company and the requirements for the position.

    • What is the company looking for in terms of experiences and qualifications?
    • What problems are they trying to solve with this position?

    Most importantly, make sure you are able to highlight and speak about at least 3-5 of your key experiences that match up with the requirements listed in the job description.

  3. About The Fit

    Using the Present-Past-Present method is a perfect way to answer this question.

    Starting with the Present, speak about your experience as it relates to one of the key requirements in the job description. You might say "I noted that the job description requires experience in employee training and this is an area in which I have a great deal of knowledge and skill."

    Then go back to the Past to describe how you improved overall training of staff from 82% to over 97% within your first year on the job. Senior leadership took note of this accomplishment for which you received a company commendation.

    Finally, come back to the Present to describe how you will help ensure that the company maintains the highest possible compliance with all employee training requirements.

    Nowadays, every hiring manager wants results, so think in terms of specific achievements and try to structure your example accordingly.

Pro Tip

When telling your story, remember to talk about your STARs!
S - What was the Situation?
T - What was your Task?
A - What Action did you take?
R - Talk about the Results.

10. How do you deal with working under pressure?

How to answer

Many jobs involve moments when, for varied reasons, unexpected situations occur and a quick decision is needed.

The ability to work under pressure is an extremely valuable quality. It is a skill highly sought after by employers. They want to know they’re hiring someone who can coolly evaluate situations, stay focused, take charge and simply get the job done.

Giving a good response to this question may increase your chances of being hired.

  1. About Yourself

    Even if you are confident about your ability to work under pressure, the goal of your answer is to convince your interviewer of that.

    Emphasize your best qualities, such as quick decision-making, organizational and time management skills, the ability to stay calm, focus on the job at hand, think logically, act correctly and employ your problem-solving abilities.

    Also mention the methods you use to manage workplace stress. It can set you apart from other candidates.

    Think of a previous professional situation in which you displayed excellent ability under pressure.

    Use the STAR method to describe that scenario during the interview, and explain the actions you took to diffuse the situation.

  2. About The Company

    Do your research about the company you are aiming for.

    • What are the company’s plans, for example, will there be a degree of pressure like hitting targets, meeting deadlines or managing multiple tasks at once?
    • How might this impact you and how you deal with pressure?
  3. About The Fit

    Performing well under pressure is both a personal and professional quality and can make a difference between an average employee and an excellent one.

    Try to think of ways in which you can use the truth to your advantage. It will help you to gain the interviewers' trust and help them feel confident that the rest of your answers are also truthful.

    Even if you sometime might struggle under pressure, calmly acknowledging that and mentioning that you are actively trying to improve in this area can leave a positive impression on the hiring manager.

Pro Tip

While answering the question, be sure you DON’T:

  • Speak of a time when the stress or the pressure was caused by your own mistake
  • Bring emotions into the conversation thereby letting the interviewer know that you did not handle the pressure very well
  • Speak about an incident where you couldn’t handle the pressure, where for instance the pressure caused you to fail at a task as this will reflect negatively on you
  • Speak about the type of situation that stresses you out, especially if you are expecting to encounter a similar scenario in your future job.
simon

You don't have to be alone in your job search!

Mr. Simon invites you to join the Friends of Mr. Simon Meetup Group that supports both individuals seeking their next job role and working professionals. Members of our network come together to learn and practice new skills and network with others through our regular interactive events where they establish meaningful connections and have a chance to promote their personal brand and stand out in the marketplace.

Group membership is free of charge, courtesy of Mr. Simon.

Join our Friends of Mr. Simon Meetup Group to become part of our growing and supportive community!


This page has been updated on February 23, 2024.

You can practice answering this question, as well as over 160 other common job interview questions from Staff Nurse by engaging in a mock interview with Mr. Simon. As an artificial being, his undeniable benefits include:

24/7 availability 24/7 availability
He will never make you feel intimidated He will never make you feel intimidated
The current version is free The current version is free
A starry night sky.
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