The fun thing about interviewing for a job is that sometimes the simple questions are the most difficult ones to deal with. Nursing interviews are no exception to the rule. You will have to deal with a variety of questions about interaction with patients and your colleagues, tough situational questions. Yet with most of them you know what to say, or at least what kind of attitude you should try to show, in order to make a good impression on the hiring managers. But when they ask about strengths and weaknesses, or why you chose their place of work instead of another one, things get tricky…
Because at the end of the day most nurses aren’t picky, and there isn’t that much of a difference between one hospital or another, a medical practice in this city and in another one. Or, to say it more precisely, there is a difference, but an outsider cannot see it and tell whether one place of work is better for nurses than another… What should you say then?
You actually have several good options. Referring to location of the hospital, reputation of the place, specific group of patients you’ll take care of, are just some of the options. Besides them you will find on my list of 7 sample answers some less obvious choices, as well as some out of the box answers that will make the interviewers think, and help you stand out from the crowd of the applications. In any case, I hope at least one of them will resonate with you, and with the message you want to convey in the interviews. Enjoy!
7 sample answers to “Why do you want to work here as a nurse?” interview question
- I just like the location of your practice. It is only ten minutes walk from my apartment, or two minutes ride, and I can imagine spending less than half an hour a day commuting to work. It will be a stark contrast to my last job, where I spent two hours daily traveling to and from work. You can certainly try to get the most out of your time in the traffic, listening to podcast, making phone calls (with hands free), but I still prefer to have better life-work balance, and for that reason it is important for me to arrive home from work as soon as possible.
- A better question would be why will any nurse prefer another place of work. Let’s be honest. Your hospital has an amazing reputation. It is the place to be when one dreams of delivering the best possible care, and meeting the highest standards–which is exactly my goal in my nursing career. What’s more, employee benefits and salary offer are right there at the top, and I really did not have to think twice before applying with you.
- My main reason are the children. Each nurse prefers to work with certain type of patients. My dream was always to work with children, and since this neurology department is for children and people under 18 years old, I prefer to work here than in some other department, or hospital. Now it doesn’t mean that I cannot work with adults. I am ready to provide excellent care to every patient. If I can choose though, I prefer to work with children, and that’s the reason why I applied for a nursing job with you, and not with some other place.
- Shift patterns are the no. 1 reason. To be honest, I do not bare well with night shifts. This is something I understood during my practice at school. Since this is a daily medical practice, and nurses from here aren’t obliged to work in the night, I decided to apply. Of course it wasn’t the only reason. I also like what you do here, and the reputation of the place. But if I should pick one deciding factor, it has to be this one, the fact that you do not do night shifts here.
- I would just love to work in the local community. Look, I’ve been born here, studied here, did my practice in the area during the nursing school. Where else should I seek my job if not here? What I try to say here is that I know local people, I feel I belong to the community, and I see a meaningful purpose in taking care for people from the community. The job with your hospital will allow me to do so.
- To be honest with you, my place of work does not matter to me much. Of course some hospitals have better reputation, and in some places I may earn slightly better as a nurse. However, I know from experience that each place has some pluses and minuses, and perfect job does not exist. I find nursing my calling, and wherever the job will take me, I am ready to follow it. I submitted my application with you and two other places that happened to advertise offers for nurses, and I do not have a clear favorite. Just hope I will get a job with one of them at least, and finally start taking care of patients.
- I got a recommendation from a friend, another nurse working here. Of course each place tries to advertise itself in the best possible light, in their pursuit of attracting many job applications, or to get the best nurses onboard. However, you cannot tell how good the place really is–the working environment, the collective on the shift, the management, facilities, etc, unless you know someone who’s already inside, working for the hospital. I have a friend here, a person I trust 100%. We had long talks about the job, and based on what I have heard, I decided that this clinic is a great fit to my expectations, and I will enjoy working as a nurse here, joining your existing team….
Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky nursing interview questions:
- Nursing interview: Why should we hire you?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses as a nurse?
- Nursing interview: Tell me about yourself.
- What does nursing mean to you?
- Why do you want to become a nurse?
