Our Last Semester columnist Chelsea is done with her last semester. She walked across the stage last weekend and can now call herself a college graduate. That doesn’t mean she’s done with us, though. Chelsea’s nursing career is just beginning and she’ll be taking us along on the ride for a while. Just two days after she said sayonara to school, she was headed south on a plane from Boston for a job interview at a hospital in Maryland. We caught up with her afterwards to get an inside look at how it all went down:

Stressed Out: How did you get the interview?
Chelsea: I applied online. A week and a half later, they emailed me and asked me if I wanted to do a personal interview. It was pretty easy. I just uploaded my resume and answered a couple questions.

SO: How long did it all take?
C: Hmmm, about seven minutes.

SO: How many “real” nursing interviews have you had?
C: This was my first for an RN position.

SO: How long did you have to prepare for the interview?
I had a little while. I was out of state, so of course I needed time to graduate. I’d say about three or four weeks. This is the first week they started interviewing.

SO: How did you prepare?
C: I didn’t really do anything. I know that’s horrible for me to say. I figured I should just go in and be honest. I figured I shouldn’t have answers prepared because I feel like that’s fake.

SO: Were you nervous?
C: Of course.

SO: What was going through your mind on the flight down?
C: I actually was trying my best not to think about it. I kind of fell asleep. The night before, I had a hard time falling asleep. When I woke up, I was anxious and nervous.

SO: What was the first thought you had when you touched down?
C: I wasn’t really that nervous at that time. I wish I had more time to see Baltimore. I just went to the hotel, slept, woke up, and went to the hospital. I didn’t really see where I could possibly be living.

SO: What did you wear? Why?
C: I bought a navy blue suit because that’s a power color. That’s what one of our professors told us . . . you don’t put a suit on everyday of your life. It was pretty empowering.

SO: What was your first impression?
C: [The hospital] was huge. It was like a city. It was unbelievable. It was a little intimidating.

SO: What is one thing you made sure to do during the interview?
C: Eye contact. It’s only proper to be looking at someone in the eyes, instead of acting nervous and not looking at them. Otherwise, you don’t look confident.

SO: How did the interview begin?
C: I went into the nurse recruitment office and sat down. She went over everything (shifts, compensation, benefits, etc.) When I went into the other interview on the floor, the nurse manager and an experienced nurse asked me to say something about myself.

SO: What did you say?
C: I just graduated (laughter). I was pinned on Friday and I’m here today. It was laid back. They didn’t make me feel that nervous.

SO: Did you tell them anything interesting about yourself?
C: I told them I write for StressedOutNurses.com and they were very impressed. They said “That’s a great thing.” They were excited about that.

SO: How long were you there?
C: From 10-2:30.

SO: What was the best part?
C: I think the “share time” was the best point. They gave me an opportunity to go one-on-one with another nurse on the floor. I got to help with patient care on the floor and stuff. They showed me how to do charting and how they do assessments. It took about two hours.

SO: Two hours?! Did you get tired at all?
C: No, I was tired afterwards.

SO: What was the worst part?

Editor’s note: Be sure to check out the conclusion of the Q&A.