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LNCtips.com: Interviewing for an In-House Position


There's an old joke that the two things a nurse needs to obtain a hospital job are a license and a pulse.  While that's not exactly accurate, it demonstrates the ease with which nurses could find jobs in traditional settings.  It's a very different case for in-house positions.  There are far fewer positions available so employers may have multiple well-qualified applicants for their positions.  It's important to prepare for the interview by anticipating questions, such as the ones that are included here. 

When interviewing for an in-house position, Legal Nurse Consultants need to remember to focus on how their skills will help the firm rather than the benefits they will get from the firm.  In a previous job, I was an LNC manager with responsibilities for supervision and training of a staff of up to 10 legal nurse consultants (the number varied from time to time).  I interviewed many applicants and was often surprised at the answers to questions.  See these Sample Interview Questions to anticipate what types of questions law firms will ask you.

Expect to ask questions as well as answer them.  A few questions that you might want to ask are:

To whom does this position report?  In the case of my previous firm, all of the LNCs reported to me.  In many firms, legal nurse consultants report to an administrator.  In other settings, LNCs report to a particular attorney at the firm.  And, in the case of a law firm, everyone ultimately reports to the partners of the firm.

What are the responsibilities of the position?  Responsibilities can vary widely from one firm to another and even within firms.  Some firms include paralegal functions such as drafting Pleadings while others do not.  Most will include medical record analysis, report writing, and medical research.  Many include hiring and communicating with experts, interviewing fact witnesses, and trial preparation.  Try to obtain a job description.  If there is no job description, try to get an understanding of all the responsibilities.  Ask what types of things the LNC would do in a typical day or week.

Are there other legal nurse consultants at the firm?  If there are no other LNCs, will you be able to forge the role?  If there are other LNCs, expect to interact in a positive way with them and get support from them as well.

Which attorneys will you work with?  In some firms, each attorney has a legal nurse consultant.  In other firms the LNC works with a team of attorneys or all the attorneys.

And of course, you will want to ask about work hours, salary range, benefits, vacation, and dress code. However, these types of questions should come at the end of your interview so that it does not look as if they are the most important things on your mind.

...Katy Jones