Fired After 50, Part II: Interviews---The Good, The Bad, and the Utterly Ridiculous

[VivaLasViejas]

Mamma said there'd be days like this.......what she DIDN'T say was that there'd be so durned many of them.

Of all the things in life that I hate the most, interviewing has got to be right up there near the top of the list. I loathe interviews. One reason is rather petty---I have an intense aversion to pantyhose and heels---but getting dressed up is far from the worst aspect of the ritual. Being a little OCDish, I'm always worrying about arriving on time; being directionally dyslexic as well, I am also apt to get lost. I mean really, REALLY lost. But the worst part of it is the digestive upsets that befall me every time: my stomach tends to revolt at inopportune moments (last week the dreaded Green Apple Quick-Step hit me minutes before this huge panel interview), and at the very least I'm often beset by a bad case of borborygmi during the ordeal.

I've had several interviews since my last blog entry, and the best I can say at this point is that they've been quite a learning experience. Meaning, I'm learning a lot of humility. The first one, I left an hour and a half early for a trip that should've taken 45 minutes, and promptly got myself totally disoriented. I wound up having to pull over in the parking lot at the state prison (!) and call the company for directions. Turns out I was all the way across the city from where I was supposed to be. I did my best Jeff Gordon impression in cross-town traffic, but even so, I was fifteen minutes late. Great way to make a first impression. I didn't get the job. Can we all say, "DUH"?

Next, I was called for a two-part panel interview at the county health department, first with the interdisciplinary team, then with the medical director and the operations manager. Against my better judgment, I'd applied for a position as the clinical services manager, never believing I would be considered for it; accordingly, I was stunned when they called me a few days later and asked me to come in. This marathon, two-hour-long session actually went better than I would've thought, possibly because of the rare stroke of genius that prompted me to bring in a portfolio of policies and procedures I'd written some years ago, along with instructional materials I'd created for several different literacy levels.

I haven't heard back from them as yet, and I don't really expect to; not only am I vastly UNDERqualified, but in my heart of hearts I know I was wearing my deer-in-the-headlights expression for at least half of the time I was there. I was in way over my head, and nobody in that room knew it better than I. But by gosh, no one at the employment office will ever be able to accuse me of NOT 'actively searching for work', as required by the rules and regs.

Then, today. It was back to the big city where I'd gotten tangled up last week; this time, I left TWO HOURS early. And got lost. And was perilously near to being late again. But this time I made it with four minutes to spare, and had a great interview with a manager whom I can easily imagine working for and getting along with really well. Actually, I would BE the manager of that office.........it's a small hospice with only a few nurses, she wants someone with management experience and is willing to teach the hospice part. Sounds just about perfect for a nurse who wants to break into hospice nursing, right? Yeah, I think so too. But just as she was looking over my resume........in a burst of quiet........my belly chose to announce its outrage that lunch was overdue.

~sigh~

One of these days, I'll get it right. I won't have gotten lost, I'll be relaxed and have a full tummy, I'll have the right outfit on, I'll walk into a building wearing a confident smile, and I'll knock their socks off with my intelligence and witty repartee. And then---please God---I'll land a job that will keep me in toilet paper and gasoline for the next 18 years, because when this is all over, Lord, I don't EVER want to have to go through anything like it again. Amen!

[tewdles, RN]

[color=#000000]borborygmi...i had to look it up...my family and coworkers will hate you by this time next week as i learn to use my new word...thanks

i have looked for and found jobs several times since i turned 50...glad those days are behind me.

hospice is a great place for you to land just now...good luck.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Thank you, one and all :) You've given me some great encouragement and even a few laughs on a day which has been unusually depressing for me. I woke up this morning feeling down and got progressively grumpier over the course of the morning and early afternoon, but I forced myself to go outside and do some gardening and felt much better afterward. Sometimes all it takes is doing something physical........then I did some sunning, and tonight have been pretty much back to normal again. You all rock!!:bowingpur

[kinneyzip]

Oh I hear you...over 50..you might as well not apply..seriously...told directly to my face after finally getting interview.."because of your mature age....probably can't keep up with the younger ones." Two good things...happy to get interview and someone had the guts to say what I knew in my heart the reason I couldn't get an interview..age!!!!! Come girls and guys hospitals across the country are getting rid of the most costly employee...over 50..and we, as nurses who never want to express ourselves and spend endless hours coming up with more ridiculous "how can we make the patient happy"....wake up, it's how can healthcare employers make their employees happy. Just read the book "Nuts" about Southwestern Airlines...their employees came first..if the healthcare CEOs would make one step in that direction, I believe all these patient safety/measuring heads/blah blah blah stuff would diminish rapidly....Hey from the 60's/70's maybe time for a little protest festival ...oh wait lost the issue...Good luck on job search...maybe you'll be lucky and finally get a deadend job making $8.00/hr less than before...like I did!!

[twinkletoes53]

Gee, and I thought I was the most directionally challenged persons alive. I once tried to drive home from a friend's house who lived n an area of the city I wasn't familiar with. A 40 minute drive took me 2 1/2 hours. WAY over to several other counties. I had gotten on the opposite Interstate direction that I was supposed to take, and couldn't find a place to turn around. Plus it was night, and foggy, and raining.

I did a whole lotta praying and swearing that night.

[barbielovesmac]

awww, lol! so funny.. good luck to you, hope you get the job!

[Perthgirl]

A few tips on different points:

1. Direction: I am also good at getting lost going to new places so one thing that helps me (besides the GPS) is to look up the address on google maps and click on street view so I can actually see what the front of place looks like, which makes it easier to identify when I am looking for it, especially when you are concentrating on driving. Another thing I look on google maps/earth is parking places. If they don't have a car park space, sometimes driving around looking for a park can also increase stress levels and you arrive flustered.

2. Interview tips: If I have been lucky enough to get to interview stage, I have usually been successful in getting the job (except for QANTAS). I think the 3 most important things is 1. SMILE 2. Believe and act like you deserve the job and that they are lucky to have you as an employee and 3. If they ask you to fill out "selection criteria" when you apply for the job, they usually ask questions based on the selection criteria, so prepare your answers beforehand. Do they use selection criteria for nursing jobs in the US? They do for almost every professional job in Australia and usually have a set criteria that one has to meet before even getting an interview.

3. Visualisation: I use visualisation before every major event and rehears it in my mind. Visualise yourself being calm, confident, relaxed and answering questions intelligently and it will happen as you had practised it in your mind. (I did this so much before the first time that I delivered a baby as a trainee midwife, that they told me l was like a robot as I did every single step correctly, in order and didn't make a mistake)! This is a very effective tool.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[gradRN2007, BSN, RN]

what a great read this has been!! thank you..i am over 50, rn 3 years in cardiac stepdown unit, imcu/tele.

put my house on the market in s florida just to see and sold to first famiy in the door...omg, no one at work knew i was thinking of moving..went north to jax to be near kids and grandkids..i have been with this hospital for 25+years so i am spoiled and love my job.

interviews are soooo hard, i want to work days now if possible..2 interviews at mayo clinic 2 offers for part time work but had to say no because hubby isnt working yet so its just my salary..(i am commuting from jax to south florida for work schedule)

actually have nurse manager at mayo looking for me for placement, she was wonderful..then this past monday i have a interview at baptist south, progressive care dayshift..sounds good right? met with clinical manager for unit and she said i am overqualified and doesnt want me to be unhappy but she called the nurse recruiter and another manager for icu to see if they had positions because i would be a great fit..never even talked salary.

now, i'm starting to feel i am getting the brush off but still determined to land a good job. i just sent in applications for nights at baptist south figuring maybe they will train me for ed and at least i will be with family up there..all the other hospitals are 30 minutes away so working nights is not an option then driving home...not safe but baptist south is only 8 miles :)

well, theres always agency....not there yet but getting close

thanks for listening and making me smile...oh, att has inexpensive gps for smartphone works well and skobbler is free for iphone.............good luck :)

[belgarion]

The suggestions about Mapquest, et. al. are good. I use them to find places in DFW, Houston, and other cities where they slapped a name on every cow trail. Getting a street view of the place is also a good idea. I drove past a place in San Antonio one day a half dozen times before I finally saw the postage stamp size sign.

I hate inteviews as well. No matter how well you prepare there is always something you forget or a question that catches you flatfooted. My personal favorite is "If you were a tree, what kind would you be?" And of course after the interview you can always think of a dozen different things you could have said better or a bunch of questions you could have asked.

Good luck with your search and keep the updates coming.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I had one bad interview experience before I got my job that, perhaps, others could learn from. I drove 9 hours to the interview. I had talked with the manager on the phone prior to the appointment. She didn't mention that it would be a panel interview. It was the first interview I had been on in 6+ years, so I was rusty and had jitters.

I walked into a panel interview and didn't know it would be a panel interview because she didn't tell me. I didn't do well.

Moral of the story: you could walk into a panel of faces staring at you and not know it's coming.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I'm pretty good at navigation. My spouse and daughter are not. He's always just relied on me to point the way, but my daughter came up with a great plan. She says-out loud-there's a first national bank with a palmetto tree here where I turn left; OK it's been 5 minutes there is the Exxon Station on the right....and so on. She literally tells her memory what to do. She says it works wonderfully. As for flatulence have you tried the new Beano that you take Before you need it?

Good luck with the job, fingers and toes and eyes crossed.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Heheheheeeeeee!! I'm so 'geographically challenged' that I can't find my way out of a paper bag. And dear God, whatever you do, DON'T tell me to go north or south......I'm apt to end up in Timbuktu.

I'm actually pretty decent with landmarks, though; if you tell me to turn left at the blue house with a large tree and a dog in the yard, I can find my way just fine. If the dog ain't there..........well, fuggedabouddit!

I actually do have MapQuest on my iPhone, but am thinking I'd better invest in a GPS and a pair of prescription eyeglasses because I'm blind as a bat these days.

Oh, BTW, thanks for the anti-belly-noise ideas! Now, I just need to figure out whether to break down and buy a hair-coloring kit; I haven't dyed it in years, but wonder if it wouldn't behoove me to cover up the gray at least until I'm safely ensconced in a new position. I'm salt-and-pepper all over, although it's mostly 'salt' on top and 'pepper' in the back. At first, I was firmly against dyeing my hair---I figured I wasn't going to fool anyone, nor do I really care to try---but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't at least cover the gray.

Personally, I think my silver strands add elegance and gravitas........I've always believed a woman's gray hair shows that she's proud of her age and life experience. Maybe employers don't WANT gravitas though, maybe they want youthful energy and vigor and all that style-over-substance stuff. Anyone have any ideas about this?

[my.toys]

I have to say, as a recent grad, and serial interviewee - skip the hose and heels. I dressed up and felt like I was ready to take over a corner office somewhere ;-) The hiring manager took one look at me and said, "why did you wear heels; you know we are going to walk around, right?" I wore really pretty scrubs and nursing shoes to my next two interviews. The managers did not have a problem with it, at all. I was offered all three jobs but I was a heck of a lot more comfortable during those last two interviews :-) One manager even looked at me and approvingly said, "you look like you are ready to start right now!" Best of luck on your job search.