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!

[llg, PhD, RN]

Congratulations! Good luck.

[nursejudy15209]

:yeah:hi viva las viejas,

you are too good not to be working so i'm glad to read this latest post. thumbs up for the hospice choice-- that's my newest thing these days after i up and quit my job.

who up and quits a job with no notice at 57 years old? especially one that i had for 3 years and 11 months? and that job has long arms that haunt me while i hunt for permanent work. seems like a hopeless situation, but i have to remember that although i do not like the consequences of my sudden departure of my once flurishing job, i should have expected that things would not be easy. somehow an agency took a liking to me and now i do some continuous care hospice cases for them as they are one of the supplemental agencies for this particular hospice company. it's strange hours that are unpredictable, but it's something to keep me out of the welfare lines for now.

speaking of getting lost . .

my sense of direction has gotten me lost many times. i think that every time i go to work, i'm on some kind of "road trip" and i expect to get lost. as for gps, i think it might be a valuable investment. hospice (unless it's in a facility) will take you to many unfamiliar areas. but until a gps can be worked into my sporifice budget, i like the maps on the internet either by yahoo or mapquest. sometimes i look at both to see if they compare -- sometimes they can be different.

i must admit that you had me laughing about the whole "hair" gone gray thing. i, for one, decided that it made no sense to me to get sick or have a reaction to those chemicals found in hair dyes -- so i spent a bundle of money (when i was employed at my former job, of course) to match my dark hair with my "gray/white" roots. i must say that while i miss my brunette head of hair, this makes more sense to me at this point in my life.

you don't seem too shy to me -- let your true spirit ring out and don't let a minor thing like hair color stand in your way to be the beacon that you appear to be!!!

please keep on posting -- it seems like you have generated quite a bit of interest here in the land of nurses.

take care and yes, i do believe that you are way too neat of a person not to be considered for any position you are drawn to.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

I am in the same boat. 55 years old and for the first time in my life having to interview for a job. I left my current job about 5 weeks ago and am now out in the job market. I have a lot of management experience but I don't want another management job as long as I live. I cannot get anyone to understand this and they are very suspicious of why I would want to leave management. In most of my career I have gotten my jobs by referral or by having someone call me to say "come here, we have this job for you". To make it worse, the hospital I left strictly forbids their managers from giving any reference information and of course everyone wants to talk to your previous manager. So now I am trying to get copies of my previous employee evaluations to give them. The job I am applying for currently requires a high security clearance and they absolutely insist on this. I am so sick of dressing up and having to put on the "interview face". I know how to interview and it does not make me nervous. It is just a pain in the butt.

[noreenl]

Keep your head up girl!!!!! Many positive thoughts your way for round two!!!

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Thank you!

This interview went really well.....I think the only way I'll lose out on this one, is if someone with management experience AND hospice experience AND a terrific personality walks through the door and knocks their socks off. This time I interviewed with the top social worker from the main branch, and I got the impression that she was already prepared to like me because she was very warm and responsive throughout the interview. We discussed salary and bennies (I still don't know specifics about the pay, only that my 'requirements' were on the low end of their pay structure), there's almost 4 weeks of combined vacation/sick time per year and you only have to be there 90 days before you can use it. (Gee, ya think I've had enough "vacation" the past six weeks?!) Best of all, I'd be involved in all areas of the hospice, working with all of the disciplines and seeing patients as well........yes, I could really get into this.

The only downside is the travel........the office itself is about 40 minutes from my home, and there'd be more driving from facility to facility (this particular hospice specializes in patients who live in ALFs, nursing homes etc.) although that mileage would be reimbursed. It's not a bad drive, it's just hard to resign myself to the idea of making that trip, back and forth, 5 days a week. But the truth is, there is NOTHING in my area right now and even if there were, I'm learning that the pay is better in the metro areas, which just might make it worth the drive.

Of course, the practical side of me says I could be getting all excited over nothing, but I already know I'll be seriously disappointed if this doesn't work out for some reason.....that's how positive I feel after today's interview. I should hear something within a week. Now the waiting begins....

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

That sounds good!

And driving is part of it - regardless. Not all dying people live on the same block!

I drive 40 miles in one direction and then back here and 35 miles in the other direction. One of our longer term patients lives 16 miles from here. One is a patient in our LTC - one mile from here.

Of course I'm driving on mountain roads with little traffic.

steph