Does anyone work for the VA as a Telehealth Coordinator? I have an interview for this position next week. The position is under the clinical informatics department and may be the entry I have been seeking. I was told to prepare for a performance-based interview; such as leading groups, working on projects, etc. I was told that I could use work related or classroom examples. I have the classroom examples from project management and other courses. I am looking for further insight on how to prepare for this interview. In case your wondering I am still waiting on the official offer for the cardiac telemetry position (I have an unofficial offer), so I have decided to go ahead with this interview. Any suggestion??????
kid iowa 17 Posts Aug 8, 2011 I work for the VA and have been in many interviews, best advice is to RELAX. The majority of the questions will be performance based, as you already know. The interviewers will want to know how you handle conflict resolution, working with others, leadership roles, how you handle criticism, etc. They will ask for examples, so kind of have an idea in those general areas. They will ask about your strengths and weaknesses, if you plan on furthering your education (which of course you will! hint-hint), your knowledge of computers and the like. The VA is computer driven, so any computer experience that you have throw at them. At the end they'll ask if you have any questions for them, I recommend having one or two, especially job specific (not just VA specific or something like "when do I start and how much will I get payed"). I've seen a few interviews where the tipping point was how interested the candidate was about the job and the types of questions they had for the interviewing panel.Good luck!
rnformaticsr4me 42 Posts Aug 9, 2011 Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate all of your suggestions to help me prepare.
rnformaticsr4me 42 Posts Aug 10, 2011 The interview went well. I left feeling pretty confident about my answers. Now the wait....... One piece of funny info.... When the VA does a background check, they do a background check. He!He! I was told they even send a reference letter to a neighbor.
kid iowa 17 Posts Aug 10, 2011 Congrats! I wouldn't worry too much about the background check, although they are very thorough they generally stop at tearing up your floorboards.
rnformaticsr4me 42 Posts Aug 10, 2011 Well if they tear up my floorboards, maybe it will persuade my husband to redo the hardwood floors! LOL!
ikarus01 255 Posts Specializes in informatics for 10 years. Has 18 years experience. Aug 11, 2011 The interview went well. I left feeling pretty confident about my answers. Now the wait....... One piece of funny info.... When the VA does a background check, they do a background check. He!He! I was told they even send a reference letter to a neighbor.Speaking of background checks...one of my friends was looking for a job in the IT industry (non healthcare related.) When they asked him about his current salary, he gave a bit of an inflated number.He goes through the interviews, and then he gets a call saying, by the way, "we looked into your current salary, and you're currently making 62,392.34. Why did you lie to us?":eek:So yea, background checks have come a long way. I had no idea future employers could actually get your specific salary.
rnformaticsr4me 42 Posts Aug 11, 2011 It makes me nervous about how much they will delve into my background. I read about the VA even checking with prior spouses. How far do they truly delve? While I agree to a background check, I do not agree to delving up all my past, just to get some dirt on me!
kid iowa 17 Posts Aug 11, 2011 The VA will go as far as looking at Facebook and Twitter accounts, they can go pretty deep depending on what they find. I've seen people who were the #1 selection not get offered a job because of the stuff they were posting on Facebook. You have to remember, the VA is a government facility and anything bad that an employee does gets blown out of proportion in the media. Character is a big deal with the VA.
rnformaticsr4me 42 Posts Aug 11, 2011 I didn't mean to imply that I did anything bad, because I haven't. I was married when I was 18 and was only married 3 years. Too young!!!!!! I have been married 23 years to my current husband. My ex and I split amicably, but I still don't think it is his business what I am doing. I just feel some things need to be left in the past!:)
rnformaticsr4me 42 Posts Aug 11, 2011 Sorry everyone! I didn't mean to get off track. I was just surprised by the level of detail the VA uses in their pre-employment background checks.However, I am still very excited about the opportunity! The VA sounds as if they are years ahead of the public sector in regard to a fully electronic health record. They plan on using Telehealth to improve the quality of life of their patients.
ayu4 7 Posts Jan 13, 2014 hi rnformaticsr4me, i know it's been a long time since you posted but was wondering what happened? did you get the offer/accepted the job? i'm interested in telehealth rn and would appreciate any info. thanks.
