Anything you say can, and will be used against you...
In a job interview you don't exactly have the right to remain silent. What you do have is the right to say things in support of yourself. That being said, in an interview there are those instances where you can incriminate yourself as if you admitted to committing a heinous crime. Like when you're asked about teamwork, and you use an example of being the student who has been taking classes primarily online for several years, but when you started nursing school you had to work to reintegrate yourself in the classroom setting, you just might shoot your own self in the foot. Or say you're asked about disagreements with previous supervisors, and you give a real world example stemming from experiences with a previous supervisor (of long, long ago) being Korean-American, and one of the other medics you work with was also Korean-American. Nothing I did was good enough in my supervisor's eyes. I didn't work hard enough, or do enough, or anything....enough. I had to work under the umbrella of a sort of discrimination. I pressed on and did my job to the best of my abilities. Again, you shoot yourself in the foot. Your answers are used against you. You lose a job/externship opportunity because you thought you were giving honest, real answers.
You are thusly labeled "not a team player". How incredulous--in fifteen minutes you are summed up by isolated answers.
It doesn't help that "I actually have great news for you. They were on the borderline with you. They wanted to hire you, but..."
I'm the person who got together a group study session...who stepped forward to help a classmate study because she'd received one of those letters (the kind of letter that tells you to bring your grades up or you're out of this program)...who would be the first to stand up, volunteer and work with anyone to help them succeed.
Yes, Monday I received the email seen in the previous post. I texted or called some of my classmates to find out if they'd heard anything. No one had by Monday night. Yesterday morning people started getting calls...or emails. You see, there were six of us from my school, who interviewed in hopes of being one of the chosen five. Three were chosen and three were not, including moi. The three of us that were not chosen have all had some medical experience, on one level or another. The three that were chosen have not. It may be a big coincky-dink, or the elixir of justification I'm choosing to swallow, but I think that may have been a deciding factor.
I mean hello, if these people liked me so much why didn't they call my references? The other two girls thought their interviews had gone very well, and were just as shocked as I was to read their rejection email. Yeah, the ones who were chosen received phone calls, the rest of us got the form-letter email.
Being me, I couldn't let it go. So I emailed the HR rep the obligatory thank you and also asked for feedback. I just received the call prior to heading to Blogland, and well you know the rest.
Oh well, I still have the decision from Hospital #1 to look forward to, and tons of studying to do.
5 comments:
Did the HR rep tell you they thought "you weren't a team player?" OMG... I am wondering if they wanted those without any experience for this grant program so they can train them to suit their needs?? Easier to train a new dog tricks than an old dog (not that I am calling you a dog here lol). I love working at this hospital but I only work weekends and don't interact with all these "boss" people but my co-workers who do have had some issues. I think you are better off. Crossing my fingers for you on hospital #2.
I am sorry. Interviews are excruciating enough. Once you are a nurse, things will be different. As the saying goes, everything happens for a reason...maybe you need to stay home while you can. Honestly, my friends who were externs didn't learn anymoe than I did once I started orienting. I don't know about your state, but where I am, externs and interns can't do much besides CNA work anyway. It's much different than nursing student work. Just brush it off you shoulder and know there is something better out there, just waiting for you. :) You're in my thoughts.
Hi Kirsten, I'm really sorry to hear this... I haven't even gotten an interview so I haven't had the honor of making myself very vulnerable with honesty and self-awareness [if that makes sense], but I was getting really sad/anxious because many, many of my classmates are doing big-ish things right now. I was even saying "Well, there's a need for mental health nurses so I hope that at least they will hire me there, even if they don't need my skills..." My dad told me sort of the same thing that Christy said, and it gave me peace. He said my friends are getting hired for a reason, like they need the money, they need to support themselves and families. Me, I'm lucky that I don't have that responsibility, and I have the opportunity, the gift, to be with my family and just enjoy being in my developmental stage. Enjoy my parents' love and care, enjoy my brothers' jokes. I'm still rooting for you and Hospital #1 to work out because I just know how much you help people, so I'm not telling you to give up and cut your losses and just be thankful for what you have, but you know, you can always be thankful for what you have [without the "just" part]. Ugh I might not make sense cause I'm in class and my attention is split, but I really wanted to say something. Hang in there K, we're in this together and we'll do great!! :)
I'm so sorry! Definitely keep applying if you want that externship. At my local hospitals the position is called nurse tech. Often you will see several units in the same hospital advertising positions. Mabey as we get closer to summer more spots will open up. Good luck!
You are all too awesome! Thanks so much for the kind words and support, as always, couldn't do it without ya!
Post a Comment