I got a job!!!
Hoorah, yes, I have finally got a healthcare assistant job!
I went to an interview on Tuesday, at the same hospital as before (the one that was a bit far away) and as look would have it it was the same woman interviewing me! I thought i'd lost it as soon as I walked in, I mean she didn't give me the job before, why give me one now? Anyway, so she remembered me, and took care to ask me different questions to last time, (although I still stumbled on a couple of the same ones!).
At the end of the interview, I decided to take a risk, and face the concerns head on. I thought age, the fact that I'm not even 18 yet, might be a deterrent. I began, "Look, I know i'm young..." and she glanced up and asked, "How old are you by the way?" and when I replied "17," she almost jumped out of her seat.
"Goodness gracious me! Are you really? I thought you were a bit older than that at least! You seem so much more mature!"
"Well," I begam, "I was a bit worried that you might be concerned about it, which you have every right to be, but I just wanted to make sure you knew how determined I am to make this work, that I will be truly committed, and I will work hard..."
One interviewer was still shaking her head in disbelief. The other, stopped me right there. "Not at all, listen, if anything I prefer taking people on when they have less experience - it means thay they're not stuck in their old ways, and they will learn how to do things the way I want them done, which is of course at a very high standard. Some individuals with a lot of experience...aren't used to that..."
"Yes, we have very high standards on Ward 2," the other interviewer piped in.
"Best in the hospital, we say."
That immediately put me at ease. I thanked them for their time after we went through all the mandatory stuff, do you have anything to declare etc, and walked away with a smile on my face.
Imagine how crushed I was then, when the following day, she rung, and began with, "I don't want you to be too disheartened but..."
But what?! There were 3 vacancies, I seriously wasn't good enough for any of them? I went straight into feedback mode.
"Was there something I didn't do? Something I didn't say?"
"No, you interviewed extremely well. I don't think there was anything more you could have done...let me have a look at your interview sheets...." She went on to point out how I could have improved a couple of my answers, which I was hugely grateful for, it was important that I learnt from this experience if nothing else.
But then finally she said, "Look, I do think you are too good to let go. You clearly really want this. Now I don't know how you'll react to this, you might not be interested at all, but I've spoken to a colleague who actually has a couple of vacancies on his ward. It's a cardiology ward, and it is 22 bed, and isn't the ward you signed up for, but is that something you might be interested in?"
"YES," I practically screamed down the phone.
"Well, his only concern really is that you might only be with him a year, what with you wanting to go to medical school and become a doctor and all, and obviously he does want to meet you. It doesn't have to be a formal interview, but all head nurses really want to know their future employees before they offer them a job...how about you pop into ward 6 and have a chat with him tomorrow at 1?"
And then the rest was history. I really really loved this woman that interviewed me, she just seemed really really genuine, kind, funny, and would look after me. The bloke, whose ward I might be on, I was unsure about. We had the chat, but it was only really like he was half listening (or is that just a bloke thing?). His english wasn't spectacular (The phrase is fast-paced not paced fast!) and he didn't seem to be taking me seriously.
"So how will you get here when you don't live locally?"
'Well, I will be relying on public transport for the first couple of months, just until I save up for a car... and then it won't be an issue as it's only 25 minutes by car,"
"How long will public transport take?"
"About 1.5 hours," I said, sharply.
He smirked. "Thats a long time,"
"Well I'll manage," I replied even sharper.
"What about hours, what sort of hours can you do?"
"I definitely want to be full time, but other than that I'm indifferent, i've got no other commitments,"
"How do you feel about long days, 12 hours shifts?"
"Fine."
"You'll have to be here by 7.30am, and won't leave till 8pm, plus your travelling.."
"That's fine,"
"You'll be getting up very early in the morning,"
"Also fine,"
"You just really want a job don't you?" He asked, half-rolling-his-eyes-half-laughing.
"No, I really want this job,"
I thought he might buckle will uncontrollable laughter any second.
"Your quite confident aren't you?"
My head sunk. What am I meant to say to that? I felt like he disliked me.
"Do you not have any confidence in me?" I asked, almost scared of the answer.
"No, I like confident people. It's an important characteristic. Welcome aboard."
I went to an interview on Tuesday, at the same hospital as before (the one that was a bit far away) and as look would have it it was the same woman interviewing me! I thought i'd lost it as soon as I walked in, I mean she didn't give me the job before, why give me one now? Anyway, so she remembered me, and took care to ask me different questions to last time, (although I still stumbled on a couple of the same ones!).
At the end of the interview, I decided to take a risk, and face the concerns head on. I thought age, the fact that I'm not even 18 yet, might be a deterrent. I began, "Look, I know i'm young..." and she glanced up and asked, "How old are you by the way?" and when I replied "17," she almost jumped out of her seat.
"Goodness gracious me! Are you really? I thought you were a bit older than that at least! You seem so much more mature!"
"Well," I begam, "I was a bit worried that you might be concerned about it, which you have every right to be, but I just wanted to make sure you knew how determined I am to make this work, that I will be truly committed, and I will work hard..."
One interviewer was still shaking her head in disbelief. The other, stopped me right there. "Not at all, listen, if anything I prefer taking people on when they have less experience - it means thay they're not stuck in their old ways, and they will learn how to do things the way I want them done, which is of course at a very high standard. Some individuals with a lot of experience...aren't used to that..."
"Yes, we have very high standards on Ward 2," the other interviewer piped in.
"Best in the hospital, we say."
That immediately put me at ease. I thanked them for their time after we went through all the mandatory stuff, do you have anything to declare etc, and walked away with a smile on my face.
Imagine how crushed I was then, when the following day, she rung, and began with, "I don't want you to be too disheartened but..."
But what?! There were 3 vacancies, I seriously wasn't good enough for any of them? I went straight into feedback mode.
"Was there something I didn't do? Something I didn't say?"
"No, you interviewed extremely well. I don't think there was anything more you could have done...let me have a look at your interview sheets...." She went on to point out how I could have improved a couple of my answers, which I was hugely grateful for, it was important that I learnt from this experience if nothing else.
But then finally she said, "Look, I do think you are too good to let go. You clearly really want this. Now I don't know how you'll react to this, you might not be interested at all, but I've spoken to a colleague who actually has a couple of vacancies on his ward. It's a cardiology ward, and it is 22 bed, and isn't the ward you signed up for, but is that something you might be interested in?"
"YES," I practically screamed down the phone.
"Well, his only concern really is that you might only be with him a year, what with you wanting to go to medical school and become a doctor and all, and obviously he does want to meet you. It doesn't have to be a formal interview, but all head nurses really want to know their future employees before they offer them a job...how about you pop into ward 6 and have a chat with him tomorrow at 1?"
And then the rest was history. I really really loved this woman that interviewed me, she just seemed really really genuine, kind, funny, and would look after me. The bloke, whose ward I might be on, I was unsure about. We had the chat, but it was only really like he was half listening (or is that just a bloke thing?). His english wasn't spectacular (The phrase is fast-paced not paced fast!) and he didn't seem to be taking me seriously.
"So how will you get here when you don't live locally?"
'Well, I will be relying on public transport for the first couple of months, just until I save up for a car... and then it won't be an issue as it's only 25 minutes by car,"
"How long will public transport take?"
"About 1.5 hours," I said, sharply.
He smirked. "Thats a long time,"
"Well I'll manage," I replied even sharper.
"What about hours, what sort of hours can you do?"
"I definitely want to be full time, but other than that I'm indifferent, i've got no other commitments,"
"How do you feel about long days, 12 hours shifts?"
"Fine."
"You'll have to be here by 7.30am, and won't leave till 8pm, plus your travelling.."
"That's fine,"
"You'll be getting up very early in the morning,"
"Also fine,"
"You just really want a job don't you?" He asked, half-rolling-his-eyes-half-laughing.
"No, I really want this job,"
I thought he might buckle will uncontrollable laughter any second.
"Your quite confident aren't you?"
My head sunk. What am I meant to say to that? I felt like he disliked me.
"Do you not have any confidence in me?" I asked, almost scared of the answer.
"No, I like confident people. It's an important characteristic. Welcome aboard."
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