A few weeks ago, I found myself on the second floor of the North end of the Unity Health Hospital, dressed in the nicest button-up shirt and dress pants I own, shaking so hard that my folder, which held my resume, cover letter, two pens, notebook paper and a cheesy motivational quote stuck to the inside cover, nearly fell out of my hands. My first job interview was an experience that I will never forget. My anxiety reached the point of exacerbation during the fifteen minutes that I spent in the empty lobby. I had intentionally arrived fifteen minutes earlier than my appointed time and was only accompanied by my own thoughts, which were fraught with worry. Had I arrived too early? Am I at the right place? Had the interviewer told
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She returned the smile, traversed the lobby, and exited the room. It was at this point that I realized that I had no idea what my interviewer looked like.
When will she be here? Was that her? Could she be pretending to walk by but actually spying on me to make sure that I wasn’t goofing off on my phone or doing something unprofessional?
I spent the ensuing fifteen minutes, which felt like fifteen hours, waging my internal battle with my fears and insecurities until another person entered, called me by name, and escorted me to a small office. The fun was about to begin! “Tell me about yourself,” my interviewer, Cyann, said.
The question was somehow a shock to me, and I was sure that my surprise was communicated to her via my facial expressions. I’m not off to a good start, I …show more content…
After fighting my irritation and regaining my composure, I continued. “I’m very passionate about the medical field and I’m going to be an Oncologist.” I spent a millisecond wondering if I had hurt my chances by uttering a run-on sentence. “I’m very excited about becoming an asset to you and your team!”
Feeling a little more confident about that pre-rehearsed phrase, I paused to let her know that I was finished. I answered the next few questions with some strange unforeseen eruption of confidence that hadn’t previously been present.
“Why do you want to be an oncologist?”
“I don’t mean to denote the importance of the work of other physicians, but feel like the treatment of cancer is more important than the work of, say, an Otorhinolaryngologist. Cancer is more likely to kill you than an inner ear infection or inflamed adenoids.”
“Tell me a little bit about your Internship.” “Well, during my Senior year of High School, I had an Internship class right here at the hospital. It took us all around the hospital. I even got to see a baby being born!”
“Wow,” she said.
A smile was the only response that I could muster.
“What is your biggest
She returned the smile, traversed the lobby, and exited the room. It was at this point that I realized that I had no idea what my interviewer looked like.
When will she be here? Was that her? Could she be pretending to walk by but actually spying on me to make sure that I wasn’t goofing off on my phone or doing something unprofessional?
I spent the ensuing fifteen minutes, which felt like fifteen hours, waging my internal battle with my fears and insecurities until another person entered, called me by name, and escorted me to a small office. The fun was about to begin! “Tell me about yourself,” my interviewer, Cyann, said.
The question was somehow a shock to me, and I was sure that my surprise was communicated to her via my facial expressions. I’m not off to a good start, I …show more content…
After fighting my irritation and regaining my composure, I continued. “I’m very passionate about the medical field and I’m going to be an Oncologist.” I spent a millisecond wondering if I had hurt my chances by uttering a run-on sentence. “I’m very excited about becoming an asset to you and your team!”
Feeling a little more confident about that pre-rehearsed phrase, I paused to let her know that I was finished. I answered the next few questions with some strange unforeseen eruption of confidence that hadn’t previously been present.
“Why do you want to be an oncologist?”
“I don’t mean to denote the importance of the work of other physicians, but feel like the treatment of cancer is more important than the work of, say, an Otorhinolaryngologist. Cancer is more likely to kill you than an inner ear infection or inflamed adenoids.”
“Tell me a little bit about your Internship.” “Well, during my Senior year of High School, I had an Internship class right here at the hospital. It took us all around the hospital. I even got to see a baby being born!”
“Wow,” she said.
A smile was the only response that I could muster.
“What is your biggest