Post-Interview
This week, our class had the opportunity to participate in mock interviews. They were set-up according to the population in which we are most interested in and an interviewer hosted each population/location. I am very interest in pediatrics so I was paired with Dr. Carol Likens from Memphis Children's Medical Center. It was a rather quick, 10-minute interview to get our minds thinking about future interviews we may go on after fieldwork. Overall, I feel as if the interview went really well. I got to show my personally and tell a few personal stories that I felt helped me portray who I really am to the employer.
Leading up to this interview, I knew I was paired with Memphis Children's Medical Center so I spent some time researching their facility and their operations. I visited their website and social media pages and talked with peers who had heard of the facility. I wanted to treat it like a real interview so I got to know as much about the facility beforehand so I could be prepared to ask them questions at the end.
Something that went differently then I expected was being asked about the salary in such a blunt manner. I am up to discuss wages, but I was caught off guard when asked what I'd take. I thought a facility would let me know their offer and then there would be a time period for negotiation if I wasn't comfortable with the salary offered. Nonetheless, I am glad this happened so I can formulate my thoughts and response if I were to be asked this again.
If I could change anything about the interview, it would be my tendency to fidget. Apart from being nervous, I am already a person that talks with her hands, so when adding the pressure of an interview, I guess my body language was very busy. My feedback from the interviewer was that even though I spoke confidently, the fidgeting gave the opposite effect and sometimes proved to be distracting. Going forward, I want to actively concentrate on only using my hands to talk with purpose and leave them by my side otherwise.
Prior to the interview, I was nervous and overwhelmed at the thought of having an interview. But after it was over, I realized how helpful it was to get back into the swing of going to interviews. I haven't ever been to an interview for an occupational therapy position, but I haven't even been to any sort of job interview in the last few years so I was out of practice. Practice definitely makes perfect when it comes to interviewing because it enhances your verbiage, your critical thinking skills, and your comfortability during the interview itself. I will be taking the lessons I learned from this interview process and applying them to future interviews.
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