Even if nobody knows

2004-10-21 - 11:59 p.m.

Today I talked to some people at Hospital #1. First I talked to the recruiter. She wanted to do an honest to goodness phone interview. She asked if that was ok or if I needed time to prepare myself. I said sure, why not? No point in giving me time to get nervous. Besides, that way it looks like I can handle anything they throw my way, right? And if I sounded a little off I always have the excuse that the interview was a surprise. So anyway, I think the interview went just fine. I'm so full of shit, I swear. I can BS my way through anything. I hate it when they ask things like, "Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a co-worker. How did you resolve it?" I always end up making stuff up. I hope that's not too bad. After I interviewed with the recruiter, she gave my name to the pharmacy manager who called me and scheduled a personal interview. So I'm interviewing with Hospital #1 next Thursday.

I also got a phone call from the recruiter at Hospital #3. We scheduled my interview with them for next Friday. Hospital #3 is arranging and paying for me to have three nights in a hotel and a rental car during that time. And if they hire me they will also pick up the tab for my plane ticket. Plus, for the interview, the recruiter is going to meet me in the lobby and take me where I need to go. Hospital #1 didn't offer me a damn thing and I have to find my own way to the pharmacy in the basement. I told this to my dad and he asked, "Does that mean that Hospital #1 is a much better hospital and they feel they don't have to woo you like Hospital #3 does?" Hmmm... It's sort of funny because when I started this Hospital #1 was my first choice while Hospital #3 was my third choice (dur), but I went for several days there having heard only from Hospital #3 and somehow I got my heart set on Hospital #3 even though if I think about it Hospital #1 is still probably the better choice. I'm such a fruitcake.

During my phone interview with Hospital #1, the recruiter asked me if I had a number in mind for my salary. I don't. I really don't know how much I should expect. How do I find something like that out? OK, well, I do have an idea, but I don't really know if my idea is accurate. It's considerably less than I'd expect to make if I stayed in Sacramento. Then today I found this salary calculator thing online and I entered all this information about my education and my experience and the location and size of the hospital I plan to work in and the number it gave me was about $25,000 more than I expected. So what do I do? I don't want to go in with a totally low number and get ripped off. Nor do I want to be a dingbat and give them some off the wall high number and have them not hire me. What do I do?

Today I tried on the clothes I have in my closet that would be appropriate for an interview. I have two suits which I bought fairly early on in pharmacy school. Since that time I've lost 20-25 pounds. These suits look like bags on me. Horrible. So now I have to go shopping. Ugh! On top of not liking shopping, I'm also starting to scrape the bottom of my checking account. I'm trying to spend as little money as possible and if I get a paycheck before mid-December, I maybe, maybe, won't run out of money. It depends a lot on how much of a deposit I'm expected to put down on a new apartment. Having Hospital #3 pay for my hotel and car during this trip is going to help quite a bit. I just hope it's enough. OK, so I do have other sources to tap besides my checking account, but I'd really rather not.

Tomorrow my mom and I are going to go visit my grandfather. He doesn't seem to be doing as well on his own as he used to. I don't know what we're going to do about him. I think my mom is going to try to convince him to move closer to Sac so she can visit him more easily and more often. I don't know. He makes me worry.