The interview

On Nov. 18, I interviewed with a major health provider in Minnesota. The job basics were exactly what I have been doing over the past 10 years. I haven’t seen a job offering that matched me closer. 

Her: Tell me why you want to work here.

Me: Well, if I can get a bit personal, I’ve had a long history with healthcare as a patient. I’ve also worked with teens with mental or behavior issues at a group home, so I am very familiar with the issues that can arise in providing care. More than that though, my fiance was on the North Dakota state health care for the past two years. Between nearly 500 in premiums and 500 in medications each month, we were in a dire situation. With her new job, and your health care plan through them, her medications were $108 for three months. I understand exactly how important health care is to people, and I want to use my skills to help your company communicate that to members and stakeholders.

Her: How do you feel about writing articles for newsletters?

Me: That’s been my main job for the past five years. I am well versed in working with diverse groups of people and clients to deliver key messages.

Her: What do you not like about your last job?

Me: Well, most of the time when you are working with subject matter experts, when you give them the copy to look over, they will change a word or sentence here and there. But every now and then, you get back your piece and it’s been completely changed, and for the worse. At times like that, you take a breath, put it away for an hour, then come back and go through the changes one by one to see if it is a necessary change for accuracy or a change for their personal preference. I’ve never had an issue with subject matter experts once I go over the changes and explain the need to create readable pieces for a general or specific audience.

Her: What did you enjoy?

Me: I love working with experts in their fields, learning new things, and sharing the cool things they do with others. I love taking complex information and making it understandable, which is probably why I enjoy teaching as well. I love meeting people with different points of view and finding out how they approach the world. I get jazzed working with other writers on communication issues and how best to approach them in new ways.

Etc.

I sent a thank you letter three days later, the Monday before Thanksgiving. Today, I emailed the recruiter/screener who first talked to me before the in person interview. I got this back.

“Thanks for reaching out to me in regards to the Sr. Communications Consultant position.  At this time, the manager is pursuing interviews with additional candidates who more closely match the needs of the department.  I apologize that you had not been notified sooner. Please let me know if you have any questions and I wish you luck in your job search.”

I emailed her back.

“Thanks for getting back to me! As I have been doing everything required of the job for longer than the requested length of time, I was wondering what area I was seen to not meet. As I continue to apply for jobs, I would like to be able to address such misconceptions before they arise. Thanks for your help, and best of luck with your search.”

I’ve sent similar requests in the past, without the slight aggressiveness about meeting the needs of the department, but about 50 percent of the time, I don’t hear back. The other 50 percent say I did nothing wrong.

I’ve ranted about this before, but it’s SOOOO frustrating to be doing everything right, to interview well for jobs I’m more than qualified for and would kick ass in. After 3 months off the job, I am anxious to tear it up, kick some ass, and work my butt off for whoever hires me. As it is, I had such a good feeling about this job, I don’t know what to do now. I feel like I wouldn’t be qualified to do my old job at this point.

I’m getting married in less than two weeks, have less than 40 bucks to my name. I got a call from a recruiter to send my name to another organization for a job that starts next week. At this point, it’s hard to get my hopes up.