As much as I appreciate all the good luck and well wishes, I'm 99.9% sure I BOMBED that interview. No wait, to call it an interview would be inaccurate. It was essentially an oral statistics and research methods exam, full of questions that only a stat genius or someone who already worked for their agency would know how to answer. It was awful. And lasted over an hour. And I'm pretty sure I spent most of that time looking like a deer in headlights.
I've never felt so unqualified for something in my entire life.
I'm supposed to send in a writing sample and my references (and I will, just in case), but part of my doesn't even want to bother because I know I have ZERO chance in h-e-double-hockey-sticks of ever getting that job.
Sorry y'all wasted some good vibes today. Definitely is not in the cards for me.
Re: Update
updated 10.03.12
Eh. Maybe they were just looking for someone who could handle themselves well under the pressure like that and you aced it?
Don't count yourself out quite yet, I say.
Oh eesh, I'm sorry Neuner. I agree not to count yourself out- I felt like a total idiot the first time I met one of my current bosses and clearly it didn't go as badly as I thought.
No need to be a stat genius to be a program coordinator- maybe she was just asking everyone impossible questions so that they could gauge where you are on a "fair" level?
Anyway, I don't consider the vibes wasted and I'm still crossing my fingers for you.
Stand up for something you believe in.
A large part of the program coordination is the research on the program - collecting and analyzing the outcomes for the program. The position is in the QI department, so there's a couple other similar projects that I'd be working on.
There was no heads up that the interview would be structured this way. I'd have totally beefed up on my stats if there was. Some questions I feel like I handled ok, like "on a scale of 1-10, how proficient are you at SPSS?" (a statistical program). I was kind of prepared for a question like that, mentioned I used to be very proficient, but hadn't used the program in over 5 years. So I said "today, about a 4. GIve my 20 minutes with the program, probably about a 6. Give me a week, probably about an 8."
But then there were questions that i SWEAR were designed for an internal candidate. There was just no way for me to even begin to answer the questions because I have NO IDEA how their agency works. Those were the ones I just looked like a deer and headlights.
Thanks for the continued vibes, but I don't really have my hopes up. Would be nice to still get the position, but I'm not holding my breath.
And Mel, that's the CRAZY thing about the position - requirements are a clinical license and 3 years research experience. Who on EARTH has that?! You either have a clinical license, or professional research experience. Researchers don't have licenses, and those with clinical licenses don't have THAT much research experience. I think they are holding out for a candidate that doesn't exist.