You know an interview is going well when one of the two interviewers starts giving you a thumbs up as you answer the "bad cop's" hard questions!!!
Seriously though, I think my interview went really well at Nova this week. We had a large group (16 people) and there were some interesting characters. A couple of them seemed so nervous they were about to burst. There were a few New Englanders so there was a lot of Red Sox talk. And everyone else mostly kept to themselves.
We started the day with a little video and Q/A time and then got split into two groups. One for a walking tour and one for interviews. We would switch when we were done. Well....we my group never got a tour b/c we fell behind on time, but that's okay. I got person in-depth info from my lovely host!
Let's rewind...I started to get sick on Monday. By Tuesday I could not swallow. Tuesday night the Urgent Care told me that it was viral and to just take Ibuprofen for the pain. So Wednesday I had two very turbulent, over-crowded and painfully hard seated flights to get me to Ft Lauderdale. My ears did not pop and by the time I landed I could not hear anything. Luckily my host practiced some OMM on me to pop my ears, but that didn't take away the nasty little Rhinovirus (my guess).
Thursday it started to move into the sneezy and runny nose phase. So while I was interviewing the phrase "dont' sneeze" continually ran through my head. I had also not had any cough drops that morning to prevent menthol breathe.
When I was called back, a tall man came out and called my name...and he had an accent. He introduced himself to me and I instantly knew he was from Eastern Europe (Score 1 for Vicki). We get to the room and there is a nice, friendly woman who jumps up to meet me. We start with "Tell us about yourself." So I start at the beginning...well, not very beginning, but that I came from a blue collar family and then how I ended up in Minnesota with a BS, LDI, and MPH and why am left MN to work in MI. Next question is "Tell me about working as a food scientist." So I explain, "Well, I made brownies all day everyday for 6 months." Woman almost jumps out of her seat (I learn later that chocolate is her absolute favorite, score 2 for vicki). I tell more about that job and she asks if I can cook too. I tell her my favorite way to de-stress and absolute love in my life is to cook and/or bake for other people (she jumps again-score 3 vicki). She asks then the standard, Why DO? and What kind Medicine? She also asked about my experience in Croatia and how I got there (tally vicki 4 interviewers 0).
So then the second interviewer started. I have heard that they like to play "Good Cop, Bad Cop." Seeing as she was so friendly and happy and easy to talk with, I was so ready for him to be the "bad cop." But he wasn't. He teaches basic sciences and asked me how I have prepared myself to study--would I be able to handle the course load (interviewers 1). He followed up with some time management, what are you weaknesses and strengths and then another question about Croatia.
So overall, I think it was a really good interview and I would be surprised if I didn't get accepted.
That being said, I don't know if I really want to spend 3-4 years of my life in Ft. Lauderdale area. I really felt like I was in a bad 80's movie on the beach. I kept expected Tom Cruise to wander around the corner with a martini shaker. That and I do love the 4 seasons. I don't know that I could handle summer all year round. Lastly...it rained no stop. Couldn't even go to the beach, but I did get to lunch at a famous restaurant!!!!
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