I Dare You to Drink the Vinegar

I am sitting on my bed after a long day of taking care of baby Kelly (which primarily involved watching him sleep in his electronically powered swing) thinking about what is going to happen in the next year that I have off from my full-time job on my maternity leave. As I stare into the sweetest, angelic face ever sleeping beside me I cannot help but think about what the next steps of my career are after I complete my Master's degree in 4 weeks and begin searching for casual work when my salary top-up ends in late May.  I have mixed feelings about wanting to return to work so soon but at the same time I look forward to the challenge of finding a casual nursing position outside of my comfort zone of mental health and addictions and in a time of unsteady nursing waters following what I anticipate will be a lengthy contract negotiation by the BC Nurses Union. I am both excited and scared about the possibility that I will find I am going to...

My latest job interview on Wednesday was quite possibly the worst job interview experience that I have ever had. I felt exhausted, was running and late and did not have time to eat or drink anything before going in. I did not realize that I would be facing a panel of 4 people. The panel interview is quite possibly the most intimidating type of interview; nothing is scarier than 4 people that you do or don't know asking you questions that you can see they are scoring you on. The types of questions that were being asked were completely reasonable. However, I had not engaged in any preparation which I now see was a huge mistake.  I have long been on a kick of just winging it and letting the cards fall where they may, with limited success. Brainstorming possible questions that would be asked and how I would respond to them would have been very advantageous. As I write this now I also realize that presenting myself as having prepared responses would have been a good characteristic to pr...