72 Hours And One More Day To Go...

It has been a very exhausting 72 hours for me... I have been on a series of job interviews for this company for a high level, highly visible position. It seemed like I answered questions from everyone and their mother, including the landscaper! Well, that's what it felt like...

The position is for a patient care services director. Something similar to the Director of Nursing in a hospital. It is for a 70-apartment assisted living facility that is run by one of the biggest corporations in the U.S. They have facilities in California and Nevada (including Beverly Hills) and about four in the East Coast, although that east coast number will go higher in the next few months. Residents' age range in this specific facility ran from 66 to 99 years old.

FIRST DAY

The appointment was set with the Executive Director of the facility. I was ushered into the office reception area and from there I could see the residents' reception area. It is fairly big and the seating was nicely arranged. It looked like the lobby of a boutique hotel. The residents looked happy and were waiting for their next activity of the day.

Mr JS, the exec director came out to meet me then talked to me a little bit about the place and introduced me to some people at the office area. We then proceeded to his office and started the drill...He said, "I am going to ask you twelve questions and just answer them without so much putting any thoughts or rationale to your answer." Huh? What? Here we go...

1. What is "quality" to you?

2. Define "compassion".

3. What is more important to you? A: trust, B: loyalty, C: honesty. Why?

4. In this job, you will be required to do staffing, budgeting, department policy making, continuing education training, and clinical assessments. Which one would be your least favorite to do and why?

5. What does "doing the right thing all the time everytime" mean to you?

6. You have spent an amount of time in the armed forces. Do you like structure and order? Or do you thrive better in chaos?

7. A medication error has occurred. During your investigation, you found out that the medicine technician switched the medications meant for two different residents. How would you handle this situation?

8. You have a resident who has been diagnosed with beginning dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease. She also has schizophrenia and is prone to anxiety attacks. She was found by the police wandering around the BART station at 11 pm and has been yelling and harassing people. This is the fifth time in two weeks that this resident was able to get out of the facility unnoticed and unsupervised. Now, what is your plan of action?

9. A family member wanted to see you regarding his issues with his mother. This family member is well-known to other staff members as a "chronic complainer". Now, he is unhappy with the fact that his mother does not want to get out of her apartment and participate in group activities. What do you do?

10. How do you deal with anger?

11. How do you deal with your own stress?

12. If colors were something that you can eat, what color would you be eating more often? Why? (I swear this question threw me off so fast I begun to have a migraine...but then I quickly realized that it was a variation on the "color question" that everyone seems to be so fond of asking these days.)

When he asked if I have anything else to say, I said, "Not much...Everything that I just said and world peace." Seriously, I said that. It took him a couple of seconds then he started laughing out.

And then that was it. At no time I was asked about anything that is on my resume. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. And then I remembered the fine print on the application form. If anything on your application AND/OR resume is found false or fabricated, it is a cause for termination of employment if hired. Yikes! Good thing I remembered to double check the dates and previous employment history on my resume the day before I printed it.

And three hours later, we were done...Whew! It was physically and emotionally draining. The exec director then asked me to come back the next day for round two of the interview process...Huh? More of this?


DAY TWO

I must really like to get this job because I am back for more torture. After a short tour of the facility (They serve Starbucks coffee in their dining room! I soooo want to work here!), I met with five residents with varying degrees of attention, eyesight and hearing. We discussed health issues, their families and how they felt about being there. For the most part, it was interesting to hear them tell their stories until we got their health issues. Each one was a "walking pharmacy" and waiting to get hit by a train, so to speak. I had to tell them since I wasn't hired yet, there's really nothing I can do for them. They all thought I was the new care director already! I had to reassure them that if I were hired, I would definitely spend time in getting to know them individually and find out how best to help them.

After this "interview", I got to meet the other managers of the place: business operations, dietary, facility management, activities. Pretty nice bunch of folks. I could definitely work with them. Of course, each one had their own set of questions to ask, some more than the others. These people love to talk...or hear themselves talking.

Finally, Mr JS got me out of there and surprise, surprise! There is a day three. At this point, I was ready to say, "Look. You either hire me or not. This has been very exhausting and this place is not that close to San Francisco (It's about 25 miles one way)." But of course, I smiled, gritted my teeth, and said, "Sure!"

DAY THREE

I swear I must be into pain because here I am back for round three... Mr JS tells me that round three is a telephone interview. I was a little miffed since I was still dressed up for a formal interview. And guess who it is? It is the West Coast regional director for the company, Mr JS's boss. Great! So I took a deep breathe, drank some water then went to the office. It is a female and she's located in Las Vegas. After some chitchat, we then proceeded to the grilling period. What's surprising about this second formal interview was how "predictable" the questions were. She asked about my short term and long term goals, what my greatest accomplishment so far, strengths and weaknesses, if any, what do I bring to the job, etc. Typical stuff...beauty pageant questions, if you asked me. The ordeal lasted for an hour and then she took another hour to discuss the company philosophy, values, mission and vision. I had to go to the bathroom afterwards.

Then I met some of people that I "might" be supervising and working with. Which is what I wanted to do the first time I was in that building. They all seemed nice. I spoke to the medication technician and she seemed very knowledgeable about her job and what she's supposed to be doing. She drew a blank when I asked her what made her qualified to do what she's doing now. She expressed some frustrations about the system they currently have in place. I suggested something and she called the right people who were happy to oblige. One point for me. She told Mr JS', "If you don't hire him, you're not as smart as I think you are." Yup, they have that kind of rapport. Mr JS just smiles at her...

I got to see some of the apartments and actually liked some of them. They were cozy; the one-bedroom apartments were perfect for a couple with no kids. One lady had a dog, a terrier. The dog went ballistic the minute we approached her door. Ugh! I pretended I liked her dog...

And finally, back to the office area...I have no indication of whether I'm going to get hired or not. Mr JS made me wait in the business ops manager's office. We chitchatted for awhile. She was the one who called me as she also handles HR for the building. And then she lets something slip by: Out of the 47 resumes that they pulled, they have only considered five and are only interviewing three. I was the third person to be interviewed. AND I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR. I was thinking...hmmm...maybe I had put in a lower starting salary...

Mr JS comes back after about 15 minutes, smiles at me and says, "The President/CEO of the company will do your final interview tomorrow by phone. Don't worry. You don't have to come in here. He'll call you on your cell phone." All in one breath. Oh, goodie. I can be talking to the owner of the corporation in my underwear and he would never know it. And so I numbly nod my head, not hearing anything after the "CEO will do your final interview" part. As I was walking out, the receptionist calls me back to sign a confidentiality/non-disclosure statement. I finally get into my car and drive home...

Really, I am exhausted... why do I really want this job? I've thought about this a lot, even before the first interview. I mean, if I didn't, I would have not bothered returning their calls. And not got myself into this state of tiredness. There has to be something that's motivating me, right? So I found myself writing down and I believe that these would have to apply for all the new job searches I would do in the future:

1. I have to believe that I can make a difference. Whether it's for the employer or the customer it serves. As a nurse, I'd like to think that my skills are valuable enough to make a difference in someone else's life. I know...too idealistic.

2. I would like to think that the pay will not make that much of a difference. Like I've always said, it's not all about the money all the time. For me, a dollar or two isn't that much if I am unhappy with a job.

3. Any future employer will have to respect my request for leave of absences. And grant them with no questions asked. I know that I can, and have, poured myself into previous jobs that I've had. My accomplishments and my references can attest to that. This request is so I can, occasionally, claim myself back.

4. Micromanagement is out of the question. An employer will have to trust me that I will give him his money's worth. Some structure would be great but not watching my every move.

5. A supervisor who will trust me and my decisions. I don't want someone second-guessing me once I have made up a decision. A supervisor who is as passionate with his or her job. And will be behind me 100% of the time - whether I'm right or wrong (rarely).

FINALLY!!!

The company HR finally calls me and asks what am I looking for as far as compensation. I've done some comparative research for similar positions in the industry and these are what I asked for:

1. Parking spot in the facility.
2. BART ticket for the month (worth $200).
3. $6x.xx an hour pay - this is interesting as I thought most managers are 'salaried'. But as an 'exempt' position, I will not be paid overtime.
4. Leave of Absence - the most important, nonnegotiable perk. I really don't care about vacation accumulation. I like to take off when I want to. I said I would give them plenty of advance notice when I will be gone. For the rest of 2007, it's already set (Oct 5-7, Nov 8-12, Dec 20-Jan 10; then two weeks sometime on Easter 2008, August or September and December-January 2009). I think this one caught her by surprise and she commented how I can have it all planned out already. I let the comment slide...
5. I have my own medical/health insurance so whatever they're going to pay as their share, they can give it to me and include it with my pay. I'll take the rest of their health benefits.

With the exception of #4, she pretty much agreed to what I want. Which made me think I have low-balled my salary expectation. She will have to get back with me about the leave of absence part. She mentioned that it will probably be a local decision, meaning I will have to discuss this with the Exec Director. She also mentioned their "bonus system" for the managers. They have a "spend down" system for each department. Every month, a specific amount is alloted to each department and for every dollar saved/not spent, the manager will get $0.25 of it. I thought "cool"! The issue is I will have the most scrutinized budget as my share will include the hourly salaries of the caregivers (excluding benefit cost share). Personnel cost has the biggest share of the pie and is the least predictable of all the expenses. Overtimes will be looked at closely. Oh well... we'll see. The other interesting incentive is what they call "resident referral bonus". This time, if my referral actually moves in, I will get a share of the monthly fee (fees start at $4K+ a month) on a sliding scale basis (25% the first month, 20% on the second month, 15% on the third month, etc.) until the fifth month. So there will be some marketing involved. The place has a capacity of 70 residents and there is 64 of them in there now. I'm not a salesperson so I don't expect this to ever happen to me. BUT, if the place gets full, all the managers will get a share of the profits as determined by the mothership.

TODAY!!!

The offer sheet came via email. Like she said, the leave of absence will be a local decision. I will be going to the place tomorrow to discuss this with the Exec Director. If all goes well, will start employment paperwork, including physical exam (turn, cough and deep breath!) and a Livescan report (a criminal background history investigation). Livescans are pretty expensive I heard but it's one of those things that were put in place to deter those with criminal history. If it's negative, the employer gets the report in 24 hours via the Internet. Also a urine drug test.

Now, my dilemma is almost a reality...WTF do I wear to this job? I have been so used to just throwing on a scrub top with my jeans or chinos and call it my "uniform". This time, I might have to dress up a little bit as I will not only have to do patient care, I have to interact with family members, potential residents, vendors, suppliers, other company people, etc.

So, deep breathe and move on...

A 'Malou Fernandez' Moment

Someone very smart decided that it's a good time to close the San Francisco Bay Bridge this Labor Day weekend. For both east and west bound traffic. Sure, no one from the East Bay should be traipsing in San Francisco with their cars, and vice versa (like people in San Francisco will admit to traipsing in the East Bay. Unless to go to Ikea. But I digress). Of course, it's the weekend that I have to go to Berkeley for work.

I was torn between driving (which meant adding 20 more miles to the normal commute and 30 more minutes of driving plus the $5 Golden Gate Toll fee) and taking public transportation. Since the BART was only a 10-minute walk, I figured, what the hell. Save myself from the hassle of the Golden Gate bridge. I researched online the train schedule, where I have to transfer and how much it would cost for the round trip ticket. Then I had my nephew drop me off at the closest station to the house.

On Friday night, it went as planned almost without a hitch. I missed the stop where I had to transfer trains. No problem. Just get off the next stop and catch the next one. Going home wasn't so bad, either. Saturday night was perfect: got off at the right station, transferred to another train, walked the 10-minute walk and I was at work with about 15 minutes to spare. Cool. Sunday morning came and it's time to go home. Waited for the right train, got off at the right transfer station and San Francisco bound train was waiting. As soon as we hit the Transbay Tube (the tube running right through San Francisco bay which connects the East Bay to San Francisco- yes Virignia, it is under water. You can see it in the tube. That's why it's dark so you don't freak out. But your ears pop so you know there's been a change in air pressure. Much like during take off and landing of planes.), we stopped... there has been an accident in one of the stops in San Francisco. A train in smoke according to the train operator. Now, I don't know about you but stopping in the middle of the tube is not the most pleasant feeling. Your ears are plugged, you can feel the tube swaying a little (it is suspended, after all), and it's pitch black outside. But we moved on and the announcement was made: the train that I was on will stop at the second San Francisco station if you were coming from the East Bay (that would be the Montgomery Street Station for all of you Bay Area fans out there) and will turn around to go back to its destination (That's the problem with the BART. It is a closed, one-way system so that when there's an issue in one of the stops along the route, the trains get backed up and passengers do not have a choice but to either wait or find alternative ways to get to wherever they're going). I felt sorry for those whose destination was San Francisco International Airport. As for me, no problem...just go up to street level and I'm in downtown San Francisco. And what a lovely place it is. The weather was beautiful. People walking all over the place. Starbucks is open...

But how the hell do I go home now? I had to call a friend to find out how much it costs to ride the bus! Seriously, I had no idea. It has been a while since I rode on a Muni. The last time I did, it was only for a buck. Now, it's a buck and a half. Oh well. The other choice was to call my nephew again to pick me up from downtown. And so I braved the bus.

Here comes my 'Malou Fernandez moment'. The minute I got on the bus, I was assaulted by a stench that made me gag and my eyes water. On the bus is this guy who needed a shower four days ago. I mean, he reeked! But I had to go home so I held my breathe, paid my dollar fifty and proceeded to the back of the bus, as far as I could get away from the guy. But physics being the way that it is, as soon as as the bus started moving forward, the air from the front moved to the back. The stench went all the way back there that it was now almost impossible to breath! And now I noticed that the other passengers started sniffing the air and decided that it stunk back there! About all the windows in the back were opened to allow for fresh air to circulate but it didn't help much. I couldn't stand it so I got off at the next stop and decided to wait for the next bus. I would have welcomed the smell of AXE and Charlie cologne rather than that stench! The next bus was also interesting because of its "scent". Varying smells of obviously cheap colognes mixed with sweat from the guys riding the bus was the norm. So what is "cheap cologne"? I am talking of the knock-offs, 'smells like' versions. I am not a parfumer but I do know what the real thing smells like. Even after you mix it with sweat. And so I try take in fresh air in gulps, opened my window and bear it. My Jo Malone cologne (Black Vetyver as the first layer, followed by Nutmeg and Ginger then with Grapefruit to 'seal and cystallize') wasn't competition for the guys as far as they're concerned.

Mission Street is one of San Francisco's most vibrant streets and it runs from one end of the city to Top of the Hill in Daly City. This is where you would find the Latino neighborhood. Almost anything Latino can found in this part of San Francisco. From hole-in-wall taquerias to salsa clubs to bakeries and everything else in between. This is also the route of the bus. It stopped at every fucking bus stop... And there maybe about 35 of them between downtown and where I had to get off! So what's the consolation? Good looking Latino guys...and they are HOT! Since the weather was warm, they're even wearing less than their usual attire. They look at you with their "fuck you" eyes, smile or nod at you a little (like they know you're cruising them!), grab/rub their crotch a little (their pants are down to their crotch!) and you are soon lost in your own Latino porn fantasy...

So lesson learned: I don't fucking care how long it takes and how much it costs (toll fees and gas), but I will drive around any bridge closure in the future. I am done with public transportation as far as going to work is concerned. If it takes me an hour to get there, so be it. The party doesn't start without me, I always say. If I have to drive with the other crazy Asians out there, so be it. That's what insurance is for. At least, I will be comfortable, I can breathe, and I will not have to call someone and ask how much it costs to ride the bus. Don't get me wrong. I will still take the BART but only to downtown and back. That still beats paying for parking downtown anytime. And if there's an incident like this morning's, I will take a cab.

For those of you who have no idea who Malou Fernandez is, just Google it. She said something interesting about OFWs and AXE and Charlie colognes...