from student to practitioner

i have a job interview this thursday. an interview as a professional, not a student anymore. scary and exciting at the same time.

this job is a one year contract position (clinical fellowship) designed specifically for new graduates. in that year you complete all the requirements to become fully certified as a speech-language pathologist in the u.s. it's at henry ford hospital, which is a great facility with an excellent reputation in michigan. the slp department at this hospital gets a really wide range of clients because they see inpatients, outpatients, voice clients, pediatrics. they are consulted for/during brain surgeries, they evaluate and dispense auditory feedback devices for people who stutter. there are tons of opportunities for continuing education. so this is a fantastic position (despite the salary...), and it is also very competitive, as you might imagine.

the fact that i was even offered an interview was a pleasant surprise for multiple reasons. first off, i just barely got my application together in time. with less than a week to the deadline, i somehow managed to get three reference letters, get transcripts, tweak my resume and write a decent cover letter. i was so stressed and i felt so bad about giving my references so little time to write for me. but it all came together on the last day and i submitted the application. even after i got the application in, i didn't really expect to be contacted because the program starts in june of each year and i don't graduate until august. so they'd really have to like my application a lot in order to offer me an interview and consider hiring me with a start date in september. but they did.

i have a friend who interviewed at henry ford last year. she said they interviewed 7 or 8 people and hired 3, none of whom were wayne state students. so that doesn't bode well for me, but i'm hopeful. it's the only job i've applied for so far, since it had a specific deadline. and i always knew i wanted to be at henry ford at one point or another, if not as an intern then as a clinical fellow. but like i said, it's competitive and i've been praying!

anyway, the interview is this thursday, april 10th. from 9am to 1:30pm. i'm expecting to be exhausted by the end of it! 4.5 hours is a long time to be perky and putting up your best front. the whole process will include interviews with multiple clinicians, a tour of the facility and lunch. my main fear is getting questions that i'm not prepared for and having to make stuff up. i'm not good at making stuff up, i always feel like the other person can tell and then that makes me even more nervous. but i'm preparing as best i can and the rest is up to the Lord.