Z Esquire
NEARLY THREE MONTHS LATER...
I passed my certification exam and have been hired as a technician in a nuclear pharmacy starting next week. Done pretty good by the first almost-quarter of the year, all things considered.
Thank you to everyone who offered reassurance and encouragement, here and elsewhere. Depression and logic are almost always at odds (as many of you know), so even if hearing/reading those things from someone else doesn't magically make everything better, it's helpful to have evidence that the non-negative things I'm thinking about myself have some backing in reality. It's also helpful to go back and read them when my mood is not so low. Also, part of the reason I haven't updated here in a while is because I wasn't sure how to express my gratitude in a way that makes sense. I guess I could just say “thank you”, but for some reason it's important that I have a “why” to back it up.
So here's how it went down!
January I did pretty much nothing other than study and/or freak out in my spare time. All my colleagues who knew I was planning to take the exam were convinced I would pass it easily, saying things like “if so-and-so can pass it, then you can definitely pass it”, or “you're not an idiot, you can pass it”. This was not at all helpful! It upped the stakes too much! If I failed, not only would I have to pay if I wanted to take the exam again, but I'd look like a massive tool. Still, I managed to almost convince myself that they were right, and the exam would be super-easy.
OH MY GOD, they were all fucking LIARS. I mean, the test questions are randomized, so maybe the test is usually pretty easy and the universe just decided to dump on me that day. Most of it was hospital-based: procedures and drug families that I never encountered at work in a community pharmacy. Part of the point of studying was to fill in those gaps in my knowledge, but this test was bringing up gaps I didn't even know I had.
Fortunately I'm pretty strong in math, and I think that's what ultimately saved me because I did pass it after all. Then I texted a bunch of people telling them that I wanted to vomit in relief. (Angie: You didn't actually vomit, did you? Me: Not quite!) Now I can put CPhT after my name, which is great because it means I can stop pretending to be esquire just to look all fancy.
The test was February 7th. I gave myself a few days reprieve to celebrate and let the massive wave of relief nausea fade away, and then started casually investigating job postings. I only found one full time position on that first day of searching and I applied for it on a whim. I didn't expect them to actually call me back the following week.
I had a phone interview right there on the spot, and at the end the HR manager said she'd recommend me to the lab director for a second interview. He agreed to see me, and I interviewed with him the week after that (filling the long week in between with more freakouts).
Despite the tension and nervous apprehension I was actually pretty confident: I don't always look good on paper, but I always nail the interview. This one was actually pretty informal. He asked me about my previous work experience, we got a little off-topic, he had one of the other pharmacists show me around the lab, and that was it.
Side note #1: Boy am I grateful for that stint I did working at the Marana Airport. That tends to catch people's attention in a good way, and the guys especially (but not exclusively) tend to get really excited about it. “You used to work on Skyhawks?” “Why? Is that relevant to the job?” “No, but it's AWESOME.”
Side note #2: Apparently the lab director used to work in community pharmacy 15 years ago before switching over to nuclear pharmacy.
Him: Ah, the good ol' “pour, count, lick and stick” as we call it.
Me: Yeah, they don't let us lick things anymore.
The final obstacle was the batch of interviews he had to do following mine, so I spent the next week hoping that no one else would be more awesome than me, and the following week they called to offer me the job. ᕙ(⌐■_■)ᕗ
I start on Monday, WHOOOooooOOOAAAaaaAA. (Nervous and excited.)
Did I mention it's a nuclear pharmacy? Because it's a nuclear pharmacy, which means we deal almost exclusively in radioactive materials, sending them out to various hospitals and then receiving the used containers and instruments because we're the only facility within [huge number of] miles capable of storing them.
My primary job starting out is going to be preparing doses of Technetium-99m to be sent out to local hospitals for use in PET scans and such. After a 90-day probationary period they'll start training me for nuclear pharmacy technician certification, and then I'll be able to put NPhT after my name.
And did I mention this is my first non-temp full time job? FINALLY I AM A MAN. It took me so long to get just this far; I really hope I don't fuck it up.
So that's what I've been up to.
Bonus chibi-Z in lab coat (accidentally summoning demons?) because why the fuck not.
Posted via Dreamwidth. Comment there. Or here. I'm not picky.
I passed my certification exam and have been hired as a technician in a nuclear pharmacy starting next week. Done pretty good by the first almost-quarter of the year, all things considered.
Thank you to everyone who offered reassurance and encouragement, here and elsewhere. Depression and logic are almost always at odds (as many of you know), so even if hearing/reading those things from someone else doesn't magically make everything better, it's helpful to have evidence that the non-negative things I'm thinking about myself have some backing in reality. It's also helpful to go back and read them when my mood is not so low. Also, part of the reason I haven't updated here in a while is because I wasn't sure how to express my gratitude in a way that makes sense. I guess I could just say “thank you”, but for some reason it's important that I have a “why” to back it up.
So here's how it went down!
January I did pretty much nothing other than study and/or freak out in my spare time. All my colleagues who knew I was planning to take the exam were convinced I would pass it easily, saying things like “if so-and-so can pass it, then you can definitely pass it”, or “you're not an idiot, you can pass it”. This was not at all helpful! It upped the stakes too much! If I failed, not only would I have to pay if I wanted to take the exam again, but I'd look like a massive tool. Still, I managed to almost convince myself that they were right, and the exam would be super-easy.
OH MY GOD, they were all fucking LIARS. I mean, the test questions are randomized, so maybe the test is usually pretty easy and the universe just decided to dump on me that day. Most of it was hospital-based: procedures and drug families that I never encountered at work in a community pharmacy. Part of the point of studying was to fill in those gaps in my knowledge, but this test was bringing up gaps I didn't even know I had.
Fortunately I'm pretty strong in math, and I think that's what ultimately saved me because I did pass it after all. Then I texted a bunch of people telling them that I wanted to vomit in relief. (Angie: You didn't actually vomit, did you? Me: Not quite!) Now I can put CPhT after my name, which is great because it means I can stop pretending to be esquire just to look all fancy.
The test was February 7th. I gave myself a few days reprieve to celebrate and let the massive wave of relief nausea fade away, and then started casually investigating job postings. I only found one full time position on that first day of searching and I applied for it on a whim. I didn't expect them to actually call me back the following week.
I had a phone interview right there on the spot, and at the end the HR manager said she'd recommend me to the lab director for a second interview. He agreed to see me, and I interviewed with him the week after that (filling the long week in between with more freakouts).
Despite the tension and nervous apprehension I was actually pretty confident: I don't always look good on paper, but I always nail the interview. This one was actually pretty informal. He asked me about my previous work experience, we got a little off-topic, he had one of the other pharmacists show me around the lab, and that was it.
Side note #1: Boy am I grateful for that stint I did working at the Marana Airport. That tends to catch people's attention in a good way, and the guys especially (but not exclusively) tend to get really excited about it. “You used to work on Skyhawks?” “Why? Is that relevant to the job?” “No, but it's AWESOME.”
Side note #2: Apparently the lab director used to work in community pharmacy 15 years ago before switching over to nuclear pharmacy.
Him: Ah, the good ol' “pour, count, lick and stick” as we call it.
Me: Yeah, they don't let us lick things anymore.
The final obstacle was the batch of interviews he had to do following mine, so I spent the next week hoping that no one else would be more awesome than me, and the following week they called to offer me the job. ᕙ(⌐■_■)ᕗ
I start on Monday, WHOOOooooOOOAAAaaaAA. (Nervous and excited.)
Did I mention it's a nuclear pharmacy? Because it's a nuclear pharmacy, which means we deal almost exclusively in radioactive materials, sending them out to various hospitals and then receiving the used containers and instruments because we're the only facility within [huge number of] miles capable of storing them.
My primary job starting out is going to be preparing doses of Technetium-99m to be sent out to local hospitals for use in PET scans and such. After a 90-day probationary period they'll start training me for nuclear pharmacy technician certification, and then I'll be able to put NPhT after my name.
And did I mention this is my first non-temp full time job? FINALLY I AM A MAN. It took me so long to get just this far; I really hope I don't fuck it up.
So that's what I've been up to.
Bonus chibi-Z in lab coat (accidentally summoning demons?) because why the fuck not.
Posted via Dreamwidth. Comment there. Or here. I'm not picky.