Cat Nance

I am beyond disgusted with the way the VA has treated my mother in regards to my mentally ill stepfather. My stepfather is a paranoid schizophrenic with Alzheimer's and he has been having a psychotic break for the past two years, his delusions have been about me, unfortunately. He is convinced I owe him over $38,000, which is not true. My mother and stepfather were told about a year ago by his mental health PA at the Robert Dole VA in Wichita, Ks that it was time to go into a home. 

This is due to his schizophrenia and Alzheimer’ s, this past weekend everything came to a head and my mother received a call from a social worker at the VA telling her to bring him in. My mom was relieved and thought she was going to actually get some help, it was a weight lifted off her shoulders especially since she is afraid of him and what he could do. They admitted him into the hospital over the weekend, but a psychiatrist who knows nothing of his history did not bother to talk to the PA who has cared for his mental health needs for the past 25 years spoke to my stepfather and said he was fine and could go home. Are you kidding me? She even said that he did not have Alzheimer’s because the disease is not progressing as it should even though a neurologist who did actual tests on him years ago diagnosed him. 

They were trying to also say he was not mentally ill, what kind of psychiatrists makes this decision without checking into his history? My mother told this woman she was afraid for her safety and it was said well that’s a domestic issue...WHAT?!? I had my mother tell this woman and the social worker if they sent my stepfather home and he hurt or killed my mother I would sue each of them individually and the VA hospital. The psychiatrists laughed and said, “that is why I have malpractice insurance”.  Are you kidding me? This is your response? This shows me that not only do you not care about my mother’s safety you do not care about my stepfather. I am so frustrated with the entire VA system, aren’t they supposed to be there to support our veterans? This is the reason why so many veterans are on the streets because of people like this psychiatrist. 

These are men and women who have fought for our freedom but get nothing back in return. The VA is supposed to help veterans, but it is so obvious that they do not care not about the veterans or their families/caretakers. It makes me sick that the only thing the VA did for my stepfather and my mother was re-diagnosed him with the wrong diagnoses. They have sent him home and now so my mother can feel safe while sleeping will be sleeping on a cot in their spare bedroom with the door locked, which she told these people she would be doing, but I forgot that’s a domestic issue. 

RISE Peer Review  Rebecca Aragon Mock Interview Link

       I thought your mock interview was well done you changed your jacket to show the difference between the interviewer and interviewee, which I found was very important. I how you used personal experiences when discussing your motivation. I liked how you explained how your mom being disabled was a huge motivation for you. Adding something personal like you did shows the interviewer a bit of where you come from. This made me want to go back to my interview and do the same.  

    I believe it was your second question that you came up with that your asking about time, but I was unable to tell exactly what the question was. It sounded to me like you may have been asking how the interviewee handled time management? I would suggest on this to slow down when asking the question so it is clear what you are responding to. You may want to consider setting your laptop on a more secure surface there was a lot of shaking and had this been a real interview through Skype the shaking would not look good. Another suggestion I have is to try and refrain from to many pauses and ahs while responding to the interviewer. I have interviewed many people as a manager and when there are to many pauses it seems like you’re searching for what to say when it should just come out naturally like you’re having a conversation.

    Perhaps you could go into more detail on some of your qualifications for this particular job, when asked how you are a good fit. If there is a specific skill you have show case it here in the interview by explaining how you would execute this particular skill. One more suggestion I have is that when speaking of your weaknesses you say “I will be” when speaking about wanting others to like you. This makes it sound like you are not like that now, but plan to be. I know this was just a slip, but a slip in an interview could be the difference of being employed or unemployed.

The purpose of this activity is for us to reflect on everything we’ve worked on the past month. It is to help us see what we could have done better, what we need to work on and on how we’ll do in the future.

The purpose of this activity is so that we can show possible employers that we are creative and belong in the media industry. It is also so that we get practice in showcasing our skills in a short amount of time.

The purpose of this activity is to practice being interviewed so that we can see where we need to improve in our interview skills. This is also a chance to be the interviewer so that we can get an understanding of what they are looking for during the interview.

The purpose of this activity is learn how to tell compelling stories during an interview. This will give us much needed practice at storytelling during an interview. 

This activity is to help us determine what types of questions we need to ask before accepting a position. It is also to get us used to asking or interviewing the interviewer so that we do not feel uncomfortable in asking them questions too.

Questions:

1.     What is a problem within the company and is this something that I can help with?

2.     What is your favorite thing about working with UrbanBound and why?

3.     What are the specific skills you are looking for in the Freelance Writers position and why?

4.     What concerns, if any do you have about my qualifications?

5.     Do you plan to branch out to more cities in the future?

 Reflection Notes

 ·      Question #1 is important to my interview process because I want to know if the company has any issues such as; financial, low employment rate, unhappy customers and if there are issues like these if there is anything I can do to help with the problems. For instance take unhappy customers I could make their relocating experience much better by providing up to date information about the city they are relocating to. I am wanting to ascertain if the company is having any internal or external problems because if they are and depending on the severity of them it could cause this new company to close their doors and leave me without a job. If they have small issues that can be resolved easily and with my help then I will feel comfortable accepting the position however, if the problems seem to big and do not seem like they can be fixed easily to me that would signify a sinking ship and not something I would want to be a part of.

·      Question #2 is important to my interview process because I want to know what makes the interviewer excited to come to work every day. The information I am looking to gain from this question is that they love their job and that the environment is a fun place to be in. I also want to hear how great the bosses are. If UrbanBound is a fun place to come to every day and the bosses are fair and engaging with their employees I would definitely accept the position offer.

·      Question #3 is important to my interview process because I need to know exactly what they are looking for skill wise and why they want these specific skills. Are the skills they are wanting unreasonable? If the specific skills they are looking for are skills I do not posses or not reasonable then I would need to turn down the offer.

·      Question #4 is important to my interview process because I want to know up from if the interviewer has any concerns about my qualifications so that I can assure them that I capable of doing this job and doing it better than expected. I am want to find out if the interviewer has faith in my abilities to perform my duties because if he/she does not I would need to walk away and find a company who does have faith in me.

The purpose of this activity is so that we can get familiar with what is expected during a virtual interview such as; appearance not only of us, but the room we’re in. This is also to help us start to get more comfortable in from of the camera.

     The purpose of this activity is so that we can get experience on researching companies we are interested in. Doing this research will help in deciding on whether we want to work for a specific company.

The purpose of this activity is to get acquainted and comfortable with reaching out to target employers. This activity also shows us how important it is to keep contact with target employers short and to the point.

Link to email draft

The purpose of this assignment is to give us a better understanding of how to pitch ourselves and our brand to a possible employer. It has also helped us create a pitch in the event we ever need it.

The purpose of this activity is to focus on how to build your professional network. The purpose of building the professional network is so that you have relationships in your industry that may be able to help you get a job.

Sorry my Google slide would not embed so here is the link: