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So overwhelmed

littlekiwi

littlekiwi

I charge by the hour for anything before noon
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
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Most of you don’t know but I have a job interview out of town on Monday for a role as a Disability Responsiveness Educator at a public hospital (essentially educating healthcare staff on making the services the hospital provides disability friendly) and while I was quite calm and reasonably prepared for the interview plus the trip away, the employer has sent me a task to do prior and present as part of my interview (I knew about it last week but only got the details today). Because I leave on Saturday I have approximately 48 hours to complete both the task and prepare notes for the debrief session.

At first I was super overwhelmed cause my first thought was this task has nothing to do with what I know - it’s more focussed on a customer service issue from feedback and how I would teach staff strategies on how to change the way they deliver their service using learning strategies and tools rather than disability.

Fast forward an hour or so and I’m realising that while I haven’t necessarily taught adults, I actually know a lot of the learning strategies and tools from being in lectures, workshops, tutorials and online learning communities during university - I just didn’t know the actual theories but after doing heaps of reading online I feel better.

Of course my biggest downfall is not knowing when to stop researching and start writing content which isn’t that dissimilar to when I had assignments at uni and that’s probably why I feel so overwhelmed.

I really do want this job so it’s finding the balance of doing too little/too much or just enough as well as nailing the interview. I naturally aim to be an ‘A’ student so my tendency is to err on doing too much which could backfire quite easily.
 
Bless you.

Maybe set yourself a 1 hour limit for research, then put what you have found out into an essay plan. Look at the gaps, then research that with another time limit. When you have a completed essay plan start writing. With digital, you can always edit and add stuff later if you need to and have the time. Not so easy with an old fashioned type writer.
 
it’s not an essay, it’s a task that I present as part of my interview. I’ll probably structure it around a powerpoint presentation and go from there. I’ve stopped looking for info now and will start preparing the presentation tomorrow.
 
Absolutely start preparing. You have this.. You have the tools of wanting to help and that is what Customer Service is. even if it is a negative answer, given in a positive way will be a win win in customer service. DOn't second guess yourself Jennifer. As Angela said do not dwell too long. Do your presentation then re read/ go over and edit more or less as you see fit after your brain storm everything or reading your draft. If you are doing power point, do brief bullet points. You can elaborate during the presentation. Use index cards for your notes... maybe put a word or so on your index cards to jar your memory. Make your presentation look good .. You scrapbook so you can do that :) Best of luck!
 
thanks @cfile - there’s a bit more to the mock situation but out of respect to the employer I’m not sharing it fully online. I’m sure once I start sifting through everything it will be fine, it was just the initial omg I don’t know anything about adult learning strategies and tools which is part of the debrief section but when I stop to think about it, I do know about it but just as an adult learner rather than as an educator
 
littlekiwi said:
thanks @cfile - there’s a bit more to the mock situation but out of respect to the employer I’m not sharing it fully online. I’m sure once I start sifting through everything it will be fine, it was just the initial omg I don’t know anything about adult learning strategies and tools which is part of the debrief section but when I stop to think about it, I do know about it but just as an adult learner rather than as an educator
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well my dear, then you got this :) Good luck!
 
You can do it Jennifer! Just dive in keep the attitude that you can do it!
 
Since we are talking generalizing at the moment, I would say start as any task or assignment.

Take a deep breath, and organize your thoughts on what you want to include. Divide and conquer - make a list. Start small. Complete one section, review, tweak. Start the next item on the list. Complete, review, and tweak. Then combine and review. See where there is missing information, check for continuity. Then correct. Move onto the next item. Again, combine and review. Make the steps super small and manageable!

You've got this, Jennifer. Overwhelming, but you can make it manageable!
 
thanks girls, think I was just overwhelmed with the thought of I don’t know anything about x when I actually do, just not as it’s intended - the steps of actually creating what I need to and presenting i’m fine with. Doesn’t help that I’m wanting to make it as good as can be and for me that usually involves asking 101 questions to get clarification which in this case I can’t do - just got to trust my instincts and do the best I can I guess
 
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Sometimes I start a task knowing I’m going to step away quickly. Force yourself Stop working, go for a walk! It helps me focus on the problem and then gives me time to think about issues that have arisen during the initial work. When you go back to work you may be able to focus better and know specific area you still might need to research.

Good luck.
 
I have the problem of not knowing when to stop researching too. The way I work around this is to set literally a time to stop. Maybe 1more hour of researching and then I start writing. I would then write and if I need more research while writing I will make note of it and keep writing not to fall in the research rabbit hole again.
 
All good advice. I hope it is coming along well today. Thinking of you.
 
Good luck Jennifer.....you got this!!!! I'm sending lots of positive vibes your way.
 
You will do great, Jennifer! Just breathe. Go for that walk. And then come back to it. If you are a praying person, pray. And then listen. The ideas will come and it will all be good!
 
It sounds like you've got it figured out, Jennifer! Just remember that the people you're going to be presenting your information to are would-be colleagues (and/or bosses). So while they'll be "learning" from you, they aren't exactly students, if that makes sense. They have experience and a knowledge base; hopefully that experience means they have a background in the topic about which you'll be talking so you don't have to spend too much time teaching them info versus explaining the way you'd deal with the customer service problem with which you've been presented.

You're gonna ROCK IT!
 
I love that you realized you can pull from your experience as a learner. Sara had great advice too! Remember that they have a knowledge base. You can do this! You got this!

Pretend it's your job, and go in there and present amazingly!
 
it took me about 3 hours this evening but its done now as far as content goes - I just have to add some notes for the discussion part afterwards where they'll ask about what learning strategies and tools ive used
 
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