Fingers Crossed

I had a second interview on Tuesday for one of the jobs I applied for a few weeks ago. It went really really well. I gave some great answers about why I was interested in the job and why I got into Public Health, and the women I was interviewing with (the boss women) seemed to take quite a liking to me. I kept emphasizing that I wanted to become more familiar with the grant writing process, as look at how Public Health policy can work to improve the overall well being of communities in need, which they seemed to really like (who doesn't want an employee to VOLUNTEER to help write a grant that will get you federal money?). Towards the end of the interview they really started talking in concrete terms: what I would be doing, as well as the work environment, etc. A good sign, for sure.

When I e-mailed both of them yesterday I was told they both enjoyed meeting me, enjoyed my enthusiasm and I would be "hearing from them very soon". Now, either they are playing a cruel mean joke on me and I won't hear anything, or I've got it. The second interview seemed almost like a formality; the first interview was really the "vetting process" and I managed to somehow impress the first set of women who interviewed me the first time.

The only thing that isn't so great about this job is the pay. It sucks. I mean, really. I don't think I'm unreasonable in my salary expectations: I have a Master's degree and 3 years of public health experience (1 1/2 of which was overseas). But this pays nothing....The one up-side to all this is, the review process through the university is frequent and the pay increase is "significant" (or so I was told by another employee). Still, the starting pay is about $10 K less than I envisioned. All jobs here pretty much pay poorly, and I'm getting a job in the recession, so I'm trying to be positive about it. A job, is ultimately a job, and I can always keep looking.