Concerns about getting a job

[DoctorWannaBe]

I am currently applying to medical school and am looking for a job since I am not a student anymore. I'm hoping to find a job as an ER tech in a hospital, nothing too special. Can someone give me their opinion on a few of these concerns of mine:

1) I volunteered in the same ER last year, so some people might remember me and know that I want to go to medical school. Should I hide this fact if I get a job interview or even if I start working there? If they know that I might not be there more than 6 months, they probably won't bother hiring me. However, at this point I've only had one medical school interview, so I might not be going to medical school next fall and am looking for backups.

2) I have a college degree already in a nonscience field so I'm sure they will ask me why I'm applying for a low-paying entry level position in a totally different field. Is it ok to just say that I am interested in a career in healthcare and want to get some experience working in the field before I decide what area to pursue (again hiding the fact that I want to be a doctor)?

3) I've seen a lot of posts here saying that it is dishonest not to tell an employer that you may be leaving in less than a year, especially if they put a lot of money into training you. I imagine that for these low-level hospital jobs they don't spend a lot of resources training people. Should I feel unethical about possibly leaving in less than a year?

Thanks!

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[liverotcod]

Honesty is the best policy. Why not just explain your situation, with full disclosure. Then they can decide if they want to hire/train you or not, given your anticipated short tenure.

 

[woolie]

Well, I prefer honesty as well but when you need to pay your rent, well honesty is a variable thing.

No seriously, you really don't know where you'll be and you may well be there for another year so there is no deception because you really can't predict the future. I would go with what you said, that you are interested in a career in healthcare and want to get your feet in the door. That's an honest answer - more than that, it would be hard to predict the future.

I think if it's a heavily trained position then that would be guilt-inducing. But Unit Clerks are high school grads and so the training would be different. Play it be ear and see how it goes, you never know.

 

[Supadupafly]

I had a similar experience. Told my employer I was working on getting into med school. Didn't give a timeline, because to be honest, I wasn't so sure I'd get into school right away.

Who knows, you might decide to defer admission for a year, meaning you could work for two to save money or whatever. You don't need to present a concrete timeline because until you walk into your first med school class, nothing is concrete.