another job offer (mental health tech)

so, I got another job offer. and the offer letter is signed & accepted which is nice. they do have mandatory drug testing which is kinda like duh for this type of position

it is a mental health technician at a local(ish) inpatient hospital. it is locked down, but it is part of a bigger hospital system/not a standalone. I will be working PRN/scheduling myself 3 days a week, 12 hour shifts 7am to 7pm. I am allowed to take more hours if I want. the pay isn’t great but that’s fine because I have really really been wanting to get into mental health.

I hadn’t felt nervous for an interview in a long time, but I did here because I actually cared about the job. the lady I interviewed with was extremely nice! there are two units each with 20 beds, and those you have to do 15 minute rounds on. then there’s a bigger unit for people trying to become competent for trial because they have been accused of a crime but a judge has found them mentally unfit to stand trial

I am excited because it feels like I will be able to help people. I know it will be a pretty tough job at times. I honestly think the fact that it is gonna be tough at times is making people… hesitant to celebrate my offer/new opportunity? I think people just think I’m going to quit right away. which I mean, I have quit jobs right away (I just did dominos a few months back lmao) but this aligns with what I want to be doing. they even have scholarships and will help me navigate the college system if and when I want to go back. if I do well and like this then I’d likely be a good social worker which honestly was my only dream growing up anyway.

I have watched lots of tiktoks and YouTube videos and read a lot of stuff online about how MHTs feel about their job. I genuinely do think I will enjoy it despite the craziness. I love working on teams, I love being social. I am one of those rare people where talking to someone for 12 hours a day sounds fun and energizing and not draining.

I am honestly a little sad that it feels like people don’t want to celebrate the opportunity with me at this point. I actually ended up dropping one of my friends over this (she was already on thin ice for months with just being generally selfish but her just plowing past me talking about my life to talk about some shitty anime was too much for me lmao).

I really do think I will enjoy this job!! I was calling my old job “the dungeon” because it was so socially isolated and WFH. for some mega introverts I am sure that’s a great opportunity, but for me it’s torture, especially when my garbage ex boss was like actively ignoring my suggestions about team cohesion (and then implementing them a year later & not crediting me but.. that’s a different story)

and it’s not like its my first rodeo with mental health. I myself have been in the hospital for suicide attempts in the past and all of my friends and family are mentally ill. my dad was in and out of the mental hospital for being bipolar type 1 his entire life. like… I know how to treat people having a mental breakdown w dignity & respect even if they can’t do the same for me at that moment. and I think that’s a kinda rare quality…

but anyway look forward to my update where I quit in a week ig. I mean it doesn’t start until like Jan 12 which I’m grateful for bc it probably means they’re waiting until the holiday craziness is over. and then there’s a full week of training and three weeks of shadowing which is! more training than I’ve ever gotten at any other position ngl lmao. they do have a shit ton to train me on tho like BLS, daily needs, restraints, etc.

and for my own mental health, I have my therapist who I have been with for several years by now & she also worked inpatient mental hospital before so she knows what’s up. she knows she is gonna have to support me esp at the beginning

so yeah I am super proud of me and excited even if no one else is that much lmfaooo.

the bottom line is that I care so much about people and want to leave the world a little better than I found it. and for that I think I could be extremely impactful in this position in particular so long as it’s not too triggering or overloading…

(it does suck to have to take such a big pay cut tho. mental health hardly ever pays anything unless you get into the very high positions like psychiatrist, sigh. oh well)