My Recent Job Interview - 2/25/09

These past few weeks, I ventured out of my safe, mommy-cocoon and did something I wasn't completely sure I was ready for.

I applied for a job.

When my children were born, my husband and I agreed that I would stay home full time while he continued to work outside of the home. We felt that if we could swing it financially, it would be great for our children to have one parent home with them through their pre-school years. We agreed that once they were both in school full time, I would go back to work.

Well, my youngest went off to first grade over a year ago and guess what? I'm still home. Why didn't I immediately go out and get that full-time job? Well, for one thing, there's the issue of early release every Tuesday. My friends who live outside of Hanover just shake their heads in disbelief when they hear that the elementary schools have a half-day every week. My older son is now in middle school, and his regular day ends at 2:15p.m. (Except on those Tuesdays when the middle school is released early...good grief!) Add to this the fact that I enjoy volunteering in the classroom and after school. Put it all together and it really isn't conducive to returning to a 9-5 job.

Over the years, I have taken on part time jobs that I could work around my family. As a Pampered Chef consultant, I set my own schedule. My job as a weekly columnist lets me write about what I want, when I want (provided I meet my deadline). So when a part-time position working for my town became available, I went for it.

Now, I haven't applied for a real job in about 20 years. My first challenge was re-writing my resume. Actually, the first challenge was finding my resume. After scanning old back-up drives from a computer that died years ago, I finally located an electronic version. I marveled at the long list of clients I had worked with, then panicked when I realized I couldn't remember any of the jobs we did together! That was about fifty million dead brain cells ago.

Once my resume was "polished", I had to decide what to wear to my interview. Jeans? Too casual. A suit? Too formal. Semi-casual dress with boots and a black vest? Perfect. (Though I worried that my fur vest might look too real, thus giving the impression that I didn't really need the job...Could I slide in the fact that it was a fake and came from TJ Maxx? Possibly.)

I was amazed at how calm I felt on the day of my interview. This calm dissolved as I entered the room and found not one but three interviewers. Being interviewed by a committee made me feel like those politicians you see on C-Span, the ones who stammer and break into a sweat under intense questioning. ("Yes, Madam Chairperson, I do feel that I could bring a great deal to this position...and did I mention this fake fur vest came from TJ Maxx?”) Still, I kept my cool and tried to compose my answers without looking like a deer in the headlights.

Somehow, I managed to make it to a second interview. This time, only two interviewers. We're making progress here. After the interview, I was given a "skills test", a way to be sure that I could do more than turn on a computer and curse at the screen. After successfully recreating both a Word and an Excel document, I left the building bursting with confidence and good cheer. The feeling that I wasn’t a dinosaur, that I could pull it together and reclaim a spot in the working world, was worth all the effort. Hooray for me!

Sadly, I did not get the job. And though I was disappointed, it was my older son who put it all in perspective for me. When I told him the news, he turned to me and said, "Mom, did you do your best?" I smiled as I thought of how many times we had asked him this same question, after a difficult math test or a soccer loss. I said to him, "Honey, I did do my best." and he replied, "Well, that's all that matters."

And you know what? He's right.