Help me turn my mom into a working woman!
July 13, 2010 4:51 PM Subscribe
Tips for a job interview? My mom has never interviewed in her life but has a great opportunity to interview. How can I help her prepare?
So if you have read my past questions you will see a I have a difficult and challenging relationship with my mom. Previously she was living on in my living room after being beat up and thrown out on the streets. Currently, my husband and I are paying for her to live at a sober house. Although this has been great for her life (100 plus days sober, currently no loser boyfriend to speak of, positive focus on changing her life) it has literally drained our bank account.
My husband arranged a job interview for her at the large company he works for. It is a janitorial position and my mom is very excited and eager for the opportunity. She has very little work experience and she never interviewed for her previous positions. She was in a janitorial position at a long term care facility where she was awarded employee of the month (before she quit to follow one of her loser ex-boyfriends) and before that she did housekeeping at a hotel. Her total work experience is a little over a year. She is very good and thorough at this type of work so I have no doubt she would do a great job.
The question is how can I help her prepare for something as stressful as a job interview when this is going to be a competely new experience for her? Furthermore it is a panel, structured interview which even I find horrible and nerve-wracking. She is 48 years old and has quite a colorful history that doesn't include interviewing or presenting herself in a professional way, but I want her to have a real shot at this. I think it could really help change her life.
Any suggestions mefites?
So if you have read my past questions you will see a I have a difficult and challenging relationship with my mom. Previously she was living on in my living room after being beat up and thrown out on the streets. Currently, my husband and I are paying for her to live at a sober house. Although this has been great for her life (100 plus days sober, currently no loser boyfriend to speak of, positive focus on changing her life) it has literally drained our bank account.
My husband arranged a job interview for her at the large company he works for. It is a janitorial position and my mom is very excited and eager for the opportunity. She has very little work experience and she never interviewed for her previous positions. She was in a janitorial position at a long term care facility where she was awarded employee of the month (before she quit to follow one of her loser ex-boyfriends) and before that she did housekeeping at a hotel. Her total work experience is a little over a year. She is very good and thorough at this type of work so I have no doubt she would do a great job.
The question is how can I help her prepare for something as stressful as a job interview when this is going to be a competely new experience for her? Furthermore it is a panel, structured interview which even I find horrible and nerve-wracking. She is 48 years old and has quite a colorful history that doesn't include interviewing or presenting herself in a professional way, but I want her to have a real shot at this. I think it could really help change her life.
Any suggestions mefites?
If you can afford it, get her a new professional outfit (dress, shoes, undergarments) and have her hair styled. She should look neat and capable. New clothes for a fresh start!
You could try mock interviewing her. Have her sit like she would during an interview and have you (and some of your friends) interview her. Do it over and over again until she gets annoyed with you all and over her nerves.
If you can, take her out to breakfast or lunch before her interview (no alcohol). Have a pleasant and fun time. If not, make a special breakfast and eat with her. Don't talk about the interview, just try and have a fun low-keyed meal.
posted by fifilaru at 5:16 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
You could try mock interviewing her. Have her sit like she would during an interview and have you (and some of your friends) interview her. Do it over and over again until she gets annoyed with you all and over her nerves.
If you can, take her out to breakfast or lunch before her interview (no alcohol). Have a pleasant and fun time. If not, make a special breakfast and eat with her. Don't talk about the interview, just try and have a fun low-keyed meal.
posted by fifilaru at 5:16 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: To take a step back on the situation, I've found it's very easy to pin all your hopes on a single event. It might be helpful to you, your husband, and your mother to realize that even if she doesn't get this job, there will be other opportunities. Basically, don't let this opportunity box everyone into thinking that this is the only opportunity.
I've found in the past that with this sort of job, employers just want someone responsible—someone who will show up and do what they are asked. Generally, it's best to frame your sense of responsibility in terms of previous work experience. A year's experience might be enough to provide anecdotes to support this (if asked). But she'll need to explain the gaps in her resume. She may want to focus on how she was raising children/being a homemaker during this period (if that's reasonably true) and how her life circumstances have changed so that she needs to enter the job market. She should be honest, but she shouldn't volunteer more than what is asked.
And as fifilaru suggests, she should dress in a neat and professional manner.
posted by ifandonlyif at 8:14 PM on July 13, 2010
I've found in the past that with this sort of job, employers just want someone responsible—someone who will show up and do what they are asked. Generally, it's best to frame your sense of responsibility in terms of previous work experience. A year's experience might be enough to provide anecdotes to support this (if asked). But she'll need to explain the gaps in her resume. She may want to focus on how she was raising children/being a homemaker during this period (if that's reasonably true) and how her life circumstances have changed so that she needs to enter the job market. She should be honest, but she shouldn't volunteer more than what is asked.
And as fifilaru suggests, she should dress in a neat and professional manner.
posted by ifandonlyif at 8:14 PM on July 13, 2010
Best answer: Anyone interviewing for any position from janitor to CEO should be able to show an interest in the company. Have her practice a canned answer for why she would want to work for that particular company.
If she is willing to practice with you, just give her canned interview questions. There's not really much need to correct her, it's merely to make her more comfortable. If there are support areas at libraries or job centers that help with interview prep that might be easier than you taking on the task.
Even with limited work experience I'd recommend putting together a simple resume - one page. And if she is going to be filling out an application there on the same day, a cheat sheet, with the typical application info (past jobs including addresses and contact information, the people that she will list as references with their contact information, etc.)
For structured interviews, it's helpful to think along the lines of where have you displayed teamwork (janitor is part of the whole team in a company), how have you shown yourself to be customer focused (customers coming in seeing the condition of the company, and internal customers feeling good about their work environment), give an example of a time when a project was going wrong and what you did to change it for the positive.
The other item in structured interviews is they often have a scoring criteria. Ours is 1) state the situation, 2) state what you did to effect the situation, 3) explain the outcome, and 4) relate it to one of the core principles. So if the company is big enough your husband may be able to find something on the HR website that describes prep for structured interviews.
Sorry for the ramble. Most importantly is let her know that any company would be lucky to have her working for them! Best of luck.
posted by Edward L at 9:10 PM on July 13, 2010
If she is willing to practice with you, just give her canned interview questions. There's not really much need to correct her, it's merely to make her more comfortable. If there are support areas at libraries or job centers that help with interview prep that might be easier than you taking on the task.
Even with limited work experience I'd recommend putting together a simple resume - one page. And if she is going to be filling out an application there on the same day, a cheat sheet, with the typical application info (past jobs including addresses and contact information, the people that she will list as references with their contact information, etc.)
For structured interviews, it's helpful to think along the lines of where have you displayed teamwork (janitor is part of the whole team in a company), how have you shown yourself to be customer focused (customers coming in seeing the condition of the company, and internal customers feeling good about their work environment), give an example of a time when a project was going wrong and what you did to change it for the positive.
The other item in structured interviews is they often have a scoring criteria. Ours is 1) state the situation, 2) state what you did to effect the situation, 3) explain the outcome, and 4) relate it to one of the core principles. So if the company is big enough your husband may be able to find something on the HR website that describes prep for structured interviews.
Sorry for the ramble. Most importantly is let her know that any company would be lucky to have her working for them! Best of luck.
posted by Edward L at 9:10 PM on July 13, 2010
Best answer: I'm going to second the attitude that says don't pin all your hopes on this. Talk about how this interview is a step in the right direction, but that even if she doesn't get the job, there will be other opportunities and she will have more practice at interviewing.
I really hope she gets it, both for her sake and for yours, but I'm worried about what might happen to her sobriety and self-confidence if she doesn't, so I think I would put some language out there to admit that possibility and figure out what that means in the grand scheme of her life.
posted by CathyG at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2010
I really hope she gets it, both for her sake and for yours, but I'm worried about what might happen to her sobriety and self-confidence if she doesn't, so I think I would put some language out there to admit that possibility and figure out what that means in the grand scheme of her life.
posted by CathyG at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the advice. We have plans for nice outfit and helping her by prepping her, but ultimately we are framing this entire thing as a visit up here to spend time with us (and a job interview just happens to be part of that) so we don't get her hopes up (or ours). She will be here for ten days so there will be a lot more to this trip than just the interview!
posted by rainygrl716 at 6:27 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by rainygrl716 at 6:27 PM on July 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by speedgraphic at 5:15 PM on July 13, 2010