Interview

I had an interview this morning.  It went well, thanks.  At least I think it did.  It remains to be seen how the interviewers feel about it.  It's for a part-time job at our church.  A job that I think I would be good at and would really enjoy.  It's in God's hands now...literally!

It's funny to think about going back to work.  It sounds a little bit daunting.  A little bit scary.  I haven't gone to work in over nine years.  As in, I haven't walked into a building where other people are working to go to work myself in over nine years.  And prior to this interview I thought, What am I going to talk about?  When they ask about my organization skills, should I tell them how I have a specific way I like to load the dishwasher (and how my husband STILL hasn't figured that out)?  When they ask about my experience recruiting volunteers, should I mention how I often ask my friends to babysit for free?  When they ask about my comfort level planning and leading events, should I explain that just getting out of my house in the morning takes an immense amount of planning...and yelling.  Maybe I'll leave out the yelling part. 

At first, during the interview, I found myself relying on my teaching experience, which seems like a lifetime ago (my nine year old's lifetime, actually).  But as I got more comfortable, I realized I have experiences from these last nine years that, even more so than my teaching career, have prepared me for a job out there. In the workforce.  I, with my two co-chairs, run our school's book fair, the biggest fundraiser our school has.  And we ROCKED it last year.  That alone covers recruiting, planning and organization skills.  For six years I was an organizational tutor.  I was second in command at that same tutoring company, where I handled all of the day to day stuff.  Yes, I sat on my couch with my computer on my lap while making and taking phone calls, entering hours to bill families and sending out paychecks.  I may have been in my pajamas, but I was professional in every other way.  And I was good at it.  And I grew my Norwex business and built a team of 5 recruits.  On any given day, I do more than just yell at my kids to turn off the T.V. and get their shoes on.  Although, it's easy for me to forget that most of the time.

I'm not saying I do more than other stay at home moms.  I'm saying just. the. opposite.  I think stay at home moms, like me, don't give ourselves enough credit.  We do work.  And we work outside the home.  We volunteer at our kids' schools, sporting events, churches and more.  We may or may not get paid for our time and energy, but we do it nonetheless.  We hold the mute button so the person on the other end of the phone can't hear the tantrum being thrown by our three-year-old because she wanted her pretzels in the purple bowl instead of the green one, but we make those fundraising phone calls anyway.  And, like all moms, working or not, we run a household.  That in and of itself should qualify us for just about any position we want.

I don't know if I will get this job (fingers crossed!) but I do know that I'm qualified.  Being a stay at home mom doesn't have to be a death sentence for a career.  Off to organize my dishwasher.  Again (will he ever learn?).