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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you don’t take your child to a job interview?

140 replies

Caulk · 23/04/2018 17:19

I was leading some interviews this afternoon. One candidate arrived with her 13yr old son. She said she’d brought him so he could get an idea of what an interview was like.

I said he couldn’t be part of the interview, needed to wait in reception or she could arrange childcare and we would interview her at the end of the day.

She said no one had said she couldn’t bring him, it’s good life experience etc. I said no and she agreed (eventually) for him to wait in reception.

When I called her to say she hadn’t got the job, she said we were discriminating against her because she had a child.

I don’t think I was unreasonable but no one ever does. What would you have done?

OP posts:
Original poster
Caulk · 23/04/2018 18:51

It’s a fairly low skill job, but on a very part time basis - 5-8 hours a week so I can’t see it being a job Centre sanction type one. In my mind you have to apply for ones from their site, and we didn’t advertise that widely so I’m doubtful.

Again, cannot be sure the child hadn’t been excluded/sent home ill/have additional needs but she was quite upfront about the interview thing and I think she would also have been as confident about saying adjustments needed to be made for him.

OP posts:
Original poster
Caulk · 23/04/2018 18:52

Maybe it was my emotional support peacock that made her want to bring her son in the first place? Wink

OP posts:
Sarahjconnor · 23/04/2018 18:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DearyDearyDeary · 23/04/2018 18:54

I'm with Rainbow - if you can't arrange childcare, then you call ahead and check if it's OK to bring a child and have them sit in reception or some other communal area. Doing this would show someone who is well organized and trying to make the best of things.

Just turning up with the kid shows a whole load of failings you wouldn't want in most jobs...

checkingforballoons · 23/04/2018 19:11

Ha! I’m suddenly reminded of my favourite response during an ‘interview’. More of an informal chat really with a show around, as where I work is pretty small. I’d already spoken to this young lady on the phone so she was coming in to see how things worked and so I could meet her in person.

Me: Would you like to have a quick try at using the coffee machine? Feel free to make a drink for yourself.
Her: I don’t want to.

Awkward Hmm

optimuss · 23/04/2018 19:28

when i read the heading of this i thought the child would be very small, but 13! It's been lovely weather couldnt he have sat out nearby or had a hot chocolate in a cafe or something? Very odd.

SingaSong12 · 23/04/2018 19:29

And no-one said she couldn't bring a ferret or a drum kit with her eitherGrin

QuestionableMouse · 23/04/2018 20:00

I did once take my parents to an interview.

I was 17, didn't drive and it was a private house in the middle of nowhere with no public transport. To be fair, they parked on the drive and I went to the interview by myself. (And got the job!)

OlennasWimple · 23/04/2018 20:09

I hate having anyone I know reasonably well on the interview panel in case I make a tit of myself, never mind having my DS watching me blither on mindlessly

BikeRunSki · 23/04/2018 21:01

That’s bonkers. My office dues not allow children under 16 beyond Reception.

Pictureiswonky · 23/04/2018 21:41

I had a guy turn up with his girlfriend. They were both put off when I said she had to wait in reception. This was for a professional job in a large corporate. Needless to say, he didn't get the job

Original poster
Caulk · 23/04/2018 21:44

So reassured that others have had equally odd experiences.

OP posts:
Slightlyconfuddled · 23/04/2018 21:50

I once had a young lady turn up for interview with her Mum. And drunk. She needed her Mum for moral support and had a few vodkas prior to the interview to calm her nerves apparently. Confused

holiday101 · 23/04/2018 21:57

I wonder was she a #theworldisyourclassroom type of parent? I knew someone (well a group of them, actually) and they would have attended the interview not to get the job, but to show the dc 'the real world'. They were the most entitled women I have ever met and I feared for their dc.

kissthealderman · 23/04/2018 22:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JustHereForThePooStories · 23/04/2018 22:03

I’ve sat on thousands of interview panels and think I’ve seen it all.

Had a guy turn up with a sleeping toddler in a pram. It was fine but a bit odd as he didn’t actually acknowledge that he had the child with him, just came in, pointed at the pram and said “alright if I leave this in that corner?”.
I kind of admired him!

Parents turning up with graduates.

People passing out due to nerves.

Guy asking to use the bathroom just ahead of his interview, and being in there for 25 mins.

Man turning up with the entire front of his shirt covered in blood.

Guy bringing a hot chocolate and gigantic cookie along to his interview, slurping and chewing throughout.

Man telling us his “fucking wife had gotten herself pregnant again” meaning he had to relocate.

Worst was a woman who arrived with her husband and he insisted on coming in with her to the interview. I said no, he got bolshy, I was about to set him straight but caught sight of her and she was terrified. I figured she’d get it in the neck from him afterwards so acquiesced and let him sit in the corner.

CherryBlossomSeason · 23/04/2018 22:05

You know how people apply for jobs because they have to for jobseekers and then purposely come across badly. Do you think that's what she was doing?

dangerrabbit · 23/04/2018 22:06

Is this like in trainspotting where he admits to being a heroin addict in the interview so he doesn’t get the job?

Ski40 · 23/04/2018 22:11

I worked in HR and I have seen my fair share of oddballs as well- which kept the job entertaining at times.😁
But this reminded me of when I got my first job, in a clock shop when I was 17. I asked the manager why did I get the job and he said I was the only one who had turned up alone....

Original poster
Caulk · 23/04/2018 22:27

I don’t think it was a job seekers one. It’s 5-8 hours pw, and we only advertised locally, whereas I understand the job seekers ones have to be on their website now?

OP posts:
BluePony · 23/04/2018 23:02

Patti are you the real Patty?Grin

KeepServingTheDrinks · 23/04/2018 23:19

But you can imagine the situation can't you? ....

Interviewer: Would you say you were an organised person?

Interviewee: Why yes, I take pride in keeping my workplace clean and tidy. Actually, at my last job, I would usually stay late to wash up everyone's cups.

Voice from the corner: Really, mummy? You NEVER do the washing up at home. And noone's ever got a clean socks.

Interviewer: Moving on. Are you an honest person?

Inteterviewee: Oh yes. I can't abide dishonesty

Voice from the corner: Well you tell us that Auntie Doris is a slut, but you always tell her to go for it with her new boyfriends....

TheBigFatMermaid · 23/04/2018 23:26

It could have been UC, they require people to apply for ALL jobs and do multiple jobs until they meet the required hours worked. So they would apply for a 3hour job, get that, then have to apply for a further 13 hours, or prove 13 hours proof of applying for work.

blueyacht · 23/04/2018 23:36

I quite often get people turning up for business meetings with their kids, unannounced.

I recently had emails backwards and forwards about how many people were coming to a meeting, who they were etc. But there was no mention of the 12 week old twins....

Longdistance · 23/04/2018 23:36

I had a woman turn up drunk too. She moaned about how many buses she had to get. We asked her ti do a short test, to which she got her lunch out and proceeded to make a phone call to whoever. Then burst into tears. Looking at her CV, she looked really clever on paper, but think she’d been having a rough time.
Needless to say, she didn’t get the job.
I think the woman who brought her son was an idiot.
Though I had someone turn up for interview wearing her company uniform, who was one of our competitors. That was strange too.