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

[Caulk]

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?

WTF!!

I'd sympathise if there was a child care issue and she had to leave him outside but that's just weird!

Someone I'd never seen before sprung into my office the other week, on a Friday at 4.15 (we finish at 4.30 on a Friday) with her 9 year old daughter and said she had a meeting with the medical director and wouldn't be long, her DD would be quiet then buffered off down the hall.

I've recently helped with interviews for £45k manager job. The candidates had to do a written test which they knew about in advance as it was mentioned in the invitation to interview letter. I gave the first candidate the instructions and said she had 1 hour to complete the task. At that point she decided she'd better go to the loo first as it was an hour. I felt like saying she could use the time however she chose but it starts now. I didn't though, she went to the loo and started her hour more than 5 minutes late. Then at the end of the hour she asked for extra time twice so went nearly 10 minutes over! We were late for all of the interviews for the rest of the day... Who doesn't go to the loo before an interview, not during it! She didn't get the job.

Taking a child to an interview really, she clearly didn't want the job. Or wanted the discrimination claim is she was unsuccessful. I wouldn't have employed her either, on that basis alone!

An apprentice once brought his mum to a group interview stage. It was a nice day, I happened to look out the window to see a large woman in her forties out on the grass at the front of the building playing candy crush on an iPad. She had even brought a sun lounger...

YANBU

Poor kid, cringe!!!

'Sounds like one of the 10 commandments of being a CF ...'

I agree with DGRosetti. . . . . . .I'ts common sense and personal dignity - and to act like a CF before you've even had the interview, let alone a job offer :-( total madness!

Someone brought a dog to my daughter's 3rd birthday party - twelve toddlers - because "it didn't say we couldn't on the invite" I can't bear these people.......

Wow, in all my 20+ years of working in the recruitment industry I’ve never had a candidate turn up with their child in tow!

And believe me I’ve had some shockers! But never that! (Although there’s still time!). Who the hell would think that’s appropriate?

She hasn’t got a leg to stand on anyway.
She didn’t contact you prior to her interview to ask/check if bringing her son would be ok.
You gave her perfectly reasonable options during the interview to work around having her son there.
Any feedback you gave/give would be factual and purely based on her performance during the interview in relation to the skills you were looking for her to demonstrate.

She is an actual moron and has shown her son a) how NOT to succeed in interviews and b) that his mother is in fact a loony tune.

Honestly, I despair at the sheer stupidity of some people at times

I once took my then partner to an interview, it was in the middle of no where (it was a cattery) and i didnt drive. However he stayed in the car and i went in, the woman interviewed me told me to go and get him so he sat in on the interview, i did get that job. She however was a bit crazy, she climbed out the window during the interview and i just thought she was a bit eccentric, the girl i was replacing gave me a pitying look at the time and now i realise why, i left after a couple of months! She would just go on holiday for two weeks and tell me the day before and i had to run the cattery and look after her horses. dogs and cats and she would also land me with her two stepchildren with no notice

Well, her son's had a brilliant lesson in how not to approach a job interview.

I was once involved in interviews for a deputy headteacher post. One candidate had put together a textbook application and looked really good. However, when he turned up he appeared bored to death. At one point, when asked about something that would be central to the role, he sat in silence for a bit, then heaved a huge sigh and said "Oh dear".

We didn't appoint him.

She may not have been told she couldn't bring anyone else to the interview but I doubt she was told she could. (Excepting those providing assistance of course)

One of my colleagues would occasionally bring her young son to work, he was 8 or 9, very well behaved. If there were things like packing good for post, or similar then he was very helpful. He was a nice lad.

That was a small office with few staff, where we knew each other well and knew each others' families pretty well too. Vey different situation to an interview. She was bonkers.

My friend who had her baby slightly earlier than he was due phoned to rearrange an interview. They told her to bring him along. She got the job, starting after her mat leave.

She's nuts Op, you did well in recognising it before you employed her lol

This does explain those advice websites you come across entitled ‘How to succeed at interview’ and then find the advice is things like

• Arrive on time
• Wear clean presentable clothes
• Brush your hair
• Smile and make eye contact when you greet people

I couldn’t believe it when I read this advice when I was going for my first interviews as it seemed so obvious, then I became someone who interviewed other people and discovered it clearly wasn’t as obvious to some people.

Better you find out now that she's bonkers rather than after she started, god knows what else she thinks is acceptable.

Lucky escape!

I’d say she was being bloody ridiculous. But having worked in employment law you do have to be so bloody careful. I’ve worked on defending discrimination cases for much less. She may deliberately have brought him for an excuse to make a claim.

YANBU you should just be honest and say that you interviewed a lot of candidates and there were several others who were a lot more qualified for the position and it had nothing to do with her bringing her son along

Just to update: my boss has had two emails from her today:
One explaining that she was discriminated against because she had children and another showing screenshots of the School prosecuted saying that children get real life work experience in yr 10 and interviews now are good practice for that.

I laughed.

What a bizarre thing to do for a real interview. Fine if you’d set it up before as a role play. But for a job you wanted? She sounds well odd and you have had a lucky escape.

I once had a woman show up with her husband as an interpreter as she didn’t speak English. I outright said it wasn’t allowed as speaking English was part of the job. They tried to prosecute. I won without any legal advise.

Ah, god loves a trier

She’s scrapping the barrel a bit there.

Let’s see what feedback we can give her:

1. Bringing your teenage child to a job interview and expecting him to be able to ‘sit in’ without clearing it with the employer first is a sign that she is unable to demonstrate effective planning skills.

2. Sulking throughout the entire interview because she couldn’t have said teenage son sitting in the room, demonstrates the inability to manage and deal with change well, a lack of ability to follow process and the inability to follow instructions.

3. Making up daft shit to complain about after demonstrates lack of self wareness and an inability to take critical feedback onboard and use it to improve.

Think that about covers it

Great stuff I’m trying to get a job had a couple of interviews and feeling ahead of the game after reading this thread. My favourite is the candidate with the takeaway coffee and cookie Jesus wept

My favourite is the candidate with the takeaway coffee and cookie

It wasn’t even a coffee, it was a hot chocolate! A giant one from a coffee chain in a huge cardboard bucket cup. He took the lid off to poke at the whipped cream and marshmallows with a little wooden stirrer.

I would have done the same as you. She sounds like the type to take offence at the world not revolving around her, in fact a nightmare to employ. You've dodged a bullet.