Job Interviews

They are nerve wracking. I never know how to correctly answer the questions. It is hard to be put on the spot like that and know the right thing to say.

Back story:

I have a great job. I like it but I am working on getting my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice so I want to find something that I could make into a career. My last class was about Juvenile Justice and as I studied the juvenile justice system I knew that is where I wanted to work.

So when a former co-worker posted on Facebook about the residential treatment center that she works at was hiring I was super excited. I submitted  my resume. The do the interview process a bit differently there. You call in to see if they have any openings and then if they do you send your resume to the Human Resources department. I sent my resume in on a Thursday evening and on Friday morning I received a call to come in for an interview. I had an interview with the HR person on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and she asked me to fill out the application on the website and that she would pass my name on to the others that would be giving me the second interview.

Almost 2 weeks later I received a phone call asking if I could come in for a second interview. They did mention on the phone that other supervisors may call me for interviews. I bombed the interview.  I was interviewed by two of the staff but I felt flustered during the whole process.

I wish there was some way to know what types of questions that would be asked so you could go into an interview slightly prepared. First off there were several shifts they were hiring for. Different supervisors hiring for different shifts. The ones I interviewed with were doing the on call shift which is not the ideal for me but I was willing to do. I did tell them right off that I preferred a set schedule so maybe that is why I didn't get the job.  Here are the questions that I think I bombed. I am sure I am remembering some of them incorrectly.

1st bombed question: Describe yourself. (I hate describing myself. I feel like I lead an absolutely boring life). I do not even remember what I said.

       Better Answer: I am a wife, mother, student, lover, security guard, apartment manager, friend, and a giver. I love helping others and paying things forward. I enjoy reading books and watching British television. I have been married 11 years and have 4 children. I spend the majority of my time taking care of my children but work part time as a security guard. I am working on my Bachelors in Criminal justice. I will graduate in August. I am a hard worker, always on time, my current employer says that when I am at work he does not have to worry about because he knows that I can handle whatever needs to be done.

2nd bombed question: How do you nurture others? (I was totally flabbergasted, how does one even answer that? I asked what they meant and they explained the different languages of love. Its not that I don't nurture my family I just had never thought about my nurturing style).

      Better Answer: I am a really good listener. I allow others to share their feelings and thoughts with me while I listen intently. If they want advice or my opinion I will gladly help them with it. I am not very good at physically nurturing others by initiating touch unless it is toward my husband and children. I try everyday to make sure that my husband and children know that I love them by telling them and by showing them my love.

3rd bombed question: Actually a scenario. One of the girls is a known thief. Someone's c.d. goes missing and is found in the known thief's hamper. How do you handle the situation? ( I said that I would talk to the known thief and get her side of the story and see how things went. They then asked what if she said someone else was framing her? I responded that I would question all the people involved to see what really happened).
    Better Answer: At my house when we have someone that may have caused trouble we bring them into a private area and explain to them that nobody is in trouble we are just trying to figure out what happened. We want them to know that first and foremost they are loved.


4th Why do you want to work with troubled youth? (I mentioned my degree).
       Better Answer: I was a really shy teen that more than anything just wanted to feel loved. Not that my parents didn't take care of me and love but there was never any verbal I love yous or physical contact. I wanted to know that I was loved. I was taken care of but that is not the same as being loved. I want to let kids know that they are loved and wanted. I feel that everyone needs to hear that they are loved everyday. I worry that I say I love you to my husband too much I probably tell him at least 10 times a day.

5th How to you bring creativity into the workplace? (no recollection what I said but is sucked).
          Better Answer: I like to think out of the box. What may work for someone may not be the most efficient way to handle things. I like to think of more efficient and effective ways to do things.

Why are you the best candidate for the job? (I mentioned how I wasn't necessarily the best but that I would do my best).
      Better Answer: I am a hard worker. You will be hard pressed to find a more reliable worker. I care about others. I enjoy serving others and I want to have a career and not just a job.

So I got a call Friday afternoon saying I did not get the position but now I am not sure if it was just the on-call position or all of the available spots. I am debating e-mailing the HR person and getting the answer clarified but am second guessing myself because I already put myself out there and do not want to be crushed again.

Also I think this is the longest post I have written.

Eric

Four year-olds can be great! Here is a new collection of funny thoughts from Eric.

 One time Eric came up to me and said "Mom do you want to transform into a babe?"

Eric had the front door open and I asked him to close it, to keep the flies out. His response was "Jesus made a rule that flies can go into the house."

Eric woke up and the first thing he said was " I had the coolest dream ever! A girl and a girl were fighting."

Eric likes to ask for cheese grilled sandwiches.

One time I told Eric that he drives me crazy. He said "Mom I drive you gutterballs."

Anniversary!

Marc and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on August 17. It is so crazy how fast time goes by. I like to think that we are still pretty happy and love each other more than the day we got married!

A Bunch of Stuff

In June Charlotte turned 9! It is so crazy!

Evelyn spent most of June and July with Grandma and Papa Hafer.

Eric learned how to ride his bike with training wheels.

Sammee turned 2. She is 32 inches tall and 20 pounds!

We went to the cabin in July.

School started in August!!
      Charlotte is in 4th Grade
      Evelyn is in 2nd Grade
      Eric started preschool.

What to do while working the graveyard shift.

I thought maybe I would try to update this crazy blog. There won't be any pics this time but maybe soon! My kids keep growing older and older. Evelyn turned 7 in February and Eric turned 4 in April. They are getting so big. Sammee is finally walking. It only took her 18 months. She is crazy and silly and makes us smile everyday.

I got a new job. I am a security guard. It is okay to laugh at that. It seems pretty silly when I day it out loud. I am not a big person so the idea of me protecting anything is pretty crazy. I work the graveyard shift and the hardest part of the job is staying awake.

Marc got a motorcycle. I don't remember what kind. I am a slacker like that. It is the same one that my dad has.

School!!

School has started again!! Yay!!

Evelyn on the First Day of the First Grade!

Charlotte on the 3rd day of the 3rd Grade!

Random things Eric says

Eric asked me for a noodle with frosting the other day. Evelyn translated for me. He wanted a toaster strudel with frosting.

He also calls m&ms yum yums.

Eric told me the other day that if you get bugs in your hair they will eat your brains!

Hamburgers are Hamburbergers.

Today Eric is Dr. Octerpants! (Dr. Octopus)

Eric is not the only one who says crazy things. Evelyn asked why a limomarine was driving by. 

The cabin!

 During the Summer we go to Lake Cascade in Idaho with the Hafer Family! Here are some of the fun things we did this year!

 Charlotte with  the fish the kids caught!

 Jace Holding the fish the kids caught.

 Shawn's Birthday and Crab Boil!

 Halloween Costumes from newspapers and stuff around the house.

 Christmas complete with a gingerbread house.

I painted the kids and my toenails.

 Evelyn's Halloween Costume.

 Sammee in the sand.

 Follow the leader on the tubes.

 Sammee's first toenail painting.

 Playing on the four wheelers.

 Chilling at the beach.

 Sleeping

 Kayaking

 Playing in the water

 Easter buckets

Evelyn holding the fish.

Sammee Turns 1!

July 10 was Sammee's Birthday! We were at the cabin with Stephanie's family and celebrated!

Charlotte is how old?

June First was Charlotte's 8th Birthday! I can't believe that she is so old

On Saturday June fourth she was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

Kindergarten Graduation!

On June First Evelyn Graduated From Kindergarten! They did a small ceremony in class.

Wisdom Teeth

On Saturday I noticed that part of my wisdom tooth was missing. It wasn't hurting so I decided I would call the dentist on Monday and make an appointment. Today I had that appointment. He gave me 2 options I could have a root canal and crown or have it pulled. I opted for having it pulled. When I went in I assumed that I would have to come in another day and get it pulled. I was wrong. He did it then. I think it took longer to get numb than it did to pull the tooth. That was my fun for the week.

Check Ups!!

Today I took Sammee and Eric in for their check ups!

Eric just turned 3 and weighs a whopping 29 pounds!! Holy not huge!!

Sammee is 9 months and weighs 16 lbs 7 oz and is 28 inches long. She is 75 percentile for height and 10 percentile for weight. She also had to get immunizations today. We are a little behind so this was her 6 month check up but now we are all caught up!!

They are both healthy and happy most of the time:)

blog buttton

I am trying to create a blog button for my store. It works!! I am a genius! Thank you online tutorials:)

Boys are GROSS!!

Eric keeps amazing me with his nastiness. One thing he loves to do is dump cereal or crackers all over the floor. I don't get it. He also loves to smear food on the walls. Pudding and frosting are his top choices. He seems to think that they make great spackle. Every time he got a piece of birthday cake he would take the bright blue frosting and goo something with it. But frosting was not enough last week. He decided to try poo. Luckily he decided after his hands got yucky that poo is not fun to play in. It was still gross but at least he learned playing with poo is not fun. It's a good thing he is cute so I still want to keep him.

Eric is 3!!

Eric turned 3 this past Wednesday!! I can't believe he is getting so old. The girls have him his presents after he woke up. We all got him Super Hero themed toys because he likes Batman. For his birthday he wanted to go to McDonald's to play. So after a tasty dinner at IHOP we went to McDonald's to play and have ice cream. Our friends T.J. and Marika stopped by while we were there to wish Eric a happy birthday. After ice cream we went home but Eric was so tired that he fell asleep before we could do cake.

When he woke up the next day the first thing he asked for was cake for breakfast. I being the awesome mom that I am complied. We waited for Evelyn to wake up and then we sang happy birthday to him and he blew out his #3 candle.

Over all I think that he had a great birthday. He also talked with Grandma Hafer and Kimby on the phone and told them all about what he got for his birthday and his cake.

If you ask him how old he is he will tell you one of two things he is either "berry old" or "berry big and strong."

Spring Break!

You know how when you are a kid spring break is so exciting. Even if you are not going anywhere cool it is awesome to have the time off from school. When I was a kid my mom took us to grandma and grandpa's house in Washington. I now realize why she did that. So she didn't have to deal with us alone all week. I love my kids tons but I think I love them more when they are at school. Charlotte and Evelyn only seem to be able to fight. I know that is what sisters do but it gets annoying.

Eric just kept getting sad when his sisters would come in and out of the house a million times. Sammee she just likes to be outside but the weather here is still wacky so that doesn't happen as much as she would like.

So I think Spring break is actually torture for parents. I am not looking forward to summer vacation.

Megan We love you!

Today we should be at Paisley's Blessing. We all wanted to go but Marc has had to work all weekend and the van is not doing well. Plus Evelyn is recovering from a pretty bad ear infection, Eric has a runny nose and I am running a fever. I am afraid we would not have been very fun to be around. Plus I don't want to get others sick.

Mostly I want Megan, Skylar and Paisley to know that we love them and are sad that we missed this special day!

Megan at our Wedding! My favorite pic of her! Sometimes I can't believe that she is all grown up an a Mom.

Eric

Eric is a character. He makes us laugh. Yesterday Charlotte dressed him up! I sent the picture to his dad and Marc said " I think I just died a little inside." A few minutes ago he had his tool belt and construction helmet on and was carrying around his tool box.

  Eric just looked at this one and said "some girl is holding my shirt." He apparently had forgotten about yesterdays experience.








Eric is rocking out with his guitar leather jacket, sunglasses and fire hat.












Chillaxin in a lawn chair in his snow boots, sunglasses and Nerd shirt.

Easter Egg nose!















He loves those glasses. Nothing cooler than Christmas Jammies, sandals and gloves in the Summer.

The amazing Evelyn!

Even though Evelyn drives me bonkers, she also constantly amazes me. Today she got out of the van all grumpy! Which is pretty typical. But then her teacher stopped me. She told me how great Evelyn did on her science experiment. Evelyn was the first one to do an experiment and Mrs. Bunting said that she did great! Evelyn was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about her project and was able to explain the science behind the experiment! Amazing!