So I’ve managed to finagle myself a job interview later this week.  It’s for a part-time evening teaching position at a new community college here in town.  Now, you guys know me… I’m a homeschool mom.  Been one since the beginning.  Pre-K even.  So you know that means I’ve been off the job market for quite some time now.  My resume is D-U-S-T-Y!!  I hardly know where to begin!

So now the jitters begin… what do I wear?  It’s supposed to be snowing that day, so how to balance professional attire and cold weather?  What about my hair?  Are hats acceptable in this day and age?  I’m totally not the hair-and-makeup type of gal, I’m more wash-n-go, but a position like this means having to fuss about silly stuff is part of the package, doesn’t it…   I’ve read that an interviewer will decide within the first 10-20 seconds you’re in the room with them whether or not you will fit the position.  Too bad they won’t let you off the hook directly after that if you’re a no! *laugh!*

And what about those questions?  What ARE my strengths and weaknesses anyway?  I think I can connect with students pretty well, and will love the challenge of getting them engaged…  but my obvious weakness is that I’ve been out of the career game for so long… you think that answer may be too easy?  Oh and I totally overthink things, as you can see. 😉

Thankfully, I’ve done a bit of research and found out that this interview will not involve a teaching demonstration, and there will be no foreboding panel of faculty and staff to impress.  It will just be me and one nice lady with a “Dr.” in front of her name.  I’m only one rusty degree behind her, but I still can’t help wondering how my “homeschoolese” is going to translate into “higher-educationese.” She probably will too.   I guess we’ll find out soon enough whether I can bridge that gap successfully!

If nothing else, even if I don’t get the position, I have found it a bit of an ego-booster that even after all these years, someone in the field of higher-education told me that they believed I was qualified enough on some level to think that I might have been a good fit for a college teaching position.  Silly, I know, but if that doesn’t give me homeschooling teacher credit, (you know, with those hypothetical nay-sayers!) I don’t know what will! 😉

I’m not going to re-invent the wheel here, 😉 like I said, I’m rusty at this.  Instead, I thought I’d link to an article with tips on how to reduce those job interview jitters… here!  Enjoy!

Have you taken a part-time job while homeschooling?  What were the pros/cons?  Have you interviewed for any jobs lately?  What advice would you give to a rusty “I was good at this game once-upon-a-timer”?  😉