Mock Interviews

Location: San Jose Obrero Mission

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2012; 5:45-7 pm

The colors of Pilsen

A month after my previous visit, I found myself visiting Pilsen for another round of Mock Interviews.  Pilsen is a Mexican-American neighborhood and is wonderfully colorful due to its murals, restaurants and the general community.  I made my way to the Mission and met up with Thomas, who was going to be leading this session.  Rather than the lobby area we would be meeting in the computer room this time, a place where the residents are encouraged to develop their technical skills, as well as use the equipment to look for a job.  Thomas and I waited for the other volunteers to show up, but none that had signed up actually did.  Finally we got underway and I was introduced to my charge for the evening, Peter.

As I met him, something about Peter did not feel right.  He seemed to be suffering from some sort of compulsive behavior and throughout the evening I felt like he was making an effort to keep himself in check.  His physical appearance gave an impression that he was going through tough times.  Before we could get started, he told me that he was looking for a part-time position in order to be eligible to collect disability benefits.  I was finding it tough to get a word in and this led to him being scolded by Mary, the lady in charge of the mission.  To his credit, Peter used that criticism and was very respectful for rest of the session. 

If there is one thing that my time with Chicago Cares has taught me, it is how not to be judgmental of people.  Quite often I had been quick to label people based on appearance or first impressions.  Over the past two months I had truly been humbled and tonight was no exception when I learned that Peter was a double graduate, with degrees from UIC and The Moody Bible Institute. 

Let me repeat.  A person who appeared to be a misfit in society was a double graduate from two reputable institutions. 

Our new meeting room

Peter had chosen to go into janitorial profession because that’s what his family had been doing and was previously employed in variety of places, including a long stint at Potash Markets.  Thus, when I presented him with the sample job options, he choose a janitorial position as the one he wanted to interview for.  I told him that even though he was looking for a part-time position, we would treat this as if it were full-time.  I wanted to see how he would respond to situations which required greater commitment.  As we went through the various questions, two things became apparent: Peter was a stand-up guy and he expected very high standards from his co-workers.  This was even reflected in his answers to the behavioral questions where it was quite evident that if Peter were to be employed, he would be someone who would hold his colleagues accountable.  At one stage I told Peter that his answer was something I would have been happy to have received from some of the people I had interviewed for positions in my Company.

At the end we each wrote down our feedback and then discussed it.  Peter had graded himself higher for some of the questions and I explained why my ranking was lower.  He did not argue, but rather listened carefully to what I had to say.  I liked his confidence and I mentioned that I would expect him to rise above his current desire for a part-time job and seek a full-time employment with no dependency.  I asked if he ever envisioned himself in a supervisory role and was pleased to hear him respond affirmatively, albeit after a few years.  We concluded the interview at 7 pm, since that was the dinner time at the mission.  Peter thanked me and asked me for my card, which I gladly gave.  It had been a tough night for the program since one other volunteer showed up late and Thomas had to scramble to cover as many interviewees as possible.  Even then we could not cover everyone, something I felt bad about.  These men deserved another chance and our help to get back to the workforce. I mentioned to Thomas possibility of starting earlier so that we could cover two men per volunteer at each session.  Thomas said that he will discuss this and thanked me for my time. 

I walked out in the lobby and saw Peter having his dinner with other men, perhaps the only meal they would have had that day.  It is a strange world we live in, one where people complain about small things regarding their job.  I myself have been guilty during water cooler chatter about trivial things.  Nowadays we hear about how the economy is bad and how people need to hang on to their jobs.  I do not think the poor economy has anything to do with how people should behave.  Having a job, any job, is a privilege, not a right.  My blog title has a quote from ‘Desiderata’ by Max Ehrmann.  I was reminded of another line from the poem as I sat in the train that evening. 

“Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.”


*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy