As a home-based recruiter who started working remotely long before the pandemic began, I have conducted hundreds of phone interviews. Being interviewed—whether on the phone or in-person—can be stressful. So if you’re job hunting and want to improve your skills and ease your interview anxiety, check out these tips:

1. Be prepared

Most of the time interviews are scheduled (at least mine are) ahead of time rather than conducted on the spot. Prior to the interview, familiarize yourself with the company. It doesn’t have to be extensive information, but enough to show the interviewer that you are serious about the position and company. Also, answer the phone professionally . Saying “Hello, this is [your name] speaking” shows the interviewer you are ready for the conversation and, by saying your name, you tell the interviewer how to pronounce it correctly. A bonus to being prepared is doing a little research on your interviewer by looking up their profile on LinkedIn. In a recent interview, a candidate told me she’d reviewed my profile, saw how long I had been with my current company then asked what had made me stay that long with the company. I was really impressed and she stood out to me, because no one else had ever made that comment. Bottom line? Do your research if you want to be remembered.

2. Be professional

You may be more relaxed with a phone interview than in a face to face interview, but it is important to maintain a professional demeanor while also being friendly and personable. And please don’t swear (yes, it’s happened). This is the time to let the interviewer know you are the person for the job and presenting yourself in a professional manner will definitely be noticed by the interviewer. When leaving a voicemail, follow the same guidelines.

3. Be on time

Punctuality is professional. Many recruiters, like me, instruct the candidate to provide a number for us to call (some have the candidate call them). A best practice would be to add the interview to your calendar with a reminder. If you find another job, are no longer interested or just need to reschedule, contact the interviewer to inform them. Also, make yourself aware of the phone number or at least the area code the interviewer will be calling from. Many times the interviewer is not in the same city or even state as you. Chances are, if your phone starts ringing at the time of the scheduled interview, it is the interviewer calling. If you missed the appointment due to unforeseen circumstances, contact the interviewer as soon as possible to reschedule if still interested or withdraw if not.

I hope these tips help you for your next interview and help you earn that job you have always wanted.

Per dictionary.com a hobby is an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation. Well, my husband has taken up his long lost hobby of car restoration. From the moment he told me about this ’68 Buick Skylark, I knew there would be no stopping him from pursuing/renewing this hobby. So on October 12, our son and Jeff left for Michigan to purchase this car and Jeff has had the excitement of a kid at Christmas ever since. I have to admit, watching Jeff work his magic on yet another car is exciting. It’s been a long time since he sold his Best of Show ’68 Buick GS (first picture) that he spent years restoring. Stay tuned for updates.

I purchased this hot air brush (Prime Days impulse buy), not really knowing anything about them. But with having limited use of my one arm for the past 8 weeks, my hair has been less than straight and stylish so I thought this might help. I have to say after my inaugural use, I am pleasantly surprised.

I was so geeked purchasing a new refrigerator last week, not because we had to, but getting pretty close based on the sounds our basic 10+ year old, freezer on top of fridge was making. Then I was thinking “you realize how old you are when a new fridge makes it feel like Christmas in July”. So, I did a little research on the invention of refrigerators. I can’t imagine the illnesses that occurred before 1913 when the first home refrigerators were invented and I am sure not everyone could even afford one at that time. Now we didn’t buy the state of the art refrigerator with all the bells and whistles, but it does have A LOT more room than our old one and has an ice maker when we didn’t have one before. Below is a picture of what the first electric fridges looked like and of course pictures of my new fridge. Isn’t it pretty?

A lot of people are probably reading that title and say “WHAT???, have you read the news lately???” I would have to agree Racine has it’s share of problems. Like anything else, the negative things are what makes the news, it’s rare to read or listen to a reporter talk/write about the beauty of things. That is what I am going to do. Downtown Racine sits on the edge of Lake Michigan with quaint little shops and bars/restaurants that offer their own specialties. There are a lot of events throughout the year like First Fridays or Party on the Pavement that brings everyone together for good food, music and the opportunity to drink in public without getting in trouble, as long as you don’t over indulge on the adult beverages, I have seen Racine’s finest have to intervene. Not with me or my friends, we keep each other in check. Another fun part is the beach which includes The Northside Oasis (sells food and hosts local bands). The water is a bit chilly, but you can’t help but have fun/relax when here. Visiting the Lighthouse is another favorite place. The grounds are gorgeous and reading the plaques about what the area was used for back in the day is interesting. I have also met my best friends here, Mary, Connie, Sue, Tami. We get together on a regular basis at all the local events as well as family events. I feel blessed every day to live in such a beautiful place with all these amazing people in my life.

When I first met the doctor who was going to operate on me I asked about how much time off I would need. I explained I work from home and sit at a desk, would 2 weeks be okay. He seemed to agree, so that was set along with my surgery date of May 17th. My rotator cuff tear was going to be repaired and I was going to get back to swimming and working out in no time. Day of surgery comes along, we were told it would be about an hour for the procedure, then to recovery before going home. I woke up and saw that it was a little over 2 hours later, didn’t think much of it at the time, heck I was pretty drugged up and not thinking about much other than trying to wake up. Fast forward a couple weeks to when I have my post surgery appointment. Doc is going through the pictures with me pointing out the first Rotator Cuff tear, then a 2nd one, then a bone spur that was shaved down, then a bicep tear “Wow! You had a lot” he said, before explaining the other bones that were shaved down. Then said he didn’t want me going back to work for at least another 4 weeks. Tomorrow, July 3rd is my first day back. I am still dealing with the pain of all that work, cannot move my arm myself unless to do the fun filled exercises my therapist has given me as assignments in between appointments. I am looking forward to getting back to work, though. I am part of a great team and really enjoy what I do. To everyone out there recovering from surgery or has surgery coming up, don’t get too discouraged if you aren’t healing as quickly as you thought you would. There are so many variables that play a role. Listen to the healthcare professionals that are working with you. Take the time needed to rest and allow you body to fix itself. Having a reliable network of friends and family to offer you support is super important. I have been very blessed to have a lot of awesome people that have called, visited and helped with all the things I cannot do.

My poor 90 pound black lab Daegan is terrified of loud noises AKA thunder and fireworks. I have tried the Thunder Shirt and a variety of over the counter calming meds, most recently a brand with Hemp. That worked the first couple times, but then we were back to the same nervous behavior- whining, shaking, climbing on me, even going in the bathroom and digging. I don’t know what that’s about, but it’s a thing. I finally called the vet because I feel so bad for him and he is too big for my lap, dog calming music while it seems to have a little positive effect, isn’t something I want to listen to for long periods. The vet told me the problem with thunder shirts are that the dog associates it with something bad happening so it makes them more nervous. We now have Trazodone. Daegan still gets a little nervous, but is a lot more calm. I didn’t want to have to drug my dog, but hate having him so upset and not being able to do anything about it. The pictures of him is playing outside when it started to thunder and then laying comfortably while being soothed by his cat brother, Olive. I am looking forward to not worrying about him during 4th of July festivities as well as the storms we seem to have every day.

One of the things that irritates me is getting unwanted telemarketing calls. My number is on the “Do Not Call” list, I know because I checked recently after getting multiple unwanted calls/day. Recently I have been receiving a lot of calls from numbers I don’t recognize relating to therapy due to my shoulder surgery or from the insurance company etc. I try to answer most calls so I don’t have to play phone tag with people I need to talk to. Yesterday I get a call, number looked familiar so I answer it and hear “do you want to try our new Visa card?”. Due to medication, tiredness, discomfort I am probably not thinking as clearly as normal, but think what an odd way to start a conversation even for unsolicited phone sales. So I respond with “who is this?”. The person responds “Bob Johnson” or something like that. Now I’m irritated! No company name? I am supposed to give all my personal information to get “Bob Johnson’s” Visa card? I am gullible, but give me some credit. So, I say “No Thank you” and proceed to hang up. I could hear Bob Johnson saying something, but they all do, tell you all the things you will miss out on without their AMAZING product. I disconnect the call, muttering to the cat sitting on my lap that I don’t have time for this sh*!. In reality, I was sitting around doing nothing recovering from surgery so I really have nothing going on. Anyway, my phone rings again, same number, I mutter a few choice words as well as “I am not talking to you Bob Johns…” then it dawned on me! I try to push the “accept” button, but I am too late! Before I can call back, my phone rings again, different number, the one that has the name of the caller associated with it. I answer “hello Mr. Manager”. Isn’t he the funny one!?! Haha! Fun times! Always the jokester is the leader of Team Pineapple. Doing stuff like that will bring out the quick tempered Irish chick in me though. Can’t wait for this story to be told on the team call when I come back. I am already thinking of a payback, so JC, be ready!

So here I am still recovering from Rotator Cuff surgery. I was feeling in part like a big baby but also getting worried that something was wrong because I still have a significant amount of pain. I was voicing those concerns with my OT at my last appointment; she said shoulder surgeries and total knee replacements are the worst for pain, but went on to say I had extra work done because I had 2 rotator cuff tears, a torn bicep muscle and had bone shaved, so I actually had 4 surgeries in one. YAY me! With that said, I will have pain and have pain meds for a reason. It definitely has been a challenging recovery because of the pain and not being able to move the arm, but I am hopeful that it will feel so much better when healed. On a side note, I have told everyone the fall I took off my front porch was spectacular (which is what probably caused the injury) I laughed so hard my daughter thought I hit my head. I am not laughing now though 😐

On June 6th 2017, my youngest child, Anna, enlisted in Air National Guard. This was 2 days after her high school graduation and 2 days before her 18th birthday. She did a lot of research, met with recruiters in the Marine office and then Air Force. We knew nothing of the military, she didn’t know either, but knew that is what she wanted to do. After reading job descriptions and talking with a lot of people she chose Security Forces as her job. I always thought her stubbornness and will to argue her point would have taken her on the path to become a lawyer, but it got her through Basic Military Training and Tech School (not the arguing part, but stubbornness to not fail). She is now working full time on the base in addition to her 1 weekend/month and away now for her annual 2 weeks of training. She will be making her first trip overseas in about a year. I am excited for all she will experience during her time in the military.