You want to be paid, kid? You want your own phone? Apply for a job and work for it, says one savvy mom.
Shaketha Marion McGregor said on Facebook when her kids asked her for allowances and cell phones, she responded by setting up a job fair in her own home.
“Yesterday I told them that I’ve heard their requests and that I’ll have a surprise for them today when they get home from school,” she wrote in her post.
Her kids were surprised all right. When they came home from school, they found a full-on job fair waiting for them. There were job listings. There were application forms. McGregor even made an advertisement for “Mom’s Credit Union.”
Her kids had the opportunity to apply for such positions as laundry supervisor and kitchen manager.
McGregor’s applications didn’t just include spots for the kids’ names and age. The tots were asked to describe their school and work experience, says WTKR 3 in Norfolk, Virginia. The kids also had to indicate whether they are available to work nights and weekends.
And don’t think for a second that this mom wasn’t going to interview her own children. If they wanted a job, they had to first apply, then interview, then their mom would determine if they were a good fit.
“If you want it, work for it, earn it!” McGregor wrote on Facebook. She also said she was going to make one of her sons reapply for a position because he laughed through the interview.
McGregor said her 10-year-old daughter would start speaking in an English accent during her interview, presumably so she would sound sophisticated. But mom wasn’t having it. “Like that would help her.”
McGregor’s post went viral. As of this writing, it has over 210,000 reactions, with nearly 130,000 shares and 34,000 comments.
“This is a terrific idea!” said one Facebook user. “I don’t know if the kids think so though!”
“This is brilliant and teaches self-sufficiency and money management at a young age,” said another commenter.
It doesn’t seem like McGregor has a ton of faith in her kids’ work ethic, though. At the end of her Facebook post, she included the hashtag #IWonderWhoWillGetFiredFirst.