Submitted by viola77 on
in
Forums
BLUF:
I started working at my current job 9 months ago- I am happy in the job and learning lots -it was a promotion for me into a more senior mangement role. My mother was diagnosed 3 months ago with a debilitating health condition and I live hundreds of miles away from her, A job (very similar to my current role but different company) has become available where my mother lives and I want to apply with a view to relocating permanently if I was lucky enough to get an offer. I am concerned about my short tenure in my job ( I have mostly stayed in jobs for 5 years) and I wondred if there are any tips/ advice that MT folks could offer in handling this at interview?
Sorry about your mom, that's
Sorry about your mom, that's very tough.
It may come up in an interview, it may not (probably will). I would say, "This job aligns well with my career goals because of X, Y, Z. Additionally, this area is where my family lives and I would like to relocate to be closer to them." If they ask further you can go into the illness, but have no obligation to do so.
Honesty
If an employer looks badly upon you for wanting to change jobs to be closer to family to take care of a sick parent, I wouldn't want to work for that company.
I would tell them that you love what you are doing and would normally stay but your mother is ill and you want to be closer to her. It's the truth and it's a perfectly acceptable reason for finding a new job.
Closer to family
I expect they will ask and you should respond that you want to be closer to family. I'm sure that will end the conversation as I cannot imagine any followup. If they ask about your family you can say you have parents, mother, siblings, etc in this city but I see no need to discuss the medical condition of any family member. It's not relevant to your job.
Good luck and best wishes to you mother.
Dawne
Another thought
I agree that you would say you're looking to relocate to live closer to your family with no obligation to say more.
However, is there any possibility of doing your current job remotely? It makes several things more challenging as a manager, but if you really like the job, it might be worth asking. My mother was having tests for cancer two years ago and I was really anxious about the outcome, but especially anxious that I live so far away. To get rid of the second anxiety, I shared the situation with my VP and asked her whether she would be okay with me working remotely if that happened. She said absolutely and I could then stop worrying about finding a new job or If that was what was making my mom sick. Thankfully, her illness turned out to be less serious than cancer and I didn't have to work remotely, but I still appreciate knowing I could if something happened.