Convertible job skills? I don’t mean being able to drive a car with the top down. 

I mean skills that can be converted from home-life and from childhood, into adult, outside-the-home jobs.

(The photo of the convertible is the very same year and model of car the Palmer sisters owned, but many decades later. 

AAnndd this car was from a salvage yard in Des Moines, so...?)

Some of the work that adults do at home is like the work that adults do for others. 

This includes housecleaning, yardwork, small engine repair, cooking and caregiving. Those skills can hired-out. 

AANNDD, throughout the world, many people work in 'cottage industries', 

by families, working from home. What they produce is sold to factories and retailers or direct customers. 

Farming, small-scale, is a cottage industry. So is catering, from the home.

Restoring old cars is often a cottage industry.

Gathering wood from the forest and selling it to woodshops, sustains many families around the world. 

Gathering truffles, spinning yard and weaving rugs can all be cottage industries. 

So is housecleaning and lawncare.

Writing is often a cottage industry, and so is some childcare. 

When you fill out your first job application, consider preparing a separate page; 

a list of your home-centered skill-sets that would make you a good employee. 

If you do needlepoint, list it, and point out (pun) that you are detail-oriented. 

If you clean dad’s garage once a month or help him work on the car, list that. 

If you help Grandma clean her house on Saturday mornings, list that. 

If you help with church nursery or pick up trash at the local park once a week, list that. 

(Volunteering impresses employers. And your volunteer-leader can be an excellent referral.) 

Employers like evidence that you can meet scheduled obligations, because regular attendance at work is important. 

If you can’t be there and be on time, you can’t keep the job. 

So perfect attendance awards from school are impressive. 

What am I saying here? 

Don’t be scared to apply for a job that you haven’t exactly done before. 

You may have convertible skills, also called ‘transferable skills’ that will help you qualify. 

Prepare your skill-sets page and attach it to your application. 

And, by doing chores at home, you might have a skill that an employer needs 

When you go to a job interview: 

Dress neatly for the job, don’t dress to look cute or cool, unless you are seeking a job at a skating rink.

Freshen your breath, but no gum-chewing during the interview. 

Turn off your cell phone and forget it during the interview.  

Greet the interviewer as you would greet your school principal in formal setting.

Shake hands if offered, make eye contact, and remain standing until offered a chair. 

Sit still  in the chair without fidgeting. Don’t be a statue, but don’t let any nervousness turn into fidgeting. 

Don’t talk bad about others, don’t use the word ‘hate’. 

Be confident in what you know, even if you suspect another applicant might know more than you do. 

Relationship skills are a skill-set all their own. 

Never forget that. 

Eric J. Rose 

middlegrademysteries.com

photo: https://www.shoppok.com/desmoines