Target workers help young man prep for job interview, tie his tie

ByAnna Laurel WTVD logo
Friday, February 6, 2015
Target tie kid
Target tie kid

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Workers at a North Carolina Target helped a young man prepare for a job interview and even helped him tie his tie properly. The moment was caught on camera by a bystander, who shared it on social media. It has since gone viral.

Shopper Audrey Mark is a loyal Target shopper. She saw some employees gathered around a young man.

"I see this young teen being hovered over by this Target employee," said Mark.

She noticed one of the employees fixing the teen's tie, and because it seemed unusual she snapped a picture.

It started like any other day for Target employee Cathy Scott, who saw a teenage customer looking for something.

"I asked him if he needed help and he told me he was looking for clip on ties," said Scott. "We didn't have any."

So she went to her co-worker, Dennis Roberts, who found a tie for the teen to purchase. The teen brought the tie back to Roberts.

"We took the wrapping off of it, and I tied it on my neck, and fit it over his head and I adjusted it and tightened it," said Roberts.

However, the Target team did more than fix his tie. They also prepped him for his interview.

"'Make sure you look him in the eye.' I'm saying, 'Make sure you give him a stern handshake,'" Roberts described. "He tucked his shirt in and tied his shoes."

"He was saying, 'Yes, mam' and he was just soaking it all in," said Scott.

That's when Mark took the picture, which has garnered 30,000 likes on Facebook.

"I hear you prepping him with this wonderful, warm, calming advice about interview skills and handshakes, and I finally figured it out. At first I thought, well maybe he must be a neighbor or like a very close friend because you were just so sweet with him," Mark said.

But they weren't neighbors or friends - they were strangers at a Target store.

"He goes to leave and all these Target employees start screaming, 'Bye, good luck, come back and tell us how it went,'" Mark said.

As everyone cheered, Roberts said he was proud of his co-workers.

"We were just here to help a young man get a job and forward his future," Robert said.

Thursday, the Target team went to the nearby Chick-Fil-A, where the teen applied, and checked in with the manager to see how the interview went.

They don't know who the teen is, but the manager said they will let him know by the end of the week if he got the job.