A candidate brought her toddler to an interview. It didn't bother me — and she got the job.

Recruiter Jalonni Weaver is a parent and says she approaches candidates with the understanding she'd want if she were job-hunting.

Courtesy of Jalonni Weaver Recruiter Jalonni Weaver says job candidates shouldn't be penalized when life gets messy.

She said she advanced a job seeker who interviewed alongside her toddler because the woman did well.

Weaver says communication matters most and that she tries to put herself in every candidate's shoes.

Jalonni Weaver is an in-house recruiter at a life insurance company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

She's worked in the field since 2021.

The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

I was interviewing a candidate for an early-career role.

We got on the call, and she introduced herself, then moved the camera.

She was like, "My toddler's sitting right here eating.

Is it OK? He's not going to be a problem." She explained that she couldn't afford childcare because she was unemployed.

Her toddler wasn't a problem.

I have a one-year-old, and she's a problem.

Most of the time, her toddler was just eating.