(CNN) — Turns out, talking to strangers is not so bad after all. At least for a North Carolina teen, who went to Target to look for a clip-on tie for a job interview. Instead, he became the subject of a touching moment and a viral photo.
Audrey Mark told CNN affiliate WTVD she was shopping at a store in Raleigh on Wednesday when she noticed something unusual.
“I see this young teen being hovered over by this Target employee,” Mark said.
Curious, she got closer to see what was going on. The employee was not just tying the teen’s tie, he was imparting some wisdom as well.
“I hear him peppering him with all this advice on interview skills and handshakes,” she told the affiliate.
Employee Cathy Scott said the teen walked into the store looking for a tie.
“I asked him if he needed help, and he told me he needed clip-on ties,” Scott told the affiliate. “We didn’t have any.”
She turned to her co-worker, Dennis Roberts, and asked him if he knew how to tie a regular tie. He said yes, so the teen bought one and handed it to Roberts.
But Scott and Roberts went a step further and prepared the teen for his interview.
“We said, ‘Make sure you look him in the eye.’ I’m saying, ‘Make sure you give him a firm handshake,’ and she showed him … he tucked his shirt in,” Roberts said.
Mark snapped away.
“It was a very quiet, simple moment, but it was very profound,” she told the affiliate. “He leaves and all these Target employees are screaming ‘Bye! Good luck! Tell us how it went.’ I got so emotional. I got teary.”
But it didn’t just end there.
A day later, a Target team went to a nearby Chick-fil-A, where the teen interviewed, according to the affiliate.
Though they didn’t know his identity, they shared their experience with the restaurant’s manager.
The teen appears to have had a good initial interview at the restaurant.
David Langston, operator of the Chick-fil-A on Triangle Town Boulevard in Raleigh, told CNN that the boy, 15, “definitely left a memorable impression” Wednesday.
“We have a three-part interview process, and we are inviting him back to have his second interview,” Langston said. “He’s a really nice kid. We hope to talk to him today (Friday), but we have to wait until he gets out of school and check his availability to set up the second interview.”
