Reference checking is a standard although flawed process. Candidates choose references that will speak positively about them so hiring managers are expecting glowing references with little valuable information. If a hiring manager hears anything that sounds the least negative they immediately see red flags.

Instead of your reference checks being a standard procedure with little information, you can have your reference check enhance your candidacy. Once your interview is over you will have a great deal of information about the position, the qualities the hiring manager likes about you, and any hesitations the hiring manager may have about hiring you. This is all very important information your references need to know.

Call your references and prepare them for the reference check call. Tell them about the critical requirements of the position, how you fit the position, and your strongest selling points. Tell them what the hiring manager likes about you and ask them to highlight those points. Mention any concerns the hiring manager has and ask your reference to talk positively about those areas.

The Business Pundit in his online blog suggests that hiring manager ask references the following questions:
* What did he learn during his time at your company
* If you could give him a single career suggestion, what would it be?
(If the reference was a supervisor)
* How did the candidate respond to your management style?
* Would you rehire her
You can discuss these questions with your references and prepare them with answers.

First hope: News of a Pakistan suicide bombing flashes up on the elevator’s plasma screen. In a crowd of freshly creased dress pants, a woman’s skirt twitches. Her hand goes to her mouth to cover her horror. I’m touched by her honesty. She feels it too, the sudden sharp sadness, the helplessness. Her hand falls back to her side, and I see that she was only hiding a yawn.

Second hope: Two heads nod in recognition. A comment, a joke, then laughter. The elevator fills with the unfamiliar sound. The two heads have short, perfectly coiffed, fruit scented hair. But the perfume quickly turns the trapped air sickly sweet, and their laughter sharpens into a piercing cackle. I look down. Two pairs of pointy black leather toes. I should have guessed.

Third Try: The elevator fills to capacity. Everyone wants a different floor, and mine’s the highest. I groan. I always get motion sick on amusement park rides. Someone has to do something. So I stick a banana in the door. Technically speaking, I wedge one end in the doorframe, so it’s jutting out beside the number pad in all its bright yellow banana glory. Nobody said anything. Nobody smiled. No one even acknowledged that there was a big banana sticking out of the door! Oh the humanity!!

Maybe I’m asking too much from a crowd of drowsy businesspeople, who are already late to wherever they’re going if they’re on the 8:02. Sigh. When not even a banana will jazz up your office workday, there's only one more thing left to try... (click here to get noticed on the elevator to your next job interview!)

How does one gain employment with a BA in English?

Put simply, one doesn't.

This isn't to say that people with English degrees are unemployable. In fact, an English degree is one of the most versatile undergraduate educations, as English majors possess the communication skill sets that nearly all corporations in today's society crave.

However, the caveat to this is that because an English degree can apply to such an enormous swath of the job market, English majors can have difficulty zeroing in on a particular field.

English majors are well-served to improve their marketability by engaging in co- and extracurricular activities that develop job skills. Examples of these include working on the college newspaper, literary magazine, advertising club, etc. Also, snagging an internship at a local magazine, publishing house, or public relations agency can have a wondrous effect on an English grad's resume.

The main knock on the English degree is that it does not offer a practical education for succeeding in the business world. Many English majors have nightmares of HR managers reading their resume and asking: "Okay, so you can recite lines from King Lear, but what good will that do my company?"

The simple solution to this problem is to develop these practical skills outside of the classrooms, with extracurriculars and internships. Potential employers will be much more inclined to overlook the nebulous skill sets of an English grad if they can observe that the candidate has practical experience in the field.

For example, I was just hired as an editor at a national corporation that produces books and magazines for the corporate sector. During the course of my job interview, the interviewers focused exclusively on my experience at my college newspaper (of which I was the editor), and my internship at a major daily newspaper. If one is worried about the lack of practical knowledge an English degree provides, one should seed the practical knowledge themselves.

When combined with practical experience outside of the classroom, an English degree becomes a much more marketable education.

Many English majors are increasingly turning towards work in the corporate sector, because the verbal and written communication skills that English majors possess remain in top demand at nearly every company in America.

Specific jobs English majors can fill include sales and marketing, grant and contract writing or editing, technical writing, and writing advertising or public relations copy.

"A lot of our students have hooked up with private businesses," said Ernest Suarez, a chairman of the English department at The Catholic University of America in an interview with CNN. "Businesses tell us they like to hire English majors because they feel that they can think. They've got the writing and analytical skills they need. The rest they can be trained to learn."

Clearly, companies are not as averse to hiring English graduates as most people seem to think. By developing one's resume through extracurriculars and internships, English majors can make themselves viable--even coveted--players in the job market.

feels extremely confidence when she asked me questions about my blogshop? Hmm... i can feel that i'm smiling and filled with confidence at that moment. =))

i smiled through the whole process and definitely, i feels great even after the interview? She says, i done well and i will get good grades for this interview! =x

hopefully she meant what she says? hahahahs. =x

job interview's timing was alter due to the fact that when i reached at 9 40am, Alvin lai is still inside the interview room who was 1 person in front of me in the job interview's name list? O.o

I waited for around .. another 10 minutes, and i was rather happy and excited to enter into the room. ( maybe i can't wait to present my portfolio of art and blogshop to her? =x )

^^

everything went smoothly, and i headed back home straight after the interview. =))

there will be another interview ( OPSY project ) to go through later at 4pm, all the best to me. =P

i no longer loves staying in school more than 1 hour. =x

that's the fact. =P

i do HATE school. oh well~

did i mention that i'm totally tired off throughout the whole process of the interview? I do wonders, how come i did survived through well in the end. =P

The job itself also comes with more responsibilities, tasks and skills which I did not really insisted on but it’s all part of the learning process. Actually – assimilation or/and adaptation. There are three people selected for the second interview, including me, which will take place sometime in August. That time it will be a panel interview. After that they will decide in September.

I have a good feeling about this job interview but it is because it happened recently and I did not have time to digest it. However, despite the fact that it will be a great opportunity and a step forward I am a bit concerned about timing. Why does this type of job positions take so much time to be filled in? If I would applied for an assistant position it will have been already decided….  

For my previous job I had 4 interviews before they finally gave me the contract. I think is tiring and perhaps I am missing opportunities but every time when I hear about long timeframe I feel like standing up and leaving the room…

So, one done, two to go next week….I need to start preparing.

Okay, so my original plan for this week's post was to watch the movie Samsara and then write some kind of review/response to it. I was so excited... I had the dvd in hand, I cooked myself dinner, turned off my stupid phone and settled in for a night of critical movie watching. But much to my dismay, the disc didn't work. It didn't work in my dvd player or in any of the 3 computers in my apartment. So what to do? I am busy, chipping away at another project (the photo essay from Wyoming) so I don't have the time or the vigor right now to really explore some other substantive topic. However, I was emailing for the first time with menagerist (from Portland IDP and new contributor to the One City Blog) today and we were discussing our mutual connection and interest in issues of socio-economic class structures and I got all riled up and reinvigorated. So, the point of all these disclaimers is to function as some kind of segue... I'm gonna do that thing that we do here sometimes when we don't have anything new to say... I'm posting an older piece I wrote which appears in the book, Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class, edited by the one and only Michelle Tea. It's a real oldie, but a goody and it explores (in narrative form) the complications of class and the mythological promise of upward social mobility and the shame of class "passing".

BLUEPRINTS AND HARDWIRES

by Cassie Peterson aka cassmaster P

“Cassie, I want to know all of you . . . ALL the stories.” She says naively over the phone. It’s late night and I’m cuddled into the receiver. I want to fulfill her requests, but I’m scared she’ll realize that’s all I am –just a tangle of stories. I live these stories instead of a life. The motives get all fuzzy.

Post 9/11. People stop buying sex toys. I know only because I work as a “sex educator” at the very respectable sex store, Good Vibrations. The co-op is cooperatively spooked. Everyone is talking about “being in the red.” I imagine that people are still fucking, maybe even more. But it’s a different kind of sex. More desperate, less methodical -- back alley blowjobs and hastened quickies. People fear war, the end of the world even. It makes them less inclined to purchase an 80-dollar vibrator in good conscience. I’m the new kid at the store – the first to be let go, in the company’s effort to survive the wintery economic climate. It’s like flat lining, losing your job. From 40 hours a week to zero. Zero hours. Zero structure. Zero dollars. I’ve been unemployed before but it was always by choice. I was emotionally and financially prepared. But when someone else pulls the cord, it sends you reeling into the now vacuous 7 days of your week. Anyone who’s been laid off will tell you that it takes a full 2 weeks just to get out of your pajamas. You order a lot of take-out and watch a lot of Maury Povich. And then the money goes. And you get dressed.

I am overwhelmed by the rigmarole of bureaucratic paperwork. I can’t keep it all straight—the unemployment forms, the food stamp applications, the drastically increasing number of I.D cards that. I am being forced to carry around with me. Being poor is a full time job. Every minute, the government demands that you PROVE you current economic status --it leaves absolutely no time for someone to IMPROVE it. I have to schedule job interviews between all my other red tape appointments. I hit the ground with a tremendous thud when I find myself in a 3-hour line in the social services building. It’s San Francisco’s version of a third world country – a desperate urban underbelly. I am surrounded by men right out of prison. Women with 3 kids and no home. Pregnant again. Shopping carts are parked outside. Junkies are going through withdrawal right here because they’ve been in line so long. I am filling out more forms. Always with the forms. I use red pen, losing my patience and writing snide answers in the margins like, “No, I have no new income to report. Don’t you fucking get it? I’m broke. Just like yesterday and the day before.” The man at the window is not amused. He shoots me a scolding look and silently hands me a fresh form to fill out. “Just mark the correct boxes,” he warns.

I’m waiting for my number to be called with my head between my knees. It stinks in here like dirty feet. The woman next to me is nodding off, leaving her purse free for a swiping. I wonder if I should wake her. A guy in gold chains and slurred speech is passing his time by propositioning every woman in the waiting room. At one point I hear him say, “Hey, what can I say? I make really beautiful babies.” The current object of his attention giggles into her hands. I scan the room. I am one of the only white people in here. I am suddenly self-conscious. Ashamed even, like people are going to blame me because I have fallen from grace, from my presumed, privileged place in a social hierarchy. I walked into this waiting room from a world that most of these people have never had access to. This is only a moment for me, an excruciating moment, but still only a moment. The system dictates that. The top of my form reads, “Check here if this is not your reality. Sign on the dotted line if this is ultimately just another story for you to write. “Twenty something white girl goes on government aid in order to find herself.” How quaint. In retrospect I will be able to flippantly say things like, “Oh yeah, that was back when I was on food stamps.” My revelations make me sad and heavy. Being here is sad. Being an outsider here is even sadder. I wrestle with the words. Poor. Poverty. I feel unequipped to attach myself to either, because of pride and shame and an internal set of un-investigated expectations. I’m “broke”, which elicits a sense of now, and not always. Yet, I have lived paycheck to paycheck for so long that I cannot even fathom another mode of existence. But it is still not poverty. Or is it? I feel torn between the reality of my entire life (perpetual lack of money and resource) and the life I want or the life people think I have had.

Today I have a job interview and then another meeting with my social worker. I try to clean up. God, I’m a mess. I don’t have money for a haircut so I’m deluding myself into thinking that I’m growing it out. My eyes are like 2 piss holes in the snow and I'm breaking out. I look damn near desperate. Wounded. My interview is for a position as a basketball camp facilitator at the Stonestown YMCA. The program director meets with me. Her name is Susan. She’s from Florida and wears a long, pink cardigan sweater. She’s a writer too, she informs. Everyone is San Francisco is a writer. We’re like locusts. “Wow, what a coincidence,” I say with impeccable enthusiasm. She leads me to her office and I’m ready to dazzle her with the vastness of my basketball experience. But she first asks about my last job. Shit, I didn’t work that one into the equation. I think of as many euphemisms for Good Vibrations that I possibly can. I downplay sex and highlight customer service and diversity training. She’s visibly unimpressed. I get nervous and suddenly feel less qualified. I fidget with my tie while Susan glares at it, like its some intrusive third party. I am subversively indicted for being some kind of creepy, tie wearing child molester. Wow, this is not going well. I’ve never had a bad interview before ad suddenly I’m feeling really defeated. Susan feeds me some scenarios. “What would you do if one of the kids in your group needs to use the restroom and you are the only adult on the premises? I think hard. Then it hits me like the jackpot answer. My eyes light up and I explain how I would utilize the buddy system. But it’s not quick enough for her. She wants those kinds of answers to shoot out of me like a machine gun. There’s a large population of people who have that childcare lingo crap cued up and ready to go. I just really like basketball.

“Do you have cpr certification?”

“Well no, but I’d be willing to take some sort of class, did I mention that I’ve been playing basketball for as long as I can remember?”

“Mmm hmmm”, She then asks me what I would do if one of the kids were misbehaving.

“I’d tell that little fuck to shape up!” I say assertively.

Well, okay, I didn’t actually say that. But I think that’s what Susan heard. At this point, we’re just going through the motions. I shake her hand and exhale away all my discomfort. Back on the Muni train, I wedge myself in between droves of SF State kids. They are fresh out of their film classes. They all look the same. Kind of washed out. They wear pins on their jean jackets and talk about sustainable agriculture. I’m wincing at how predictable it all is.

I’m sitting in Clara’s cubicle. She’s my social worker. She is friendly, but keeps it strictly professional. I like her because she helps me and I don’t feel shamed by it. We meet weekly. She always asks, “What are your plans?” I never know. But today I attempt an answer. “ Maybe I should go back to school. Or maybe I’ll just move to a different city and start over.”

“Okay, but you will no longer be eligible for any California state aid if you do either of those things.”

“I know,” I say. "I was just musing."

“Don’t muse in here,” she warns. “I’ve got 20 more people to see before lunch.” I relinquish yet another signature and a full set of fingerprints.

“California officially owns you,” she informs.

Tuesday night stroll into the Lexington bar – hipster dyke central. We all look the same—card-carrying members of some incestuous social network. If you put in the time, you gain access to all the perks. It’s like a pyramid scheme. I’ve been involved for about 2 years and I’ve dated every cute, brown haired, andro, 5 feet something dyke in the city. I must have filled out a profile card or something because they get delivered to my front doorstep with 30-day defective guarantees. But the sacrifice is incredible sometimes. Like tonight --I promised I would show up, despite my own good sense not to. I’ve been extremely reclusive since my quality of life started to rapidly deteriorate, but I got a phone call. People are worried. I’m nursing a beer in the corner, fighting off feelings of dread. I’ve had such a long day – I don’t know if I can play the part right now. But If I don’t, people might suspect that I’ve been busy living my own life, in my own skin and I don’t want to alienate anyone like that. No, no, I’m here, sucking off the generic group battery. But tonight, it feels like one of those 9 volts that shocks you when you put it to your tongue. One of my buddies shows up. She comments on the startling length of my hair. “I know, I know,” I affirm as I blow it out of my face. She updates me on all the gossip as the bar fills in. I watch her eyes. I watch everyone’s eyes. Constant motion. Everyone in the bar is looking thru one another, hoping to see something new. Something better. We’re always upgrading. I feel raw - everything right at the surface. I’m ready to climb a top a soapbox and condemn the entire vehicle – the patterns of behavior we establish under the guise of “creating community.” This isn’t community. Communities support each other. Communities look each other in the eyes. I feel most angered by my own intrinsic part in it all. It’s just so easy, so comfortable, so . . . inexcusable. “How are you?” my friend finally ventures. “Honestly?” I ask. “Of course,” she says earnestly, oblivious to what’s brewing under my social veneer.

“I’m scared I’m not going to be able to pay rent this month. “I’m scared that I’m losing everything.”

“Well can’t your dad just send you some money?”

I’m tempted to hit her, just to shake her loose from her own sense of entitlement. She is nearsighted from too many years of having everything she wants. “Dude, my dad makes less money than I do," I try to say politely. Another story is tickling the back of my throat. It’s a soliloquy really, so I move to the corner of the stage and address my audience...

“I can’t just count on some familial rescue. I’m sorry that didn’t occur to you. I’m sorry that I am suddenly too messy to fit into your one dimensional version of me..."

I’m back in Wyoming. High school. My father and I are fighting about money. He teaches creative writing courses at the local college. But he keeps his hours to a minimum so that he can devote more time to his own writing. Our whole life is at a minimum. “Why can’t you just get a real job? Why don’t you just stop whining and work for once in your life?’ I scream maliciously. He recoils. I’ve just pulled the trigger that he’s had to protect his whole life. He’s gotten it from all directions. His dad, my mother, and now me. He starts to cry, right there. He’s a 15-year-old boy, fascinated with Ezra Pound, wondering why nobody understands him.

“I’m sorry dad, I didn’t mean it.”

I picture him as a real Wyoming dad. He’s an engineer in the coalmines. He drives a truck with a shotgun in the back. He silently caves into his recliner after a 10-hour shift and drinks Budweiser. I shudder to think.

“I mean it – I’m really sorry. It's just so hard with you sometimes.”

The story runs its course and I get up from the bar. I cannot be here anymore. I am clearly outside the lines of the identity that affords me a comfortable place here.

I’m hiding from ideas that loom large in the sky like mushroom clouds. Stalking around my neighborhood in non-descript hats and sunglasses. I am a shadow of my former persona, aching for total invisibility. I’m headed towards the mission library. I need to check Craigslist for more job openings but I panic as I approach Valencia. I can’t even get near that street without feeling like I’m in an episode of “this is your life.” A constant barrage of familiar faces. A black car is approaching and it looks just like it belongs to someone I know. I spook like a jackrabbit and hop into a thorny row of bushes. The car passes and it’s not her. A wave of some far distant, sane perspective washes over me, as I am aware of myself on all fours with branches scraping the skin off of my knees. There is nothing left to do but laugh.

I make it home, unnoticed. My unemployment check has come. Its a joke of course since they have based the amount on some old job I used to have before I was paying rent in the city. I pay my phone bill before I no longer have the resources to do so. There’s an envelope from my dad. It’s a check for thirty dollars and a note that says, “Cass, I am thinking about you all the time. Sorry this is all could afford, as things are pretty tight here as well. “ It breaks his heart to send it. And mine to endorse it.

Using my food stamps in the grocery store reminds me of buying tampons in Wyoming. There is a great deal of self-consciousness involved. In my town, there is only one store so there is never any possibility of anonymity. Inevitably all my teachers and crushes are in the same checkout line with me. The kid bagging groceries is always some awkward teenage boy who I know from geometry class. He puts his grubby hands all over my box of supers. The next day at school he’s shooting me a chilling look that says, “I know about you. You’re the one who bleeeeds.” Alone now, standing in the Cala checkout line in the middle of the night in order to feel less conspicuous, the implications feel far more serious. I’m being rung up by a middle-aged man with a grocery clerk mustache. I need him to walk me through this so I confess, ”I’ve never done this before.” I hand him a wad of pink and blue money. Shaking. I feel compelled to explain my circumstances to him. “I lost my job, but don’t worry, I’m fine. Everything’s fine I promise.”

She’s telling me a story this time. More like an anecdote. The punch line is something about how this morning she was wearing puma shoes with a red button down shirt and the combo made her feel too sporty or euro or euro-sporty. But it’s okay now, because she went home after work and changed her shoes. She really dodged a faux pas fashion bullet. I’ve tuned out. I just nod in agreement instead of saying, “I’m sorry but, I really don’t give a fuck.” And just like that, it’s the first line of a brand new story. It’s unraveling. I can tell it’s going to be climactic by the heat it creates in my belly. I’m completely present in the spaces between the words. It hits me – this is the big scare. This is what everyone warned me about growing up. Having nothing or losing everything. We learn how to be financially secure, socially well adjusted. We go to school and collect degrees and horde everything around us so that we can get further and further from the very place where I am sitting. I am drenched in a pool of my own exhilaration. . I am en route; aptly aware that is possibly the worst time of my entire life, while simultaneously understanding that I have never been more alive. It’s like being 7 years old and everything around you is vibrating with possibility. “I’m living really close to things,” I suddenly offer up to her. “What do you mean?” – she has obviously not been reading my mind. I wish I could show her everything I’ve seen. I want to air drop her into the middle of a previous paragraph. There’s a time capsule buried under my numbness and it’s resurfacing. In it are all the old blueprints and hard wires. I remember again what its like to have no other purpose than to survive. I’m free and comforted here. She’s waiting patiently to be let in, but I still struggle to drop all the pretenses-- “you know, vanity . . . it’s such a stifling luxury.” Great, now I’m speaking to her in aphorisms. Without any context, she’s not going to buy into this. “Thanks dad,” she scoffs. I deserve that. It’s no secret I’m withholding. I finally just say it....

"Right now, nothing matters. I’m not cute or charming. I’m not a storyteller or a writer. I’m wearing dirty underwear . . . again. I’m a mere number in a perpetual shuffle of human need. And the good days are the ones where I remember that.”

She hears me and that is all I can ask for.

Something strange happened to me this weekend. Stranger than fiction or any sexual encounter you can think up. No, this poor young lad may have accidentally landed himself an occupation. That's right, I had a job interview.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "William, where do you find time to get job interviews?" And I'll tell you the truth, I don't have a lot of time- between Gustafun and Italian cuisine transportation- so I had to make this one count. I had to be sexy, efficient, good smelling and wicked smart all at the same time. Trust me this was hard, as I have never done it before. Below are my field notes and tips for you, the heroes, to go out into the job market and have great success.

DO lie about why you were fired from your other jobs. This will shield your future employer from knowing bad things about you, and prolong their erroneous belief that you are worth hiring.

DON'T not lie about your GPA/transcripts on your resume. Nobody looks at them. Did you go to a school with a 5.0 scale? No. Well maybe it's time to change that.

DO watch the movie Boiler Room before going to the interview. This will get you pumped up. It is possibly Ben Affleck's greatest film ever.

DON'T quote Jim Young (Affleck's character) directly. Notice what he says, "Act as if you have a nine inch cock." Acting like this is key. He doesn't say, "Tell people you have a nine inch cock." Knowing this distinction is very important. Don't fuck this one up.

DO make sure one of your parents knows the president of the company you are interviewing with. There is no shame in getting something you don't deserve and could never earn. This applies to all your possessions for the last 22 years, why should it change now.

DON'T do what Donny Don't does. This one is easy. Just think about it.

DO distract the person who is interviewing you by answering questions with questions. Make them rhetorical questions. Make them an endless series of questions. Make them loop around and interconnect so many times that in the end your conversation looks like the script for Pulp Fiction. This will help you and it's easy. You're just doing something that gets you no where. Like masturbating.

DO drink on or prior to entering the aircraft if this company decides to fly you out. Alcohol makes you loose. You'll meet other people on the plane and they'll want to talk to you. They'll have more tips about job interviews as well. Alcohol is your friend. Your only friend.

DON'T wear matching socks to the interview. I know, I know. Everyone says, "But you've got to look nice." Looking nice isn't the point. Everybody looks nice in a fucking office. You've got to feeeeel nice. Doing this will keep you alert and ready to pounce. You will be conscious of this the whole time and it will stop you from jittering your feet or crossing your legs.

And that's it. There you have it. If you follow these easy steps you'll be on your way to getting a real job with a real pay check. And when you do you'll be able to do this with your money:

And if you're really lucky, you won't have to be like this guy and use 1 dollar bills. Only poor people still  touch them.

Make eye contact, nothing is more of a dead give away of poor self-confidence than a
person that will not look someone in the eye.  Walk up to your interviewer, extend your
hand and look in them in the eye when you greet them and express your pleasure of
meeting them.  And don’t beat around the bush when you are talking.  Saying thinks like,
“Well, I kind of helped with a project but I didn’t run it myself,” screams I do not think I
am worthy of this position.  Instead, say this, “I assisted in a very successful project and
played a key role in bringing it to completion.”  Your role in the project may not have
changed the perception the interviewer has of you has.

If you haven’t been on very many interviews or it has been some time since you last
attended one, it is understandable to be nervous.  The more interviews you complete, the
more confidence you will gain in your abilities to sell yourself.  And you have to
remember that if you were not qualified you would not have gotten the interview in the
first place.  Use that knowledge to your advantage and instill confidence in yourself.  As
a back-up measure, get some friends or family members to remind you of all of your
great traits and what makes you special – an ego boost before an interview can certainly
boost your confidence level.

It is true. I got a job offer this morning (and yes, from the company that interviewed me for 5 hours and gave me a take home writing test). Right now I am waiting on the formal written letter to review before I formally accept. More on my tips of offer reviews later.....

What a great morning it is today! No more cover letters and no more resumes and no more interviews....I can't wait to just enjoy the rest of my "vacation" without a worry in the world.

......however, this company is a public relations agency ( a good one that I might add, but more on that later), which means that it might be a good idea to rename my blog......I'll need to sit on that one.....

]]> http://podcastpatriot.wordpress.com/?p=181 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:18:45 +0000 dragonflydm http://podcastpatriot.wordpress.com/?p=181 There are plenty of articles on how to write a resume. (hint to military jobseekers-- translate your military terms into corporate terms). There are also millions of articles on how to present yourself in an interview.

Do you still feel like they aren't telling you something? Well you are right.

Secret to marketing yourself into a good job is a GOOD ATTITUDE. Finding a new job after 4, 8 or 22 years in the military is daunting. What do employers want? What is it they are looking for in the resume and in the interview?

Hiring managers want you to show them that you are excited to be there, and that you have the right attitude to solve their problems-- YOU ARE THE SOLUTION!

STATE OF THE ART

The first thing is technology. Most time saving technology is transformational. New software and hardware means potentially radical shifts in how work is processed and conducted. No one knows more about continually upgrading to the best-of-the-best better than the military. Our careers have been solely focused on being cutting edge.

CLOCKLESS WORK DAY

You may not believe this, but outside of the military life is very similar to the opening scenes of the "Flintstones": the bird whistles and everyone immediately "Yabba Dabba Doos" it down the tail of the mastadon to a race for the parking lot.

Employees that can understand the employers priority to accomplish goals rather than fill up time sheets will be very impressive indeed. That is why veterans are needed in the civilian sector. Military knows how to "put the mission" as a priority.

SOLVE PROBLEMS

Employers don't hire staff to fill up space or be robots. They want employees that are going to identify inefficiencies and solve problems. All employees should be identifying problems in the company, good employees should bring solutions to solve those problems at the same time.

BUILD THE TEAM

If there is one thing that become very obvious about the power structure of civilian companies is that leadership is a "sink or swim" situation. Why? Because rare are managers and supervisors trained in how to deal and motivate people. Military members can bring that team spirit to any workplace that will have a positive transformation to the entire company.

AIM HIGH

A hard transitional fact of life is that most civilians don't look at a company as a ladder for promotion. Most employees are either happy in the position they are at, or expect that their next promotion will also translate into a new job at a different company.

Showing company loyalty and a thirst for added responsibility are never ignored in today's market.

MULTIPLE SKILLS

Just like the military, companies need to do more with less resources. That is why specialists are needed, but those with multiple specialties get hired. Having a diverse set of skills that compliment your primary job skill is what sets most military jobseekers apart.

How much does it really cost to create a video and attach it to your résumé? DVD's are now less than $1 and there is basic video editing software on virtually every computer. Make it a short 30 second to 1 minute introduction to your background that will grab a prospective employer's attention. Even if the interviewer doesn't view your DVD, you've no doubt made an impression few others would have tried.

Don't have a DVD burner? No problem! Another idea is to follow up your résumé or interview with an email containing a link to a video from your blog or website.

Here are some examples from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D411EyRiyU8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-HS9nDIDdU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAZ37YnYAiU&feature=related - (kind of long)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6dU83p0gZo&feature=related - (don't imitate this one :)

Bull$it baffles brains and I’m happy to say the recruiter gave me a big shinny thumbs up and I was all set to meet my prospective employers.

On the morning of “the interview” I was super prepared, resume in hand, wearing my very best corporate costume. Pressed and cleaned and ready to impress. One last look in the mirror and I realized that I had visible panty lines. Not a problem. All I needed was to dawn a slinky pair of g-string panties.

I am actually not a big fan of the g-string panty. Never have been. For God’s sake any women who tells me that it is actually comfy to have a one centimeter strap of fabric riding up their butt is a liar.

I will concede that the human body has amazing adaptive abilities. We routinely turn a blind eye to bad sex, annoying neighbors, uncomfortable shoes and the small aches and pains within our own bodies. So why not suck up (literally) the thong panty?

Is There Anything Worse Than Visible Panty Lines?

When the outfit demands a clean line all a decent woman can do is slip on that thong, grin and bear it. However when that same decent woman has neglected her washing we are now in a preverbal pickle. All my butt-floss was in the laundry!

What would you do? I come from a very nice family and the thought of being in some sort of car crash, taken away to the hospital and being on an operating table only to have Dr. McDreamy find out that I am not wearing clean underwear is absolutely unacceptable. So I stuck with the big and ugly granny panties, drove across town, stood in a parking lot and promptly removed those sexless atrocities. Feeling rather naughty I slipped them neatly into my purse.

Yes. I actually went to a job interview “commando”. Let me tell you... It was entirely freeing! Where I might have been overly conscious of the words I was saying, the impression I was giving and they way I carried my body all I could do was l think about my dirty little secret.

With a smug little smile on my face I sat in front of a panel of four men, answered all of their questions in a polite and professional manner. All the while squirming in my seat.

For God’s sake I Love having a dirty little secret.

* Number Of Pages: you count please :D
* Publication Date: I dont know!
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: B000EYK0K2
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 0689076408721
* Binding: DVD
Description:

"Practice and Preparation for Getting the Job You Deserve"
Develop Effective Interviewing Skills

Experience a Simulated Interview
Day of the Interview Tips
The Virtual Job Interview is a simulation of a conversation between a job candidate and an interviewer. The user is asked a typical job interview question by an interviewer in a video clip and is given a choice of responses. Once a selection is made, another video clip of the inteviewer responds accordingly! A wide range of questions and answers is explored until ultimately the user is either hired, put on file, or has his or her application torn up on the spot! Blending sound strategies with engaging wit, The Virtual Job Interview DVD also includes video segments on interview preparation, tips for the day of the interview, techniques for handling illegal questions and a review.
Improve Interview Readiness!
Get a better understanding of your role as the job applicant.
Learn to recognize effective and ineffective responses.
Become aware of illegal questions an appropriate reactions.
Identify the "dos" and dont's" of interviewing attire
Boost confidence and calm interview anxiety

The Virtual Job Interview is a simulation of a conversation between a job candidate and an interviewer. The user is asked a typical job interview question by an interviewer in a video clip and is given a choice of responses. Once a selection is made, another video clip of the interviewer responds accordingly! A wide range of questions and answers is explored until ultimately the user is either hired, put on file, or has his or her application torn up on the spot!

Blending sound strategies with engaging wit, The Virtual Job Interview DVD also include video segments on interview preparation, tips for the day of the interview, techniques for handling illegal questions and a review.

http://rapidshare.com/files/128598606/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128618074/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128599784/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128603377/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128606909/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128612917/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128596297/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128594041/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128615472/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128617153/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128618952/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128619423/The_Virtual_Job_Interview.part12.rar

To say from the very begging, I received a phone call in Seoul from AUO client service dept. to ask me for an interview but I turned down for I'm not able to be back at that time. But I left the staff's number and name, saying that I'll call her after back to track the availability of job vacancy.

But, actually, I've forgot that since I came back here, indulging in Formosa gourmets until the day before yesterday...

I woke up early surfing the net and accidentally remembered the long-forgotten event. I took my cell phone and thought that they must have found some suitable candidates for the vacancy. I expected the answer and unexpectedly, the staff, Ms. Hung, told me " Oh! Are you free tomorrow? We can have some talk. " I was totally shocked and said, "Yes, I think I can do it! Thank you!" Then, at the time I hanged up the phone, I knew I must be a dumb. I should have delayed the time to have more preparation time. Or I should say, I don't really understand about the job, maybe I am no that suitable. BUT, I SAID YES...

In a terribly rush, I downloaded every possible information about the LCD industry and job-related knowledge and reference. I printed them out, filled in resume, writing a cover letter, asking transportation information, printing certificates and worried very very much...

Luckily, I have two dear friends who helped me soooooo much! Thank you, Eve and 0122!!

With too-innocent nervousness, I went on my way.

Neglect those too detailed stuff. I arrived the high-express terminal at Hsinchu. On my way to AUO, the taxi driver said to me that "You look really fine today. I can tell that you'll have a great interview!" Maybe, it was because I had my make-up successfully heavy. Nevertheless, I still felt better and cheered myself up shortly.

Then, I walked in a quiet big interview area, waiting for on-site computer test of personality, English and "detail-caring degree". It cost me about an hour to complete. After about 30 minutes waiting, the interview from my department went into my interview room. It was Ms. Hung, the one who called me and whom I called back to. She was kind and asked me a couple of job-related questions. Luckily, I did some preparation the day before. And actually, she told me that she was quiet impressed I could say describe the job in such detail. So, she decided to share with more about the job and their daily work and so on. Anyway, I knew that I had already passed the part I was mostly worry about-the technical related part. Now, there would be normal interview talk which I had already practiced for a hundred times when conducting P&G interview.

Later on, she shared with me about my test result. Unbelievably, it was all positive and over-qualified. Huuuuuuuu.......Thanks God! The following were more likely to casual talk instead of an interview. She shared with me about her experience dealing with picky clients, working overload time and the funniest part doing this job, etc.. We talked more than 30 minutes and she said she would ask her boss to come over.

There was something stupid deed happened on me here. As Ms. Hung told me that her boss did not answer her call. She would ask HR department staff come firstly. I believe the person walking in next would be the HR staff who are mostly not so related to determining the enrollment. I started to feel relieved. Another 30 minutes went by, a young, energetic but HR-like man called Eric walked in. I thought he was the HR staff and talked to him very very casually......But strangely, he mentioned many situational problem-solving questions to ask me to express my way of dealing with them. I thought...cool! This HR guy's quiet professional! And we talked a lot too. he raised questions of situational problem solving, working sequential dilemma and comparison of national/cultural difference. These are situations my possibly-job-to-be would face. Very exciting but realistic. The final part was 10 minutes English interview. I think questions in this part became easier to answer. Besides, after previous on-class training in SNU, I think I express my thoughts with a clearer way that before. One of the questions was this--" What would a person who knows you for about 10 minutes describe you like by 3 adj.? What about if the person knows you after 10 years?" he said to me at the ending of our interview, "I think you're very qualified! But I cannot tell so much. So, just wait and see!"  Was that an implication???????????? He said that the HR could have come next to conduct the final part of interview. Not until this time did I realize he was the boss of my department........(So stupid, huh?)

I'm not sure whether could I describe event above to the Chinese proverb "The stupid have their own Stupid Luck". Because I did not know he was my boss so I felt freer than the previous Ms. Hung. I said more about my thoughts and my personality. Thus, I can tell that the later one is more satisfied with my performance than the prior.

About 10 minutes later, a female worker in the interview room, came to my room and told me that the HR staff had no time today. So, I had to come back some other day. But actually, that was nice, 'cause I could not have enough energy to have another "more-than-30-minutes-intense-interview". It cost me about 3 and a half hour sitting there, trying to express myself the clearest way. It was a really nice experience. I love this company, as I said to one of the interviewer, "This is a flat, young and energetic company. I think these are the biggest difference between AUO and CMO". Bingo!

Although it was "Bingo!" in the initial step, I am still "very, very, very" worry about the next......

How long could it be, you ask? I was there from 1pm to sometime after 5:30pm. Not only did I meet with like seven different people, I also had to complete a writing test (part 1) and fill out a job application. After I left the building, I scurried on home to work on writing test (part 2), which was due the next day. On top of that, I had 7 thank you e-mails to write as well.

Needless to say, I went to bed last night very, very tired.

I suspect that once they review my tests and speak to my professional reference(s), I just might hear back on next steps if all goes well. And after what was practically a 24 hour interview (I finished and turned in writing test 2 at 1pm the following day), I sure hope that I will level-up on the interview process for this company.

Special Thanks to TT, CK, MT and BL for helping me catch all my grammar, punctuation and spelling errors on my second writing test. I owe you all lunch. Please contact me directly to collect. :p

nataliedee.com

On another note, for those of you newbies who have never applied to a public relations job before, be prepare to either (1) provide writing samples or (2) take a writing test. These writing tests usually consists of reviewing a document for obvious grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes and/or writing a PR document like a media pitch or press release. Why you ask? You can't be a communications person if you can't communicate properly, so you better drop those bad habits, you l33t sp34k people.

1. Being Late!  If you want to prove that you are a professional
   and deserve to work for a company, do not waste your potential 
   boss' time.  Remember, there are hundreds of other applicants 
   waiting in the wings for you to mess this up so they can get 
   their chance.  Be punctual and start off on the right foot.
2. Dressing Inappropriately! Have you ever seen someone walk 
   into an office with a tank top, unkempt hair, and a pair of jeans
    trying to get a job?  I have...but I've yet to see them actually 
   get hired.  Remember, the key to getting employed is proving to 
   an employer that you can handle the position and are 
   professional.  If you go into an interview dressed 
   unprofessionally, an employer can only imagine how you will dress
    once you are actually hired.  So for now, stick to the general 
   rule of suit and tie for men and dress, slacks, or skirt for 
   women.
3.  Lying.  There is nothing worse than talking to a person who 
   is avoiding eye contact, overtly exaggerating, or speaking 
   falsely about something you already know the truth about. Of 
   course, getting the job is important to you and you want to paint
   the picture that you are a model employee.  But you can 
   accomplish this without losing your dignity.  It is really 
   embarrassing and detrimental when your boss finds out that the 
   real reason you left your old job was because you were fired for 
   stealing office supplies for your family, friends, and friendly 
   neighbors. Be honest and avoid having security escort you out a 
   week after getting hired!
4.  Not asking questions.  When you go to an interview, always 
   have questions prepared.  As a high school student, I made this 
   mistake myself and the manager asked if I had any questions 3 
   times!  All 3 times, I said "no," which was the same answer he 
   gave me when I asked if I got the job.  Don't make the same 
   mistake.  Come prepared with simple questions that show you've 
   taken this position seriously and have given the option of 
   working with the company a lot of thought.
5.  Asking the wrong questions.  I know this sounds a little 
   contradictory, but... Many employees start off immediately asking
    about salary benefits and occupational perks way too early during
    an interview. Start out with general questions about the company,
    work environment, and job responsibilities before asking the 
   "what's in it for me" questions.
6.  Bar talking!  Don't treat your boss as if he is your local 
   hangout buddy.  Remain professional.  DO NOT talk about your 
   personal opinions of race, sex, religion, or politics.  You do 
   not want to give him any information that he can use to exclude 
   you.
7.  Poor communication! When you are at an interview, stay 
   focused.  Maintain eye contact.  Speak loudly.  And for Pete's 
   sake, don't talk with gum in your mouth!
8. Not knowing about the company.  Do your research before going
   on an interview.  Employers are always impressed when you can 
   praise them about aspects of their company that you believe are 
   going well.  It builds a good rapport and proves that you are 
   really interested in working for them.
    

Follow these eight guidelines and you should have a good shot at 
succeeding at the job interview!

1. Dress in something that makes you feel confident. I wore the same outfit to every interview: a red sweater, black skirt, and black heels. I felt very professional. Feeling good about myself allowed me to open up to my interviewers and be more friendly. You smile more and make better eye contact when you feel confident. People like that. I've also heard from other teachers that principals like to see potential employers dressed in a manner that they could walk into a classroom and start teaching immediately. Whatever you do, make sure your colthing is clean, ironed, and free of rips or tears. 

2. Get there early. Being early is better than being late. Plus, you have a few minutes to sit in your car and breath, pray, or practice some common interview questions without feeling rushed. I arrived at the schools about 20 minutes before the scheduled interview, gathered my composure, and entered the school about 10 minutes before the interview. Arriving early let me meet the secretaries and have nice conversations with them. You never know what say secretaries say about you, or what say they might have in your employment. 

3. Show off your skills. I brought a mini-portfolio filled with a sample syllabus, procedure packet, a positive reinforcement worksheet I created, a lesson plan I created, a unit plan I created, some really great student work, and “report cards” my student wrote about me. The principals were really impressed with the material I brought, and 2 actually photocopied some of the material I created– with my permission, of course (those 2 principals offered me positions at their schools).

4. Be honest about yourself. Being honest is way less stressful than trying to come up with the answers you think your interviewers want to hear. Plus, if you do fib through the interview and get hired, you’ll spend the next year being someone you are not.

5. Research the school and district and create some questions and conversation starters based on your findings. Principals like to know that you made the effort to know their school, and it enables you to contribute to conversations in the interview. The best interviews I have participated in felt more like conversations than question-and-answer sessions.

6. Make sure you make eye contact and pay attention to each person at your interview. No one likes to be ignored. I learned this the hard way. My first interview was a panel interview at a job fair, and I was so nervous that I focused all my attention on the principal. I totally neglected the AP and other teachers at the interview, and I came off looking unfriendly and rude.

7. Follow up. Always follow up an interview with a nice handwritten thank you letter. Include in the letter your desire to work at the school and a few reasons why you think you would make a good fit within the school. Be friendly and positive. Mail or hand deliver the letter the day after you interview.

Forty-eight percent of hiring managers cited that the worst thing a person can do in an interview is be disinterested. This bothers me. When I first read this, I though, "Now why would you interview when you're not interested in the job?" But then I realized that often times people may come across as disinterested because they're not adequately prepared for the interview and do not understand how to interact during the conversation.

The first step is preparing for the interview.

1. Research the company you are going to visit. Go to their web site. Read the "About" page. Find out who's in charge. What their business is. Look for news stories about the company. Do a Google search. Find out who links to their site, what blogs are saying.
2. Talk to friends and family. Find out what they know about the company. Do they know someone that works there or used to be an employee? Could you talk to them and find out more about the company that way?
3. Dress appropriately. If you can find out from your web search or talking to people who know about the company, pick out your outfit accordingly. If it's corporate - you need a suit. A lot of companies are a lot more casual, so showing up in a three-piece pinstriped suit may be overdoing it. Stop by the company parking lot at lunch time. See what people are wearing. Then make sure you look at least as nice as them, if not nicer! When all else fails, call the person you're interviewing with, several days before your meeting if possible, and ask them about the company dress code.
4. Prep for common questions.

The second step is to understand how to interact in an interview.

What you say is just as important as how you say it... That means:

• Paying attention to your posture (sit up straight with your back against the chair back)
• Being aware of others (turning toward people when they speak, responding to their body language)
• Keeping your hands in your lap and use natural hand gestures when speaking (don't fidget!)
• Making eye contact when you speak to someone, as well as when they are speaking to you

It's just as much your chance to interview the company as it is the company's chance to interview you. So that means you need to actively ask questions about the company, the job and its responsibilities. By asking informed questions that show you know your stuff, you will demonstrate to an interviewer that you're genuinely interested in the opportunity.

After the interview, it's important to follow-up with a thoughtful thank you letter to remind the interviewers how appreciative you are of their time and consideration.

But sometimes there are questions for which it is nearly impossible to be prepared. I'm not talking about the types of questions Microsoft and Google are known for asking (see below), but really whacky questions.

• What kind of a tree (or animal) would you be if you were a tree (or an animal)? Why?
• If your life was a newspaper article, what would be the headline?
• What would your friends and family be surprised to find out about you?

Hmmm. Tough. This article from the Washington Post talks about these types of interview question, and how to be prepared.

-----------

So what kinds of questions are Microsoft and Google know for asking? (And you don't necessarily want to take the time to Google it?) Here are a few:

• Why are manhole covers round?
• How do they get the "m" on M&M candies?
• How many cars are there in the US?
• How many gas stations are there in the US?
• If you had to learn a new computer language, how would you go about doing it?

Like those? Here are a couple sites for followup:

• Sellsbrothers.com
• A Martin Gardner fanboy from USC
• Microsoft/Google programming question
• A site devoted to nothing but Microsoft interview questions

And just a curiosity, would Google index pages/sites that give away Google interview questions? Gotta make you go "Hmmmmm."

View Article

At times, you must wonder whether all those performance facts actually make a difference.  Certainly they do.  They do on the resume.  They do in the interview.  BUT.  If you want to be memorable (and isn't this the goal?) demonstrate during the interview that your intelligence and experience gives you a perspective that is different than other candidates. 

For example, Joseph can say his financial skills led to identification of cost reductions resulting in a 12% profit improvement.  But another candidate may tell the same hiring manager than he reduced costs in his previous company by 15%, 18%, or 62%.  What's important isn't that you just quantify, but that you can tell how and why you achieved this success and that you can bring that skill to the hiring firm.  Joseph can say that the 12% profit improvement was a result of his keen ability and belief in identifying those strategically necessary processes versus non-productive resources and his ability to communicate and sell an agressive cot-reduction program to senior management.  Now the hiring manager sees that how Joseph can deliver the result.

Alan, a marketing executive, might explain how his philosoohy of branding was applied to drive the growth of the product portfolio in his last position.  It is this opinion that will be remembered by the hiring manager more than the % growth.  Opinion matters.

Now for the caveat.  Of course, this doesn't mean to suggest that you should be bombastic, outrageous or controversial in expressing an opinion.  That will get you noticed, but probably not get you past the interview.  Be smart, but let your experience and the opinions you have developed shine through. 

Express opinions.  Be confident.  Get noticed.

If you are serious about getting a job despite having a criminal record or know someone who needs a job you have to go to my website http://www.BelievePublications.com or http://www.JailtoJob.com