CareerMysteries

You have learned how to dress for your next big job interview and you have prepared an intelligent list of questions to ask the hiring manager about the company and the job.  Your resume has been meticulously updated and you have been practice interviewing with a friend.

Don’t forget one critical issue:  good manners throughout the interview process.  By this I mean you refrain from interrupting the other person(s) while they are speaking.  You never chew gum or pull at your clothes or hair.  Nervous habits are very distracting and the interviewer will remember you for the wrong reasons.

Always say please and thank you and be sure to ask if you may ask your questions, but wait until she is finished with all of her questions before you “cross-examine”.  Be mindful of the time.  You don’t want to take up several hours when you know she probably has several more people to see that day.

Please also remember to send a follow up thank you letter.  This document should reiterate why you think you are the best candidate for the job. 

And you thought job interviews were tough enough without adding another point into the mix.  Be careful how you present yourself.  If the interviewer picks up cues that you may be trying to overstate or exaggerate your accomplishments, he will be put off.

At the same time, you want to make sure you toot your horn a bit to ensure he is aware of all the great stuff you have done and what a terrific employee you have been in the past.  This is a very fine line.  That being said, I would err on the side of being a little bit boastful.

Why?  Because this interview is all about you and your background.  The more they know about you, the better.  Don’t misrepresent yourself or try to appear more experienced than you really are, since this may backfire.  But all in all, you should be forthright, proud and a little bit full of yourself.

So get over to that mirror and practice, you beautiful thing, you.

I realized as I was getting ready to write this post that today is the anniversary of my grandmother’s birth.  She passed away back in 1996, but had she still been alive, she would have been a whopping 95 years old!

Ma had lived with us when I was growing up.  She and my grandfather lived in an apartment downstairs from us in a two family house outside of Boston.  She was like a second mother to me and I would spend lots of time with her, particularly when my grandfather, who was a US Navy Captain, was away at sea. 

She was a wonderful person who I loved dearly and I dedicate this poem to the lovely, late and very great “Ma”.

Vacation Serenity

by Therese Haberman 

Bellows breezes

Waft within

Steamy dreams

Deep down

Lake creatures Lurk. 

Darkness encircles

Entrances

Enriches

My soul SeeksSolace.  Peace

Pleases

My

Places. 

Be careful not to make these mistakes during your next job search.  Some of us have learned from the mistakes of others and those we have made ourselves.  Here are five mistakes:

1.  Don’t send out your resume or cover letter to employers without carefully proofreading the documents. I cannot tell you how often this happens and it is a sloppy reflection on you and your work habits.

2. Don’t bug the HR department during the job search.  A polite occasional call is fine, but daily harassment is not.  Try to think in terms of how you would like to be treated and act accordingly.

3.  Don’t overdo your dress, makeup, jewelry or “body art” for an interview.  Tone everything down, especially your cologne or perfume.  You don’t want to be remembered for how much you smelled.

4. Don’t neglect your preparation for an interview or other job related meeting.  Do your research and always have a prepared list of questions to ask your prospective employer.  This, more than anything, shows how much you really care about the job.

5. Don’t assume that the interviewer knows anything about you.  Yes, he may have your resume and application, but he may also have ten interviews that day and you want to be the one to leave a great lasting impression.  Have a prepared “speech” and roll it off your tongue with finesse and grace.

Having a little fun in the workplace should be a company policy.  I don’t mean that you should play convoluted practical jokes on all your officemates as a regular part of work, but spending some fun time together as a group will go a long way toward helping to increase your sense of comraderie and you might even have a bit of fun in the process.

Here are five off-the-top-of-my-head ideas on fun things you can do at work.

1.  Start an entertainment committee.  They could come up with team ideas for going on day trips on the weekend or an occasional afterhours party.

2. Get involved in some charity work.  This might entail putting together food or gift baskets for needy families or actually going out into the community to help rehab houses for the elderly poor, who can’t do it themselves.  This can be lots of fun and you will carry great memories of doing it long after the event is over.

3.  Start a sports team like a golf league or softball.  Just be sure to invite any and all employees to participate in the team or group.  Even those who are not sports types can go out to the games and cheer their work mates on. 

4.  Start a walking or fitness club with your work group.  Even if you just do a daily walk for twenty minutes, that will add up to close to two hours of exercise per week you would not have been doing.  This is a great way to invite new employees into the fold of the social aspects of the work group.

5.  Have annual events like a picnic, holiday party or both for the employees who want to attend.  Even if the company only contributes to part of the cost, people do love these family oriented events and it will pay dividends with better working relationships for the office or facility.

I have really begun to appreciate the joys of working from home.  I will say right up front that I do not work full time.  I am unable to work full time anymore due to a chronic illness and working away from home is no longer an option, but that is what it is.

The great part about working from home is being able to do the work when you most feel like working.  You can do some in the evening or even late nights if your clock works better on night owl hours.

Though it can be lonely at times when you are accustomed to having workmates to socialize with after hours or just during the workday, I would much prefer the work from home situation.  I think I am more productive in terms of the quality of my work as well.

At different times in my work life, I worked for some crazy, dysfunctional companies (like Dunder Mifflin offices) where everything was done ass backwards and God knows how these people ever turned any profit.  Sometimes I miss the antics and jokes we used to play on one another to avoid actually doing any work.  Now that I am my own boss, I better get myself in gear, or I might just have to let myself go (too late!).

Have a great day whereever you work, but try not to take yourself too seriously.

Working from home view from Microsoft library.

Career change is hard at any age.  Rethinking what we want to do for the rest of our career lives is a practice you should undertake at least every few years.  Ask yourself the tough questions.  Are you happy doing what you are doing?  Is each day a drudgery?  Are you bored and no longer challenged by your job?

At some point, you will know it is time to make a change, though this does not mean you must leave your current employer.  Consider other positions internally before you even start looking elsewhere. Talk to your HR department about the possibilities, but just inquire, don’t threaten to leave or put all your cards on the table until you are ready to do so.

The saddest thing to me, as an HR executive, is to see someone wasting away mentally in a job they hate.  Often times, they feel locked in because they know they can’t make as much money anywhere else.  If this sounds like you, why not consider retraining or going back to school to try something better or more interesting?  Staying in a dead end job hurts you in every way.  The stress of this could cause you to develop diseases that might not have set in, under different circumstances.

So put yourself out there and change your career.  You will not be sorry.

Being unemployed means that you will probably spend most of your free time looking for a new job.  Have you tried to visit your local unemployment or job service office for some help?  Not only can they look over your resume and make suggestions for improvement, they can also help you with mock interview settings and role playing exercises.

While it true that some offices have more skilled people helping you than others, larger cities are more apt to have the better resources and funding.  Another way they can help you is when you are looking to change to a career with better job prospects.  There are funds available - I know our area has funds that are renewed on a July 1 time frame - to help you retrain for a different career.  They might give you money to go back to school or to attain your certification in a field.

So give them a call or stop in for a visit.  You will be glad you did.

 We’ve talked about the important of having a good attitude when your out interviewing for jobs.  Just for clarification, when I talk about a good attitude, what I mean by that is a winning attitude.  This means that not only are you positive and upbeat about yourself and the prospective job, you present yourself as a winner.

A winner is poised and articulate.  Though they may seem nervous initially, and who isn’t, they settle down and give off a productive and exciting energy when they talk about the things they have accomplished and what they will do in the future to address the needs of the job I am trying to fill.

A winner has made some mistakes in the past, but they can show that they have learned from their mistakes, and experience has taught them how to do things the right way.  That’s what I am looking for in a candidate.  Someone with enough experience to know better, and enough gumption to stand up for what they believe is right.

So go out and win yourself an interview and a new job.

Dream Soup

by Therese Haberman 

Swim toward the stars

In a soup of dormant dreams

Ladle my cream of cradle

With your Alpha bed schemes

Magic me

Wand her lust

Magic me Now

Louder in chowder

Come, toward the bow. 

Cry ‘til you hear me say

Deep downI’ll be found

Deep down In the broth of dreams

Stir me around. 

Wade through some

Minestrone

Then tread

Toward the skies

To consume mate

In soup of stone

Right before

My eyes 

Slip me a lullaby

Drink me to sleep

Magic me

Magic me

My love is deep 

Stroke beyond the stars

Bear left at the scar

Abracadabra

You made it this far. 

Dream with me magic man

Cloud up my vision

Stop me from counting sheep

Or doing long division. 

Croon me your lullaby

Drink me to sleep

Magic me

Magic thee

Our souls to keep.