Prep List for Dinner out with a Potential Boss

Get a haircut, polish your shoes and clean up your nails.  Do whatever you need to do to look highly presentable.

Turn your phone to mute.

Remember your table manners.

Smile and relax this is supposed to be a nice social experience.   

When ordering food keep it simple with minimal to no substitutions.

Be polite to the wait staff. Nothing says arrogance like being nasty to the people serving you.

Only order an alcoholic drink if the potential boss orders one. Then keep to one drink max – it is a business meeting.

Let your potential boss lead the conversation but have a few good questions to ask.

Enjoy the experience and get to know your potential boss. Remember you want to find out if you can work with this person as much as they want to find out about you. My theory on dinners is they are making sure that if you all are stuck in an airport for 6 hours you get along well! 

Q&A for Job Seekers

So a leader of a  group on LinkedIn sent me a request to answer a few questions. In the interest of providing a diverse set of viewpoints, he wanted feedback/responses/advice from me for those in transition. No idea if he’ll use my stuff but I thought I’d provide his questions and my answers.

1. Question - Facing unemployment in today’s world is complex. Can you give us perspective from different points of view, say a college grad versus someone at mid-career, a woman or Veteran re-entering the workforce, or a degreed versus non-degreed job seeker?

Answer: College grads vs. mid-career. I’m volunteering right now as a Mentor for the Chapman MBA program. I actually think the college grads will have an easier time finding work. They can intern for free and prove to their employers that they are worth bringing on. A mid-career person has to slug through the resume, interview hiring process without the help of a career placement office to push them in. Both types of people need to get aggressive to get a job. You must show why they should hire you. Don’t expect whoever is hiring you to fish it out you must sell yourself.

2. Question - What is unusual about our current economic situation that makes the job of getting a job completely different than in past decades?

Answer - Unusual about current economic situation – companies are cutting back and expecting you to do three jobs not one. So when they decided to replace, rehire or create a new job they combo skills. Quite frequently during our searches the combo is almost unheard of and we’re out seeking that needle in the haystack. Also normally in harsh times companies still need accounting/finance types but not as much now. As accounting/operations gets more automated it takes less people to manage the systems.

3. Question - Other than the economy, what is the number one barrier that prevents people from gainful employment?
Answer - Not demonstrating why they fit the job, not explaining what they bring to the table to help the company and not asking for the job.

4. Question - What does one do if they have been historically employed in an industry that is showing no signs of growth or is in fact diminishing altogether?

Answer - What to do when you are becoming extinct – like mammals did, you need to adapt. Think out of the box, figure out what skill sets are transferable and market yourself to companies that can use those skills. People have a tendency to see what they can’t do instead of what they CAN do.

5. Question - What are the first steps you recommend for a job seeker to prevent feeling overwhelmed?

Answer - Take a deep breath and call a recruiter friend.

6. Question -. What are some of the key pitfalls job seekers face when looking for a new position?

Answers – Their ego – lose it. You won’t be making as much money as before and you’ll be working harder than before.

7. Question - Many unemployed workers start to focus on their passion and look to turn hobbies or dreams into entrepreneurial companies. At what point in the unemployment process do you recommend people begin to look at this as the best or worst option?

Answer - It all depends on the person and how entrepreneurial they are. Running your own business is not easy - you have to market your company constantly and work. Many people don’t understand that or are capable of doing that. Before you launch on something new I’d suggest finding a mentor/coach to talk with. Also do lots and lots of research on your new industry. The more you know the better off you are.

8. Question - What is your most memorable story or experience of a job seeker overcoming obstacles and realizing successful employment?

Answer - No idea - I work mainly with people who have jobs currently and I’m recruiting directly.

Best of TAGBit’s Quotable Quotes

"Be at war with your voices,
At peace with your neighbors,
And let every new year
Find you a better man."
- Benjamin Franklin

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on it." – Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The secret of success:
1. Get a job.
2. Get a better job.
3. Get an even better job.
4. Repeat as often as necessary."
- Matt Groening

"It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in awhile."
 – Luther Burbank, scientist.

"There are three types of people. People who make things happen. People who watch things happen. And people who don’t know what’s happening." – John Madden

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can somehow become great." – Mark Twain

"Being tolerant dos not mean that I share another’s belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another one’s right to believe, and obey his own conscience." – Victor Frankl

"Good leadership must be for the future, not for the past or present." – J. Arthur Urciuoli

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." – Aristotle
** My favorite quote!!!!! **

"May the most you wish for be the least you get." – Unknown

"Minutes are worth more than dollars, spend them wisely." –Thomas P. Murphy

"Whatever you are, be a good one." – Abraham Lincoln

"Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty." – Woodrow Wilson

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." – Thomas Jefferson

Fake it til you make it.

The calls we are getting from some of our candidates can break your heart. People are stressed, not working, frustrated, scared and desperate -- but those traits won’t get you hired. When you talk to a potential employer be confident, happy, smart, sensible, and strong. And if you don’t feel that way, fake it til you make it.

Seriously, fake the happy, sensible and strong. Fake the confidence. Don’t give into fear and insecurity no matter how you really feel. If you need to vent, dump your frustrations and fears on your family, friends and your shrink, not on a potential employer. Then, sit down and put together an employment plan and work the plan.