I'm taking a break.

I'm presently doing research for a pirate novel set in 1700 and so I will probably not be posting to the blog for the time being. It will be my first foray into fiction and I'm rather excited.

Why I wrote "Get The Job".

When I wrote "Get The Job" I wanted to do a couple of things. One, I wanted to do something unemployment. Two, I wanted to do something about my two Sons being unemployed. Three, I wanted to put what worked for me all together into one book if I needed to hunt for a job again. At least the third reason has been met quite nicely every time I look at a copy of the paperback. It also looks pretty good on my Kindle also to tell you the truth.
It was quite the process for me to wander through my memories of my various experiences. Some of them were very good and some of them were not so good when I look back. Still, they are quite the set of memories that I'm glad to have had the opportunity to write about. I really do hope the book helps everyone that reads it as it based directly on my personal experience. I know how hard it can be to find a job still though the job market is improving a bit.

"Get The Job" is available at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H5OCTC

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone, powered by Cricket.

Facebook password

From my recent research there is occasionally a candidate asked for their Facebook password. This is an illegal question to ask I will state right now. From further research it is being used as a test to see if you'll answer it in a few cases. In at least one other it was for corrections officer position which could be an understandable one, maybe. In the vast majority of jobs you can probably expect not it to be asked this. It's just something you need to be aware of as you set up interviews. I would probably state that I wouldn't be comfortable with giving them that information.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone, powered by Cricket.

An age statement

Being an older worker myself (over 45) age can be an issue for many employers. From personal experience if the subject comes up it would be best to expect you're not getting the job. This happened to me when I applied for an apprentice position as a helper in a local cabinet shop. What I had done to get the interview call was send a picture of a bench I had built that is on our porch in response to the ad. As a part of this approach I didn't send a resume, for such positions this kind of approach will definitely work. While I will admit that he had valid reasons why he had brought the issue up that I happen to agree with it was still depressing. In most jobs however, this subject shouldn't come up unless you are attempting to get a job far below your potential. Let's say you've been a manager at a fortune 500 company, they will probably bring it up if you're going for a job at a fast food restaurant unless it's for a management position.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone, powered by Cricket.

Attendance issues

You will probably be asked at least one question where you are asked whether you will be on time to work. This is regardless of what job you are applying for whether it is retail, manual labor, janitorial, any job that you could possibly think of. They want to know that they can count on you to be there on time. To tell you the truth there isn't a manager anywhere in the world that wants to fire someone for attendance issues. If the truth really be told, they would rather never having to fire anyone for any reason. They would rather never having to go through the process ever again, they find interviews as stressful as you do. It would probably be a good idea to call attention to your perfect attendance at your last job. This way you are demonstrating the fact that you will always be on the job when they expect you to be.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone, powered by Cricket.

How do you handle conflict?

This is something that you'd better have a good answer for as this one will sink you very quickly if you aren't careful. In my case, being in customer service, it is expected that I don't have any issues with fellow employees. It also wouldn't be a good thing to call attention to the fact I yelled at a customer at some time in the past at a previous job. You're expected in customer service positions to get along with everyone that you meet wherever you are. This would include retail, call center and any other position that you interact directly with the public. For most other positions you should probably answer this in such a way that you attempt to discuss it with the individual quietly.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone, powered by Cricket.

Why do you want to work here?

This is an important question and it's one that in some form is asked at just about every interview. You need to have an appropriate answer ready, preferably you'll have a story that will demonstrate what you are stating. Answering it (like I had many years ago) with “well, I need a paycheck will probably not be successful and so you've wasted your time. Personally, I don't like wasting my time. Also, answers like “I need a job” won't work very well either. They know both of these so you're just stating the obvious, that's the same reasons your interviewer originally applied there. Even if it is rather hokey state something along the lines of “so I can't improve my skill-set further”. If you use this answer be prepared to have a story ready where you did just that at some point in the past.