Life was a breeze for him. He knew it all. The latest in jazz, sports, the trends in vogue, the places to go, the works! He probably had it all going for him. With an envious academic record and an extremely well-polished persona, Sam Jones surely looked forward to a bright future ahead.

Days rolled on and Sam put himself to test in the corporate run. ?It’s going to be a cakewalk for you to get in, his friends often quipped.

Please be seated, came the deep voice of George Herington, the Hiring Manager. Swiftly, he introduced
himself, along with his colleague David Robinson. Then it all started. The usual spate of questions… from their academic achievements to what they knew about the company in question, they asked it all. And was Sam
proud of himself! He had answers to almost everything they asked and that too, he believed much better than his apprehensive-looking competitors, Wilson Brown.

This plum job is surely mine, thought Sam with a slight smug on his face. Finally, I’ll be able to buy that dashing sports bike, a tinge of happiness breezed across Sam’s face.

When we pick up guys for a company like ours, we simply want the best. Our people should be perfect in their knowledge, be dressed primly for work, and have an all round appeasing persona. That’s how Herington had briefed his staff the morning Sam was to be interviewed.

It was a shock to the hilt. After all, there was not even a single instance where he faltered. Did I have some poor recommendations? he wondered as he sipped his coffee in the pantry.

Just then, he heard that. ?Aah! Thought we’ve chosen Wilson Brown,

I think that was a compromise. Don’t you think, David? remarked Herington, as the colleagues ducked into their sumptuous cheese sandwiches.

The only option we had though! Goodness, whatever happened to those extensive grooming and personality enhancement classes they give to the students of management.?

Of course, it didn’t ring much bell with Sam at first, though he was quite within earshot. All he seemed to be doing was ponder over his loss, trying to analyze, munching a doughnut.

A few moments on and the discussion between the hiring personnel carried on in the friendly environs of the small pantry.

Actually, I would have simply loved to take on Sam Jones, who with all his skill seemed just to be the right choice. Only if the young man had taken a few lessons in the right dress sense, remarked Herington pensively. It was then that Sam caught his breath.

Jaw dropped, he listened on, Yup!

After all, who comes for an interview to a company  in baggies and sneakers and those too in a dusty, faded version!?added David, echoing his colleague’s observations.

It all unfolded in a minute. Right from his well-meaning seniors to his ever so critical dad, everyone had warned him. There was no doubt that Sam Jones made, The Personality Statement, in his high school and college. But you have to spruce up how you dress. You don’t know what you might lose on due to your extensively casual and at times, even shabby dressing – his dad would always insist.

Alas! Even best things need to change. And that’s what Sam didn’t realize. He hung on to his notions of style and now, at what a price!

After all, the position that Wilson got was meant to be his. It would have paid him like none other jobs in this arena. Sadly enough, his moment had passed. His loss was for him to suffer. There will surely be another opportunity but for now Sam would have to wait and see.

Step 1: Login to your Twitter account. If you don’t have one – create one today.

Step2: You can send direct message to your target company by prefixing @ in front of their username. For example @widgets_co. There is one downside to this approach which is this message is visible to the whole world so you want to be very careful in what you send.

There is a way to direct message your target company but for that your target company must be following you. Try to follow your target company on twitter and see if they start following you. Once they do, you can then send them a direct message from twitter.

Whether you use Twitter or any our previous strategies we have one piece of advice.

Remember, most people care about themselves and this is true for your prospective employers as well. In case of  job search process, it is paramount for you to understand the value you bring to the table. Just getting the email address, phone number or having a twitter conversation with hiring company or hiring manager won’t take you all the way.

Bottom line: Be prepared about your value proposition because you might be talking to prospective hiring manager sooner than you expect.

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In terms of awesomeness, Linked-in is right there at the top. Here are some steps for Linked in:

Step 1: Login to your linked in account. If you don’t have one –  create one today.

Step 2: Go to the search box on the top – choose companies. Type in your target company name and click on search.

Now one of the following three things may happen:

·       Not Found: The company you are looking for doesn’t exist on Linkedin. Try other variations of their name. In couple of minutes you should be able to figure out of this company and its employees exist on Linkedin or not. If people from this company aren’t on Linked-in, you can skip rest of the section.

·       Company found and I know someone inside: Under the company overview, you should see “Your Network” and “Your college alumni”. What Linkedin is doing Is that it’s checking your linked-in contact list and reporting back to you any one who works in this company and is within two degrees of separation.  Look at this list very carefully, who can help you get the inside scoop and connect you to the right person inside the company.

·       Company found but I don’t know anyone: Under the company you will see employees. Go through this list and see who can help you. Linked-in premium gives you the possibility to be able to send Emails to any of these people but remember that is a paid option.

Step 3: Assuming you have found a person that you would like to connect with from step above. The next step for you is to find a way to connect with them. Here are some options – Look at person’s name title etc and do a google search on them. They might have a blog or Twitter account or they might be part of an association allowing you a way to reach out to them directly.

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So you look up at the company website of the  company. You find out that they have a contact number – Ring ! Ring ! A lady picks up, “Hello this Judy. How may I help you?”. You stutter a little, “Can you please tell me who is hiring for such and such position”.

“I am sorry – Madam, I am not allowed to speak regarding any of our job postings. All relevant details are posted on our website. Thanks and Good Bye”, Click !!!

Hmmm so that didn’t work – did it ?

What would you do differently? Well, for starters, create a script before you make that phone call. And remember your objective from that phone call is to find name, phone &/or email for the hiring manager (more on scripts in another post).

One thing to consider, when looking for phone numbers is that many companies would have information about their sales department and it’s ok to start there.

But in either case you need to a script to work the call.

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Now, isn’t the purpose of all the studying and all the learning just about finding a good job (At least for 90% of us)?

Almost two decades after my college, I have started to think that at the time I just somehow missed the big picture. I have started to think that the true purpose of education is just to expand your mind.

That’s quite a change in stance isn’t it?

So what about all the irrelevant boring stuff which is so hard to retain?

Things become irrelevant and boring when no one connects the dots. As we go through the maze of life we see a lot. When the stuff we do is just some discrete tasks – it becomes hard to make any sense out of it. But if someone were to tell us or for that matter we were to figure out for ourselves – How everything fits in to big picture all of sudden it starts to become interesting. So for all those who, like me, are struggling to find a meaning in their studies why not step back and see how each piece of your study fits in to the big picture?

Oh, by the way – for people in leadership position here is something to consider. If you find employee motivation as one of your challenges – can it be that it is because your organization treats your employees as task oriented robots? Can it be that your employees are just plain bored? Can it be they just don’t see any relevance? No hard feelings – it happens. Now for an experiment – try to show them the big picture, show them why what they do matters and yes, show them where you want to be (together with them). It just might raise your employee satisfaction a notch higher!!!

As for me, I am off to do the same with my team.

Are human’s wired to be predictable? In Dan Ariely’s words we are predictably irrational. Take for example, our fascination for stories – we just cannot shrug it off.

Alex is a twenty two year old recent graduate. He considers himself pretty sharp but having had no experience is getting in his way. He has managed to get through to a hiring manager but now wants to connect with him real good.  How can he do that? May I suggest build an inspiring and interesting story.

Ashley on the other hand is a physician whose patients if they could, would wear her pin everywhere. Why? Well, she takes the time to listen to her patients. She is deeply interested in their stories and connects with them one-on-one.

It seems so simple but really if you can tell your story well and for that matter listen well to the stories of other people – you are on your way to success.

Understanding our own exploits are helpful in unlocking the potential that lies with-in us to grow, mature and be successful.

By the way, what’s your story?

Its an interesting question isn’t it? Human brain is not a great storage device then why waste time?

An elementary school student might ask – why bother to even learn mathematical fundamentals? When there are tools that do it so well and so quickly. Here we present two reasons why ongoing learning is important:

i) As we learn new things our brain creates neural pathways that didn’t exist before. So if we were to just use some tools, we would be denying our brains an opportunity to create those connections.

ii) When we talk about innovation and creativity –  our brain invariably draws upon our experiences. The more diverse our learning foundation, the more it allows our brain to draw from those reserves.

We are still somewhat  far away where we could have our brain plugged directly into google or cloud.  So for now, it still seems like that the safer bet is to continue learning.

What do you think?

We have compiled a list of free upcoming Webinars and classes from different companies. Please do leave your comments about  any of these classes for the benefit of other participants.

PS: We are not affiliated with any of these companies so we do not assume responsibility for anything related to these classes.

We are providing this collection for our share of public good without assuming any liability. Please use at your own risk.

This morning as I was drinking my tea and figuring out how to balance the demands of workplace and family and deadlines, I flipped over the little tea string (Good Earth) and came across an old Celtic saying, “When God made time, he made enough of it.”

That thought completely changed the direction of my day.  I started thinking about the people I love and care about.  Do they know how much I care about them, everyday?  Do I show my feelings to my family, my co-workers and my customers often enough?   In these uncertain times, do I have my priorities straight?

When we are overwhelmed, stressed and busy, it is often the people closest to us that suffer.  Rather than playing a card game with my youngest, I‘ll choose to turn on the TV. so I can finish “Just one more piece of work.”  We don’t stop at the park because we need to get groceries and I’m tired from being on my feet all day.

These precious moments of time with the people we love go by quickly and soon the people that we care most about in the world feel as if they are intruding in ours. That is not how I want to live.  I refuse to live as if I am in a pressure cooker.  I want more joy and I want to spread more joy.

I cannot help but think of the people in Japan, in Thailand, people all over the world who have experienced tragedy in mere seconds, was their last thought about work?  I doubt it.

Whatever you believe, it’s true that there is enough time for the people and things that really matter.  I went to work today and handed out some positive affirmation cards I received as a gift.  My first thought was to keep them all to myself, but after reading that little tea bag, I spread them out and told my co-workers to take a card and keep it.  I went through my workplace until all the cards were gone.  People were surprised and happy.  It delighted me to be a joyful presence.  I was at work for about an hour before my youngest daughter’s school called to say she was sick, “Could I come get her?”

My boss and co-workers waved me off and I picked up my daughter at school.  She was a little feverish and pale but got better as the afternoon progressed.  While she took a nap, I had the chance to finish some projects, and when she woke up we played Old Maid.  I am thankful I ran out of coffee this morning, my day would have been frazzled and hectic as usual.  I am grateful for the time I have and hope to share it with everyone I encounter in a loving positive way especially, the ones closest to me. There really is enough time, if we make it.

Namaste

Kim S