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Are You a Nice Person? What Companies are Looking for in Recruiting and Retaining Great PeopleHal Rosenbluth, author of The Customer Comes Second, states; "In our selection process, kindness, caring, compassion, and unselfishness carry more weight than years on the job, an impressive salary history, and stacks of degrees." Does your company hire these types? Are you one of them? Take the following quiz to see if you are: Agree Disagree 1. While driving, I signal my intentions ___ ___ 2. I slow down to allow traffic in from on-ramps and other lanes ___ ___ 3. I place my shopping cart to the side of the aisle so others can pass ___ ___ 4. I look behind me at the check-out lane to allow the person with very few items to go ahead of me ___ ___ 5. I return the shopping cart to the return area ___ ___ 6. I place the plastic separator wand behind my groceries on the conveyer belt so the person behind me can start placing their groceries on the belt ___ ___ 7.When going to a restaurant, I shut off my cell phone ___ ___ 8. I recognize the bus personnel by thanking them for their assistance ___ ___ 9. I make sure I have enough money on me to cover my portion of the bill ___ ___ 10. At the office, I answer my phone with enthusiasm in my voice ___ ___ 11. I never use the speakerphone unless I ask the caller's permission ___ ___ 12. At the golf course, I call to determine if they have a dress code ___ ___ 13. When flying, I respect the regulation of the amount and size of carry-ons ___ ___ 14. I look behind me before reclining my seat in the airplane ___ ___ 15. I am respectful of the arm rest space on the airplane ___ ___ If you answered 12 out of 15 "Agree", you are what companies are seeking. If you answered 7-11 out of 15 "Agree", you have potential. You might consider hiring an executive coach to teach you how to be nicer. If you answered less than 7 "Agree", don't work with people. Don't get into management and screw up another company. Ryan James (R.J.) Lancaster is the president of the Education & Learning Institute, a research, seminar and publishing company. He helps organizations and individuals think differently to ensure their success. He is also a professional speaker and author of E-books. One of his E-books is Nice People Do Finish First. Contact information: |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES 50 Things To Do To Your Boss That Are Fun For You, But Not For Them 1. You're eavesdropping and you hear your boss has reservations at his favorite restaurant. You know, the one you can't afford. Call them back and cancel his reservations ? say you're his wife. What Turns Potential Employers ON; What Turns Them OFF? According to an annual survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, these are the most important qualities that employers are looking for in a job candidate, in priority order: (1) Communication skills; (2) Honesty/integrity; (3) Teamwork skills; (4) Interpersonal skills; (5) A strong work ethic. Be sure to highlight those skills in your resume, during your interview, and in your thank-you letter. That same survey discovered the number-one thing that can turn potential employers off -- a job candidate's appearance! Specifically, they cited unusual hair color or style, body piercings, tattoos, and unusual clothing as things that most often gave a bad first impression. What you think is "cool" may be the "hot" ticket to the reject list! So keep your need to express yourself under wraps during the interview, and you'll have a better shot at getting the job. 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The overall look of your resume depends on the resume format, font and outline you choose. Be Prepared for the Unexpected How long has it been since you last had to search for a new job? These days it's not at all unusual to change careers or jobs several times in a lifetime. The idea of retiring from the same company after a lifetime of service is much less a reality in today's world than it was a couple of decades ago. The likelihood of unexpectedly losing your job is greatly increased today due to a number of different factors such as corporate downsizing, technological evolution, and globalization just to name a few. Being thrust into a job search can be a rude awakening and an eye opening experience. Ideally a job seeker should already be prepared for the unexpected with an up-to-date resume and versed in good communication skills. The reality is most people don't have a current resume much less know how to effectively converse with a prospective employer. 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Knowing how to answer and ask questions intelligently with professionalism and grace is just as important. Your resume is the tool to unlock the doors to interviews. Once the door has been opened the ability to communicate well is necessary to convey how you can be an asset to the company. This is the time to present your personal sales pitch.You should be prepared to ask intelligent questions as well as answer questions. Inquiries about the company's philosophy and mission, what will be expected in the position, and the degree of camaraderie among employees are examples of some of the questions you should ask. Usually applicants are given an opportunity at some point to ask questions and are very well expected to do so.Spend some time reviewing your personal marketing documents. Do some research on the internet or at the local library to learn how to communicate well in an interview. Make your own list of questions about the job and the company to pose toward the end of the meeting. Practice answering and asking questions with a friend or family member. Pay attention to your body language and composure as well as your verbal responses. You can turn an unexpected job loss into a positive experience. Take some time to discover the multitude of possibilities in which your skills and talents can be used and make it a positive one. You know the old saying, "When a window closes, a door opens." Even if you aren't currently seeking a new job, a career advance, or a change to improved employment conditions, be proactive and do the best you can to stay a step ahead. Keep your resume updated and your interviewing skills sharpened...just in case. F-E-A-R in the Job Search! Fear in starting a job search is a four letter word! Like any other four letter word, the word itself can create more fear, and some- times self-loathing! Ideal Job and Handling Criticism How many times have you been asked, "What is your dream job?" 3 Questions No Job Seeker Ever Wants To Be Asked? Employer and interviewers expect you to answer tough question during interviews. Take a few minutes to brainstorm on how you might elaborate on the following answers. The answers you give to these questions that will be asked during your interview will be very important in your career prospects. Fascinating Ways to Make a Living Doing What You Love May Be Closer Than You Think... You don't have to look very far to find fascinating ways to make a living. Opportunities are literally everywhere? if you're looking, that is. It seems I can't turn on the television or radio or open a magazine or newspaper without seeing at least one good business idea. Maybe that's why, as we were winding down a consulting session the other day, one of my clients said to me, "Boy, you sure have a lot of information in your head." I appreciated the compliment, but Julie was only half right. When you've been in the business of helping people change course for as long as I have, it's only natural I'd know a lot about creative income streams. But most of them aren't in my head ? they're in my Opportunity File.What's an Opportunity File? Basically anytime I happen upon an interesting story about someone who is making money doing what they love, I add it to a big file called Opportunities. If you don't yet have an Opportunity File, I encourage you to set one up. It's positively addicting!I thought it might be fun to just pull a couple of examples from the top of my Opportunity file and share them with you. Since they're on top, that means I've come across them in just the last week or so. Collecting is all the rage these days. As I looked more closely at my top of the pile examples, I realized that in one way or another, they all have something to do with collecting. Read on and you'll see what I mean.First there's antique Christmas decorations collector, Gerald Nixon (aka Mr. Pink? I'll explain in a moment). Gerald had so many antique Christmas decorations in his personal collection that he finally had to open a shop just so he could move about his apartment. Today he has over 10,000 ornaments as well as light reflectors, aluminum trees, rotating color wheels, rotating musical tree stands, vintage holiday cards, and wrapping paper. Okay, why is he called Mr. Pink? Well, it seems the guy owns a very fuzzy pink Santa suit that he happily dons every weekend in December. You can imagine how many tourists ask to have their picture taken with him! You can visit Gerald at his shop in Manhattan at 223 16th Street or online at MrPinkInc.com. If you hurry, you may even catch him in his furry pink suit!And speaking of winter? after his grandfather died and left him his old wooden skis, Mark Miller began collecting vintage skis. Soon neighbors in his small hometown in New Hampshire started dropping off their old skis. Then Mark began buying skis at auctions. Before long, he had over 100 pairs!In 1994, he decided to turn his hobby into a business and moved himself and his collection to Park City, Utah, where he became a ski instructor. Today Mark has the largest collection of antique winter sports equipment in the world. Two warehouses hold his collection of 3,000 pairs of skis, 2,000 pairs of snowshoes, 500 vintage sleds, and 400 pairs of wooden skates.Increasingly, Mark's collection comes from Europe where he managed to track down 500 pairs of American snow shoes used by the Army's 10th Mountain Division in World War II. The shoes were just sitting in an old barn in Turkey. Mark does all the refinishing work himself before selling his vintage finds through his web site at AntiqueSkis.com and through home décor shops in four western states. The next opportunity I found in an article in FSB magazine about hot franchises. I'm not usually very interested in franchises. I've got nothing against them mind you? it's just hard for me to picture someone who wakes up in the morning excited about opening their own Subway or Jiffy Lube shop. On the other hand, franchises can be the ideal solution for someone who basically wants to run his or her own business but doesn't want to build something from scratch.Anyway, it was my keen interest in recycling that peaked my curiosity about Canadian Brian Scudamore's franchise entirely geared around turning trash into cash. Brian got into the business of clearing out unwanted things from people's basements, garages, attics and the like when he was 19 and still in college. He bought an old truck for $700, and in an attempt to make his business sound bigger than it was, he named it Rubbish Boys. (Even though Brian was the only rubbish boy he thought big). His business was so successful, he ended up dropping out of school to haul junk full time.The junk hauling business itself is nothing new. But over time Brian got the bright idea of modernizing the business with uniformed drivers driving fancy trucks who show up when they say they will. So he decide to start a company called Got-Junk (think UPS but with junk pick up). Today this 33-year-old's Vancouver-based company is one of the fastest growing franchises in North America with 74 territories ? most in the U.S. Is there really that much money in junk? This year Got-Junk expects to post revenues system-wide of $12.6 million. To learn more, go to 1800GotJunk.com. A lot of people skip over articles or entire publications if they don't see an immediate application to their life. Not me. The more unrelated to my life, the more intrigued I am. Case in point was a supplement in my local paper that was dedicated to equestrians. I like horses and all, but am not even remotely connected to the horse world.While I scanned the articles, what I was really drawn to were the advertisements. Why? Ads reveal all kinds of interesting ways people with a particular interest have found a way to earn a living. Among the ads for such obvious businesses as tack shops and veterinarians was an ad for "quality equine laundry." Who knew?I quickly discovered that the company will "clean, refurbish, and return each blanket spotless, repaired, and wrapped with tissue in a zippered plastic case." They also promise to make Velcro stick again and to air-dry the blankets on a special rack to avoid shrinkage. This enterprising company will arrange for pick up anywhere in New England.  This last one is not so much about collecting things as it is about collecting and using experience. A headline in my local paper featured a guy who recently bought a local trophy and engraving shop. I don't have a big need for trophies, but I know when it comes to entrepreneurs, there's always more to a story than the headline. I was right. It seems the new shop keeper, 51-year-old Russell Wilkinson, has had a pretty varied background. According to the article, Russell has worked in construction, been an electrician, owned his own shoe repair shop, been a security chief at a local park, delivered packages for UPS, owned a local restaurant, and trained to be a scuba diving instructor in Key West. People often ask Russell why he doesn't just get a regular job. His reply? "If I'd done that, it would have been the biggest waste of the most expensive education a person can have." Russell's story serves as a good reminder that despite all the pressure to find that one thing you're good at and then stick to it for the rest of your life, having a varied occupational life can make life a whole lot more interesting.It also reminds us that no experience is wasted. So many people went to school for things that have nothing to do with the work they do today? myself included. I never view past training, jobs, or even relationships as wasted time. All of our past experience adds up to who we are today.Do you want to work at something you truly love? Opportunities are all around you. Get a note pad and a file folder and start your own Opportunities File. Let it be a source of inspiration and ideas. Four Job Interview Mistakes That Can Torpedo Your Chances of Success What are the worst mistakes job hunters make? It turns out there are four big ones. These four mistakes turn up repeatedly when executives responsible for hiring talk about the reasons why someone didn't get a job offer. Using The Internet For Job-hunting The Internet is a very useful tool for job seekers as it is a great source of information. Also, taking into account of a more wired world, getting online has never been easier. People can cost-effectively get Internet access in public libraries at broadband speeds. But with the fear of information overload, many job seekers do not fully utilize the many advantages of the Internet. This is never a good development. |
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