Don't shoot yourself in the foot!

If you want to find work soon, pay careful attention to your words.    Your behavior can swiftly sway the interview the wrong way.

1) I don’t want to move.

What you should say:

Although I would prefer to stay in (Dallas), I’d like to hear more about the job.

2) I don’t want to drive that far.

What you should say:

I’d really like to work for your company, but the distance might be a problem.  Let’s see what develops.

If the job is fantastic, you might be able to work from home when they see your work ethics and productivity.  Do not ask to work remote until you know whether the opportunity excites you, as you might be able negotiate flex time during less traffic or work remote several days a week.  Why mention this at all until you discern whether this is your dream job?

3) I can’t start for another six months.

What you should say:

I’m on a project which I truly enjoy, but it won’t end for six months.  Please tell me more about your opening as it would be difficult to leave in the middle of this commitment.

Sometimes loyalty interferes with good judgment.  Is your company stable?  Companies base their layoffs on business situations, not personalities.  If the opportunity tantalizes you, take the time to explore it.  You’ll learn about the company and its culture in the process.  Companies ordinarily won’t wait more than six weeks for any candidate, unless they are looking for a new grad in the next semester.

4)  I’m not sure I have the background for this job.

What you should say:

Let’s talk more about the job requirements and duties before we move forward.

Don’t squelch the opportunity before you hear the details.  Time is money.  Take adequate time to explore the requirements.  Perhaps another job opening in the company would fit you better.  Or maybe they see your potential better than you do!

5)  I never share my last/current salary on the first contact.

Many, many recruiters will move quickly to the next candidate, if you won’t share your salary.   Not sharing your salary is irresponsible.  Outplacement consultants teach you to provide a salary range but recruiters need the specifics.  I could write an entire article about this topic.

6)  I can’t talk right now; my child needs to go to soccer practice.

What you should say:

I need to contact you at a better time.  May I call you in about an hour or tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.?

Be specific.  Better yet, take the call and be late to soccer.  Do you want a new job or not?  Perhaps the screaming child could wait in the next room with the door closed briefly.  Reaching a recruiter is often very challenging.

7) I can only work 20 hours per week.

What you should say:

Let’s talk about the job duties and responsibilities.  My experience would be an excellent match.  I was really looking for part time but maybe this is an opportunity which could work for us.

8)  I don’t have my references ready.

What you should say:

I haven’t reached one of my critical references yet, as he’s out of town.  I’ll send you the two confirmed references.

Complete your reference list at the very beginning of your search.  Notify your references each time they will be called.  Be sure your references know what the job is so they can concentrate on relevant information about you.

9) I can only work from home.

What you should say:

I’d like to hear more about the job.  Since we live in an electronic age, I’m hoping to find work, where I can affect the bottom line, while working from my home office after we become better acquainted.

Not many companies hire virtual employees before on site training.  Be flexible.

10)  I can’t talk right now; I’m watching the Cowboys play.

What you should say:

I’m very sorry I can’t talk at the moment.  I’d like to return your call at 4:00 p.m.

Maybe you need to see if the Cowboys have any job openings.  They seem to need a bit of new talent.  You are not a serious job seeker unless it’s the World Series in the last of the 9^th inning, in which case the recruiter should not have called.

Other show stoppers:

• Talking too much, rambling, giving too much detail.
• Talking too much about dress code, time off, stock option, sports, etc.
• Not being specific enough or not providing enough detail.
• Hygiene and attire: you’d think everyone would look good and smell clean.
• Answering your cell phone during an interview; turn it OFF!  Or leave it in the car.
• Trying to negotiate higher salary too soon, if at all; the economy is not robust yet.
• Responding without enough research.
• Criticizing former managers and co-workers.
• Overly friendly; too much personal information.
• Late to the interview.

Summary

Be prepared.  Do your research about the company and its people.  Show enthusiasm.  Be sure to know what the next step is in the process.  Ask good questions (but not too many).  It’s a little like playing ball or getting married.  You just never know what curve ball may be thrown at you but adequate preparation and awareness of each of these items will help you score a touchdown or find a new business family.

Ruth Glover owns Career Consultations, an engineering recruiting agency in the Dallas area.  She is the author of MORE than a Paycheck: Inspiration and Tools for Career Change. She can be reached at careers@hotcareers.com.

Location:        Dallas, TX

Position No.   84175

My client needs a creative, yet technical, Web Designer, for its McKinney, Texas location.  We need a candidate who wants to work full time to help the company’s growth.  With a really cool web based consumer electronics product, they need a wizard with the technical acumen to add new products, change the look and feel of the site, provide applicable programming and add to the fun of their branding.

You should have a passion for web design and visual representation of information in graphs and charts.  You’ll need to be an independent thinker with proven skills to react quickly to the fast paced world of a start up which is gaining international acclaim. Primary responsibilities will be internal web design for the operations center. You may also support marketing design activities from time to time.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years web design
• Ability to generate a variety of web-based plots, charts and graphs to visually represent data
• Experience with MySQL database queries and results
• Proven skills in creating appealing web pages, including login pages
• Capable of generating web forms to display information based on user input
• Background in choosing the correct design packages for the web solutions
• Expert in coding in various web design languages, including HTML, PHP, Javascript
• Experience with scripting languages such as Perl or shell scripts is a plus
• Experience with Magento desired

Benefits start the first day.  Send your resume to careers@hotcareers.com as soon as possible in a Word document.  Respond NOW as this action oriented company will hire quickly, if you are ready for the next step in your career.

Surviving the Roller Coaster Ride of Job Search

Anxiety is part of job search.  The monotony of trying to manage the sheer idiocy of applying online through difficult applicant tracking systems, the lack of response when you had a good interview, not being able to reach the recruiter…all are significant reasons for stress in your life while you look for a new job.

Problem: Loss of Control

“I can’t do this any more.  I’ve been out of work so long.  My MBA and EE degrees don’t help.  I attend many networking events and send out resumes.  What is wrong with me?  I am so de-moralized.”

Problem: Shame/Embarrassment

I don’t want to go to the upcoming family Thanksgiving dinner.  My brother-in-law is a lawyer who never looked for a job and he doesn’t understand.  We can’t afford the travel and expense for food contribution they expect.  I would rather stay home, but the family really wants to go.

I attend a faith based unemployment group where others seem to be getting jobs and return home completely deflated.

Emotions run rampant during your job search.  You cannot eradicate the emotions entirely, but pessimism can ruin your efforts.  Here are simple survival techniques to assist you.

Exercise

• Take a walk
• Go to the gym
• Quick no cost exercises at home, like crunches
• Coach or participate in a team sport
• Yoga
• Chair exercises

Relaxation techniques

• Write affirmations on “post-it”  notes, putting them in visible locations (on your computer, on the dashboard, on the bathroom mirror) to remind you to breath deeply
• Listen to music periodically
• Turn off the music and brainstorm creative solutions; write them down
• Visualization: go to the beach in your head for a few minutes or picture  your new office
• Get enough sleep
• Don’t exercise before bedtime
• Pray

Volunteer work

• Offer to help someone with a project, demonstrating your talent
• Volunteer to do a pro-bono project for a favorite charity
• Become a foster home for the Humane Society
• Serve food at a local homeless shelter

Rewards

• Take a walk after making five superior job contacts
• Go to a cheap movie
• Talk with an old friend
• Clean a closet or drawer
• Write an email to someone you haven’t seen for awhile
• Post a motivational or humorous slogan

Time management

• Choose a “career partner” who can be objective (not a family member) whom you will call daily at a specific time to report your  job activity
• Maintain a record of how you spend your time
• Make a daily/weekly/monthly list of things to accomplish.

These suggestions are simplistic but they work.  You can Google “depression job search” and you’ll find six million articles to assist you with more sophisticated ideas to help.  If you are immobilized for more than three weeks, you may need to see your doctor as you don’t want to spiral downward any longer.  You may have a health issue.

The bottom line:

If what you are doing is not working, try new methods.  People like helping others.  Don’t hesitate to ask for suggestions and help.  This is not a good time to feel shame or lack of confidence, but to take control of the roller coaster in new ways.  Maybe your brother-in-law will have a good contact for you on Thanksgiving!

Please subscribe to be notified of upcoming posts. If you have tips for maintaining balance on the  job search roller coaster, please comment.

Making Money Throughout the World

Why does China pertain to you?  Are you open to global opportunities?  Are you connecting with people you know outside your immediate area of expertise?  Are you staying in touch with your boss who moved to Malaysia?  What about that friend of yours who moved to Budapest?

According to my former colleague, Francesco Masetti-Placci, China is a wonderful place to live and work.  Reading articles about the economic opportunities in China or India  sounded so far away for my colleagues or me.  But the more I think about it, the more likely we all need to consider global careers.

Francesco is a fabulous example of the globally oriented engineer.  When I met Francesco, he was Director of Research and Development for Alcatel in Richardson.  He’d already migrated from Italy to the US, later returning to Italy for a two year assignment with Alcatel in strategy and marketing.  From there he moved to China for the company to develop business in the Asia-Pacific market.  When that assignment ended, he took a few months to decide what the next step in his career would be.  And he’s still in China!

Francesco and I re-connected through Linkedin, after many years.  He’s truly a “renaissance man” in today’s marketplace.  Willingly and with excitement, he’s creating his own career adventure.

Francesco is now a part of a small, growing consulting company with a niche and connections doing business with companies who need, not only advice, but also people willing to take calculated risks with developing their careers in new ways.

Certainly there are families who can’t move but the ones who are stuck in a rut, unwilling to move into our global, electronic world may be left behind in the dust.  If you are an entrepreneur, you want the best profits for whatever your endeavor may be.  That may not be in China.  With the right advice, your innovative idea may become reality in Argentina or Allen, Texas.

You may want and need to take some classes to prepare for the idea of being employed abroad or owning your own company.  Southern Methodist University, as well as University of Texas-Dallas in Dallas offer excellent programs.  My bet is you can find classes in your area or online to help you fill the gaps in your background before moving forward.

If you have a creative idea for a business, think globally.  You may work from your garage after writing a plan on a napkin, as innovation is critical in this economy.  Experts exist to encourage and help you.  Brainstorm your ideas.  Make some plans.  Research and revise the plans.  Leaving relatives and friends may be difficult, but with our global communications, you can easily stay in touch.  Being open to change prevents missing opportunities!

Are you a calculated risk taker?  Can you willingly adapt new ways to use your skills?  I bet you know some people like Francesco.  And if you don’t, I have some more stories to share in upcoming articles to encourage you to think globally!

To be notified of new articles, please subscribe.

Murli Melwani

GUEST AUTHOR: Murli Melwani

from the Dallas Morning News

The term “persons in transition” is rich with possibilities of interpretation. It can range from an echo of Buddha’s immortal saying, “Change is the only constant in life” to the heartbreaking situation of people out of work today.

Recently I attended a meeting conducted under the auspices of JOB, named after the Biblical unfortunate, but really an acronym for Job Opportunity Basics.

Invited by Ruth Glover, one of the coordinators of the JOB Group, to introduce ourselves, I heard snippets of human drama: the mother of a challenged child juggling situations and losing jobs; an engineer being told after being interviewed three times by the same company that he was overqualified for the position; a systems designer announcing that he had filed six applications in six days; a man with experience in sales and engineering being told over and over again that the opening was not for a “generalist.” There were 16 such cameos.

The expressions I saw on the faces of the participants, the range of body language, the variety of inflexions in voices, were a testimony to both the frailty as well as the strength of the human spirit. Eyes around the table showed the disappointment from losing an opportunity to an internal candidate. A flicker of anger surfaced as an injustice was narrated; the anger harnessed a moment later. The dull narration of one’s circumstances reflecting the shell-shock of being laid off recently. Some struggled with focus even though they knew goal setting was important. All of us reached out in our own ways to the other 15.

The speaker of the evening, Jan Moorman, spoke about the career changes she had made at considerable financial and emotional cost. “But a trapeze artist cannot swing from one trapeze to the other if he does not let go of the bar.” That attitude had in fact opened her up to opportunities.

Her talk struck a chord. When Ruth Glover asked us to share what we were taking away from the evening, several people said we must “make a leap of faith,” have the courage to follow our dreams, develop a passion, go with the flow and be ready to make sacrifices in its pursuit.

What surfaced was our shared humanity. Dick mentioned three openings he had learned about that others in the room were free to apply for. Jane confided that volunteering had been a shortcut to a job for a friend. John said he was ready to give up his current position for a job that would perhaps pay less but allow him more human interaction. Bob mentioned an opening in a finance company.

Everyone was ready to share the information.

Custer Road United Methodist Church sponsors the JOB Group with volunteers Ruth Glover and her co-coordinators — Roy Hunter, Sara Owen, Locke Alderson and Craig Gussow — to host the JOB meetings on its premises. The format of the group is interesting. The résumé review and interviewing tutorials take place on the first Tuesday of the month. A subgroup, called the Advanced Action Accountability Group, or the AAA Group, consisting of those who have a completed résumé, know how to interview and understand networking, meets every week, on Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m.

On the fifth Tuesday of the month, the JOB Group invites a speaker. The speaker is a specialist in his field and the talk invariably relates to issues connected with job searches.

There is no charge, nor any conditions, for attending JOB Group meetings. I can’t recognize angels with wings. But I can spot one in human form; when I do, I don’t hesitate to recommend her volunteer work to others.

(THANK YOU, MURLI, FOR SUCH A NICE ARTICLE ABOUT OUR GROUP!)

Murli Melwani is a Plano resident. His blog can be read at www.indoenglishstories.blogspot.com. His e-mail address is murli@unigain.net. Contact Ruth Glover at 972-208-2333 .  You can subscribe to be notified when she posts new articles.

Is your thumb drive posing a security threat?

Do you have any idea the importance automation plays in our lives today?   According to what we heard at the Trends in Technology Conference, automation absorbed 5% of our jobs, which, when you subtract it from our 9.1% unemployment, emphasizes a tough lesson for us grasp.  Those jobs will not return.  Innovation will be the crux of survival.

The fifth annual Trends in Technology seminar occurred October 7, sponsored by the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the sponsors listed below.  Jeff Wacker, Senior Fellow and Futurist from Hewlett-Packard (EDS) was the keynote speaker and participated in the roundtable discussion which followed.  Jeff’s presentation, a serious look into the future, emphasized the trends which we must heed.

Jeff shared that companies, the government, lawyers and other professionals must understand the significance of the new wave in technology where the job force will look different.  Jeff indicated this new cycle will emphasize bio-tech, nano-tech, enviro-tech, info-tech2 and robotics.  Decisions will depend on computer analysis rather than linear thinking. Computers will analyze information much faster than our present methods.  For example, if you become hospitalized, your vital signs may be read by sensors in the hospital bed, rather than a nurse by your side.

No longer will the Chief Technical Office (CTO or CIO) decree what brand of computers will be used by everyone in the company.  People will “BYOD” to meetings or “bring your own device.”  Computers, and small devices, will continue to evolve through creativity and necessity.  He stressed we need to determine the “how,” not just the “why.”

Three Critical Issues

A panel of leaders in technology, facilitated by Dr. Michael Savoie, Director, Center for Information, Technology and Management at University of Texas-Dallas, agreed on their three major concerns and expanded on each:  cloud technology, security and social media.

Participants were:

Tom Adler, HP Enterprise Services-Hewlett-Packard Company

Adnan Adnam, Enterprise Risk Services Partner-Deloitte & Touche, LLP

Randall Colson, Partner-Haynesboone, LLP

Laura Lazarescou, Alliance Manager, VCE

Jeff Wacker-Futurist, Hewlett-Packard

Brian Wrozek, Information Technology Security Director-Texas Instruments

Mark Wurden, Senior Partner & Doman Architect -Accenture

Jim Young, Consultant/Executive Coach-Margate

The Cloud

The “cloud” can help or hinder a company, depending on the sophistication and responsiveness of “your” cloud.  Bigger is not always better.  Both large and small companies must determine the right questions to ask before making a decision whether “going to the cloud” makes them more or less productive.  Collaboration with other companies, such as  VCE’s joint venture with Cisco, VMware, and EMC, offers “best of breed” cloud service.  Repeatedly the audience heard the importance of collaboration, rather than competition.

Big companies will acquire small, entrepreneurial  companies, pruning them for efficiency to fit their core efforts.  Companies which adapt quickly to change will survive.  Larger companies, such as Kodak, struggle mightily as they cling to old ways, while a company, such as Intel, easily moves into the future with its strong R&D efforts to design what the market demands.

Security

Security must be emphasized in training employees regarding the ease with which evil people in the world can attack and conquer.  As social media and the internet become ever more useful in crisis management, no one should avoid understanding that social media and security are intertwined.  One of the panelists said most companies just don’t understand how easily they can be attacked.  He indicated each employee’s face should held in the manager’s hands and told how serious the issue is.

Yet this illustrates another emerging issue: how can we collaborate, yet maintain security?  For example, thumb drives can both help and kill cooperative efforts.

Social Media

Randall Carlson, of Haynesboone, LLC and the lone attorney on the panel, was the first to admit that the laws need improvement to handle and fine tune legal issues arising in companies.  Should hiring managers give testimonials on LinkedIn for those who were laid off?  Policies must be reasonable and written for possible upcoming and ongoing issues with social media.  New laws will come and go as we try them on for size.

The ability to adapt with what will undoubtedly be a new economy and workforce will be important as companies continue to squeeze the best deals for cost savings with “variable cost saving.”  For example, you may need more resources to handle a company crisis and less when it’s resolved.  But interwoven is the need for security and privacy.  And how does that fit with standardization when data is becoming more and more complex?

Summary

Adapt or die.  Don’t cling to old ways.  Learn as much as you can about cloud technology, the importance of security and how to use social media appropriately.  Training is an integral part of progress.  Trying to summarize the rapid exchange of ideas and concerns during the conference cannot completely be captured, but truly, the gist is this: as technology evolves, we need to harness the beast before it runs over us!

Sponsors were:

North Texas Global Telecommunications Society (NTGTS)

To be notified when Ruth Glover posts an article, please subscribe.

Heart shaped paperweight by David Graeber

A little more than 20 years ago, Dave Graeber’s police officer father shook his head in dismay that his son quit his job again.  At age 20, Dave thought he knew so much more about life than his dad, who served in the military and became a lieutenant for the New Jersey State Police. After high school Dave started his career with training in graphic arts.  Someone mentioned a forensic artist to Dave who needed a helper.  Dave jumped at a chance to re-construct skeletons and skulls to assist with police work from a small garage in New Jersey under the guidance of his first mentor George Vail, who was forensic artist for the county prosecutor’s office.

After learning many skills from Vail, Dave worked for a larger company doing wood-carving and graphic arts. Under a second mentor, George McBride, he learned about color theory but more importantly, professionalism.  Knowing Dave had an interest in working with his hands, his uncle introduced him to a man named Paul Stankard, a glass artist.  Paul worked in a 3000 sq. ft.  garage studio, making glass paperweights by encasing glass flowers, bees and other objects from nature.  Dave’s parents hoped he would find “worthwhile” work by telling him what a hard life an artist lives. That backfired when Dave quit his secure job to work in a quasi-apprenticeship for none other than—Paul Stankard!  Be sure to watch the video that shows David making one of the American Bounty theme weights.

That name may mean nothing to you, if you aren’t a paperweight collector.  Paul Stankard is a globally known artist of paperweights in recent American glass history.  A couple of years ago, David slowly began to strike out on his own with Paul’s encouragement and mentoring. During 20 years of learning about color, shape, harmony and balance from Paul, David developed his own style of creating incredibly beautiful paperweights. Through a friendship with Ed Poore, another paperweight heavy weight (pun intended) with almost 40 years restoring and engraving glass, David creates the weights and Ed engraves them to produce perhaps the absolute best art glass in the U.S.

Wheat, Tobacco Leaves and Cotton by David Graeber

David finds inspiration through activities with his very supportive wife and three children, all of whom helped him build his own garage workshop in their backyard.  To keep his family from calling it a garage, he put regular doors and dormers on it and filled it with the best equipment he could find.

One of his recent design themes is designated “American Bounty,” which uses tobacco leaves, flowers, cotton boles and wheat in a series which truly reflects his desire to give homage to an important era of U.S. history.  His inspiration came when his son studied the 13 colonies.  He’s always looking for a fresh approach. 

When the national paperweight convention was held in Washington D.C., Dave chose a red, white and blue nature theme, which included blueberries, strawberries and creamy white flowers to emphasize patriotism.  Be sure to visit his website to see his creativity and dedication to detail.

David sells many of his paperweights through dealers.  At a recent meeting of the Paperweight Collectors in Texas, Alan Kaplan, owner of Leo Kaplan Gallery in Manhattan and periodic appraiser of glass on the Antiques Road Show, stated he can’t keep David Graeber’s art work on the shelf.  Alan sponsored David’s trip to the Texas meeting where David shared, not just his art work, but stories of the fun he’s had in his career, where “every step can lead to failure.”

Why am I telling you this story?  If you have a child who loves art, please encourage him or her to explore all sorts of art work.  If you are stymied in your career, think about what you’d absolutely love to do.  What can you create in your garage?

I’m working for a start-up with a consumer electronic product which, when it hits the street shortly, should sell millions. The idea started with a cup of coffee at a kitchen table.  Whether it’s art, technology or other crazy idea, let’s see what we can do to improve the economy by creating products in our garages.  It’s the American way of the past and the present.  Recently, I saw where an entrepreneur in Georgia has hired many unemployed people to make chop sticks to send to China.

What can you do to create your own job?  You can’t take a test to measure your creativity.  Look within yourself, clean out the garage and get started.  We need more David Graebers!

Ruth Glover is a recruiter, author of MORE than a Paycheck, and paperweight collector.

In honor of Steve Jobs

“I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky that I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parent’s garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation – the Macintosh – a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me that I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything that all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Position No.              84169

How would you like to be the Manager of Making It Happen!…or maybe we’ll call you the Operations Manager.

This ground floor opportunity provides you the career growth chance of a lifetime.  The company is a fast-paced, exciting, consumer electronics company focused on connecting friends and family, like never before. The company provides an innovative, collaborative work environment, where people work hard, work fast and have fun!

We are looking for a person with energy and drive who likes to take charge of issues and solve them quickly.  We want an individual who is passionate about being a top performer with proven ability to accomplish impossible feats and impact the world in a positive way.

You will manage all operations and distribution, including our global suppliers and off-shore manufacturing.  You will interface with component suppliers and manufacturing facilities across the world.  Additionally, you will help define, optimize and manage reverse logistics and customer support processes as we ramp to production.  Duties also include cross-functional activities with engineering, finance and marketing. We need an individual who loves to save money for the company while also staying aware of the need to delight our customers.  The position provides you with the opportunity to directly impact the performance of the company.

Requirements:

• Minimum of ten years experience in manufacturing and/or logistics.
• Bachelors degree is a plus. Advanced degrees may also apply.
• Background in electronics manufacturing with consumer products experience is a plus.
• Experience managing contract manufacturers.
• Minimum of three years experience in reverse logistics and customer/supplier RMA processes.
• Proven skills in establishing guidelines and ongoing process improvements for effective operations.
• Experienced understanding of cost reduction strategies, implementing inventory flexibility, agility programs and negotiating payment terms.
• Manage and work with broker and consultant relationships to improve our competitive advantage in customs duties and tariffs.
• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in Mandarin is a plus.
• Ability to travel domestically and globally up to 25%.

The client offers great benefits: competitive compensation, stock options, 401k, health insurance and a rare opportunity for you to use ALL your skills to grow your career.  To apply, please send your resume to careers@hotcareers.com.

Preparation: Play the Game with Aces

I’m on the phone with a potential candidate whom I’ve sent a LinkedIn request to call me.  The email or InMail I sent provides my name and telephone number.  I’m not allowed to put my website within the correspondence in some instances, but if the individual goes to my LinkedIn profile or has my email address, he or she can visit my website where the job is usually posted.  But frequently the candidate says, when he calls, “I’d like for you to send me the ad.”

Recruiters usually have limited time to fill positions.  They work fast and want you to look at the ad on your own.  Is this candidate so unfamiliar with social media, like LinkedIn, that he cannot click on my profile and then click on the spot for my website?  Next the candidate must determine that the “hot careers” tab is where the jobs are listed.  Is this difficult?  Most of my candidates are very, very bright engineers, many with advanced degrees, yet I am asked regularly to send ads, which are posted on my website.

Rarely would I be searching for the perfect candidate without posting an advertisement with the requirements, even if it’s a “confidential” search.  Doing your research before you ever connect endears you quickly to the recruiter.

Basically there are three or maybe four parts to the phone interview with the recruiter, but in order to “ace” the interview, you need to adequately prepare.

Research and Preparation

Let’s say the recruiter calls you out of the blue for a job you applied for several weeks ago.  You cannot recall the details but you want the job and ask, if you can answer the questions immediately.  Bad idea!  You need to find the ad, research the company before you take the call, if possible.  Research the recruiter’s name, too.  You may have mutual acquaintances or have attended the same university or worked in the same companies.  These are talking points which may help.  Ask to schedule a convenient time to assure no barking dog, no screaming children and a good phone connection.  I have had people want to do the phone screen while driving.  You need pen and paper to take notes.  The recruiter certainly doesn’t want to hear wailing sirens or listen to you crash into the car in front of you!

During your conversation, try to assess the personality of the interviewer.  Is he quick with short answers?  Is she very detailed?  That gives you a clue that your answers need to be quick or very detailed as some recruiters like details and others would rather move quickly to the next question.

Background, experience, personal qualities

The recruiter will undoubtedly ask your reason for leaving or interest in the new job.  Be prepared.  Practice the answer and do not be negative about the previous or current situation.  Red flags arise.  You need to be truthful if you were terminated but you can use terminology that keeps you on track rather than creates an opportunity for the recruiter to request unpleasant information.  You could simply say, “There was a re-organization and I no longer fit what was needed.  I’m excited about hearing more your group as it sounds like it would be an excellent opportunity for new challenges,”  or something similar.

If the job requires relocation, try to be open-minded.  The economy is awful.  If the job sounds good and you think you can sell your house, it may be the chance of a life time.  Please don’t waste your time or the recruiter’s.  You don’t want to leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth by interviewing in Chicago with no intention of moving.

You will probably be asked about your accomplishments, as well as duties.  What did you do that makes you a star?  You will probably be questioned about career progression and why you left some of your other jobs.  Some recruiters are very thorough and others, not so much. You must know how to talk, not only about your technical skills, but your strengths, such as organizational skills, ability to thrive in chaos and other notable attributes.  The initial phone screen is less likely to be technical as most recruiters do not understand the intricacies of all the jobs they recruit.  The technical skills would be ascertained in a second phone interview with someone more technical in the company or maybe not until the face to face interview.

Specific Skills

If you’ve reviewed the job description, this should be a “walk in the park” as you can address every one of the requirements with a specific story about how you’ve used the skills.  Be prepared for unexpected questions.  Some recruiters have been known to ask “trick” questions, so listen carefully.

Be prepared to ask a few good questions about the job, such as, “Is this a new position?”  Or maybe, “How soon do you expect to start interviewing?”  If you are told you will be actually interviewing on site, it is perfectly all right to ask who will be interviewing you.  You might not receive an answer but you may be given titles which can help, by researching LinkedIn for people in that company.  You can ask what you should wear to an interview and how long you will probably be on site.

Closing the Loop

Be sure to summarize the reasons why you feel you are qualified.  If you don’t want the job, gracefully withdraw.  Your attitude needs to demonstrate your interest.  Enthusiasm and sincere interest will help you, both on the phone and in that next step. Telling the interviewer you want the job is important.  Even if you are missing a few critical skills, you may be able to move to the next step with your stories of success and motivated demeanor.

Don’t forget to say “thanks” and if possible, quickly send a thank you note.  Now ACE the phone screen!  Preparation pays the bills.

By subscribing, you will be notified when Ruth Glover posts new articles for hiring managers and job seekers.  She is the author of MORE than a Paycheck: Inspiration and Tools for Career Change.