MONEY 34 - JOBS 5 AND MORE STUFF

THIS IS MY 34^TH POST ON UNDERSTANDING MONEY TOOLS

ATTITUDE!  Someone at some point made the comment, “ Attitude is everything.” When seeking employment, or once you have a job attitude is all important.  It sets you ahead of competition.  Attitude is an energy, and you give off that energy to others.  With a good attitude people want to be around you, you are positive, you make a difference. Negative energies attract negative energies, don’t let people dump on you and drag you down.

Lately, I heard from a reliable source telling me that some young lady went to a company interview, and while being interviewed she was looking down and texting on her phone.  She was multi-tasking, however I doubt if she was hired.  Do the sensible things in situations; for one, turn off your cell phones ahead of meetings and interviews. Give a smile, shake hands, it shows assertiveness.  With a hand shake don’t be a limp noodle, but  don’t tighten the grip too hard or shake too long. It doesn’t hurt to address men as “sir” and women as “mam”, or unmarried younger women as “miss”.  It is so unusual to have this old fashioned politeness that people remember you. I have a friend who is quite successful in real estate sales and he earnestly uses this all the time, people love him and he sells and makes a lot of money.

You may notice in business many retailers have gone to fun, politeness and service. Target stores as an example realize the customers have choices where they can go to purchase goods.  Their example starts with have fun with the customer and be helpful.  Safeway stores have similar training.  If you are looking for an item and ask the employee they will take you to the item in the store.  Many of the floor employees will ask the customer if they may help with anything.  The impression is that your time is valuable, and they are there to serve you.  I used to be involved professionally in sports.  When writing manuals we stressed in order, 1) safety, 2) fun and then 3) learning. People want to enjoy the experience, not be miserable through the process.

Here are a couple tips that might help in appropriate occasions. An acquaintance who was one of the tops skiers in the world was invited to many influential parties.  When asked how he handled all the well-informed people at these parties his comment was, “the greatest disguise for ignorance is silence.” Sometimes better not to say anything.  Another friend year’s ago was being interviewed for a college scholarship PHD program.  He was one of three candidates.  He told me that what he did in advance of the interview was to learn all he could about the interviewer. It so happened that the interviewer’s favorite pastime/hobby was canoeing.  My friend started the interview process and as soon as appropriate got onto the topic of canoeing. From there the interviewer did all the talking about himself and canoeing, while my friend just sat back and listened. He was selected for the fully paid scholarship.

We live in an incredibly competitive world so anyway you can stand out, please do. Mediocrity will not work.