Monday, February 11, 2008

Give Me 5 Monday #4 -- Job Hunting


The 'Give Me Five' Monday meme is designed to share fun information with each other in a simple short list! Here's how it works. Each week, Becca chooses a random topic and you share 5 answers of your choice on the given topic and link back here

5 Hints, Tips, Tricks or Advice Related to 
Succeeding in the Great Job Hunt

1) Don't lie. Don't even "embellish." First of all, you wouldn't want the person on the other side of the desk to lie about or embellish the pay or benefits you're being offered, so it's simply wrong to be less than truthful about what you bring to the job. Secondly, it's a smaller world than we realize, and you could very easily get caught.


2) But don't sell yourself short, either. Think about everything you have done well at your current job or in previous positions. Then include it in your resume. If you're being truthful about your accomplishments, you aren't bragging, you're helping a prospective employer choose the right candidate for the job.


3) Say "References Available Upon Request" at the bottom of your rez, and then be sure to bring your references along to the interview. It's impressive to be able to hand them across the desk to the interviewer right then and there if you're asked.


4) If possible, include both bosses and coworkers as references. Employers often like to see that you got along well with your comrades, as well as with your bosses.

5) Ask for business cards from everyone you interview with. That way you can make 100% sure you get their names and titles correct for your thank you notes.

Good luck, Job Hunters!


A very popular young lady

As covered by Media Matters (shown below), correspondent David Shuster's comment that Chelsea Clinton is being "pimped out" by her mother's campaign has gotten him suspended. I didn't think this was that big a deal, but then, I'm a potty mouth. My mother was furious about the comment. Never a feminist, she was nevertheless upset that vocabulary associated with prostitution was used in conjunction with a female candidate and her daughter. And besides, she said, Chelsea's behavior has always been above reproach. Like Caroline Kennedy, she's America's Daughter. We've watched both Caroline and Chelsea grow up, slim down (and discover the importance of a flat iron) and consequently the American public has become fond of these women.

I think my mom is right. So, apparently, do the many other women who complained to NBC. It was tin-eared at best of Shuster to use language like that in discussing the campaign of the first serious female Presidential candidate and the former First Daughter. And there's no comparison between Chelsea and, say, Jenna Bush. I am sooooo tempted to include the photo of Jenna holding a gin and tonic in one hand as she put the "ball" into her father's last Inaugural Ball, or tumbling onto the floor on top of a college chum, cig in one hand and drink in the other. I'm not going to because she does seem to have grown up. But this does get me thinking about the "family values" question. Somehow Laura Bush is considered in some quarters to be saintly because she stayed at home and concentrated on her girls while Hillary Clinton worked. I think the results of this very narrow study show that ALL mothers should work.


From Media Matters: Specifically, while discussing Chelsea Clinton's campaign work with nationally syndicated radio host Bill Press and online columnist and former CNN correspondent Bob Franken on Tucker, Shuster asserted: "For most of the Bill Clinton presidency, then-teenager Chelsea Clinton remained out of public life. Political opponents like Mike Huckabee have credited the Clintons for raising such a poised and self-possessed young woman. Now, just shy of her 28th birthday, Chelsea is out and about on her mom's behalf, campaigning in Nebraska as Saturday's caucuses approach. What is the Chelsea factor?" Shuster then said to Press: "Bill, there's just something a little bit unseemly to me that Chelsea is out there calling up celebrities saying, 'Support my mom.' And, apparently, she's also calling these super delegates." After Press responded, "Hey, she's working for her mom. What's unseemly about that? During the last campaign, the Bush twins were out working for their dad," Shuster asked: "But doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" He then said: "I will give Chelsea Clinton a break when she sits down and gives an interview to somebody like ... Bob Franken, because if she ... wants to do all this stuff, then she should face the questions, right?"