This is a question, albeit a silly one, that sometimes comes up in interviews or written psychological testing with strangers—or strange human resource reps. Another one is, “If you were an animal, would you be a fish or a dog?”

They may be testing your critical thinking ability or your creativity or temperament. Probing like this is not all that common but not unheard of, either. Interpreting it is loaded with more questions, mainly, what are they looking for?

It’s enough to send you into a tailspin. Don’t let it. There is no right answer. All you can do is answer honestly according to your work ethic, values and personality, hoping that the corporate culture is compatible. If that one thing knocks you out of the ballpark, regrettably, that company might not be the one for you. Or the question might not be that weighty in the first place.

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thehardworkersays:

Get out of the box. Believe in yourself. Focus. Take Risks. Break Rules. And run like hell with your ideas! *Adjusted from millionaire to billionaire for inflation.

thehardworkersays:

French author Marcel Proust said, “Each spelling mistake is the expression of a desire.” But employers aren’t as open-minded. You’ll never know if it was that typo that wiped out your chance at an interview. Hopefully the prospective employer’s eye will “correct” it when reading and never notice it. Always have someone else read your application before you send it out. Conduct ABC Spelling and Grammar check on WORD repeatedly. Now, back to the drawing boards.

Many animals, some in the most remote places on earth, camouflage their appearances in order to survive the perils of the wild. Humans can adapt in the same way to the treacherous world of business. We have to keep changing, adding skills and developing heightened awareness to shifts and trends in our fields of work—to survive layoffs.

via thehardworkersays

Here’s how you find out. Google search yourself to see how the digital universe sees you. You can also check your cyberspace image on www.zabosearch.com ; www.spokeo.com; www.pipl.com; www.peekyou.com ; www.yasni.com and www.whoozy.com — sources from Do It Yourself Online Management. There are probably many more.

Clean up your Face Book page of questionable comments and photos that do not present you in the best light or best behavior and set your privacy settings for identity theft prevention and age discrimination by employers. If you have a criminal record on criminal docs lookup, go to the court of conviction or phone the nonprofit Legal Action Center in Manhattan (212-243-1313) and get a Certificate of Relief or Good Conduct. It’s a formal state-issued paper that shows reform and good intent. Make sure your Rap Sheet is accurate.

Once you have a job offer, obtain free government bonding from the Dept of Labor—it’s insurance that you won’t commit a theft while on the worksite—and bonding is also good for bad credit. You can inform an employer during an interview about all these assets on your side, whether you’ve already obtained them or are in the process of doing so, as incentives to be hired.

By thehardworkersays

If you’re a laid off dislocated worker, see if your local One Stop Career Center and your state’s department of labor under the same roof, to find out if they have funds available for an OJT and take advantage of this opportunity to work.

In a nutshell, here’s how an OJT works: The company trains the individual. The grant pays a salary to the employer to pay the individual for a period of a few months while he/she is “on-the-job.” Although the salary is modest, it will give you skills to return to work as companies’ needs have changed. An OJT opportunity resolves a number of important issues, especially for the unemployed individual: He/she learns new skills “hands-on” to list on his/her resume and use towards future work. This activity fills in work/time “gaps” during a jobless bout and restores an individual’s confidence as a productive, contributing member of the work world, especially if he/she has been out of work for a protracted period. The employer receives free help and both have the chance to “try out” each other and the corporate environment. The employer also retains the option to hire him/her at conclusion of the OJT period—and get a tax credit—to boot. It’s be a “win-win” situation all the way around. Some One Stops that have these grants direct the clients to find a company of their choice in their desired field, willing to participate in the OJT program, and then have that company contact the OJT business services representatives in the One Stop Career Centers to get the balling rolling.

Call your local One Stop to inquire for OJT grant availability and be advised as to how to go about participating in an OJT opportunity. Log onto www.servicelocator.org and tap in your zip code for the one nearest in your residency. There may be several in your area and if one does not have OJT grants available at this time, perhaps another local one will.

If your state’s One Stop Career Centers do not have OJT funds, seek out a company of your choice for new skills. Offer to work without pay if the company is willing to give you a chance to “show you the ropes” to get new skills. Companies have different needs and job titles have changed to encompass multi functions—and you need to have all the skills to be reemployable. It’s still a win-win for both.

By thehardworkersays