Rise To The Top Of The List!

Over 30 years ago, I graduated from college with a Liberal Arts background at a time when the economy was just a little bit less flat than it is today. Jobs were not especially plentiful unless you happened to have an engineering background. No matter how hard my dad tried to aim me in that direction, it was not destined to happen.

With no other immediate options, I chose from among the entry level retail management and insurance sales jobs offered and went to work for what would now be termed a big box retailer as a management trainee. After three years of toiling in obscure, older stores I was 'promoted' to a team opening a brand new store in southern NJ. One of my tasks was to help fill approximately 125 jobs. An ad was placed in the local news paper which netted over 700 applicants over a 2 day span! I was one of three people screening all these candidates and I assure you it was challenging just to keep straight who was who.

Most of the candidates seemed to have been clones with little or no documented work experience, terrible communication skills, poor attitudes, and an arrogance that said 'give me a job because I am entitled to it.' There were a handful who caught my attention. Those that I selected fit into a few categories: took the time to dress neatly; used decent eye contact; managed to listen to my name when I introduced myself and repeated it back to me during the interview; filled out all the information on the job application; actually asked for the job at the end of the interview.

As you can tell, none of this is brain surgery. What made them stand out is that the others did none of the above! In this very tough era for job seeking, remembering to do the simple things will help you rise to the top of the list!