You're
Always Interviewing
By Jim Davis
A
lot of people put in hours of work trying to get their resume just
right. They try to make sure they do everything right at their job
interviews. But they don't realize the most important thing of all.
They don't realize that they are ALWAYS INTERVIEWING!
You
never know when you are going to meet someone you will impress with
your attitude and your work ethic. One of the best examples of this
comes from a true story I read about several years ago in the
Reader's Digest.
One
night a family arrived at the inn where a young man worked as a
headwaiter during the summer, only to find that the inn's restaurant
had already closed for the evening. They were quite disappointed
since they had driven a long way to get there. When the young
headwaiter discovered that the hostess was about to turn them away,
he volunteered to serve them himself.
He
managed to turn what had earlier seemed to be a totally
disappointing evening into a more special event than they had even
expected. They were so pleased that they made sure they got his name
before they left.
The
young man went on to finish college and decided to try to find a job
in what was then a totally new field - television. And who do you
suppose he met when he went for one of his job interviews. You
guessed it! The same man he had served at the inn. Needless to say,
he got the job, and Roone Arledge went on to eventually become a
major executive with the ABC television network.
Just
in case you're thinking, "That was probably fifty years ago.
Things are different now," let me tell you about another
"Always interviewing" example that happened just this year
(2000) to my son, Brian. He was dissatisfied with the company where
he worked as a computer programmer and had decided to look for a new
company. He wasn't having much luck finding "the right job,"
though.
Then
one day he was browsing through the computer books section of a book
store near where he lives. He happened to notice a man looking
through some of the bookshelves nearby, and it appeared that he was
having trouble finding what he wanted. Brian simply asked him what he
was looking for and tried to help him find it. The man was impressed
that he had taken the time to help a total stranger. As they were
talking, he realized that Brian was a computer programmer with the
experience he was looking for. The man then asked him if he would be
interested in a job with the company where he worked. One thing led
to another, and Brian now has a job he really likes with a company he
likes working for.
Of
course, there's no guarantee that you will have the same kind of
thing happen to you. But, at the very least you'll be developing
yourself into the kind of employee that employers love to find if
you're ALWAYS INTERVIEWING!
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