Every time I talk to someone who could hire me, I'm told that I have no background or experience. That shuts me out. I don't want to bag groceries forever. What should I do? -- Stranded
A: Baloney. You do have experience. You are employed. Bagging groceries is a customer service job. Re-think what's involved in your job. Think about the times you've had customers demand that they want plastic instead of paper (or vice-versa) or who told you exactly what items to shove into a particular sack, in what order. Think about the ones who've asked you where something is on the shelf. Think about the rare middle-aged man or woman who retorted angrily, "Do you think I'm decrepit?" when you offered to take groceries to the car.
You have internal customers, too, from cashiers to the store director. Focus on how you keep cashiers happy by bagging willingly, carefully and rapidly; restoring abandoned items on shelves; and arranging for clean-up after spills. Fulfilling each of these tasks makes cashiers lookgood to customers and to their bosses.
Think differently about your seemingly dead-end job. Write it all down. Turn it into a little script. Memorize it. When someone mentions that knee-jerk question, instead of panicking, you'll be ready. -- mlc
Q: "NOW WHAT?"
I got my degree in anthropology from a state university a few months ago and am thinking about going to grad school. Right now I'm troubleshooting for an ISP at a call center. Most of what I know about the Internet I picked up on my own. Now that I've finished college, I really don't know what I'm supposed to do. -- Directionless
A. Have you asked yourself what you want to do rather than what you're supposed to do? If you really want to go to grad school, unless you're independently wealthy, you'll need to support yourself. Does your current job allow you the flexibility to go to school and provide the income to make that possible? If not, it's too early to be filling out applications. If so, you'd be wise to research where people with advanced degrees in your field are landing. Are they on digs? Are they teaching? Are they underemployed? Are they employed at all? Attending grad school for the joy of learning isn't a crime, by any means, but it's expensive and time-consuming. It's helpful to have some idea about what you want to do when it's over before you begin. And you have to be able to eat. -- mlc
** blogTip**
INTERVIEWING SCENTS
Ever wondered how a scent affects an interviewer? Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, says that in addition to patient care and drug research, his organization defines the correlation between odors and behavior. "Clearly, the aroma a person wears can impact others. In general, you are as you smell. If you smell good, people perceive you as good. If you smell bad . . ."
Hirsch cites studies maintaining that matching a scent will cause the employer to identify unconsciously with you. "But you can't know what the person is wearing," he comments. "If your interviewer is an older woman and you're a woman, use a mixed floral aroma. If she's younger, go more with food odors."
Forget the perfume if you're a woman and a man is interviewing you, because men read perfume as manipulative. Use a lighter scent if you're a man being interviewed by a woman, because women have a better sense of smell. "If, on the other hand," Hirsch states, "you're a man interviewing with a man, you're overall OK using a spicy aroma, such as Old Spice, for two reasons: His sense of smell is worse and, because he's older, he'll become nostalgic, vividly recalling when he was younger and identifying with you."
Of course, you really have a problem if you're interviewing in front of a group. Go to Plan B. Stick with solid preparation and good presentation skills. :) -- mlc
(E-mail your job-hunting questions to syndicated columnist Dr. Mildred Culp at culp@workwise.net. Copyright 2004 Passage Media.)
