Job Finding Assistance

Finding a new job is a job in itself - and it's not 9 to 5. It requires training and hard work. Even if you aren't looking for a job in sales (if not why not?) you are going to have to sell yourself. The attraction of sales is that relatively few people want to work in sales and (therefore) the pay is about double for the same amount of work.

One of the best courses you can take is to follow the advice of Harvey Mackay, the author of business bestseller Swim with the sharks without being eaten alive. In his audiotape Sharkproof he describes in graphic detail how to get the job you want and how to keep the job you love. Although this audio is hard to get, you can try my audiobookstore, or your public library. I saw Harvey speak at a motivational seminar in Ottawa in 1996. He was fired about a year before he published Sharkproof so he speaks from the heart.

One of Harvey's suggestions is to put a picture in with your resume. Almost nobody does this. Although the law prevents an employer discriminating on the basis of age, sex, appearance, habits and health, they do it all the time. So show them that you are attractive, engaging and the right age for the job.

Have you noticed how the boards of directors of companies are often handsome, attractive, striking men and women? Is this because they were picked because of those skin-deep qualities, because they assumed or improved those qualities before or after being picked, or because those qualities are correlated with intelligence? (The last of these is clearly untrue). Recently industrial leaders have begun to use plastic surgery, in the way that film stars have often done. Have you noticed that the opposite is true: the lowest in our society are often unattractive physically. It's amazing how appearance can be improved by skin and hair care and vitamins, without ever resorting to more invasive techniques. Some who do not realize this are increasingly using cosmetic surgery, including brow & eyelid jobs, liposuction, chin implants, breast implants, tummy tucks and nose jobs. Sometimes the results are grotesque. It is a shame that body shape has any influence on job-success, or for that matter on success in marriage. It is clear that marriage is more longlasting for couples whose attraction to each other is more than skin deep. In the movie "My fat Greek Wedding" the heroine totally transforms her looks (and personality) with make-up. Granted, attractive rich people are more likely to be able to find other attractive rich people to mate with - propagating the type - but I do not see this as a sufficient reason for the preponderance of good-lookers in the top jobs.

First impressions count high, and your appearance often speaks louder than your voice. You can optimize your appearance; indeed, doing so is built into our genes in the search for a mate. 75% of adults believe that an unattractive smile can hurt a person's chances for career success, and some of them work in HR departments. So, see your dentist and get fixed up. One of the reasons I educated myself in personal care and health products in the early nineties was that the writing was on the wall about my long term prospects in the high tech industry and I wanted to look my best in whatever field I chose to move to. So we started a business in the high tech personal healthcare field to cushion the financial blow when it came. People sometimes comment that I look a lot younger than my years (dob 1941). This is not just genetics; I have become knowledgable in skin care, personal grooming and the use of superior nutrition products to ensure that I am seldom ill, and have abundant energy. The investment has paid off handsomely; in fact without the knowledge of controlling my health I believe I would have been poor, sick and ugly by now. Sorry to have to make this point so graphically, but Sharkproof touches on it and I believe it very strongly.

Even if you are currently gainfully employed, keep the names and telephone numbers of everyone you meet and database them. For networking into a new job you'll need them, and if the new job is in sales you'll need them again. And many of them will become your friends.

If you are having real trouble in finding someone to take you seriously as an employee, you could be aiming for quite the wrong field, or in extreme cases you may lack the basic skills required for the work force. All is not lost. Study Ineptitude.