Following Your Passion: Taking My Own Advice

As many of you know, the Flipping Burgers philosophy is to follow your passion – to invest your time in doing what you love to do. I have written many blog posts about this philosophy.

Now it’s time to take my own advice. My passion has always been books – reading books, writing books, buying books, studying how to market books.

And as I get more and more involved in internet marketing, I find myself stretched in too many directions with trying to keep up with this blog and my other interests.

True, I also love giving advice to high school students and young people about college applications, internships, jobs and careers. I just don’t love this as much as I love giving advice about book writing and book marketing.

Regrettably I have decided to take the step of no longer adding new posts to this blog, although I will, of course, leave this blog up. After all, many of the blog posts I wrote remain useful. For example, advice on interviewing techniques and proper interview attire is the same whether posted now, a year from now, or several years from now.

Use this blog as a resource archive for when you need to review advice on such topics or to recommend this advice to others.

You can also keep in touch with my activities by checking out my Miller Mosaic LLC company websites www.millermosaic.com and www.queensofbookmarketing.com. And email me with questions or comments at pzmiller@millermosaic.com.

Wishing you much success as you follow your own passion through life.

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Networking Events: The Early Bird Has a Good Chance of Catching the Worm

The October 30th Wall Street Journal article “As Layoffs Rise, Jobless Throng Career Fairs” by Dana Mattioli had a concluding paragraph that caught my eye:

Nicholas Schulz, a 23-year-old from Woodbridge, N.J., looking at jobs in the marketing field, has developed his own trick for making the most of his time. He arrives early to reach recruiters before they get burnt out. “If you get there later on, you can see it in their faces that you’re the thousandth person they’ve spoken to,” he says.

This advice is particularly important for all “networking” activities. If you get to an event early and you recognize a speaker or panelist, that’s a very good time to go up to the person and politely introduce yourself. No, you shouldn’t pitch yourself then. You should focus on spending a few quality moments just talking to the person. Before you turn away, you could ask for the person’s card.

Then after the speech or panel when everyone else is storming the barricades trying to get to the speaker or panelists, you can smile to yourself and go home. You can be secure in the knowledge that you can send a follow-up email expressing gratitude for the public presentation and adding a comment about the pleasure of speaking to the person before the formal presentation began.

You can add in that email an appropriate request that follows from the brief chat you had before the presentation. This might be something such as: I enjoyed talking with you about companies offering internships for marketing personnel. Would you have any recommendations of companies that might be interested now in marketing interns?

Obviously, if the person thinks his/her company would be interested, he/she will say so. Yet you’ve given the person an out – permission to say he/she doesn’t know of any companies at this time. Because you haven’t backed the person into a corner by expressing asking about his/her company, the lines of communication are still open for a future email from you.

While I can’t promise you that the early bird always catches the worm, I can promise that you often have a better chance of catching the worm if you arrive early – and use that time to your advantage.

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Elevator Speech Revisited: Be Prepared for Opportunity

Last night I was at the event Penn in Pictures – a sometimes annual event sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Club of LA to strengthen ties with the LA entertainment community.

The event, as usual, had a panel of Penn alums in the entertainment industry talk about their paths to their current positions. Then there was a question and answer session.

This question and answer session could be someone’s opportunity. Not only is the panel made up of Penn alums, but almost everyone in the audience is also a Penn alum. And many people are partial to hiring or helping alums of their own college.

Up shoots the hand of one recent college grad, and she asks how someone might get help in finding a job in the entertainment industry. Naturally enough, a panel member says: What are you looking for?

And did this recent grad have a succinct, specific reply? She did not. She blew her chance of positive exposure by mumbling some insignificant response.

Do not let this happen to you! If you go to such an event AND you raise your hand to ask a question about help getting a job, be prepared with a one-sentence or two-sentence response.

State your goal (I’m hoping to become a television drama writer) and what you’re doing now (I’m currently working at an internet company and taking television drama writing classes). And, if you’re lucky, someone will offer to help you.

Be prepared for opportunity to strike!

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How to Avoid Your Own Career “Credit” Crisis – Part II

Here is the second of a two-part series by E. Chandlee Bryan, a certified professional resume writer and career counselor at www.careersincontext.com. She specializes in providing services and career advisement to emerging professionals, and she has worked in career services offices at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University and served as director of career services at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. She has also worked "on the other side of the desk" as a recruiter.

3. Ignore the conventional wisdom that the “best school you can go into” is the right school for you

Select the program that best fits your interests, career, and financial goals. Even at Ivy League institutions only an average of 30% of the graduating class begins a career with an employer met on campus. There are multiple reasons for this:

• Even in strong economic times, there are a finite number of available opportunities.

• The application process can be extremely competitive.

• Jobs aren’t always aligned with student interests—they are based on employer need.

4. Evaluate your options

There are many paths to achieve your personal and professional goals—playing the fugitive isn’t one of them. Here are two unconventional paths:

Start at a community college and blow away expectations. Over the years I’ve met several successful Ivy League students who transferred in from community colleges. Many states offer in-state students great programs that can help you with financial planning and assistance towards your education.

Take a break from your loans and get a credit towards your educational expenses. Two popular community service programs -- City Year and AmeriCorps -- offer eligible program participants the opportunity to apply for loan forbearance (i.e. deferment of loan payments during program participation) and service credits of up to $4,725 for one year of service, which can be applied towards past or future educational expenses.

5. Engage in on-going discussion on your career and finances and enlist a few advocates

Regardless of where you choose to go to school or what you choose to do, there are professional advisors who can help you at minimal cost. If you are currently in school or are an alumnus of an institution, you can frequently receive free career and financial planning assistance from school administrators.

If you are not, search online for potential resources and strive to connect with at least three individuals who are willing to invest time in getting to know you and whom you can turn to when you need it.

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How to Avoid Your Own Career “Credit” Crisis – Part I

Here is the first of a two-part series by E. Chandlee Bryan, a certified professional resume writer and career counselor at www.careersincontext.com. She specializes in providing services and career advisement to emerging professionals, and she has worked in career services offices at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University and served as director of career services at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. She has also worked "on the other side of the desk" as a recruiter.

Recently, the headlines on CNN.com showcased “student loan fugitives” — or individuals who’ve fled overseas to escape student loan repayments. The subtitle reads like a worst case scenario: “When faced with monthly payments and relentless creditors, some see leaving the country as their only way out.”

As a career coach, I don’t recommend the asylum or escape approach to student loans. If you’ve chosen to move your career overseas, it should be because you want to go.

Prior to starting my own private practice, I spent over a decade connecting students with career opportunities. I worked in career services at three Ivy League schools (Dartmouth, Penn, and Columbia) and two liberal arts colleges (Colby-Sawyer and the University of Richmond).

In the process, I’ve gotten to talk to employers from all industry sectors — from investment banks and engineering firms to new media companies and non-profits. I’ve surveyed students and employers on starting salaries — and voraciously read up on national trends. Here are five recommendations with respect to financial aid:

1. Transparency, transparency, transparency

Don’t hide your debt statements under the mattress. Talk to a financial aid counselor — and get help of an external financial planner. What you pay or don’t pay down will affect your discretionary income as well as your ability to get credit. Know what you will owe.

2. Consider an outcomes-focused approach to education and your career

There are some career paths that have larger financial compensation then others. This should never be the determining factor in what you choose to do, but know that your salary may affect your lifestyle. Gauge starting salaries in fields of interest before you enroll. Sources of information include:

• Salary reports from the National Association of Colleges and Employers

• Statistics on on-campus recruiting and accepted offers (frequently available through career services offices on campus)

• Salary calculators from Salary.com and general job search boards such as Monster.com

Once you have an idea of what you can expect to earn, you can compare financial aid packages, earnings estimates, and school tuition fees. As you start out, you can establish a budget to maintain long-term debt avoidance —and make choices that help you accomplish your goals.

To be continued.

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New Experiences: Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

I’ve written before about having an open mind (and recommended the book MINDSET by Carol Dweck). As it’s such an important topic, I wanted to revisit it again.

Most of us probably have a standard response to things we don’t want to do – NO (if we can get away without doing those things). Yet if you’re in high school, college or your first job – you might want to consider saying yes to things you don’t want to do because of what you may learn or who you may get to meet.

A long time ago my husband and I were asked to take with us to Israel two very bulky sweaters Israelis visiting the U.S. hadn’t been able to take back with them. At the time my inclination was to say no, but I was prevailed upon to say yes as we were taking half-empty suitcases so we could bring gifts home.

The irony is that neither my husband nor I had relatives or friends in Israel at that time. We delivered the sweaters to the head of Israel radio and his wife, and suddenly we had the opportunity to meet real Israelis! A totally unexpected outcome of taking two bulky sweaters in our suitcases.

If a teacher, mentor or boss asks you to help out with a project that at first sounds boring, do not automatically say no. First, get more information about the project. Second, take a few minutes to think about how you might learn something new or meet some interesting people if you do this project. And then, with an open mind, if at all possible say yes.

Being open to new experiences is a wonderful character trait that can lead you to all kinds of interesting things. Of course, we’re talking about LEGAL projects. While you might learn from an illegal activity, this is not something you want to say yes to.

Use good judgment about saying yes to new things – and do say yes when it is appropriate to do so.

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Basic Work Etiquette:What Do Millennials Know?

The October 21st Wall Street Journal had an excerpt from Ron Alsop’s book “The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace.” (Alsop defines the millennial generation as born between 1980 and 2001.)

I’m not a huge fan of grouping an entire generation into one catch-all description, and the excerpt in the Journal didn’t do much to change my mind on this score. Yet this one part of the excerpt did catch my attention:

It may seem obvious that employees should show up on time, limit lunchtime to an hour and turn off cellphones during meetings. But those basics aren’t necessarily apparent to many millennials.

Why do I find this hard to believe? Because most millennials did have to show up on time for school or college classes or a babysitting job or a shift at Starbucks. And in high school there was a specified length of time for lunch and at Starbucks there was a specified break time. And believe it or not, high schools and places where teens get part-time employment do have rules about cellphones.

This is why I am always leery of anecdotal evidence. You can find anecdotes to prove whatever point you’re trying to make.

But in case I’m wrong, and you are a millennial who truly doesn’t know to show up for work on time, take only an hour for lunchtime and turn off your cellphones at work (and especially during meetings), please learn these work etiquette rules right now. And then go out and prove to the world that millennials do know these things.

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Elevator Speech: Have a 30-Second Speech for Whoever You Are or Whatever You’re Looking For

The expression “elevator speech” doesn’t mean a speech in favor of taking an elevator rather than the stairs or vice versa. It refers to a “speech” you could make in a 30-second elevator ride to tell someone who you are or what you’re looking for.

And whether you’re in high school, college or beyond, you should have at least one of these speeches down cold (and maybe more if you have different interests). And by down cold I mean: you know the speech so well you can say it as if it’s spontaneous rather than memorized.

Maybe you’ve noticed an adult asking a teen what she is doing and the teen says “applying to college.” What’s an example of what the answer should be when asked this question by an adult? “I’m applying to top Eastern colleges and I’m particularly hoping to be accepted by the University of Pennsylvania.” Now the adult has enough information to say, for example: “My sister is an alum. Would you like to be introduced to her?”

See the difference? The teen hasn’t asked for help, but she’s provided enough information for someone to offer to help. And if she were in an elevator and had only said “applying to college,” there wouldn’t be enough time for the adult to ask questions to elicit the same information and offer the same help.

At whatever point you are in your life, be prepared with this 30-second speech.

Someone on Facebook just wrote me that her 19-old-son is publishing a book and looking for information on book marketing. But she should have said: “My 19-year-old son is publishing a book on ………...” Although I did respond with advice for book marketing, I might have been more helpful if she’d mention fiction or non-fiction, the title of the book, and when it is coming out.

And if you’ve got different interests, have an elevator speech for each interest so that you’re prepared for any opportunity that comes your way.

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Resumes Revisited: Do You Put Your Twitter Username on Your Resume?

Resumes usually take a rather standard form when it comes to including your name, address, phone number, email, and maybe cell number and fax number.

Here's an interesting question to consider: Should you include your Twitter username, your Facebook profile page URL, your LinkedIn public profile URL or any other social media information on your resume?

Okay, obviously the answer is yes if you're applying for a job in social media. And obviously the answer is no if you've posted inappropriate information about yourself on MySpace or Facebook.

It's the middle ground that leads me to ask the question: Do you want to indicate by, for example, including your Twitter username that you are knowledgeable in one of the popular microblogging platforms? Or are you worried that a prospective employer might think you'll spend too much time on Twitter if the employer knows you're on that social media platform?

I'm not sure there's an easy answer for everyone. Anyone want to weigh in with an opinion?

Related Posts:

Resume 2.0? The question is, when do you think document that we know now will replaced as the "king of resumes"? I don't think they'll ever completely go away, but there is a time in the not so distant future where we will be asking candidates for ...

Six steps to Resume 2.0 Can you think of other ways to start tweaking your resume for Web 2.0? Employers, human resources pros and recruiters - would any of this be helpful for you? Are you using social networks for recruitment purposes? ...

The Social Media Resume: Making Your Mark in a Web 2.0 World The idea of this kind of resume may not be as widespread as its traditional counterpart, but it’s something that web workers might want to consider if they want to take advantage of what Web 2.0 has to offer. ...

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U.S. Economic Situation: Good Time for Internships?

Internships may actually be more available during this economic time. That’s because companies are being forced to lay off employees and this may cause those companies to be short-handed. If you offer yourself as an unpaid intern, you may be snapped up to fill in the gap.

And when a company is short-handed, there’s usually more of a chance for an intern to get to do real work tasks rather than just making coffee and delivering the in-house company mail.

What does this mean for you? If you’ve been wanting an internship to try out a specific career field or get credentials on your resume for a future job, now is the time to do this.

Brainstorm with friends or family about the companies in your area that may need the kind of intern you want to be. Read your local newspaper to see who is laying off large numbers of employees. Then contact those companies if they appear to be the kind of company at which you’d like to intern.

The company’s HR person may not be the best person to contact. He or she is dealing with layoffs and might not take kindly to an intern request when that intern might do the job of a previously paid employee. But a department manager, desperate for more helping hands, might be very open to meeting with you.

Therefore, chose carefully who you will approach. If you want a marketing internship, choose someone in the marketing department. If you want an accounting internship, choose someone in the accounting department.

If you’re good at pitching yourself in writing, then do so for the first approach. If you’re better pitching yourself in a phone call, do that for the first approach.

Remember that with all the issues on the minds of managers today, your request may get buried even though you could really be useful to the company. If you don’t get a response within a few days, do approach the person again. Just be sure to make your approaches in good taste and do not appear to be a nudge.

Be prepared to explain how you can help the manager/company. Then, if you get the internship, do a terrific job of helping out. This could even be your opportunity for a paying job at this company when the economy picks up, or at the very least the opportunity to get a terrific recommendation.

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On the Job: Share Praise With Those Who Help You

In keeping with my post today on my blog PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge (see http://snipurl.com/forgiveme, I wanted to talk about the important skill of giving and sharing praise.

Frequently in a work situation your boss might praise you for a project you did. Unless you literally did every single part by yourself with absolutely no help from anyone else, you should remind the boss who helped you. For example, “I couldn’t have gotten this done in such a short amount of time if Mary hadn’t crunched the numbers for me and John hadn’t made the charts.”

In most cases, sharing the praise actually earns you higher esteem than if you hadn’t acknowledged Mary and John’s roles. By including your co-workers in the praise, you’ve shown you’re a team player and someone who doesn’t hog all the credit. People like to work with such generous-minded people.

And, of course, you yourself should praise people when they do a good job or go the extra mile, for example, on a project for which you were responsible. For example, “Nancy, I really appreciate that you turned in your numbers a day before the deadline and that the numbers were very accurate. I’m glad you’re on my team.”

Start practicing this skill when you are young and it should be automatic by the time you’re starting out on your career path.

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Meeting Etiquette: Don’t Allow a Time Hog to Steal the Show

I listened to a teleseminar that was billed as a panel about authors using social media to promote their books. Instead, one caller hogged the time asking question after question about how to get on Twitter, how to follow someone on Twitter, how to reply to someone on Twitter, etc.

The host of the teleseminar did not stop this caller from hogging the time nor did the panelists stop him. Indeed, they all continued to answer his questions.

What should have happened? The host or a panelist should have said: “We’ll have to continue this conversation offline as this isn’t the focus of the teleseminar.”

A half hour into the hour-long teleseminar I finally hung up. Why should I continue to listen to someone getting personal instructions on how to use Twitter?

If you’re in high school, college or on your first real job, what’s the moral of this story for you?

If you are a moderator or a panelist in a similar time hog situation, you should be prepared to politely end the time hog’s monopolizing and to return to the stated subject of the meeting or presentation.

And if you are the time hog, don’t be. In other words, learn to be considerate of the other people participating in a meeting or presentation. If you require detailed instructions on a subject that is off the spine of the meeting or presentation, do so outside of that meeting or presentation.

If you are worried that you might not have another chance to ask your questions, then you can politely ask for a suggestion as to where to get the additional info that you need.

Whatever you do, don’t get the reputation of a time hog or of someone who lets a time hog take over the show. Be considerate of the other participants and stick to the spine of the meeting or presentation.

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Wall Street Crisis: A Good Time to Help Others

Most of the time on this blog we talk about getting help for yourself. Yet now is a good time to practice helping others. Because of all the jobs being cut due to the Wall Street crisis, there will be large numbers of people looking for new jobs.

Maybe you have a friend who you think may be one of those people losing his/her job. Why not contact your friend and ask if there's anything you can do to help? This can range from offering to work on a resume if you're really good at this skill to practicing interview questions or brainstorming possible job leads with your friend.

And if you happen to hear of an open position, consider who you know that might be interested in that position and contact that person. If the tables were turned, you'd want your friends to do this for you.

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Email Deluge: How Helping Someone Get Out From Under Could Further Your Career

A friend of mine who is a medical doctor at a large university told me that she gets so many emails a day – close to 200 – that she can’t keep up with them. And that sometimes she misses deadlines for important grant projects because of the magnitude of keeping track of all the emails she does open.

I explained to her that many professionals are now using a VA (virtual assistant) to check their emails and keep track of such things as which emails needed responses and which didn’t need to be followed up. Then I realized that she couldn’t use just any VA. She needed to use someone who could understand the scientific and medical discussions in her emails.

And that’s when I got the idea for a way to help an undergraduate student at the large university and help my friend. If she got a student majoring in pre-med or science to be her VA for her emails, the student would be able to understand the content and also learn just be reading the emails. This would be great for the student to put on her/his resume and great for my friend.

Then I realized that there must be many, many professionals who are overwhelmed with their email inbox. And, therefore, an enterprising student with an interest in a specific area could approach professionals in that area about being a VA. Of course, the student would have to understand the need for confidentiality of everything he/she reads. But this is the same as for any VA.

If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate a passion of yours and, at the same time, learn more about that passion, look around for a professional whom you could help get out from under the email deluge. This could be a win-win for both of you.

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Interview Techniques: The Words Out of Your Mouth Can Lose the Job for You

Yesterday I put a blog post on collegefinder.globalscholar.com that began this way after the headline “Using Appropriate Language During a College Application Interview”:

The three words “like” and “you know” (along with the annoying “um” and “well”) used liberally throughout your conversations may not bother your friends. Yet be assured that a person interviewing you will note the immature and/or annoying language. Other words that bother interviewers include dude, hey, stuff, whatever. And, of course, you should use proper English and not street or slang or colloquial English.

In an email exchange with one of the CollegeFinder people this is what I received:

That post also applies well to interviews! You wouldn’t believe how many just out of college students we interview here who use the words or worse!

Okay, now you’ve heard this warning directly from the mouth of an employer (as opposed to my harping on this subject). And if you take these words to heart, you could have a giant advantage over other job candidates.

If you’re not aware of how you speak (whether you continually use the words “like” and “you know” and whether you use slang), record yourself practicing an interview with a friend. Then listen to the recording.

If the above warning applies to you, take two immediate steps to correct these problems. First, try consciously even when speaking to friends to use proper English and NOT to constantly use the words “like” and “you know.”

Second, practice answering interview questions with a friend over and over again until you eliminate the problems. Record each practice interview to check your own progress.

Any questions about what might or might not be appropriate to say? Leave questions in the comments section below.

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Clearly Written Communication: Make Sure the Other Person Knows What You Mean

A college sophomore I know needed to replace all the cell phone numbers he had stored in his own cell phone. So he did what I think was rather clever. He created an event page on Facebook to request that his friends send him their cell phone numbers.

Only there was one tiny problem. He gave the event a weird name – something with letters and symbols that was way beyond my understanding – and didn’t clearly explain what the event was for. After he got several puzzled replies besides mine, he realized that he hadn’t clearly stated the purpose of his event.

I’m bringing this up here as an example of something we all do at one time or another: assume that another person can follow what we mean because it is so clear to us what is needed. What we all need to remember is that another person doesn’t necessarily have all the prior information that we have.

Whatever you write for other people to read must be clear. You need to put yourself in the other person’s place to figure out what he/she needs to know to understand what you’re talking about.

This is true whether you’re writing a college application essay or a memo to your boss about a topic the boss asked you to research or a query letter asking for an informational meeting.

When I was feature editor of the State News at Michigan State University, a reporter on my feature staff said to me, “Phyllis, you know what I mean in this news story.” And I replied, “Yes, I know. But the student who reads this article in tomorrow’s paper may not. You have to write this so that student who doesn’t know what I know can understand what you’re saying.”

The next time you write someone – or create an event on Facebook – make sure that what you’ve said is clear to anyone who does not know the background information that you do. Give the other person enough information so that he/she can follow what it is you’re saying.

If you always keep the point of view of the other person in mind when writing, you’ll be able to earn a reputation as someone who is a good writer and able to communicate well with others. This is a good reputation to have even in the age of IMing and Twitter.

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First Jobs: They Can Be Your Entry Door Into Success

Harvey Mackay always includes Mackay’s Moral at the end of his weekly column. And his morals are always good. Yet his moral this week really spoke to what I believe:

Mackay’s Moral: What you learn on your first job will last through your last job.

If you pay attention to what goes on around you even if you have the most menial job in the company or organization, you can learn a great deal. There are all kinds of “lessons” being unconsciously taught.

Mackay describes a job he had as a teen working at a men’s retail store. One of the things his boss taught was: “Walk the customer to the front door and sometimes even out onto the street and look him in the eye and say “Thanks!’”

Less than two hours after I read this piece of advice I was walked to the door by the receptionist of a local restaurant at which I often eat. Because I had just read Mackay’s column, I took special notice of this courtesy on the part of the receptionist.

Now even if you were a busboy at this restaurant, if you had observed the receptionist’s behavior you would have learned a valuable lesson for life: Do not treat your customers or clients as if they are interchangeable commodities. Instead make each one feel that he or she is special in your eyes.

If you act this way towards customers and clients even when you have a menial job, you might be surprised to learn that your advancement is more rapid than others who don’t act this way.

Keep your eyes and ears paying attention no matter where you are – you can learn from almost anyone and anything.

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Back to School: What Did You Learn Today?

Whether this month sees you back in school (high school or college or graduate school) or out on the job market, the fall season signals “back to school” thoughts conditioned by all those fall seasons of new school years.

And it is a good idea to connect the fall season with learning something new – something that isn’t required by your coursework or job work. Just something new that you’re interested in knowing more about.

This something new can be reading information to understand the weather conditions that create hurricanes (due to the nation’s focus on New Orleans this past weekend) or following online instructions for how to create mobiles out of wire hangars.

The point is not WHAT you learn as long as you learn something NEW, something that stretches your mind in a direction it hasn’t gone before. And this new something gives you a new conversation topic when you get together with other people. Suddenly you’re discussing the underpinnings of Category 5 hurricanes with the other weather fanatics. Or you’re pointing out to a new friend that there’s something very soothing about bending wire hangars into new shapes.

If you’re not sure now what new subject area you’d like to learn, keep your eyes open as you go about your regular routines. See if something new doesn’t pop out at you from the most unlikely place after you’ve told your mind to be on the look-out for just such an opportunity.

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Interviews, Meetings, Appointments: The Case for Being on Time

I’m reading Dan Kennedy’s book NO B.S. TIME MANGEMENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS. Kennedy credits motivation speaker Ed Foreman with saying you only need to do three things for rapid advancement in most business organizations:

“Show up.

“Show up on time.

“Show up on time, ready to work. So few do.”

While Kennedy and Foreman may be oversimplifying the way to advance in corporations, the advice about showing up on time is extremely important for you to follow at internships or jobs.

Of course, the advice is even more important for showing up on time for an interview for an internship or job.

If you can’t show up on time for an interview, what possibility is there that you will show up on time each day of an internship or work? If you’re late for an interview, you have a huge strike against you before you even shake hands with the interviewer.

I know a college student who told his parents that he wished they had insisted he be on time for school when he was younger. Now that he has his first real job, he’s finding it hard to get accustomed to being on time.

If you do not already have the “on-time” work mentality, you must immediately teach yourself to have this mindset. You must figure out your own coping skills for ensuring that you show up on time.

If you know your habit is to treat time as elastic, it may be necessary for you to plan to get to work 15 minutes early so that you actually arrive on time. Or you may need to a put a timer in the bathroom and kitchen to ensure that, after your alarm clock wakes you up, you don’t get lost reading in the bathroom or at the breakfast table.

Eventually, if you work hard enough at it, you should be able to keep yourself on schedule without such additional reminders. But if you are truly one of those people with no sense of time, you will always have to rely on outside forces to get you to where you need to be on time.

This emphasis on being on time may seem silly to some of you. You may say: “What’s five minutes?” Yet from the perspective of the person expecting you to be somewhere at a certain time, five minutes can be the difference between keeping your internship/job or being shown the exit door.

Maybe it’s time you took time seriously.

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Internships, jobs, Flipping Burgers and Beyond, Dan Kennedy, No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, Ed Foreman

PROJECT RUNWAY and ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL: Lessons from Two Television Shows

ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL is a reality show currently running on the Sundance Channel. The August 27th episode focused on the Tulane architecture students presenting their designs for building an affordable new home in a Katrina-ravaged neighborhood of shotgun houses.

(New Orleans shotgun houses are long narrow houses with no hall – each room is directly behind the other so, if you shot a gun from the front, the shot would go straight through to the back.)

The presentations would impact which of the student designs would be chosen for the students to actually build. Yet almost all the students were really terribly at presenting and “selling” their designs.

Although all these students wanted their design to be the one chosen – big kudo for an architectural student, yet it appeared most of them had given little thought to the explanation and selling of their designs.

As this show follows Bravo’s PROJECT RUNWAY, I had just seen a fashion designer chosen as the one to be OUT partly because of his unimaginative design and partly because he whined during the critique of his design, blamed his model, and actually complained about the judges’ previous “criticism” of him.

Michael Kors, “top American designer,” said words to this effect: Face it, kid, this is what life is like as a fashion designer. You’ve got to be prepared to take the good and the bad.

What do these two television shows have to do with college applications, internships, jobs and careers? Several lessons:

• If you are given an assignment – when you present that assignment, be prepared to assertively but not aggressively sell your vision.

• Accept critique willingly and understand that you can often learn more from your mistakes. Do not insist on being the one in the right.

• Do not blame others for your less-than-stellar presentation. Accept responsibility.

Watching Michael Kors’ face as the OUT designer left the runway, it was clear that Kors felt this guy just didn’t get it. How much better if the disgruntled designer had graciously thanked all the judges for the incredible opportunity to have been part of Project Runway?

Make sure you are thought of as an amicable person who learns from critiques and appreciates your opportunities. That reputation can take you a long way.

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Flipping Burgers and Beyond, Project Runway, Michael Kors, Architecture School, Sundance Channel, Bravo, Tulane, New Orleans, Katrina, college applications, internships, jobs, careers