Last week’s job fair was packed.  Hundreds of ambitious, well-dressed, earnest people of all ages and abilities met with a few dozen employers for extreme speed dating, the Hire Me version.  Competition for jobs is tough, but the people at this job fair were up to the task. 

What impressed this employer was the level of professionalism of every candidate.  For instance, Dinyar had a sturdy handshake.  Some men think they have to be placid or just shake the fingertips of a female.  Dinyar took my hand in his, palm to palm, gave it an appropriate squeeze and let go.  This seems a small point, but a handshake can communicate confidence.  Practice.

Telework, flexwork, ROWE.  Call it almost anything and it usually comes back to, “Working from home.”  According to a variety of surveys, 85% of companies offer flexible work arrangements to their employees; only 38% of companies allocate one desk per one employee; one company saved $195M in one year thanks to the increased productivity of its flexible workforce.  Flexibility is good for companies and good for employees, but best practices are only starting to emerge.  Following are some tips for making a work-at-home arrangement work for you.

People talk about ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder.  My personal version of ADD is RADD:  Radio Attention Deficit Disorder.  Pandora is a great app because it introduces fresh music all the time.  However, naturally curious, I listen to two-thirds of a cut and feel ready for the next one.  Unfortunately, if you know Pandora, you know it allows you to pass on a few songs and then gently cuts you off because its license requires you to actually listen to each song in its entirety.

In Engineering, there are four candidates for every open position.  This means, if you are an engineer, you should be working.  And if you are trying to hire an engineer, you might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack, a raindrop in the ocean or your car in the Mall of America parking ramp… It’s a tough search. 

Job seekers of all kinds can help themselves and their hiring managers by preparing well for each interview.  Following four simple steps will help; candidates just have to know the job, the dealbreaker, the company and the location.