                                  T H E

                          E S T A B  - L O I D
                    ---------------------------------
                    Issue #11                 4-12-86
                    ---------------------------------

                A weekly electronic magazine for users of
                    The Establishment BBS (894-6526)
                    owned and operated by Thane Smith

                        Editor - Gene B. Williams

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                                (c) 1986

    THIS ISSUE:

       Before too much longer school will be out for the summer. For
    some of you that means a few months of relief from the "daily
    grind." For others it means trying to get into a different kind
    of "daily grind" that is almost certain to make you wish that
    you'd taken better advantage of your free schooling.
       Many people grow up thinking that finding a job, or a career,
    is as easy as walking into your favorite company and then just
    picking up the paychecks. Others have the pessimistic viewpoint
    that they have to settle with anything that comes along - or
    worse, settle with unemployment.
       Those of you who have tried to get jobs know the scam. The fast
    food places are often the first stops. They hire and hire and hire -
    and pay pitiful wages. That's okay (but just barely) for someone
    who is concerned only about getting enough money for that date
    next weekend. For someone looking for an apartment, or looking to
    buy a car, or looking to start a family and a life, that minimum
    wage doesn't go very far.
       The usual way is to go through the wantads in the paper, and
    then pound the pavement, putting in hundreds of applications.
    That works for some. It COULD work for you. But even then, there
    are better ways.

                              FINDING A JOB

       I began to earn my own money a very long time ago. Even at 10 I
    was out mowing lawns, and shoveling snow and doing whatever to earn
    a bit of extra spending money. By 14 I was earning enough to take
    care of all my needs. Fortunately, I had worked to develop a skill
    that could be sold. Namely music.
       For the next 6 years music paid for just about everything. It
    was also obvious by then that it wouldn't get me all that far. As
    good as I was, there were thousands of people better. What seemed
    to be a good wage when I was 15 just couldn't cut it when I was 18
    and starting to think about getting married.
       Through a series of circumstances, I found myself dislocated from
    my home town (Minneapolis) and off to Arizona. A few months later
    I also had a wife and apartment and car to support. So, there I was
    with 3 1/2 years of college, no contact, no local friends other than
    my wife - and in need of a job to make it all work.
       That 3 1/2 years of college turned out to be a detriment. For many
    jobs, I was turned down for being underqualified. No degree. For
    others I was turned down for being overqualified. Too much education.
       I did the usual trick of haunting the wantads in the paper, and
    visiting every likely place. During that time I must have filled out
    a few hundred employment applications. Even after finding a job, the
    desire to find more - something better - kept me going, and kept me
    filling out more applications.
       Talk about frustrating! I *knew* I was a willing worker, and
    able to learn any task quickly. Those two things went on the
    applications in an effort to impress the prospective employer with
    my enthusiasm (if not desperation).
       Somehow it never quite worked as well as I thought it should.
       But I did find jobs. Quite often, once I got "in the door" what
    started as a minor position went quickly to something with some
    responsibility, and better pay. More than once I found myself
    responsible for hiring new employees.
       Now I was on the other side of that application. It didn't take
    long before I learned why it was that my previous applications had
    been dismissed so quickly.

                        Filling in an Application

       The standard employment application asks for your own vitals
    (name, address, phone, etc.), your past work history, your
    educational history, and references. Unless the job is a big one
    and important - or offering high pay - most of that stuff is
    never checked. However, you never know. The best way to screw
    yourself out of a job is to lie about it.
       When I was interviewing prospective employees I would use
    my senses to see if the person was perhaps a bit nervous about
    those "facts." On occasion I'd make mention that we'd be checking
    into that background (we sometimes did). All of a sudden, the
    person would start making corrections.
       Other times the applicant would claim a certain thing, only to
    show later that the fact wasn't fact at all. A schooling or work
    experience proved to be false.
       Now tell me. Would YOU want to hire a liar? Or to keep one on
    once you discovered the lie?
       On the other hand, there were times when an applicant's obvious
    honesty and candor was sufficient for me to ignore the lack of
    experience. I'm exaggerating, but one applicant would claim a degree
    at Harvard, while another would openly admit that this was his
    first job. Guess which one I hired.
       So the first tip is to not lie. You might get away with it for
    a while, but sooner or later the truth will come out. There's the
    old expression, "Honesty is the best policy." It happens to be
    very true. Lies catch up sooner or later.
       Almost as important is to learn how to stress the important
    things, will de-emphasizing the rest. On that blank will be
    educational background, for example. You have yet to graduate
    high school. Filling in that honestly will leave a lot of white
    blanks. Or perhaps you've graduated but have no actual work
    experience. Again there's a lot of blank space.
       But you might have some special background in that field. You
    might not have any specific background as a technician, but you
    might have spent the past 3 years designing and building your own
    computer just from studies you've done on the side. You probably
    don't have a degree in computer programming, but you could have
    created your own computer BBS from scratch.
       Personal experiences are important to many employers. As the
    interviewer, I found myself to be much more impressed by someone's
    personal achievements, done on their own, than achievements of
    a more conventional nature. Someone who attends classes on
    programming and gets a passing grade is quite different from someone
    with the gumption to attain the same result on their own.
       As an example, Roger Smurdlap is applying for the job of
    electronics technician for a local company. His competition
    includes others who have gone through a variety of trade schools.
    Roger has no such background, but he *has* been involved with ham
    radio for the past 6 years, and has designed and built his own
    transceiver, and his own antenna system. Roger could leave the
    "Education" section blank. But he won't get hired. Or he could
    find a way to work in his personal background and knowledge.
       Many applications contain a space for "Other" in education.
    Don't be afraid to put in "Self Trained," or something like that.
    It should hopefully get the interviewer to at least ask. If your
    father has been doing that job for the past 40 years, and you've
    picked up valuable knowledge by watching and assisting, say so!
    It can make all the difference.
       Put yourself in the place of the employer. Who would you hire
    first? That guy who took some courses at a trade school? Or the
    guy who has the natural interest and ability to the extent that
    he did it all on his own?
       There will be times when that doesn't apply (although you
    might be surprised at times just what the employer considers to
    be important). Relevancy is important, too. If you're filling in
    an application at McDonald's, it's unlikely that your ability
    with computer programming will be important. It will probably
    hurt your chances. Show an employer that your goal is in a
    field other than the job, and he's less likely to hire you. Give
    him too much peripheral and unimportant information (apply for
    that McDonald's job and talk about your Chess Club championship)
    and the important stuff will get lost in the shuffle.
       Your job as an applicant is to make his job as an employement
    interviewer as easy as possible. He has 137 applicants for the
    job. Why should he hire you?

                          Some Common Mistakes

       Of all the people I've interviewed, and of the applications I've
    read, the two most common claims of people who don't have apparent
    qualifications are, "I'm willing," and "I'm a fast learner." The
    guy you;re trying to impress has heard that over and over and over
    and over and . . . .
       Trouble is, about 95% of the people who say it can't live up to
    the claim. The interviewer has found out that almost everyone is
    a willing worker - until the first time comes along when something
    personal is going to interfere with work. That employee might be
    asked to put in a little overtime. Or might be asked to work a
    Saturday night. All of a sudden, that "willing" worker isn't quite
    so willing. That party, or that date, or that movie, takes
    precedence.
       While there's nothing really wrong with letting important things
    come before work, the person who does so consistently isn't what
    you'd call "willing." The employer has to deal with that type
    every day.
       Again imagine yourself as the employer. There is a job to be done.
    Most of the hired crew thinks it more important to go skating. One
    guy stays behind, or lets you know that he's always there if you
    need him. The next time you have to let a few people go, or have
    a promotion to make, who will it be? And of the 30 employees you
    have, 25 have made the "I'm willing" claim - but only this one
    has demonstrated that fact.  This goes on for years. So, the next
    time someone comes in and says, "I'm willing" what are you going
    to think?
       The "I'm a fast learner" ploy is just as common. When I was first
    starting and still naive, I hired such a "willing" and "fast learning"
    person. It turned out that he was willing only when it was convenient
    for him, and couldn't take orders or instructions. He'd forget to
    properly clean and lubricate a machine, adn ruin it. The correct
    (and simple) procedure was shown to him - for the third time - only
    fro me to get a call at 11 PM on my day off because the machine
    had seized up again. I made the long drive and found that the
    "quick learner" had failed once again. (On another occasion, after
    giving him yet another chance, I drove the 30 miles to the shop to
    help him fix a dead machine, only to find that he'd unplugged it.)
       As a prospective employee, that's the situation you face. Those
    who have gone before you have screwed things up. You MIGHT be the
    most willing person ever to come along, and can learn things faster
    than anyone who has ever lived. But, that puts you in the upper
    few percent. The employer is more used to the 98% who *aren't*
    willing, and who *can't* learn quickly (if at all).
       The two claims have become meaningless. As nice as they sound,
    they've also come to be tags to let the prospective employer know
    that here is a person they DON'T want to hire.
       As valid as those claims might be for yourself, don't make them.
    PROVE them - after you're hired.

                                 The Key

       The key is quite simple. It's the same in so many different
    areas of interpersonal relationships. You might be trying to
    figure out why your parents are so hard to get along with; or
    maybe you want to ask that special person for a date; or perhaps
    you have to deal with a pesky neighbor; or you're trying to
    understand why Qaddafi hates America; or you're applying for a
    job. It's all the same thing. Take two people doing ANYTHING and
    it all comes down to a single key.
       That key is SO simple. Put yourself in that person's position.
    Imagine that you are them. To do it successfully, you're going to
    have to forget your own background for a moment. Drop your dreams,
    and what you *think* you know about the world. Get rid of what
    you know about yourself (or think you know). Now you are a stranger
    to yourself, and know nothing at all about this weird looking
    person on the other side of the desk. Instead of being raised in
    Phoenix, with an interest in tubing down the river and Twisted
    Sister, you've become someone raised in New York City who loves
    long-haired cats and Mozart.
       Trouble is, you don't KNOW the background of that interviewer.
    That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if that person likes Mozart
    or Twisted Sister. What matters is that your own likes probably
    don't matter.

                          Your OWN Application

       It's called a resume. Its function is the same as an employment
    application, but it's an application form that YOU design.
       A standard application will have just so many blanks for job
    history, and just so many for educational background. It is
    likely that your personal strongpoints won't quite fit into the
    provided categories.
       For example, your educational background is high school only,
    and you have no valid work experience. That's going to make the
    standard employment application seem rather blank. Not very
    impressive. But you have personal experiences that mean as much,
    or more, concerning your capabilities.
       You haven't gone to a formal trade school, but you've been
    messing with communications equipment for years on your own and
    hold an Amateur Extra license. The standard application doesn't
    have a spot for something like that. It's not work experience,
    and it's not formalized education. But it IS something you can
    do, and actually means more to the employer because you did it
    on your own.
       Or take my own case. It has been a long time since I worked
    FOR anyone. I'm self-employed, and a freelancer. Although I sell
    to the same companies on a regular basis, I'm not on staff
    anywhere. Education-wise, I have 3 1/2 years of college. No degree.
    Also, I have no formal trade schooling or any other formal
    specialized training. If I were to fill out a standard employment
    application tomorrow, it really wouldn't look very good.
       Applying for that same job is a person not long out of college.
    He has a degree in journalism, and has been working for a newspaper
    in one capacity or another (sweeping the floors, running for coffee,
    typesetting, and even some reporting) for the past 5 years. His
    standard application is going to look quite good.
       And yet this "competition" of mine has maybe 10,000 words in
    print - or less. While I have close to 9 million and hold the
    very nice spot(s) of being Chilton's #1, #2 and #3 best selling
    author and consistently have more work than I can handle.
       So how do I work my accomplishments onto an application that
    has no blanks? Very simple. I don't. And can't. So, I would
    basically ignore that standard application - or fill it in because
    the employer wants it for his files - and present them with a
    resume.
       A resume isn't always needed. That college grad applying for
    the job above probably wouldn't benefit from one. Just as my
    resume would be more impressive, his standard job ap would look
    better. If he tried to compete with me on the grounds of a resume,
    he'd lose out. So, in his case, he doesn't need, or want, one.
       A resume has two basic parts. The first part is quite similar
    to a standard application. It gives your vitals, including
    education and job history. Although this presents the same
    difficulties as does a standard application, you can modify it
    slightly to best suit. For example, if your educational background
    is more impressive than your job history, put education first.
    If your past jobs are more important, then put those first. You
    can also add a section that isn't on a standard application -
    one you could call, for example, "Experience" or perhaps just
    "Other." In this spot you can put in those special things about
    yourself - in brief.
       The second part of the resume is the Amplification. Most of
    the time this is a short "essay" about yourself and your
    accomplishments. Without blowing your horn TOO loudly, the
    Amplification gives you the chance to tell the employer why he
    should hire YOU over someone else.
       If you've never written a resume, go to the library first and
    get one of the many books available on how to do it. Or, spend
    the extra to hire a professional who knows how to write one.
    Don't just fake it. Remember that your goal is to come up with
    something that will impress the employer and encourage him to
    hire you instead of someone else. Do a lousy job and it will have
    the opposite effect.
       The key to writing a good resume is to keep it relevant.
    Sometimes this means writing up a new resume. But since the
    main purpose of a resume is to go after that one special job or
    field or career, it's usually not necessary to modify it.
       Some people go through the bother of writing up an excellent
    resume, and then run it off on that dot matrix printer. All of a
    sudden they forget the purpose of a resume. Its function is to
    impress that employer. It's the "packaging."
       As such, it should be clean and attractive. The more professional
    that resume looks, the better are your chances for the job. As an
    employer, who is more impressive - the guy who pushed the button
    on his printer, or the guy who took the time and effort to do
    the job right?
       Having the resume professionally typeset isn't expensive. There
    are many places around town that will do the job for under $10. A
    few places will help you to create the resume, handle the typeset,
    and even the printing, for as little as $15. It's not really all
    that expensive (although you DO get what you pay for - that $15
    price isn't going to get much).
       With the typeset copy in hand you have several choices. The
    quickest, cheapest and easiest method would be to take that copy
    to one of the larger print shops and have Xerox copies made. Don't
    use just any copier. Once again keep in mind that the appearance
    is important. Why spend $10 on typeset, and then end up with
    a grayish and poor quality copy because you don't want to spend
    the dime for quality? (Incidentally, Alpha Graphics has the kind
    of high quality copier - and also has a free booklet on how to
    write up a resume.)
       By using a copier like this, you can have as many, or as few,
    copies as needed. You might only need 10 copies of the resume; or
    you might want 25. Total cost for 25 copies will be just a couple
    of dollars.
       The second way is to have the resume offset printed. The major
    cost of such a printing is the set up. Consequently, it doesn't
    save you much to have any less than about 500 copies printed. Cost
    will be about 10 times as much, but you'll get 20 times as many
    copies. If you think you have need of a LOT of resumes, this is
    your best choice. Most of the time it's a needless expense.
       It will take some time before you'll hand out all 500 resumes.
    And to have an effective resume, it should be modified and improved
    from time to time. Usually a resume that is more than a year old
    is useless.
       Either way, take the typeset sheets, and at least one very
    clean copy, and store them in a safe place. That typeset flat
    will have the tendency to discolor and fade if it's not properly
    stored. This means, put it in a clean envelope, and then put
    the envelope in a dry place out of the sunlight.

                               Appearance

       It's a sad fact, perhaps, but everyone has prejudices. You
    might be unfortunate enough to look at a black and instantly
    start thinking that you have to keep a hand on your wallet. Judging
    by the recent discussions, all to many people have heavy
    prejudices - without the knowledge or experience to back it -
    against Arabs. More simply, maybe you have a thing for blondes,
    or . . . well, you see what I mean. Everyone is a product of his
    or her environment. It's not pleasant to admit, but ALL of us
    have prejudices. All too often, we don't recognize them in
    ourselves.
       All this is normal, and there's not a thing you can do about
    it. If your prospective employer was raised in Dallas during the
    1950s, and you walk in with purple hair cut like a rooster, and
    a flashing, battery-powered earring, you're just flat out not
    going to make a favorable impression. That other applicant in
    the suit and tie might look silly to you (your own prejudice)
    but he'll look great to the eyes of Texas (his prejudice).
       You don't have to like the fact that you can't "be yourself."
    All you have to do is to accept it - IF the job is important to
    you.
       While interviewing applicants for a job that required daily
    contact with the public, I talked to a young man with some very
    distinct personality traits. He was likeable enough, and sure
    seemed to have the ability for the job. But, he let you know he
    was there the second he walked in. He didn't think that he should
    be required to bathe every day unless he felt like it. His hair
    was down to the middle of his back, and just as dirty and unkempt
    as the rest of him. His jeans were full of holes, and his shirt
    could have stood up by itself - and may have even been able to
    walk in without the owner.
       During the interview it came out - in no uncertain terms - that
    he was ". . . an individual and free spirit." As I said, he was
    competent enough. Despite his attitudes, I would have hired him
    in a second if the job didn't involve public contact. But it did.
    And the general public simply would not have accepted it. The
    company would have had to spend more time trying to repair the
    damaged image. Unpleasant perhaps, but a company *does* often have
    to work within and around the prejudices of the general public.
       Even if the prospective employer himself doesn't have those
    built-in prejudices (HAH!), he probably won't last long unless he
    has the sense of the public.
       But the chances are very good that the employer *will* have
    those prejudices. Again, you don't have to like it. It's just the
    way things are.
       That doesn't mean that you should show up in a tux or formal
    evening gown (if female, hopefully - unless you have other
    quirks). All it comes down to is, dress appropriately. If you're
    after a job in a food service, cleanliness is critical. (Imagine
    being served a hamburger by someone who looks like they just
    crawled out of a septic tank.)
       You have to use your own judgment on this. What is the job?
    Who are you dealing with? What image is that company trying to
    put across to its buying public? It's not always easy to determine
    that. You just have to do the best you can.
       But keep in mind that applying for a job is NOT the time to
    try to make a social statement or to prove a point. If you like
    purple hair - fine. Just don't expect Valley National Bank to
    hire you as a head teller dealing with the snowbirds. If you have
    an aversion to the water of a bathtub - fine (although not healthy).
    Just don't expect to land a job as the head cook of even the
    sleaziest restaurant. Apply for a mechanics job in a tuxedo, and
    the chances are equally good that you'll be laughed off premises.
       In two words, "Be appropriate." When in doubt, go for the middle
    ground.

                                Education

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've heard it all before. All of us old
    farts keep harping on the importance of a solid education, right
    at the time of life when you just HAVE to go that party or grab
    for that blonde sweetie or bring yourself up-to-date on the latest
    music. But it's a simple fact that there is NOTHING more important
    for your future than the best education you can get. If your
    teachers aren't giving it to you, give it to yourself. And never
    be satisfied with just a passing grade - or just completing the
    assignments.
       One of the jobs I held was as a teacher. One student in
    particular comes to mind. You know him - or his type. He was
    going to lead up the next Van Halen. Since he was going to be
    a millionaire by age 20, why bother with his schooling? After all,
    what does algebra or understanding the movement of clouds or
    proper spelling have to do with being a world famous musician?
       He had a good enough voice, but no musical background. He
    couldn't read music; couldn't play any instruments. "Why should I
    bother? I'll just be singing and dancing on stage. I don't have to
    know anything about music." (That's a direct quote. I remember it
    all too well because it was so stupid.)
       Last I heard, he had dropped out of school - such a waste of
    time for the famous musician - and was washing cars to earn enough
    to pay for an amplifier - while his parents paid all the rest of
    his bills.
       Five years from now - or twenty - he'll probably still be living
    in that dream world, and still washing cars. And he'd better get
    good at it because he has no other skills.
       This was sad to see. Nothing got through to him. It's an extreme
    case, to be sure. But it emphasizes the importance of what you've
    been told to the point of boredom over the years. Again, NOTHING is
    more valuable than a proper and solid education.
       Once again drop into the position of the employer. Two guys
    are applying for the job. One of them has a solid B average in
    school, and has taken outside courses in the field. The other
    guy tells you that he has no experience or training, has taken
    no courses, and has maintained a weak C average. Who will you
    hire?
       Imagine someone coming to me for a job. "Gene, I want to be
    a world famous author."
       "How did you do in English?"
       "Oh, I didn't think it was important. I got a D, though."
       "How about spelling?"
       "Wut due yoo meen, spelllling?"
       "And grammar?"
       "She's still alive. So is my grampar."
       "Can you handle a camera?"
       "I used my parents' Instamatic once."
       "Do you have any practical experience? Have you written anything?"
       "Yeah, I have. I got (whew! the grammar!) 5 pages of my first
    novel already done."
       "So you want to be a writer?"
       "I guess so. That way I can party at night and sleep all day, and
    sell books for a million each. Then there are the movies."

       Yup, I'm really going to be anxious to hire this turkey. (That
    actually happened once when I was looking for a second writer to
    back me up. With one exception. The applicant mentioned couldn't
    type.)

       Education is important. Even those classes that you've been
    thinking of as useless are important. There is no such thing as
    knowing TOO much. Despite what you might get from employers on occasion,
    there is no such thing as being overtrained.
       While teaching there was one student who had the habit of
    questioning the value of every class and course. We'd study geo-
    graphy, and he'd be talking (usually out of turn) about how useless
    it was. "Why should we have to study geography? Most of us will never
    go to Europe or China anyway. And when I become a mechanic like my
    dad, what does it matter if I know where Saudi Arabia is?"
       We'd be studying algebra and it was the same thing. Or science.
    Or . . . well, he saw no value in any class or course. He was going
    to be a mechanic and fix engines, so why learn to spell? And why
    learn how things work in our world? Of what value is it to know what
    causes lightning to flash or thunder to roar?

                                Catch-22

       "Help Wanted. Experience Necessary."
       But how do you get the experience? Why naturally you get a job
    doing that particular thing. But how do you get such a job? Why
    of course, you show that you have experience. But you can't get the
    job unless you have the experience, and you can't get the experience
    unless you have the job.
       Round and round it goes until you feel like just giving up.
       There are a couple of ways around this problem. One goes back to
    the importance of education - this time specialized education. That
    might mean a trade school, it might mean college, or it might mean
    something else. That specialized schooling often brings with it
    the hands-on experience needed. This isn't the same as on the job
    experience, but many employers will accept it well enough to at
    least consider you for the position.
       Another way is to begin within that same company, but in another
    job. If your goal is to be the Senior Programming Director for a
    local radio or TV station, it's not too likely that you'll be able
    to walk in there right out of high school and land the job. More
    likely, you'll have to begin in a lower paid job, and work your
    way up over the years. Sometimes this means accepting what you would
    normally consider to be a lousy job, just to get your foot in the
    door.
       Once "inside," you can often get the experience you need for
    advancement. Just be patient. If you got in by taking a position
    sweeping floors, don't expect to be bumped up to General Manager
    in a couple of weeks.
       Again you'll have to use discretion. Sometimes if you let your
    employers know that you are interested in advancement, or in
    another position, they'll help you along the way. Other times
    this is a good way to get into trouble. You can minimize the
    possible trouble by being a valuable employee. After a few months
    of keeping those floors cleaner than they've ever been, and
    always being there and willing "above and beyond the call of duty,"
    you're bound to make some friends. (Just don't make any enemies.)
       Don't give up. At first the "Experience Required" thing will
    seem an unfair frustration. But stop and think about it. At the
    moment you don't have the needed experience. Someone else DOES.
    And how did that other person get the experience? It wasn't some
    magical thing - take two pills with dinner and you'll wake up
    tomorrow with experience.
       Almost always, that other person who has the required
    experience "paid his dues" some time in the past. It could be
    that at one time HE swept the floors for some company while
    waiting for his chance.
       Think of the most responsible, highest paying, greatest job
    in the world. To get that job you'd have to have experience doing
    that job. So does (and did) the person who is doing it now. But
    at one time, he had no experience, either. At one time he was
    a newborn babe. Somewhere along the way between that point and
    now, he picked up that experience.
       You can do the same thing with enough perserverence and patience.

                              Unemployment

       I can't end an article on employment without at least briefly
    talking about lack of the same.
       A friend of mine was fired. The problem was his attitude. He
    wanted to be the manager. His job was more janitorial. That was
    beneath him, so the employer would often have to tell him more
    than once to sweep this floor, or clean that bathroom. He'd show
    up late for work, and watch the clock all day. On the day he was
    fired he'd swept most of a floor and had the dust and dirt in a
    pile. Then quitting time came. He set the broom and dust pan against
    the wall and started to leave.
       The boss asked him to please finish off the job before leaving.
    He turned to the boss, said, "It's quitting time," and then stood
    there arguing about how much time it would take to sweep up that
    pile. The 10 seconds or so he saved himself was wasted anyway -
    and he was told to not bother to come back the next day.
       That night I got an earful from him. It was all the fault of the
    company. Afterall, he'd been there a full 3 weeks, and they hadn't
    promoted him yet or given him a raise. Over the next few months
    I heard from him again and again. "I just can't find a job. The
    unemployment rate in this state is ridiculous!"
       His practice was to party most of the night, then sleep until
    noon or beyond. Two or three times per week, and at about 3 or 4
    in the afternoon, he'd saunter into some place advertising for
    help wanted and fill out the application. After a month of this
    he had a full 10 applications in.
       At long last he took a job selling vacuum cleaners. That's a
    really lousy job, but it brought with it a contractual agreement
    that if he'd just make 30 presentations per month (verified), his
    pay would be $650. And of course he'd get a commission on any
    sales.
       That job lasted less than 3 weeks. He'd made 27 of the
    presentations, and hadn't sold any vacuum cleaners. So he quit.
    Rather, he just didn't bother to show up again.
       And once again I had to listen to his complaints about there
    being no jobs available, and how broke he was.
       The point is simple. For the most part, unemployment is a
    myth, and unnecessary. Sure, there are some people who can't
    work, for various reasons. And there are also periods between
    jobs when even the best person doesn't have an income. But, for
    the average, healthy American, long term unemployment doesn't
    have to be.
       That might mean taking a job that isn't in your plans for a
    while. Your dream of becoming a world famous programmer might have
    to be set aside temporarily, and you might have to take a shovel
    or broom in hand until something better opens up.
       First, don't give up. Second, don't accept that lowly (in your
    opinion) job as being a permanent situation. Even while you're
    employed, keep looking. Third, make the best of the situation.
    You never know but that the lousy job you had to accept might not
    lead to something bigger and better. It doesn't happen often
    (because most people give up, or never look), but there are times
    when the guy who used to clean the toilet is now president of the
    company.

    UNTIL NEXT TIME

    I hope that all this helps. It's really not all that difficult.
    But if you sit at home and do nothing more than complain about the
    lack of jobs, you're just guaranteeing failure.
       Filling in applications is boring and frustrating. Yet, if
    you don't go through that, you'll never succeed. How is the
    employer supposed to hire you if he doesn't even know that you're
    around and available?
       Most of it is just plain ol' common sense. Put yourself in
    the other guy's place and try to understand his point of view.
    Above all, DON'T GIVE UP!
       Feel free to ask questions. We have as users a number of
    successful people. What I can't answer, maybe someone else can.
    Lacking that, I'll try to track down the answer for you.

    *Next Week*
       At this point what I have in mind for next week's article is
    something about the Strategic Defense Initiative - SDI, or more
    commonly known as Star Wars.

       In the meantime, don't forget to spread the word. Consider it
    your "subscription fee" to bring 1 new user to The Establishment
    this coming week. If each of us does just that much, we'll soon
    have the best BBS around.

Zephyr Magazine is © Gene Williams. All rights reserved.