                                  T H E

                               Z E P H Y R

                      __     M A G A Z I N E
                     {__]++++++++++++++++++++++++++[]
                     Issue #24                8-16-86

                A weekly electronic magazine for users of
                            THE ZEPHYR II BBS
                        (Mesa, AZ - 602-894-6526)
                    owned and operated by T. H. Smith

                        Editor - Gene B. Williams

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                                (c) 1986

    THIS ISSUE:

       School will be starting again in a few weeks. Some of you
    will be going back to junior or senior high. Some will be
    returning to college. Others will be moving into the job market.
    And more than a few will be doing a combination of schooling
    and a part time job. Maybe even some of you are trapped in a
    job and are looking for something better.
       Regardless, at one time or another almost everyone finds
    himself or herself trying to find a job. It might be for
    something temporary, or it might be working towards a career.
       The topic was stimulated first by Bob Eastman's two articles
    (on financial planning, and on home study); and second by a
    discussion from Synopsys (run by Tom Hart).
       Not every aspect can be covered in a single article. But
    that's what the discussion between issues is all about. Ask
    questions. I or some other user might have the answer for
    you. Or just share your own experiences and knowledge, and
    any tips or tricks that you have learned.

                                  Jobs

       At one point a few years ago the national unemployment had
    surpassed 10%. In other words, of every 100 adults more than
    10 of them were out of work. At present, it's about 7% (or 7
    people out of 100).
       Employment Rates can be misleading, however. First, it talks
    of a national average (or a state average). Until you see a
    breakdown you can't really see what it means. For example, if
    the average for Arizona is 7%, it might actually means that
    there is a 1% unemployment rate for Paradise Valley, and a 20%
    unemployment for South Phoenix.
       The rates also don't take into account job mobility. Someone
    leaves a job because of a desire for a better opportunity. That
    person might join the statistics of the unemployed for a month.
    Meanwhile, someone who has been out of work finds a job. The
    statistics don't change, but the actual effects do since a
    portion of that percentage is for those who are only temporarily
    out of work.
       In some ways it's important to keep both sides in mind. If
    you're out of work, think of the others who are also out of
    work. You're not alone. On the other hand, for every person who
    is out of work with you, that makes one more person who is also
    in competition with you for the job(s) you're after.
       So,  1) don't get discouraged; and 2) keep in mind that you
    have to present something to the employer that the other guy
    can't.

                            Job Applications

       With most jobs, the first step is to fill out a form. This
    form is to put in one place all the basics about the applicant.
    It gives a rough background and history, and also serves to
    give the employer a single place to keep that applicant's
    address, phone number and so forth. It doesn't (and can't) let
    much personality shine through and often ignores some important
    information that would show that -you- are the special person
    that employer wants.
       Many job seekers get tired of, and even angry at, those
    application forms for this reason. They don't fully represent
    the applicant. (The employer knows this better than you.)
       Even so, it's "part of the game." Fill it out if that is a
    part of the employer's routine. If it makes you feel better,
    think of it as the Information Form for New Employees.
       People often make the mistake of exaggerating on the form.
    They'll claim jobs, duties, or education they never had, going
    on the assumption that the employer will never check it out.
    While it's true that it's rare for the employer to try to
    track down that information, IF you're hired, those little lies
    will come out sooner or later. And don't expect your employer
    to be too sympathetic or understanding when it does.

                               The Resume

       The general nature and impersonality of a standard job
    application form is obvious insufficient. You can't easily
    present your best side. For many - if not most - of the better
    jobs, the applicants design their own application form. It's
    called a resume (with the last "e" sounding like an "a").
       In many respects, the resume is quite similar to the standard
    application form. It still gives the basics, such as personal
    information, and work and educational history. However, by
    being designed by the individual, it (hopefully) shows that
    individual in a better light.
       You won't need a resume for all jobs. In some cases, it will
    actually hurt your chances. (You wouldn't bring in a resume for
    a burger jockey job - although you would if you were applying
    for the position of head chef at a fancy restaurant.) You have
    to use some intelligence to know when to use one and when not to.
       Designing the resume isn't difficult if you just keep in mind
    what its function is. At the top should be all the basic
    information (who are you? where do you live?). Then will come
    all the other information, in order of importance.
       For example, if your educational background is the most
    impressive, that should come first. If your work background is
    more impressive, -that- comes first.
       The idea is to put all the pertinent information on a single
    sheet. Easy to see, easy to read, and well organized. The
    prospective employer can find all of the information at a
    quick glance.
       A second sheet can be used for an "Amplification." This is
    where the resume works for you. It gives you a place to put some
    information about yourself that doesn't fit elsewhere, but which
    could impress the employer to hire you instead of someone else.
       For example, working for 2 years at Dairy Queen could mean
    anything. There's no room or place for other information. But, if
    you were so well respected that you took care of ordering,
    opening and closing the store, and hiring and training of all
    new employees, all of a sudden that hash slinger job becomes
    something more impressive.
       The important thing is to keep the information relevant. If
    you won a beautiful baby contest at age 2, that has very little
    to do with a job programming computers. However, if you've
    designed and built your own computer from spare parts, the
    information won't fit anywhere on a standard application. It
    -will- fit in the Amplification of a resume.

                              The Interview

       If the company has any interest in you - and with many even
    if they don't at the moment - the next step in the process is a
    interview with someone responsible for hiring. This is to help
    the employer come to know you better and to have the opportunity
    of asking you questions and for getting clarification.
       The trick here is to relax - which is not always easy to do
    when you're desperate for a job. Some say to act like you don't
    really need the job. Personally I'd revise that to going in
    with the attitude that if you don't get this job, you'll get
    something different - maybe something better - before much
    longer.
       As will be mentioned in a bit, it's also good to keep in mind
    just exactly what you are doing. You have something to offer
    the company, and the company has something to offer you. It's
    a business deal. You're selling yourself, so to speak.

                               Appearance

       Many people object to it, but appearance IS important. That
    goes for the resume, and for the applicant. Many people have
    hangups about appearance. You don't have to like it, but you DO
    have to accept it as fact. Show to the interview with purple
    hair, an earring in your nose and a dirty shirt and you've
    probably blown your chances.
       How you dress depends on the job. Showing up for a job as
    an automechanic while dressed in a tuxedo in inappropriate.
    Showing up for a bank manager's job dressed in overalls is
    also inappropriate.
       Once again you have to use good sense. Having some idea of
    the company and what it does will help to guide you. Also be
    thinking of what your particular job choice will entail. Then
    dress accordingly.
       No matter what the job, neatness counts. So does cleanliness.

                               Confidence

       One of the great mistakes made by many people is to go into
    the interview convinced that they will -not- get the job. Instead,
    go in thinking that you can get it - that you are special enough,
    and qualified enough, to land it. After all, if -you- don't
    think you are able to get the job, how is the interviewer supposed
    to think so?
       That doesn't mean to be cocky or over confident.
       You have something to offer that company. The company has
    something to offer you. It's a trade. A business proposition.
    And you're both trying to "sell something" to the other.
       Imagine a salesman coming to you to offer a certain product.
    If he comes in with an attitude that you don't want or need that
    product, he's less likely to make the sale. If he comes in with
    a high pressure pitch, he probably still won't make the sale.
        Well, in the job market you're that salesman - and the product
    you're trying to sell is yourself.

                                Attitude

       Attitude is connected to confidence. It also goes far beyond
    that, both in find a job and in keeping it. Next to incompetence,
    more people fail to get, or lose, jobs based on attitude than for
    any other reason. (I still fire more people on this basis than
    for any other reason - such as recently when I fired 8 people who
    had BEGGED for a chance, and then showed that a party, movie, or
    weekend skiiing was more important to them than a promise.)
       Put yourself on the other side for a moment. You're the employer
    or company owner. You have an employee who shows up late, goes
    home early, likes to sit around a lot, never does anything beyond
    what he is specifically told to do, talks back to you, argues with
    the customers, etc. etc. etc. How long will you keep him (or her)
    around?
       If you get the idea that this is how the employee will be if
    hired, will you hire him (or her)?
       A second employee shows up early, goes out of his (or her) way
    to find something useful to do, is pleasant even to the rude
    customers and if he has some gripe about the company, at least
    he doesn't tell everyone who will listen.
       Attitude makes a lot of difference. It sometimes means having
    to swallow your pride (within reason, of course). It might mean
    occasionally doing tasks that are not your job to do (sweeping a
    floor, or whatever).
       It's not always easy. If you're being paid a low wage, and
    the big boss doesn't seem to appreciate your fine attitude, it's
    tempting to change that attitude and take on one that serves
    you better.  The less important you consider the job to be, the
    greater the temptation.
       As is so often true, those people with the worst attitude
    problems are usually those who recognize it least. As you spend
    more time working, you'll see this for yourself. Those employees
    who gripe and moan the most are generally the ones who contribute
    the least, who cause the most trouble - and then wonder why
    they get fired time after time, or at least end up going from job
    to job trying to find happiness.
       A friend of mine was hired by a company to carry out various
    cleaning and maintenance. Each night when he came home he did
    nothing but complain about how he hated the job and the boss and
    how he always had to do "the dirty work." On more than one occasion
    he would leave a floor half swept at quitting time.
       If the job is not turning out to meet your expectations, fine.
    Leave it and find another job. But keep in mind that your next
    employer just might contact the present one.
       Above all, never never NEVER bad mouth a past employer when
    applying for a job. No matter what has happened on your past
    job(s), complaining about it to a prospective employer will only
    tell him that you're likely to do that to him one day.

                          Gaining and Learning

       One of the things brought up in the discussion on Synopsys
    was a statement something like, "What can you learn at a job
    where you wrap burgers?"
       First - if you're not satisfied, you're not being forced to
    stay. There are plenty of other jobs around, including quite a
    few you'll like even less.
       Second - making a claim that there is no learning or gain to
    a particular job is a cop out. Maybe no great intelligence is
    required to throw a hunk of meat into a bun and wrap it in
    paper. You can learn how to do it like an expert in less than
    an hour without too much strain on the brain.
       So what?
       Take a job that is so potentially boring. No mental strain.
    What more perfect opportunity can there be for thinking and
    developing your own thoughts? Or for reviewing your outside
    studies?
       As a practical example, I once had a job where hours at a
    time were spent in driving highways from place to place. That
    has just slightly more of a mental requirement than wrapping a
    burger. In other words, it could have been incredibly boring,
    and sometimes was. But instead of allowing that boredom, on
    those long drives I would let my mind rove to create new stories
    and articles. I also developed a method for myself to make mental
    mathematical calculations quickly, accurately and without having
    to resort to either a calculator or paper - a system I still
    use. During those drives I also learned morse code and electronic
    theory enough to get my ham radio license.
       What you learn doesn't necessarily have to be limited to the
    job at hand. Watch the other people at work. Watch the manager
    or whoever is in charge. One day you might have people working
    for you. What are those around you doing wrong, or doing right?
       Then there's customer relations. Instead of flying off into
    a snit, when a customer is rude or unreasonable, use it as an
    opportunity to observe and study human nature. Make it a challenge
    to satisfy that person.
       In short, if a job is boring, you have only yourself to blame.
    FIND something interesting. Think up a better way to do that simple
    task if possible. If nothing else, use the time to stretch your
    imagination.
       And if wrapping burgers and wiping off tables is beneath you,
    very simply don't take the job in the first place. But if you DO
    accept that job, why not make the most of it?
       This simple thing can make ANY job enjoyable. More important,
    it can be of great benefit to you in a number of ways.

                            The Ultimate Job?

       Very simply - it doesn't exist. More than one person on
    Synopsys talked about wanting a job that paid lots and lots
    of money, allowed even more personal freedom, and required no
    effort. Be realistic. Even there WERE such jobs, who would
    get them? Such things certainly aren't handed out like free
    candy in kindergarten.
       My own means of making a living seems to many like something
    similar. I work my own hours, basically when I feel like it.
    If I decided at this moment that I wanted to watch some program
    on television, or settle down with a book, or just take a nap -
    fine. I can do it. And I *do* make a very good living. (Ask those
    who have seen my house and surroundings - all of which will be
    100% paid off in less than 2 years from now.)
       Quite a few fail to see the years it took to get where I am -
    or how long and how much effort it takes anyone who seems to have
    the ultimate job.
       The doctor who is now earning $100,000 per year SEEMS to be
    putting in only 5 or 6 hours per day, with extended vacations.
    What isn't seen are the hours upon hours of continuing study,
    the incredible stress that makes medicine the source of one of
    highest rates of suicide and ruined marriages, or the years of
    being a starving student and intern.
       In my case as the writer (hey!) who has it so good, people
    don't see the struggle against deadlines, or days with little
    or no sleep to meet a deadline, or years of 18 hour days only
    to be rewarded with rejections with the craft is learned.
       Those "ultimate jobs" don't come by magic. They are almost
    always earned -only- after years of dedicated work and sacrifice.
    Unless you happen to be one of the few who has been born into
    an ultra-rich family with an established family business, you're
    going to have to work hard. (Even if you ARE one of those few,
    if you sit back on your duff, that family business is likely to
    fold up under your feet. And believe me! I've seen that happen
    more than once.) Going to an old cliche - God help you if you're
    one of the -UN-fortunate few who has been born into a family
    that gives you everything and anything for doing nothing in
    return. (I've known those, too - and not a one of them is worth
    diddly squat.)
       Put very bluntly - if you want that ultimate job, you're
    going to have to bust your buns for it, with very little chance
    of ever achieving your goal. In almost every case, if you DO
    achieve that goal, you're very likely to find out that the job
    isn't what it seemed to be from the outside.
       You might even find yourself wishing to be back wrapping
    hamburgers rather than worrying if your next patient is going
    to sue your socks off because you didn't bother to pay attention
    to one class; or that you won't sell another article or book
    for a year; or that the voters will believe the other guy's line
    of bull and toss you out of office.

                               Background

       One final item (lecture?) is in order - that of background.
    Some has already been mentioned.
       Another major point on Synopsys was that of lousy teachers
    and a lousy school system. Admittedly, our educational system
    leave much to be desired. But before you condemn it you must
    stand back for a moment and analyze why it is that we have become
    one of the least educated countries in the world.
       Teachers aren't respected. They're ridiculed. "Oh, you're a
    teacher, huh? Is that ALL you can do?" and "Those who can, do.
    Those who can't, teach." and the ridiculous, barely living wage
    that teachers are paid.
       If you're still in school, pay close attention to the class.
    You'll find that about 25% of the students don't want to be
    there at all, and make this VERY well known. Another half are
    more silent, but still do what is required and little more. In
    that class of 25, maybe 3 put forth some real effort and go
    beyond what is required. And those 3 are often the outcasts, and
    are even laughed at.
       THAT is the teacher's life. 25% hate you for no reason; 50%
    don't care; and a class every second or third year where 10% make
    an effort and show come concern and care is all that keeps you
    going.
       What does learning the capital cities of the world have to do
    with wanting to become a computer programmer? More than you know!
       Once again drop into the role of employer. Two people come in
    to apply. Both know the stuff needed for the job. Of the two, one
    knows that and only that. The other knows the job - maybe not even
    as well - but is also someone who knows a little something about
    the world, and that Stockholm isn't a part of China.
       If nothing else, think of difference between two prospective
    employees - one of which cares about nothing but the minimal
    requirements, and the other who is curious enough to take on and
    learn new and different things.
       As with any job, your education is what you make of it. If you
    run into a bad teacher, fine. Learn inspite of it. If the teacher
    is mediochre, fine. Go beyond the minimum requirements. If the
    teacher is one of the rare ones . . . .
       Think about that for a moment. That rare teacher is just who I've
    been talking about through this entire issue. He or she gets very
    little reward (financial or otherwise), is dumped on all day and
    every day by society, students and faculty -
       BUT THEY DON'T GIVE UP!
       At least not right away.

       Education, work and life in general is just exactly what YOU
    make of it. If class requires that you memorize by Friday the
    names and locations of 10 of the European capitals and you stop
    right there - you'll be bored. And the fault is your own. Take one
    extra step and find out something special about those cities and
    countries and the people who live there. Spend an hour researching
    in an encylcopedia instead of watching reruns of Mr. Ed and the
    Brady Bunch.
       A couple of years, or even months, of this and all of a sudden
    it becomes habit. And all of a sudden you find yourself becoming
    the kind of person who the company CAN'T let go, or who finds
    himself or herself in a position of being able to choose between
    the top three companies in that field.

       Or you could be one of the many who prefers to wrap burgers
    and complain about how bad you have it?

    Until Next Time

       Okay, okay. I got a little carried away at the end there. I'm
    sorry. It's just that I've been on both sides of that proverbial
    fence and have seen it.
       I've wrapped burgers; I've worked with the public in various
    capacities and have had to deal with rude customers; I've been on
    both sides of the teacher's desk. I've swept floors and have
    cleaned toilets and have . . . .
       What it comes down to isn't WHAT you do, but HOW you do it and
    what you make of it.
       I come from a lower middle class family from a poor and
    predominantly black section of the midwest where my family had to
    struggle and save for 10 years before we could get a new car. Now
    I'm worth . . . . naw, that's none of your business. But it DOES
    show that it can be done. If you just make use of your opportunities
    and DON'T GIVE UP!!!
       End of lecture.
       And good luck to ya! Just keep in mind that you can do it, if
    you just want to bad enough.

       Next time?
       Before that, you may have noticed that downloads of the past
    issues are no longer available. The reason is simple. Zephyr has
    become popular enough that the hard drive was literally run into
    the ground. Thane (our Sysop) has kindly kept the system up and
    running on disk drive. But we already have nearly two disks full
    of back issues of the magazine. Put those into the drives and all
    of a sudden there's no room for anything else.
       These days, there aren't many magazines you can subscribe to for
    less than about $15/year - and that for monthly issues. Those
    publications that come out weekly cost in the $50+ range.
       ZEPHYR MAGAZINE isn't quite like one of the slicks, obviously.
    But I'd like to think that you'd be willing to kick over $10 -
    less than the cost of a CD and not a whole lot more than a stint
    at McDonald's - to keep it and the board alive.
       If just 40 users could see their way to part with that precious
    $10, we'd have more than enough to replace the hard drive and
    bring this system back up to where it should be. If 50 would do
    so, that would even go towards helping Thane pay some of the other
    bills involved.
       We're not Channel 8, but we're still in need of public support.
       Your contribution will be very much appreciated.

       Send to:    T. H. Smith
                   PO Box 17274
                   Mesa, AZ  85212

Zephyr Magazine is © Gene Williams. All rights reserved.