I’ve interviewed dozens of recent college graduates over the past few months. The positions I hire for don’t necessarily require a bachelors degree but the lack of one becomes a limiting factor at the next level so I prefer to find people who do. It shows me they were able to complete a commitment that many start but fewer see through to the end.

Many of these young people graduated with honors from top schools in the Seattle area. Most are sharp individuals who exhibit much enthusiasm. They are refreshing to be around. The corporate machine has yet to jade them.

Yet I’m shocked at how many of these same graduates leave a poor first impression because they haven’t given much thought to the following questions:

1. What do I do well?
2. What is my passion?

Every college graduate should have their own “escalator speech” that mentions a skill they do well and articulates a clear passion for something.

I can’t overstate how important this is when you have 30 seconds or less to make an impression. At a recruiting fair, the first 10 seconds are critical and will determine if you’re worth pursuing. Your stellar grades and summer internships won’t matter you’ve given little thought to those question. Most hiring managers are not expecting a 5-year plan, but they do want to see that you’ve given some thought to your future.

At the recruiting fair I attended last week one women approached me and, after asking about my company, said, “I’m confident in my project management skills and would like to find a position that takes advantage of those skills, preferably at a small software company. That’s what I would enjoy”. She impressed me by showing that she’d given thought to what she does well and what she’d like to do. I didn’t have a position that fit her skills, but I told her about a company in Seattle that might be a good fit.

When I see a smart new graduate who can’t express himself well I can’t help but believe he’s been cheated somewhere along the line.

Being able to express yourself doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the job, but like spelling mistakes on a resume, it becomes an easy way to pull you out of the running early in the process.

But it’s never too late create your own escalator speech. I’ll bet many of those skills that seem like second nature to you are the same ones you’re good at. Match those skills to something you’re passionate about and you’re on your way.

This is the sign I hung in our men’s bathroom at work tonight. I don’t think it will last long. Thanks to TodTod for the idea.

Or, how not to get a job at the career fair.

I was invited to setup a booth at a local career fair today and figured it would be a good change of pace and a chance to network with other recruiters.

About an hour into the fair, a man approached my booth and we chatted for a few minutes. Before he left he picked up one of my business cards and said:

Well, if I can’t find anything better, I’ll give you a call and see if we can work something out

Those who know me are familiar with my disdain for the telephone. It’s a device I can’t stand because of how it disrupts our lives.

So I was thinking about why I dislike phones so much and then I remembered this job I had one summer while in college. I worked for a company that sold life insurance policies and burial insurance for seniors. I was a data entry rat who typed records into a very old computer. Sometimes, with supervisor approval, I could print stuff too. Man, those were exiting times.

I became so proficient at typing and printing that I was promoted to the resolution division. Here my job was to call life insurance policy holders whenever issues arose with their account. I learned very quickly that many calls were a bit awkward. I’d make the call, someone would answer and I’d ask to speak with the policy holder. Long pause………..

Finally the person would say, “I’m sorry but he died last month”.

I don’t know how many time this happened but at least a couple times a week. I never knew how to respond. I’d offer my condolences, but I always felt terrible. Sometimes I’d call the spouse of the person who had passed away, and it would set off a stream of painful emotions. When that happened, I’d leave my cubicle and head down to the exercise room and jump on the Stair Master to gather myself.

I was in the best shape of my life that summer.

I’ve gone through well over 100 resumes and conducted over 35 interviews during the past month. I enjoy this part of my job a lot although it oftentimes feels like I’m looking for a needle in a haystack.

Many candidates are so used to explaining why they left their last job, what their weaknesses are and where they want to be in five years they don’t know what to do when asked a question they’ve never heard before.  So when I interview I think of two or three questions the interviewee likely hasn’t been asked and watch how they react. Here are a few questions I’ve asked:

• What blogs do you read and why?
• What is the one thing this company does better than anyone else?
• Tell me about the last company that provided you with fantastic service.

I’d reckon that the law of thirds applies to those I interview: 1/3 = Good, 1/3 = Weird, 1/3 = Forgettable. I understand some will become nervous when a job is on the line and make mistakes, but here are a few of the more interesting things I came across:

• Several people showed up over an hour before their scheduled time.
• One person forgot to write his name on the application yet wrote his City, State and Zip down twice.
• One person showed up for a second interview in ragged jeans and a sweatshirt to interview with my manager.
• One person admitted he was a C student in college because he was there for the social life, not merely the classes.
• One  recent college grad with little experience submitted a 5 page resume.
• Several email addresses didn’t give off a good first impression. I saw several with words like “party”, “hunk”, and “vixen” in them.
• One person brought 7 letters of recommendation to the interview and asked if he could read a few out loud to me.
• Several people forgot to turn off their phones.
• One person asked to see the “company shirts”.
• One person asked our receptionist if she had a Yellow Pages he could borrow to locate the addresses for a few past employers.
• My Favorite: One guy asked how “extensive” the required drug test is.

Most people I bring in are good people, and I enjoy getting to know them. It’s not easy when I find someone I really like as a person, but know they wouldn’t be a good fit for the company. And it’s never fun calling someone to explain they didn’t get the job. I remember when I was a newly minted college graduate making the interview rounds. Some companies were respectful and kind even when declining to hire me. Others like Enterprise Rent A Car were so condescending and disrespectful that I decided then and there that I’d never give them a dime. And that was 14 years ago.

If I could give people looking for a job three interview tips they would be:

1. Act like you WANT the job. Show some emotion and passion! All things being equal, I’ll choose the person who wants it more.
2. Be able to articulate at least 2 things you do very well and give memorable examples to back them up.
3. Instead of sending me a bland resume, send a short cover letter with your blog address.

Here are the few of the perks the company I work for provides:

1. Paid for travel time including time getting to and from the airport
2. Paid mileage and parking, or paid taxi to airport
3. $35-75 day for food
4. Stay at some of the world’s best hotels, many in the $300-$500/night range
5. Never have to share a hotel room with a coworker
6. Very rarely travel and work on the same day
7. Paid 8 hours minimum while on business travel whether one actually works or not
8. Paid travel pushing overtime pay when travel takes place during the work day
9. $80-$100/month for cell phone
10. Air ravel on world’s top airlines

The list goes on but those are the main travel perks. Yet you would not believe all the moaning and complaining I still hear most of which comes from people who are in their first job out of tech school or college. They complain about the long hours, the crappy food, flight delays and the jet lag.

I can’t wait till these same coworkers take a job elsewhere and go on their first business trip only to find out they must take a crowded shuttle to the airport, share a room at the Holiday Inn and receive $25/day for food.  They seriously have no clue how dang spoiled they really are right now.

1. Technical Operations Manager
2. Group Program Manager
3. Marketing Manager
4. Product Manager
5. Support Engineer
6. Store Manager
7. Video Store Clerk

The only one that even remotely describes the actual job I did is Video Store Clerk. I had this job while I was attending college and it consisted of the following responsibilities:

• *Suggest John Hughes movies
• *Collect late fees

That’s it. My first day on the job, my boss made it clear that these were the two most important parts of the job. This is what would determine my success or failure. If I could do both well, I’d have a promising future in the video rental business! Wow!

Some may ask why anyone would suggest a John Hughes movie when so many other movies were available. The thinking goes like this: People wandering around video stores late at night aren’t looking for a movie like Memento that requires a fair amount of attention. If a couple came in late it night it usually meant they were just looking for something easy to follow with a good soundtrack. So I become quite skilled at suggesting movies like Home Alone, Pretty in Pink, or even the Breakfast Club if they looked a little rugged. 

But I hated to collect late fees. New Releases were only one day rentals and at least 40% of them came in late. Our boss required that we collect at least half the late fee on new releases, but we could waive any fees on older movies, most of which were 5-day rentals.

The only late fees we were never allowed to discount were those on Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis systems. We had to collect the full amount and the fees were hefty! Sometimes the late fees on these exceeded the replacement cost of the system. Unlike the movies that people could shove through our night return (hole in the door) renters of these gaming consoles would sneak into the store during peak times, quietly place everything on the counter and make a MAD DASH for the door!

I never felt like it was a good idea to act like a hero and run after them. What’s the worst I could do if I actually caught one? Make them watch Point Break? There was no time for that foolishness. I had customers to help, John Hughes movies to suggest and teens to keep out of the adult area.

I worked for a company where to “shake the toner” became synonymous with “wasting time”. We had two printers from which to choose: One black and white, one color laser. Only management and those working on a design for a client were supposed to use the color printer. The rest of us were instructed to use the black and white model. I once made the mistake of printing to the color printer in order to avoiding shaking the toner. The error of my ways was pointed out to me almost immediately.

There was one problem with the black and white printer: it was perpetually low on toner. I know laser cartridges can be given more life by a quick shake now and then. I’m not against being frugal, but the amount of time spent getting a basic print job to work was much too high.

Every week I’d see busy individuals spending 15 to 20 minutes at a time shaking the toner cartridge in order to get the printer working. These were marketers, developers and project managers doing most of the shaking. After I’d witnessed this foolishness for a few weeks, I approached our IT Manager and asked him why we didn’t keep a box of new toner cartridges near the printer. His response was that he wanted to do that but was instructed not to because we’d run the risk of going through more toner than was needed. If I recall correctly, the toner cartridges were in the $150/each neighborhood.

Yet it’s hard to imagine all the time wasted on what should be a very simple task. Most of our employees billed out at $150 or more so it didn’t take many trips to the printer to see that it would have been more cost effective to put a box of toner near the printer, even if we did waste the last few remnants of toner. Instead, we had erected a barrier to ensure that several hours were wasted each time the toner ran low.

Whenever I see internal business process that seem to be in place merely to waste employee’s time I refer to them as “shaking the toner” moments. Do you have any “shaking the toner” processes at your work?