Despite the concept of a justice system being a contradiction, the United States has the finest justice system in the world.   It works best when it operates as it was meant to, in protecting law-abiding, hard-working taxpayers from predators of all kinds, including the big boys in Corporate America.  Bear this in mind as you venture into the arena of interviews, particularly if you have not interviewed in quite some time.

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Practitioners of past life regressions often ask their clients, in their relaxed states, to look down at their feet as they embark upon their journeys into prior incarnations. The rationale is that the state and style of one’s footwear will signify a specific period of time as well as one’s general position in life. Although hiring managers confine their interview questions to applicants’ current lives and fairly recent job histories, don’t assume that employers do not place great emphasis on candidates’ footwear, for it is a fact that most do!

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The process of interviewing for a job is akin to auditioning for a coveted position among a reality talent show such as American Idol.   A job applicant competes as one among hundreds, if not thousands, is granted but a few minutes to demonstrate his talents, and faces judges armed with solid job criteria as well as personal preferences.   Knowing that your livelihood may ride upon how you perform during an interview, if you are a job candidate, we urge you to prepare well for this critical screening process.

Our most important advice revolves around the time-honored lyrics of The Rolling Stones: “Time is on my side.”   In readying yourself for an interview, ensure that time is on your side!   Have your suit dry cleaned and hanging fresh in your closet at least several days before sitting down with the hiring manager.  We have all heard of or experienced incidents in which a heretofore-reliable dry cleaning service has given a customer the wrong garment, a garment that is not always returned to its proper owner.

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Too many women bought into the fairy tale that we could have it all.  We wanted to believe that we could truly balance a family and a house with well-paying, growth-oriented careers and interesting, extra-curricular pursuits.  Now we know that there is no such thing as having it all without sacrifice to our sanity or physical well being…or that of our loved ones!   But employers have yet to learn the lesson driven home to erstwhile-liberated women seeking perfect lives; employers still desire, indeed demand, perfect employees!

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Would George Orwell be vindicated or angered to learn that the premise of his novel, “1984″ has come to pass in the year 2009?   The answer is rhetorical, for the watchful eye of Big Brother is fixed firmly and furtively upon those seeking to secure employment.   With so few positions available for a glut of applicants, employers have redefined the criteria by which they hire.  It is no longer enough for a candidate to possess the appropriate skill sets and an impressive list of accomplishments.   It is no longer enough for an applicant’s credit history to meet the employer’s standards.  Now, you must march to the beat of a sneaky drummer if you hope to land a job in this desert of an economy.   You must pass muster via an unwritten and arguably unethical set of standards established by employers.  While these practices may violate Equal Employment Opportunity laws, this does not prevent employers from using them.

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Your resume worked:  you have followed our advice, based upon our thirty years of professional resume writing experience, or perhaps utilized our services directly.  You’ve secured the interview.  You have answered every question appropriately, balancing confidence with a revelation of your skills and genuine enthusiasm.  The interview seemed to have so gone well that you are expecting to receive a formal offer of employment.  During the closing dialogue, the hiring manager tossed out a seemingly offhand question that nonetheless felt like the slap of a boomerang.

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