On-The-Job-less Training

Well, hello there and thanks for surfing my wave!

Needless to say, On-The-Job Training is gone – at least, safe to say, for the next several years.

One of the mottos in HR these days is, “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill.”  What a bull’s-eye this is, but are we prepared for it?  I wished all the folks I’ve worked for followed this mantra; they’ve mostly hired me because I have the skills, but my attitude sours along the way as a result of a disconnect: workers improperly placed in an incompatible culture.  By the same token, if we don’t have the basic skills-set (hopefully more) sought after by employers, our attitude will suffer going into the interview because we already have a self-perceived, built-in weakness that will unexpectedly come out in conversation with a hiring manager.  They look for this to weed us out.  We must appear, feel and act the part.  Dustin Hoffman, in preparing for his Oscar-Winning Best Lead Actor role of Raymond in the 1988 Best Picture, Rain Man, spent considerable lengths of time among people living with autism, screening documentaries and meeting with health-care experts in the field.  He came to work prepared; Mr. Hoffman knew, lived and experienced the part.  At this stage, it isn’t acting, it’s being.

In today’s’ World of Unemployment, we must have it all; the positive and can-do attitude with the skills and capabilities to perform the tasks of the profession – and beyond.  We must sit down and make a list of what failed us before; what didn’t work to the best of our abilities and take the scads of time we now have to improve our attitude and talents to make us more efficient people and employees.  Become an expert in yourself; if you are the best you, than you can go anywhere with that and carry out anything.  If you are your strengths, you can show them off.

Just as I’m doing with this website, fine-tune yourself, both inside and out, to come across with vim and vigor.  If you’ve done your homework, chances are you will exude that energy and confidence in an interview.  People will want to know more about you.  If my website is enticing to read and navigate, I can attract more people to enjoy it.  And remember, have fun doing it.  If you’re not having fun with a job just starting out, is that fair to you or a boss?  What will that be like down the road?

“I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I’ve written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part.”
~ Shirley MacLaine

Why Just Look For A Job? Create One!™
TheUnemployMENTOR – email@theunemploymentor.com

Tagged as: navigating our lives