Chronic Complainers- Insensitive, Inconsistent or Insane?

Is it common sense to not bitch about your job to someone who is desperately searching for one or to not go on and on about your nagging Mother to someone who is grieving the loss of their own?  Evidently not.  Lately I’ve noticed a surge in irrational (unfounded) complaining.

There are a few chronic complainers in every workplace.  The Insensitive Type mentioned above are probably well known to be annoying, while the chronically Inconsistent Type are frustrating and likely unaware of the gap between their whining and reality.  Isn’t it always the coworker contributing the least that complains most about being overworked?

The  inconsistencies between your words and actions can diminish your credibility, especially among co-workers and others that witness the reality of your daily life (even if it eludes you).   Do you moan about being flat broke and and then regularly show up sporting new outfits or jetting off on trips?  If you like to splurge and treat yourself, your choice, but refrain from remarks about your depleted bank account.  No one feels sorry for you! Continue reading »

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Trashed-The Evidence of The Effort

In honor of Earth Day, here is a photo of the recycling spot on our street.  Yes, our neighborhood is trashed!  Yes, to accumulate this many bottles, some of the neighbors must have been trashed too!

It was shocking to see the recycling bins overflowing for so many days, but it also makes me smile.  This photo represents where we are today in relation to environmental issues; awareness and good intentions!  The demand for recycling obviously exceeds capacity at the moment and I believe programs will expand exponentially to meet the market demand!

Along with a group of my Business Students, I visited the largest factory of recycled plastic products in all of Europe yesterday and saw the innovative products they are making.  While remarkable, the complexity and limitations of using recycled household plastics reinforced my belief that Reduce is the R that will soon come to the forefront and make the biggest environmental impact!

Will the willingness to recycle carry over into a desire among consumers to reduce waste?  Perhaps the new economic climate and corporate cost cutting will drive some of the wasteful and environmentally unfriendly packaging out of our household products?  Let’s hope big innovations in waste reduction are  just around the corner…

Filed under In the news, Just Life, Social Issues, Unsolicited Advice, Women | Comment (0)

How Not to Get the Summer Internship of Your Dreams

Dear Madames:
My name is Hxxxxxx Xxxxxxx.  i am a masters student in the Hague.  i am looking for a part time job/internship in your esteemed organization.
i will send detials of my educational and professional background as soon as i get your response.
i would appreciate if you could forward your support, may be in linking me with organizations who would fit to my enquiry.
thank you in advance for your prompt and unreserved help.
Sincerely,
Hxxxxxx X.

Dear Hxxxxxx,

We are in fact looking for an intern at the WBII.  Unfortunately, due to your decision not to use proper capitalization in your writing, I am unable to consider you for the position or recommend you further.

I would also like to suggest that you take a different approach with your letters of interest.  Instead of asking for a favor based on nothing, you might get further stating how you would add value to the organization.

Good luck to you in your search.

Regards,

Suzy Oge

Think my response is a bit harsh?   We get a lot of inquiries at the WBII from international students seeking internships and the number of poor quality e-mails and letters we receive is shocking.  I don’t always take the time to respond, but lately I’ve been working more often with undergrad students and believe that they really benefit from feedback.  This  was not a borderline case with a simple typo either.

Here are a few tips for Internship Seekers.

1.  Do not wait for your University to hand you a plumb internship.  Seriously.  What are your chances of receiving the following letter?  Dear Billy, Based on your interest in Communications and your good work on the recent group project, we have decided to “assign” you a  summer internship handling Public Relations for Queen Beatrix.  Keep up the good work!

2.  Tell everyone you know that you are looking for an opportunity and what your particular interests are.  I was recently able to place a student with a company, only because the Executive I knew had also had trouble finding his first  internship and had an unexpected soft spot on the subject.  (The student would have gotten nowhere with HR.)

3.  Communicate and, even better, demonstrate that you will make a tangible contribution. In these tough economic times, every company is paying closer attention to costs.  If you could pick up the slack resulting from reduced headcount, etc., you will be seen as a solution.

4. Research the organization before you contact them.  Take a few minutes up to a few hours or days (depending on how much you want a specific opportunity).  If you are contacted for an interview, invest even more time to prepare!

5. Proofread!  If you are sending an unsolicited e-mail to a stranger, that one e-mail is you!  It is the only thing the receiver has to make his first impression about you.  Don’t screw it up!  Have a native speaker proofread your correspondence.   If you don’t want to bother, then don’t bother sending the request.

Finally, remember it could be worse.  Just be grateful that you are not graduating imminently and looking for your first “real job”.  Invest the time it takes to secure a great internship and it will pay off when you are ready to look for your first job.  Hopefully the job market will be much improved too!

Filed under Corporate, In the news, Unsolicited Advice | Comment (1)

Business News Gets Personal

Gone are the days when Business and Financial news existed primarily to inform investors in near real-time how much money they’ve won or lost on their investments.  Recently, business and financial news stories have crossed over to the mainstream and are making headlines in a big and bad way.

When I was in the US a few weeks ago, the evening news was dominated by lines of desperate people camped out in front of IndyMac in California to withdraw their money from the failed bank. Those images belong to another era, circa. 1929.

Last week in a suburb south of Boston, 53 year old Carlene Balderrama committed suicide just an hour and a half before her house was scheduled to be foreclosed and sold in auction.  Her suicide note instructed her husband and son to use the life insurance money to pay for the house. Continue reading »

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