Gary Hamel, a professor at the London Business School, talks about a world without bosses for the new Phoenix Lecture Series. His words are jarring and at first, way out there because from my American worldview working a corporate job, the hierarchy is just how things are and there is no other way to go about it. The business hierarchy is what our economy is fundamentally built upon. You break into the workforce as a bottom feeder, and after years and years of sucking up and smiling, you slowly inch your way up the corporate ladder. Such a system perpetuates only because as you reach that next level, it’s only fair that the fresh-faced recent graduate that has just started at your company yesterday goes through the same b.s. process. Helps build character, right? It sort of reminds me of that Kayak.com commercial I saw on TV about the “morons at the top”.

But Prof. Gary Hamel suggests otherwise. What if there was no hierarchy? What if you only did what you wanted to do and you couldn’t be compelled otherwise? What if the future of the company wasn’t about where the big dogs wanted to take the company, but was a crowd-sourced decision that everyone would be happy with? What if everyone is on the same level and you wouldn’t waste away the prime of your life sorting mail and getting coffee because your voice is as essential as anyone elses? I can barely fathom it myself but if there are companies out there that are as progressive as this, sign me up. As a pragmatist, I don’t see it working. I hope companies out there prove me wrong.

Good things come to those who wait. Isn’t that how the old adage goes? Well in a culture of high unemployment, waiting can be just about the most frustrating thing imaginable. You know your worth. You know you’re qualified for any number of the positions you’ve applied for. You’ve even applied for jobs that you deem below you. If you’re like me, you even applied to internships because frankly, you’re just bored of sitting around applying to jobs all day and your resume sure could use a little boost. I sure as heck know my self-confidence needed one.

So there you have it. That was me. Just last week, I was spending my days scouring the internet for suitable positions. I was constantly reevaluating my resume and cover letters, polishing them to perfection. Over the last six months or so, I’ve probably sent out over 100 resumes to prospective jobs, hoping that the stars would align and I would be able to put the sad and demoralizing days on the job hunt behind me.

I’m here to bring you some semblance of hope. You see, back towards the beginning half of my job search, I was still a happy-go-lucky postgraduate kid, whistling my merry tune along as I sent out my resume selectively and infrequently. I knew that most people getting hired nowadays were getting hooked up through their network and I could have just as easily settled for a job like that but I sort of wanted to prove my worth by digging in my heels and getting a job by my own merit.

And it was actually going okay. In the first week, I sent out five resumes and got an interview set up. In retrospect, that was a statistically successful week. Anyways, the position I was interviewing for was perfect. It was in a field I wanted to get into, there was a lot of room for growth, it came with a competitive salary/benefits and best of all, it was only 0.5 miles away from my house. Yes, you read that right. Half a freakin’ mile. So I was pretty stoked about that job. I interviewed well and pretty soon they had me go through a second round of interviews. For the position, this meant I had to submit a writing sample, which I carefully worked on and submitted ASAP. I felt good coming out of the whole ordeal. Everything was up to the HR department now. So I started waiting…

And waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. I emailed the guy I interviewed after a week, checking on the status of the hire. No news. Every week for two months straight, I emailed him. Still no news. It went from no news to “Wait a month” to “We regretfully inform you that we lost some clients due to the economic downturn and can’t hire at this moment. Please check back in January”.

By this time, I was over it. I couldn’t just wait around for this job to open up so I went on a resume frenzy. I continued sending out resumes, setting up interviews – going through the motions but I was never able to follow through. Nobody was hiring and my confidence in myself dipped to an all-time low. Bummer.

But I would still email my contact at the original interview every month, hoping for some good news. He assured me that if they could allocate the funds to justify a new hire, I would be first on the list. I was persistent in maintaining an amicable relationship with him but in the back of my head, I suspected that he was just stringing me on. They must’ve already hired somebody and he was just unwilling to dash my hopes. I even convinced myself that I would be willing to work as an intern there just to get my foot in the door, so I shot my contact an email saying I would like to start working there for free. I never got a response. Clearly, I needed to move on. I was acting like the job-search equivalent of a creepy stalker.

And then, last week, I checked my email in the morning while still groggy from sleep and saw that my contact had emailed to notify me that there is a part-time position open that could turn into a full-time position in a month and if I was available, the position was mine. I couldn’t believe it. But it really happened. And I really did start working this week.

So what I’m trying to say is don’t lose hope. Sometimes good things do come out of the blue. And be sure to be persistent in your job application/followup process. I know I was and I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why I’m waking up early tomorrow morning to commute 0.5 miles to work. God it feels good to say that. It’s about darn time.

When I was in college, I had a couple friends who knew exactly what they wanted to do in life. This confidence and assurance of their future had a tremendously positive effect on their lives and motivation. Some were certain they were going to grad school, law school, etc. For instance, my friend who was determined to get into medical school and become a doctor knew that in order to do so he would have to work diligently to achieve his goals. I’ve never seen someone work so hard for something in my life. In many ways, it was incredibly inspirational to see.

On the other hand, I had absolutely no direction. I was very uncertain what I want to do with my life, and as a result of that, my performance in undergrad was very lackluster. Graduate school wasn’t even on my radar. It’s hard to dedicate yourself to endless hours of studying with passion if you have absolutely no real motivation to do so. My philosophy was, “just graduate and have tons of fun”.

It’s no surprise, then, that my GPA suffered. I graduated, of course. But, in the back of my head, I felt like I was waving a white flag of surrender: there will be no graduate schools in my future, or so I thought.

Recently, however, I’ve had this “revelation” that law school is something that I really want to consider, and I believe very strongly that it fits my skill-set and personality well. My original inclination was to think, “I am way too old to switch my entire life around.” I already have a fairly successful business, and am in the process of launching other enterprises. Why would I go to law school?

But the more and more I thought about it, the more and more certain I became that this was something that (at the very least) I had to consider pursuing. So I started researching like mad crazy, trying to find out any and every bit of information about my chances to actually get into an accredited law school.

During the process I came to this revelation: it is never, NEVER too late to pursue something in life, if you decide that you want to pursue it. Well, okay, besides professional sports, or stuff that your body is just physically unable to handle. Besides that, if you are determined to do something, and you feel like life is taking you in a different direction, I say, why not? Just do it! It is never too late!

The more I researched Law School, the more I began to realize that even though I’ve been out of college for a while, I could easily pursue this reality if I wanted to. In fact, statistics shows that people who pursue graduate school at a later age tend to fare a lot better in school because of their work experience and what not.

Are you someone who’s considering graduate school but was always hesitant to fully commit? My next articles will begin to engage the different steps you need to take should you decide to go to a graduate school. It is definitely daunting! But hopefully, will be very helpful in deciding your future.

If you’re a recent postgraduate, you will have noticed a drastic change in Apple Computers, Inc. over the years. When I was in grade school, I used the blocky computers in my computer class. It was on an Apple computer that I learned to type, play Number Munchers and Oregon Trail, and learn introductory elements of layout and design. I always had fun creating these crazy keyboard macros that would make it so when an unsuspecting user hit a random key, he or she would think that their project crashed when in reality, I had the decency to save it for them on the desktop. I know. I was a rebel without a cause.

Anyways, the chunky and geeky computer of yesteryear has made way to sleeker, sexier models that culminated yesterday in the unveiling of Apple’s newest product: the unfortunately-named Apple iPad. Apart from sounding like Apple’s newest venture into feminine product design, the iPad (a multi-touch slate or pad computer) has actually garnered a lot of hype over the last year or so. In fact, rumor-mongering Apple products is such a hype machine that bloggers can make a living off of breaking down materials submitted by Apple Computer, Inc. to the patent office. So how do they do it and how can we benefit from it?

1. Have a proven track record. The reason Apple is Apple is because of its proven track record. When I first started buying Apple computers, they were for the “creatives that wanted a machine that wouldn’t crash on them”, which is still true. If you’re looking to play games, you probably still want to stay away from Apple computers. Apple has built its brand around the idea that its not prone to crashes or viruses, and its emphasis on good, durable and performance-oriented design. Since then, Apple has revolutionized the mp3 player with the iPod, the laptop with the Macbook and Macbook Pro and the mobile phone with the iPhone. With such culturally relevant products to its name, it’s only natural to look forward to what Apple has to offer in the future.

So what does this mean for you? If you want to hype yourself up (and believe me, you really do) so you can get hired at your next job attempt, you need to start from the ground up. Revisit your resume and cover-letters. Read them over and ask yourself why you included certain elements. You’re marketing yourself as an asset to a particular company. Does your entire resume help you? Does all of the experience you have on your resume help build up your image as the perfect person for this position? Are all of the skills you have listed even relevant? Is the layout of your resume appealing to the eye? You can always make yourself look better. You can always re-word your resume or rework design elements. Learn to build on your previous success to forge a path for your future.

2. Mum’s the word. Apple is notorious for its ability to stay mum on their future products. If anything gets leaked, somebody loses their job. Up until the day before the announcement, the consumer wasn’t sure if it was gonna be called the iPad, the iSlate or the iTablet. There’s a biblical proverb that says, “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” In the tech world, the less you know about a product, the more innovative it probably is.

Imagine if Apple had announced before the unveiling, “We’re going to be developing a product called the iPad. It’s a tablet computer with no ports or updated OS. It’s essentially a giant iPhone with no cellular service and will greatly disappoint the masses.” The truth just doesn’t sound as great. Steve Jobs saying that the newest product is the most exciting product he’s ever worked on and will revolutionize tech as we know it does.

Now check out your cover-letter. This is where you connect the dots on your resume and concoct the argument as to why you are the perfect candidate for so-and-so position. Stay mum on the reality of how you are really feeling. You might not feel that qualified but the key is to present yourself in confidence. Take a hint from Steve Jobs and make grand statements like, “I am willing to take on the challenge of this position”, or “I would be invaluable to your team” or even “I would be a good fit for your company”. Now, you really don’t know if you would do or be any of those things, but if you spin your resume right, the hiring manager may very well believe you and get you that interview you so desperately need.

So you got an interview? Congratulations on that wonderful feat! The insane job market has made it pretty dang hard to even get interviews these days. I know of some of my friends who have sent out over twenty applications without a single interview opportunity. It’s tough right now. But at least it’s been trending upwards these days and not downward.

Obviously, as you know, the interview is no guarantee that you are going to get the job. It’s only the first step, the first sign of “life” that the possibility exists. Different companies have different interviewing procedures, and you may even have to interview multiple times with multiple people. Thoroughness is a quality that companies possess to weed out the unqualified from the qualified.

Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that you prepare yourself for these interviews, to make the best possible first impression that you could possibly make. Here are some ways you can greatly improve your interview skills before you have to actually take your interview.

1. Look up questions beforehand, and think about what you will say. The reality is, most interviewers ask very similar questions. If you study a list of questions like the one provided here, then you should be pretty prepared for whatever questions they may ask you. I know it sounds ridiculous to “prepare” for questions, but some of the questions can be tough to answer well “on the spot”. For instance, the question about “what are some of your weaknesses” can be pretty tough to answer well unless you know how you’re going to answer it beforehand.

2. Practice selling yourself. Look. We all have our insecurities. Furthermore, I realize full well that it feels awkward at times “selling ourselves” because we live in a culture that values humility. Humility is definitely important, but false humility is not. There are things that you KNOW you can do well, and feeling embarrassed to say so is false humility. True humility is knowing who you are and what you can do well, but treating others as equals. Never believing you are a better person just because you are talented.

With that being said. YOU HAVE TO SELL YOURSELF CONFIDENTLY, and cannot be embarrassed to do so! Don’t be arrogant, of course. Arrogance is much different from confidence. Arrogance is an attitude of superiority. Confidence is an attitude of trust. You trust in yourself, and you know that you will be able to get the job done well.

Different jobs require different roles and responsibilities. For instance, if you are applying to an administrative position, you HAVE to make sure that people understand you have experience and a natural talent for administrative duties. Wow the interviewers, show them why you deserve this job!

3. Prepare/buy proper dress attire. You’re going to need to be wearing the right stuff. That’s the bottom line. Your clothes makes a huge impression on your employers. Generally speaking, suit and tie for guys and a two piece matching suit set for girls is a necessity. Unless you’re applying to some trendy skateboard company, and even then, I would consider at least a shirt and tie. The reality is, it’s easier to take people seriously when they come in dressed professionally.

4. Practice interviewing with a friend. This may be one of those ridiculous things, once again. But practicing the interview beforehand will help you a lot with things like: making good eye contact, using appropriate hand gestures, pronouncing words correctly, speaking up so your interviewers can hear you, and preparing your answers for interview questions vocally. It will also give you a place for some critical feedback that your friend who is interviewing you can provide. You should try to find someone who has already gone through the interview process, and can help make you a better interviewer.

5. Believe in yourself. That’s one of the best interview preparation tools anyone can offer you. If you believe in yourself, and know that YOU DO have something valuable to offer to the company, you will have a much easier time carrying yourself with confidence. That confidence will shine through and leave a good lasting first impression on the people who are thinking to employ you.

It’s sometimes good to treat this blog as, well…a blog and write about my personal life as opposed to didactically crafting entries that come off as preachy when done in excess. So here goes nothing. Take what you will from it.

Some of you might know that I’ve been looking for another job. I’m sort of in transition. I’m freelancing to get by but I’m looking for something solid that allows room for growth, but this slumping economy is doing me no favors. Somebody call the waaaaambulance and save me from my own self-pity. Anyways, I’ve been scouring the interweb for job opportunities and have done my fair share of applying. The lack of callbacks has been disappointing so this whole process of getting a new job has been pretty darn depressing.

I finally got a positive response two days ago. In the span of eight hours, I had sent in my resume, got a email response asking for a writing sample, punched that out and was scheduled for an interview. Things were moving along quickly but I wasn’t too stoked because I’d done this dance before and it had led me to nothing.

I wasn’t really nervous heading into the interview. I was much more nervous going to my interview a couple months ago and even though I had interviewed well then and moved on to the second round of interviews, a spontaneous hiring freeze prevented me from getting hired. So I figured even if I interview well for this position, the likelihood that I’ll get hired is still pretty low. Not the most positive outlook but it helps me quickly move on, I guess. Maybe because things moved so quickly this time, I didn’t really feel settled in to the interview until I was sitting in the conference room in my crispy clean suit, filling out some paperwork and waiting for the interviewer to make her appearance.

From the moment she walked in, it was sink or swim. She sat down, handed me her business card and the interview officially started. We talked about my resume, why I feel qualified, what responsibilities come with the position I’m applying for, the history of the company and so forth. I thought it was going rather well. Every question she shot out, I had a response for. I couldn’t believe how smoothly it was going. As the interview was winding down and I was getting my things together, she stopped and asked one final question.

“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”

I froze in my tracks. My stomach knotted up. How could I have been so stupid to not have thought this question through? I stumbled through a strength and froze when I got to the weakness. It felt like such a loaded question. The only thing that came to mind was, “My weakness is that I care too much.” but that seemed too much like a punchline to a joke so thankfully, I didn’t say it. I really had nothing to say but I ended up saying something about how I always need to be proactive, even within my job, or else my motivation will decline over time. I know. Lame.

So we’ll see if I get this job or not. Even if I don’t, I personally learned a valuable interview lesson. Be better prepared. Or more confident in my ability to BS and especially work on my delivery.

It’s too easy to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of unemployment. It’s a fact of life right now; we all can’t have jobs. The unemployment rate is rising and jobs are getting scaled back. The supply is overwhelming the demand. Chances are you know someone who is unemployed or on his way to being unemployed. Constant rejection, general lack of interest from potential employers, or jobs that just string you along until the last stages of hiring but leave you hanging for months at a time isn’t a pretty reality, so you have to take certain steps to help yourself get out of it.

1. Make a schedule. Yes. I know. The 9-5 part of a job isn’t what keeps people coming back but keeping busy is a bonus. The benefits and salary are what usually do. But take it from me, if you don’t keep yourself busy between the hours of 9-5, you’re going to find yourself cascading into a new level of lethargy. You want to go hang out with someone but all of your friends are in the office busting their chops to make their money. You can only hang out with those unemployed just like you, which isn’t a pretty sight because where is the sense in a bunch of unemployed people hanging out, going out to eat with money that isn’t theirs? So what do you do? Hang out with a bunch of college people at your alma mater? If you don’t kick that habit fast, you’ll end up the creepy old guy. Yes, that creepy old guy.

So what do you do? Make a schedule and stick to it. Commit how many hours you will, but do something probable. Don’t say you’re going to “work” on your employment for 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. That’ll crush the will of even the most stalwart being. Start with two hours in the morning, every business day. Spend those hours actively working on getting out of your unemployment. Edit your resume, tweak your cover letter, research your options, scour the internet, send out inquiry emails etc. Keep yourself busy. You can only reap what you sow. Don’t expect a golden opportunity to fall on your lap because you send out a couple emails every other week or so. Do work to get work!

2. Stay positive and proactive. Staying positive is completely a battle within your mind. The circumstances might feel overwhelming but if you keep a positive attitude, you’ll be able to press on through it. Little will set you apart from the hundreds to thousands of other applicants that go for the same job that you’re going for but persistence certainly will. Most people that get rejected from a job opportunity blacklist that opportunity like a bad breakup but if you stay in contact with the hiring manager, ask for criticism and constantly reshape yourself and re-apply yourself, the least you will do is make an impression on the hiring manager, which is more than what the other applicants can say.

As I am taking up a blue-collar filler job over the next couple of days that leaves me too physically exhausted to think, let alone string together cohesive sentences, coupled with the fact that I am experiencing the tail end of some sort of sickness I caught over Thanksgiving break, I’ll just post a quick tip with an amusing video.

1. Don’t lie on your resume. Don’t stretch the truth beyond your capabilities. Your resume represents a snapshot of your career stats and if you get hired based on your illegitimate body of work, you’ll quickly be outed when you can’t perform the job up to par.

Don’t be like this guy. Certified fork lift license, my butt.