Something everyone knows, but it’s nice to be reminded:  People who interview people for jobs enjoy asking questions.  They do it naturally, and enjoy it, actually.  So, the next time you’re in the interview hot seat, refrain from telling lengthy, exquisitely detailed stories, and instead let the interviewer lead the conversation.

Anna writes, “I won a fellowship to attend a weeklong conference.  I am overwhelmed.  My resume is pending critique from the career services department at school, I am waiting to find out which companies will be at the conference so I can figure out how to woo them into hiring me, and I have finals right when I come back.  I know this conference will be highly educational but I am most nervous about how to dress business casual.  I should be studying my wind power and electrical engineering knowledge, but I am more worried about finding shoes to go with the suit my sister sent me.  The whole concept is foreign to me!”

Have you heard?  Best Buy has printers on sale this week.  General Mills was named one of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women.  You can hear Conversations with Al McFarlane on Tuesdays at 9am.  How do I know? Somebody told somebody and somehow the information found its way through to me… it’s called Marketing, and it can be the primary difference between success and failure in business.  Because effective marketing has such a critical impact on a company’s bottom line, marketing is everyone’s responsibility.  Owners and employees alike, who want to keep the doors open and the income flowing in, can contribute by paying attention to what people see and hear and understand about their organization.

In 1847, archaeologists uncovered a King’s library of more than 23,000 clay tablets dating to about 707BC, containing information on everything from business deals to reports from border patrols.  On one of these tablets was written, “The Earth is degenerating today.  Bribery and corruption abound.  Children no longer obey their parents... It is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.” 

Almost three thousand years later, that world hasn’t changed, corruption still abounds, but the world hasn’t ended, either.  Everyone makes mistakes; everyone has moments of less than stellar judgment.