Apr 2, 2008

BUSINESS MATTERS: Temp job will bridge gap in work history

Mildred Culp / Daily News columnist

Dear Dr. Culp: I'm a 28- year-old college student. I've been in and out of college since high school graduation in 1998 for a number of reasons, such as illness and extenuating family circumstances, to name a few. Between 1998 and 2001, I worked at different jobs and held a work-study job in college. I haven't been employed since the summer of 2006. The gaps in my work history have made it very hard to obtain a job.

I'd like to work in an office. I've been a cashier and a student office assistant. I have very good office skills and am proficient with most office programs. Although there were many years when I didn't have to work, I can honestly see now where it may have been best to create and obtain a stable work history. Where or how should I start to obtain employment?

-- Can't Budge



Dear Can't: You'll be budging soon. Go to the best temporary agency in town, where breaks in employment won't doom you. Sell yourself enthusiastically as a person with more-than-the-usual office skills, including software and customer service. Say that you're interested in temp-to-hire so you get on track for a full-time permanent position. Capitalize on your resolve and newlfound direction.



Dear Dr. Culp: I recently graduated and had a job interview last month. I thought it was going well until they started asking me stupid interview questions, such as "How do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" How do you go about responding to such stupid questions? Why would they ask me a question like that, what does it mean and what are the so-called "right" answers to that question? I feel like the four years of college were for nothing after the peanut butter and jelly question. Anyway, can you please give me some advice?

-- After Stupidity



Dear After: Is this for real?

Were you applying for a job making sandwiches? If so, with 20/20 hindsight you might have said, "Teach me your method and I'll follow it." If the job had nothing to do with sandwiches, you might have said, "I wouldn't make one on the job for fear of offending people or customers with peanut halitosis." Another even better response would have been to stand up, thank the person for the interview and invest your job-hunting time elsewhere.



Blog tip

If you're lost or starting all over, you'd benefit from an infusion of happy information. David Rosen writes, "Don't panic. You will not end up a hobo or pharmaceutical test subject" in his book, "What's That Job and How the H--- Do I Get It? The Inside Scoop on More than 50 Cool Jobs from The People Who Actually Have Them" (Broadway, $14.95).

You could work at a record label, for example, where "you need not hide the piercings or tattoos ... feel free to let your inner Goth, rocker or diva show." Then there's a short-lived opportunity in advertising. "There aren't many people in advertising over 50; this seems cool at first, until you realize that someday you will be 50 and have kids who need braces."

Would you qualify for being a designer? Take a look at yourself. "If you're the sort of person who constantly rearranges the table until it looks pretty, you're in the ballpark," Rosen quotes an art director saying. Then there's the understated humor of an anchor he quotes:

"Unfortunately, you'll constantly be canceling dinner plans or vacations with friends or significant others because at the last minute you get an assignment."

If you can relate to the humor in a job, that may be the job for you!



E-mail your job-hunting questions to award-winning journalist Dr. Mildred Culp at culp@workwise.net.