Community Blog: Center for WorkTime Options

Imagine being a 31-year-old single mother of two children, renting a one-bedroom apartment, driving a used-used iffy car to your full-time job that pays nearly $12 per hour. Really, no matter what your situation is, imagine this for a moment. You can’t move in with your parents and they can’t help with childcare or finances. You hear about a career counselor who may be able to help you get a job with higher pay. The career counselor advises you to go back to school, to take computer classes and to get into a training program to get on a career advancement path. As you drive your not-trustworthy car (not insured either?) to pick you your children, you want to scream and cry and maybe lash out in some way about the unfairness of life.

Most of us can add a lot more to this story. We can add more scary details, or we can count the blessings this family has—maybe we can do both. However, most of us will agree with the career counselor who says that to make more money and to improve her life this single mom needs to become a “Working Learner.”

Working Learners are working and going to school for a class, a certificate, a credential or a degree. And Working Learners are working, caring for families, participating in various communities, and exercising and sleeping the recommended seven to eight hours each night.

How, I wonder, can this happen? How can a single parent add a school schedule on top of an already overloaded life? Even if classes are free. Even if the school is within walking distance of home. Even if someone will provide free childcare.

We all have the same number of hours each day. Imagine being this woman. Imagine what you could say if she is your family member, friend or neighbor.

But, more, if you are currently unemployed, think about how hard it is to be the Learner part even when you are not working. It’s hard to get things together to be in school, isn’t it?

Someone recently said, “These days there is no such thing as a ‘come as you are’ job.” It means we need to get new training and education that is required for a new job. We need to find the time and resources to make it happen whether we are Working Learners or Not-Yet-Working Learners.

Think about it.

You were fired? Well, maybe not. Maybe you were laid off along with other people. Maybe your department was closed in a cost-cutting effort. Maybe your company went out of business or moved to another country. There are many reasons why people leave their jobs. In reality, “fired” isn’t usually one of them. Rethink your use of the word “fired” because of the negativity attached to the word.

What does “fired” mean to you? For most people “fired” means more than “my job and I aren’t together anymore.” “Fired” sounds like you did something wrong so you were told to leave your job. The word “Fired” creates suspicion and doubt about your skills and capabilities.

Ask yourself, “Why did I leave my job?” Was it an issue of my performance and I stubbornly refused to learn new skills and procedures? Was it an issue of my terrible attitude? Was I caught doing something illegal? Probably not.

If you didn’t leave your job because of your behavior or attitude (things in your control), you left because of something about the organization, your department, or your manager (not in your control). Sometimes the reason is personal, such as a family emergency or decision to return to school. Find a brief and accurate phrase to replace “fired” on job applications and forms where you have a teeny space to explain your reason for leaving. Examples are

Department downsized

New management

Company moved

Family emergency

When job interviewers ask for more information, tell a short version of your story with no negatives, no victim attitude, and no finger-pointing.

“Corporate decided such and such.”

“The company president retired and such and such happened.”

“When my mother died I needed to leave my job to do such and such.”

“I thought I’d retire, but I didn’t like it.”

“I took off a year to go to school.”

If you don’t tell your version of why you left your job, interviewers will make up something—and they aren’t likely to check their story with you. Their version of your story may be nothing like the truth. Their version may make you seem like a bad person or bad worker, and you won’t even know about it. Avoid contributing to this by saying you were “fired.”

You should have seen the two of us alone in the hospital elevator today for our ride between floors. All 5’ of me in an oh-so-business outfit (okay, suit), and all 6’5” of him in an open leather vest, no shirt, jeans, boots, and chains galore. And he also wore a logo and lots of facial hair and body art. We gave each other big grins and shoulder shrugs. Our brief chat confirmed our tallness and lack of tallness. In addition, we discovered he weighed nearly two hundred pounds more than I weigh. He was Big and I was Small.

If I get to choose another lifetime, as in reincarnation, I hope to return as a tall man nex. Ask any small woman if she has stories (that’s pleural!) about being overlooked, dismissed and unheard because of her stature. Add “short” to “woman,” and “short woman” amps up communication and credibility challenges.

Anyway, I have a picture burned into my brain after today’s biker encounter. The biker (he wore a patch that told me so) took up nearly all of the elevator car, top to bottom and side to side. What could I have said that would have made an impression on him? “Move over, Buster; I was here first.” Not! “When you stand there like that I feel threatened, so I want you to get off my elevator.” Not ever!

My feeble attempt at humor was matched by his feeble attempt at conversation. We both asked the same clever question, “How tall are you?” One of my truthful answers is that “I’m not as tall as I’d like to be,” but the big biker got the real numbers out of me on his first try. Small usually tells the truth to Big, even for grownups.

In general, Big gets more respect, more pay, more promotions, more everything—you’ve seen the research, I’m sure. Who wouldn’t want to be Big? But wait, there’s hope for my kind. The research of Arianne Cohen, author of The Tall Book, indicates that short people can be perceived as taller if they exhibit certain behaviors. Her recommendations won’t work all the time, but are worth keeping in mind.

Act like a leader. I wish I could have offered to shake hands while saying, “Thank you for coming to my hospital today, Mr. Biker.”

Look down on tall people. Unless you carry a chair this won’t work in an elevator, but usually a short person can stand when tall people are sitting at meetings.

Use your personal space. And take some extra. Put over four feet between you and the tall person. Gesture widely. Command direct eye contact.

Don’t be shy. Short people too easily blend into their surroundings. Imagine Mr. Biker looking timid and shy. Think like Mr. Biker: stand tall, be noticed.

Be unforgettable. Tall people will take most of the available space and air time unless short people make themselves memorable. 

  

Happy Birthday to me. Soon I’ll be hearing friends sing those wonderful words for me as we celebrate that I have lived another year. Behind the scene, I am preparing for my annual stretch goal. Do you have an annual stretch goal? It’s a tradition with me to decide to do something that I am not likely to do, ever, unless I plan it as a stretch goal.

My stretch goals do not have to be big, or involve a lot of time and effort. My only requirement is that there is a “kidding factor”—as in people who know me saying, “you’ve got to be kidding!”

One year I read a book of poetry that someone raved about. When I heard my inner voice say, “I’d never read something like that,” I realized I’d found another stretch goal. When I hear about something, or someone doing something that is almost unimaginable for me, I know I’ve found a stretch goal. Every year at my birthday time I have a list of kidding-factor possibilities to choose from.

I have done things and learned about things that would have passed me by (and it wouldn’t have mattered to me). Yet these are some of my best stories, and they tie into some of my biggest accomplishments.

But enough about me, what about you? What can you do that will stretch you to new insights about yourself? Start thinking about the stretch goal you can set for your next birthday. Over the years, our little stretches add up and make us more flexible, open-minded, story-telling old people.

Research has shown that people who regularly stretch themselves to tackle new and different activities are more resilient and more imaginative problem-solvers when hard times come around. So, what’s your excuse? Go to a rodeo, introduce yourself to a stranger each week, plant tomatoes, fix a soufflé. The stretch goal possibilities are endless. Choose one and get going.

Working people get dressed in work clothes to go to their jobs. Looking for work is the job of an unemployed person. Therefore, unemployed people get dressed to look for work. Maybe my logic isn’t the best, but you get the idea. All things job seekers can do to make their job searches more effective are worth doing, right? Getting dressed for job search is one of those little things that can have big results.

So, first, get out of PJs, grubbies and exercise outfits to begin your daily job search activities. Yes, even while job searching at your computer at home—and, especially, if you are home alone. Getting dressed in “work clothes” or a “success outfit” signals your body and mind to get to work and to be effective.

Think about it: you already have work clothes, an interview outfit, vacation clothes, etc. Different attire goes with different activities. If this seems silly and too much like putting on a costume to make phone calls and push a few computer keys, it really isn’t. Match a “success outfit” with your job search activities. Experiment with it for a week and notice the differences in your mood, attitude, behavior--and your results.

To select your job search outfit (or outfits), ask yourself questions. Does this outfit make me feel like a winner? Do I associate a successful time with this outfit? Does this outfit go with the type of work I want? Does this outfit show that I care about the results of my job search efforts?

Some people also add “success jewelry” or accessories to their outfits. Experiment with wearing jewelry that reminds you of good times and successes from your past. Rings, bracelets and watches are in front of your eyes during every job seeking activity, so make them reminders of your past and future successes. You know that success breeds success. Go get dressed now.

Actors prepare for their auditions. They don’t take any chances on factors within their control such as how they look and sound. Before their auditions they take time to prepare what they will look like, what they will wear, what they will say, what talents they will spotlight, etc. Preparations boost their confidence. Older job seekers who need more confidence can learn a few lessons from actors.

œ Be strategic about the timing of your interviews. Arrange your job interviews so the memory of your presentation will be clear in interviewers’ minds. If you are lost in the middle of a group it isn’t likely you will be memorable. You want to have your interview at a time near the end of the interviewing schedule. Then, the people who came before you will be forgotten and you will be the new shining star.

œ Be strategic about what you wear to your interview. Do your research and learn what people wear to work at the place where you want a job. For example, search the website for pictures, ask someone who works there now, go watch people who leave the workplace at the end of a day. Decide what to wear that closely matches what workers wear, then dress just a notch above. Put on your outfit, then stand and sit in a chair in front of a mirror. Do you look like a relaxed and confident person? The idea is to look the part. You don’t want to be over- or under-dressed. Today, in many workplaces you will not look the part in your 1980s blue suit.

œ Be strategic about what you will say. It’s no big mystery what employers will ask during job interviews. That means you can prepare. Employers will ask you about you—fortunately, it’s a subject about which you are the expert. They will ask you about the job which they will describe for you. They will want to learn about your accomplishments and qualifications that match their requirements. Of course, if they ask you surprising questions, you can improvise effectively because you are relaxed and confident. Also, it’s important not to memorize your answers—non-actors usually appear phony when reciting something memorized. Worse, some people forget what they memorized and then freeze up.

œ Attend lessons and rehearsals. Everyone can learn new tips and techniques in classes and books and coaching sessions. Then, for every interview you schedule, also schedule two practice interviews with friends. (Note: Do not do this with your Honey. It leads to arguments about who says stupid things and it doesn’t do much for confidence-building.) Give your friends a list of questions. Include a few questions that you hope your interviewer will not ask. The dreaded questions are the most important ones to prepare. Ask your practice interviewers to give you a good workout. Expect to be your own worst critic. That's a good thing. Most people find their practice interviews are more challenging than their real interviews.

These ideas may seem silly to job seekers over fifty. But, what’s silly about wanting something and preparing to get it?

Words matter. Today, thanks to President Obama discussing his lack of bowling skills with Jay Leno on last night's "The Tonight Show,” people will be talking about how much words matter. Last night Obama said of his bowling, “It was like the Special Olympics or something." Ooooops.

So today some people are going to talk about political correctness, some will talk about how hurtful words can be, some will talk about what most of us learned on grade school playgrounds about how “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Some will talk of bullying and verbal abuse, some will talk of our need to toughen up and talk about important topics.

Unfortunately, not many people will talk about how words matter to older workers and older job seekers. But words certainly do matter to older workers. Offending words--and there are many--add up to up charges of workplace age discrimination in hiring, promotions, retention and terminations. Some of the typical, unquestioned stereotypical phrases people toss around are:

-someone younger

-energetic and youthful

-when will you retire?

-are you still around?

-health problems at your age

-slow and can’t multitask

-set in your ways

-people your age

-same age as your children

-get along with younger coworkers

You can probably add to this list from your own experience. Feel free to comment below.

In my work I hear older workers complaining about age discrimination all the time. We all need to think about the impact of our words. We need to choose our words more carefully. Words convey meaning; that’s their purpose.

I wish Obama had said something about older workers instead of bowling. I wish he had said his bowling skills are as bad as an older worker’s typing skills.

“I knew how to type,” my neighbor told me, “but that was in the 1950s.” Yikes, I thought. This pert, well-groomed woman in her late seventies typed 50-60 years ago (when it was called “typing,” not “keyboarding”). She told me that she had worked for a couple of years in a small insurance company office, but never since.

Nowadays my neighbor doesn’t use a computer. Nobody showed her how. So she is enrolling in classes to learn computer applications, current office procedures, and to increase her keyboarding speed. Why? Because she needs to work. She needs to supplement her retirement income that was supposed to last for her lifetime. She considers herself fortunate because she is in good health and she has what she calls “a youthful outlook.” She can see her future later this year as an office worker.

The way things are now with the poor global economy and our extended life spans, we all need to look toward our futures. What work will we do, what skills and knowledge do we need, and when will we stop working or retire? We need to figure this out. Now.

Older workers got a jolt last week when The New York Post, in a cost-cutting measure, laid off 86-year-old legendary gossip columnist Liz Smith. You could hear the sound of another nail going into the job security coffin. Obviously, these days, job security is for nobody. Not even for people who are famous, who do their job well, and who have been doing that job for over thirty years.

But don’t feel too sorry for Liz Smith. In fact, take a couple of career management lessons from her. First, she is doing what she wants to do with her time, and her age has nothing to do with it. We should all be so fortunate. Some bloggers said she should retire because she has plenty of money and she is old. What does “retire” mean to these people? Does it mean Smith should order up a nice rocker, find herself a nice porch, and rock until she drops? Get real, she could rock for another fifteen or more years since women live so long these days.

Does our society really say she isn’t supposed to work because she is past her 85 th birthday and she has money? If so, what do we say if she is old and has no money, as in the situation of my neighbor? And what will we be saying to the big group of aging Boomers who find themselves with no money and no jobs well before they become 70?

It’s time to think about this for ourselves as well as for our society. Herein lies the second career management lesson from Liz Smith’s situation. She had other work projects underway when she was laid off. Her employer wasn’t her only source of work and income. She was already diversified. She had other places to take her laptop.

So, last week Liz Smith was laid off and this week she is writing for other publications, she is writing another book, and she plans to write five days a week for www.wowOwow.com, a website she co-founded some time ago. For all we know, she may have plans to do some of her writing in her rocking chair….

But what about you, your career plan, your retirement plan, your old age? Is it time to take lessons from Liz Smith and my neighbor? Find yourself a comfy chair (maybe a rocking chair) and think about these things. We all get old sooner than we think.

Mid- and late-life job seekers have problems talking with interviewers (and friends and family, for that matter) about why they aren’t working. A day’s train ride can fix that. Here’s what to do.

1. Get one round-trip train ticket to Los Angeles from downtown San Diego and plan for a weekday away. This is not a vacation day, you have an assignment. If a train ticket seems too expensive, ask someone for an early birthday gift. Or, ask your loved ones to contribute to the cost of your ticket. If people know about your plan, it will be easy for you to tell them about your adventure when you return.

2. Board the early train and look for a commuter sitting beside a window. Most likely, this person will already be working. You want to sit beside a person who is going to work. (The window person is least likely to get up and move away from you.)

3. Get out your “friendly stranger” attitude. Smile. Ask something like, “Are you working this morning?” or “Are you going to your office this morning?” Be friendly and open.

4. Do not pester your new friend. Once the train is underway, tell your new friend something like this: “I think you are so lucky to have a good job right now. I used to work at (tell name) and then (tell why you don’t work there any longer).”

5. That’s all. Maybe you’ll have a chance to discuss your situation; maybe not. Maybe your new friend will tell you to go sit some other place. It doesn’t matter…you accomplished your goal—to tell someone why you aren’t working at The Place these days.

6. Each time the train stops, find another new best friend on the way to work. Repeat the above steps. Each time the train stops, go find a new best friend.

7. At lunch in Los Angeles, before you return to San Diego, look for more new friends to tell about why you are no longer working at The Place. You won’t be a Pest or a Weirdo, just a friendly person making small talk about work.

8. Of course, your mission will remain the same for your return trip to San Diego. Make the most of every opportunity to chat with strangers and tell people how lucky they are to have a job—and tell about why you aren’t working now. (You will get tired of your story. You will shorten it. You will get all the icky emotion off it. Yippee.)

9. When you get home at the end of your long busy day, you’ll have plenty of stories to share when someone asks, “How was your train ride?”

The point of this Train Ride is to transform the way you talk about yourself with strangers, and to shorten your explanation about why you no longer work at The Place. After the Train Ride you will be ready for that interviewer question, “Tell me about why you left your job at The Place.”

  Older workers have a lot on their minds these days. They are looking for ways to cope with strange and awful and unexpected economic situations. The workplace picture seems so bleak. Industries are transforming. Jobs are going away. Emerging jobs are mysteries with new vocabularies. Yesterday’s skills are of little value today. Everything has new technology attached to it. Retirement savings disappeared. Everything is different.

Everybody is playing grownup right now. Leadership all over the planet is making up solutions for problems they haven’t seen before. That goes for leadership in our homes, communities, and organizations. That goes for states and the federal government in the USA . That goes for problems about air and food and water and transportation and war and plague … and work and careers.

Unfortunately, even with all the workplace changes and confusion, older workers freely pass along career advice from bygone days. This has to stop. Career advice comes in two varieties: worthy and crappy. Don’t bog down younger people (or yourself!) with crappy career advice.

Everything changed. In less than one generation, workplaces and occupations have become very different. How old were you when you learned about work and working? Where did you get your information about making career decisions, about what jobs are available, about what skills are needed for today’s jobs? It was probably from someone who learned about work in the 1940s or 1960s, or even 1980s.

So if everything changed, isn’t it about time to update your career and jobs knowledge? Start talking to people about their job ideas and information. Together we can get a better understanding of what is crappy career advice and what is worthy career advice for 2009.

“How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree?” is from a song that made an impression on me when I was a kid. (Lyrics and 1918 recording: http://tinyurl.com/apobq4)

All the recent brouhaha about President Obama and his BlackBerry reminded me of that old song. After the Inauguration when the new people got to the White House and bumped into the tech dark ages, I thought about Paree—and older workers and younger workers.

Younger workers (the new President with his BlackBerry is an example), have integrated new tech tools into their everyday ways of doing business and life. In many workplaces (and it appears even in the White House) older workers have continued to create speed bumps for using today’s efficiency tools.

With today’s new tools--and new disasters all around us--it's time to give up the familiar killer words, “We didn’t do it that way before.” It’s reasonable to expect that the people who went to Paree and got new tools and new ways to work are not heading back to farms to do things as they did in days of old.

Older workers, pay attention. You may not have to go to Paree, but it’s a good idea to go to school. Learn about the new tools, new techniques, new ways to work. Find out what younger people know, what they are doing, and also study the needs of today's workplaces. You can go to school by taking traditional or online classes, reading, talking with others...the point is to learn about the expectations and requirements of workplaces.

If you want to work, you need skills and knowledge that employers are interested in buying. It’s up to you to get ready to work with your next boss who may have new ways to work and probably will use the latest technology and expect the same from you.

Interviewers can be counted on to ask why you left your last job. When older workers say, “I was fired” or “I was terminated” it sends out a big warning sign to interviewers. Usually the first thought is that you did something wrong. The second thought is that you don’t know how to talk about why you left your last job. Suddenly, you aren’t looking like a very strong candidate for the job.

Interviewers expect older workers to know how to talk about themselves and their work experiences. So, here’s an idea to help you prepare for the next interviewer who asks, “Why did you leave that job?”

You will deliver the answer you prepared and practiced that begins with, “The company….” You will tell what the company did, what was happening in your industry or department, and maybe tell how many other people were also affected.

For example, “The company closed the store where I worked and there were no other positions for me, so I was laid off.” “The company business was so slow at the end of last year they terminated about 500 workers in my department.” “The company had to cut costs so my work area went from 300 people to 17. I got to stay, but a few months later they laid off the rest of us.”

Notice how these answers don’t create any doubt about your abilities, skills, or attitude? These answers are about the business decisions made by the company. That’s the way you want it. Avoid saying anything that would make your interviewer think there is something wrong with you or the way you work.

If, however, you lost your last job because of your bad behavior, your poor decisions, or something about your personal situation, you will need to find another strategy. It will go against you to blame those circumstances on “the company.”

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolution to eat better and exercise more? If you are a male job seeker, age 55-64, it is particularly important to be get healthier as soon as possible. In one of those odd crossovers of life’s circumstances, it turns out there is a connection between being healthy and being employed.

Recent findings from the Center of Retirement Research at Boston College show that an older man’s ability to work has more to do with his health than it does with the unemployment rate. So, even if the local unemployment rate is 10 percent, an older man’s unemployment is more related to his health than to the high unemployment rate.

There’s more to the story, of course, but think about it. Men die about five years before women. Men have higher rates of killer diseases. You could say that, in general, men deteriorate sooner. It costs more for men's health insurance. So if you are an employer, would you be in a hurry to hire an older man who doesn’t seem to be in great physical condition, all other things being equal?

“It’s all about my skills and experience, not my health,” some older men will say. Maybe. But maybe not. Don’t risk it. If not for a job, at least for the health of it, stick to your diet and exercise resolutions this year.

On a related topic, if you are a late-life job seeker who is newly slim and trim with a closet of Big Man clothes, you need to go shopping. You will need clothes that fit and flatter to make that important first impression while networking and interviewing.

It IS about your skills and experience. And how you look in your clothes. And your health.

Ask people, “How did you get into that kind of work?” They will probably tell you some version of “I just fell into it.” People spend more time planning a weekend getaway than they spend planning their work lives. C’mon, think about your own situation. (Yikes.)

  Boomers can expect to live into their 80s, and unlike previous generations, they are likely to work into their 70s. If that describes you, it’s time for career planning—now! Older workers who did little to plan their careers in the first half of their lives are not likely to “just fall into” suitable jobs in the future. The world of work has changed too much.

  Today’s employers require workers to have the necessary skills to do the job on the first day. The more skills you have for the job you’re after, the better your chances of getting an offer. By the way, it does not impress today’s employers that you are a “fast learner.” Employers expect you to have done some fast learning so that you match the job requirements before you apply for a job.

  So what skills are you going to learn? That’s where career planning comes in. Career planning is really about gathering a set of answers to the old, old question: “What do you want to do when you grow up?” What skills do you want to get, what skills do you need, what skills do employers pay most for, etc.—those are some of the questions for the career planning process.

  Career counselors help people assess their work interests, their values and priorities, their transferrable skills, their personality preferences, and more. This self-knowledge is the first step toward solid career planning. But, do most adults do career assessment? Do most older workers think it’s necessary? Nooooooo. Instead, they seem to be waiting for some stranger (an employer) to tell them what to like (job tasks), and then hire them to learn it and do it for a ton of money. (For the rest of their work lives…yes, sure.)

  Of course that seems silly when you think about it, so it’s time for career planning. Fortunately, there is a lot of information and assistance available. Career planning is the same process if you’re 18 or 78. Visit your local career center (www.workforce.org), go online to read career advice articles, borrow a book from the library, take an adult career planning class, visit the AARP or EDD websites. Start looking around and you will find lots of career planning assistance. It isn’t too late to get a good work life.

During a recent workshop of older job seekers someone asked, “Should I tell an interviewer about my disability?” A lively discussion followed.

“Under no circumstances should you discuss your disability,” advised someone.

“I plan to lie,” said a person who went on to explain how her disability would interfere with her job performance. “They won’t find out about my problem until after I’ve been hired,” she concluded.

“Never be the first person to bring up your disability,” urged another person.

Someone else argued, “Always tell the interviewer about your disability and the accommodations you need to do the job.”

What if you limp into the interviewer’s office? What if you have a cane? What if you have an invisible situation such as epilepsy? What if you are receiving psychiatric treatment?

The older job seekers were divided about the best advice regarding to tell or not to tell—and how and when to tell. Would you offer information or would you withhold information about a disability? What advice would you give someone else? Would you give different advice to a person with gray hair?

My advice? In two words: it depends.

There are times when it’s best to be on the offensive rather than on the defensive. In those situations it is best to bring up a disability and explain away any concerns the interviewer may have. Do not dodge the obvious: explain it. Choose your words carefully, but be open and tell how the disability will not interfere with you doing the job well. Employers want to hire people to solve problems, not people who bring more problems. Don’t allow the interviewer to make silent assumptions about your visible disability.

For example, you could say, “As you can see I use a cane to help me walk. Two years ago I was in a bad car crash and I’m lucky to be walking at all. I’m also lucky that I have nothing going on to interfere with my ability to do payroll processing and the rest of your job requirements.”

On the other hand, there are situations where a disability is not visible and it does not impact the work you do. In those situations there may be no reason to bring information about the disability into the interview.  

If the employer will discover your situation and become concerned after a pre-employment physical, be the first to make it clear that you are dealing (successfully) with a situation that does not interfere with your ability to do the job. Be prepared to give examples. “In the training program I just completed ….” “At my last job I ….”

Each of us is individual. (We get more individual as we get older, don’t we?) So, put yourself in the employer’s shoes and let this question be your guide about whether to tell or not to tell: what does the employer need to know to be sure you can do the job, fit in at the workplace, and be the best candidate?