Personnel Directors and Managing Directors of the one hundred largest companies in the
A job applicant challenged the interviewer to an arm wrestle.
Interviewee wore a Walkman explaining that she could listen to the interviewer and the music at the same time.
Candidate fell and broke arm during interview.
Applicant interrupted interview to phone her therapist for advice on how to answer specific interview questions.
Applicant refused to sit down and insisted on being interviewed standing up.
Candidate announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and French-fries in the interviewer's office.
Candidate brought large dog to interview.
Candidate dozed off during interview.
Candidate said he never finished high school because he was kidnapped and kept in a closet in
Balding candidate excused himself and returned to the office a few minutes later wearing a headpiece.
Applicant said if he were hired he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.
Candidate explained that he long-term goal was to replace the interviewer.
The employers were also asked to list the "most unusual" questions that have been asked by job candidates.
"What is it that you people do at this company?"
"Why aren't you in a more interesting business?"
"What are the zodiac signs of all the board members?"
"Why do you want references?"
"Do I have to dress for the next interview?"
"I know this is off the subject, but will you marry me?"
"Will the company pay to relocate my horse?"
"Would it be a problem if I'm angry most of the time?"
"Does your company have a policy regarding concealed weapons?"
"Do you think the company would be willing to lower my pay?"
"Why am I here?"
Also included are a number of unusual statements made by candidates during the interview process.
"I feel uneasy indoors."
"Sometimes I feel like smashing things."
"I get excited very easily."
"Once a week, I usually feel hot all over."
"I am fascinated by fire."
"People are always watching me."
"I never get hungry."
"I know who is responsible for most of my troubles."
"If the pay was right, I'd travel with the carnival."
"My legs are really hairy."
"I think I'm going to throw-up."
Getting business finance
Surprisingly, despite current trade, there are still large numbers of people who are setting up in business. Proof perhaps that the well ingrained entrepreneurial instincts of the American people live on. However, you might think that with all the stories in the press, that the banks are now completely unwilling to lend their support by way of finance, loans and line of credit. But in actual fact, you would be wrong. It is true that banks are now, thankfully, much more cautious about whom they are lending to. And that is a good thing for the rest of us. However it still remains the case that the banks make their money by lending it in the first place, and they simply could not afford to stop lending money to people who want to be in business.
Of course it is not like the late eighties or nineties, when getting finance was sometimes as easy as buying a snack for lunch. Those were the times when house prices apparently only appreciated and often at a tremendous rate. The banks were more than happy to grant loans if you were happy to use your house as collateral. Nowadays house prices are as liable to fall as rise, and your bank manager knows that this is not such a great form of security as it once was. So just how do you go about getting the finance you require from the banks in the economic climate that now prevails?
First remember that if you speak to anyone high up in the banks they will tell you that there is still money to be lent, so don’t be put off when your associates tell you that you’ll never get financed.
Once you have developed your business plan in detail, make sure that it is presented in a first-class manner. Ensure that the plan looks as if it has been created an already successful business. Remember presentation is still incredibly important.
Next, think about how you are putting yourself over. No matter how well you have detailed your business plan, your own appearance and attitude will still mean more to the bank than anything else. Prove that you have your head screwed on straight by being business like and highly professional in all your communication with the bank.
Once you have presented yourself and your plan to the bank, remember to keep in contact with the bank as much as possible. This may sound like strange advice, but oddly enough, banks, rather like most organizations, are prone to pushing less important work to the back of the pile. Your business plan, for which you are desperate to get backing, could well be sitting unattended on the corner of a busy manager’s desk. So don’t be annoying be leaving persistent messages, but do keep the pressure on to get a result.
Learn to Delegate or “Pass the Buck”
“Four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody were asked to do an important job. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!”
This is a sad but too often true story of many companies. In business today, it is absolutely critical to focus sharply, plan carefully, and assign definite responsibilities.
Without that, business drift, important things don’t get done, and all too often, failure follows.
There are always too many things to do and too little time and too few people to do them. So it is always a matter of choice and focus. For the company as a whole, we must choose and then focus on the key actions, those that will really make a difference. However, to support these key actions, there are hundreds or even thousands of actions that need to be taken, jobs that need to be done.
The secret to getting them done is to make sure that each of them is someone’s specific responsibility. A job that may be incidental, although critical, a job for someone “higher up the ladder”, becomes a job of major importance for someone a bit further down the line. Given the responsibility and the authority, that person can and will get the job done.
Within a company’s hierarchy, it is quite common to find that jobs aren’t getting done, simply because the person in the more senior position is trying to hold onto too many tasks, afraid to give up the responsibility and authority.
When handing jobs over to another person in order to make your own work load that much lighter and thus more easily achieved, it is essential that you pass on clear instructions of exactly what has to be done. It is not enough to merely assign responsibility. Expectations should also be part of that assignment – in terms of quality, quantity, time, reports, whatever is important for the successful completion of the job.
Great plans may fail for lack of good implementation. Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody should not be on our payroll. Sam and Susie and John and Jane are on our payroll, and they can get the job done – if they are trained to do it, know the exact requirements and have the responsibility and authority.
The cash flow gap-trap
As the recession lifts, companies may well find products and services are back in fashion again. So it’s goodbye recession then!
But wait, there’s another problem – based on past performance, more companies go bust as the recovery takes off, than during the actual recession.
Confused? Well here’s the logic that backs up the statistic. Hard pressed businesses which have struggled their way through the past two and a half years, now find that they are sapped of cash reserves. Suddenly business looks up; enquiries start re-emerging, and orders follow. Now to produce the goods, stock has to be bought, extra wages need to be paid, and then there’s the wait until payment is received. It is that final waiting period for payment which is the CASH FLOW GAP-TRAP.
Avoiding the gap-trap
There are a number of basic solutions which can be followed to avoid the trap:
- Borrow more money or increase your facilities with the bank
- Factor your debtor’s file to get paid faster and bridge the gap
- Get a tighter hold on your cash flow. Don’t pay your suppliers until the terms state that you must and be energetic about your debt collection
- Don’t over-trade. During the recession your company may have become accustomed to trying to grab every piece of work available, even though the margins might have resulted in very little profitability. Now, in better times, rather than allowing your turnover to grow too quickly, you might decide to concentrate on your margins, thereby turning over the same amount, but making more profit.
Build your “bridges” now to cross the cash flow gap-trap
OK, but back to today. This may look like the last thing you need to worry about right now. After all, you are possibly still feeling the weight of a harsh recession on your shoulders, and talk of improvements in your personal or business economic world may seem dramatically far sighted.
Start now
Stop and plan ahead now, after all, the upturn has already started, and what could be more ironic than surviving the longest hard recession only to fail at the recovery.
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