Introducing: The Little Summer Job That Could!

Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG:

If you don't think those little summer jobs or internships amount to much, I urge everyone to think again! Since we were kids, we have all repeated behaviors which have enhanced our work ethic and helped us operate with excellence doing something important. What part of your background did you write off too soon during your job search? Today, I want to help you feel better about yourself by connecting some dots for potential employers:

I started working at age 14 in the Laundry Room of Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty in Pt. Pleasant, NJ (at the real Jersey Shore!). When I left the company at age 24 - I was the General Manager of this Seafood Restaurant which had become part of a larger chain called, Chef's International, Inc. I didn't know at the time that this was an example of what the definition of "Progressive Accomplishment" is and who could foresee that these experiences would help me succeed in my career for the rest of my life?

I was #5 of 8 children growing up and I was eager to work as soon as an adult would let me because it meant I could start saving money for my college education! My first job was to literally wash, dry and fold dirty kitchen towels, banquet linens and kitchen whites for all the back-of-the-house employees for this restaurant which fed upwards to 1,000 customers per night during the summer months in my beautiful community on the Atlantic Ocean. Our restaurant & banquet businesses were highly successful in this facility overlooking the northern-most point of America's Inter-Coastal Waterway and the Manasquan Inlet. I was proud to be part of the team.

During those laundry room days, I started work @ 5:30 a.m. and I had to be finished by the time the restaurant opened at 11:30 a.m. - Everyday, I worked hard to be recognized as a kid who took this responsibility seriously because I wanted the management team to pick me as soon as I was old enough to move to salad bar duty or waitressing or any position which represented a more lucrative and financially satisfying role in the business! I suppose some things never change.

At this very young age, I made it a point to be on time, to leave my work space cleaner than I found it, to go the extra mile, and to offer my help whenever an opportunity presented itself inside the company. When the scheduled dishwasher didn't show up, I'd ask to fill in for the lunch shift. When the Fry Cook quit, I learned to fry entrees to perfection. When the Salad & Appetizer Preparation Team called out sick, I convinced management to allow me to prepare the food. Because I was always looking for more work, I learned every job in the place.

During my college years, executives of the firm invited me to help manage the opening of new restaurants for this chain up and down the East Coast. All the hands-on experiences of my childhood years made me a good choice to be on this operating team executing the hiring and training of all new employees in the back and front of the house on how to execute in the kitchen, excel in food service, purchase goods, run NCR cash registers, tend bar, maintain the facility - literally how to manage the unit until it could stand alone. Then I'd be off to the next opening in another part of the country accountable for everything related to the success of the new store's P&L. I was forging a career in personnel / human resources / recruiting and I didn't even know it! My gosh - it was my summer job and I ended up recruiting employment candidates for the rest of my life! Lucky me!

I also learned the meaning of customer service from these childhood experiences and future employers ACTUALLY picked up on it! Years later, I would interview for recruiting management positions at ADP, Cisco Systems, Anderson Consulting, Bank of America, AIG, Guardian Life Insurance Company, and Schering-Plough and after I was hired executives would always circle back to me to tell me that they remembered what I said about my commitment to client service in those very first interviews.

What left an impression is that I said, my customer service focus was part of who I had become because it had been tested in high intensity customer situations for years in the restaurant business. I also told them that it didn't matter what industry or domain I was operating in, I always made it my business to know who my customers were and I always worked hard to "operate with excellence" on their behalf.

I would further explain that when a customer didn't like their meal, I had 30 seconds to make a good decision to salvage the situation and to retain this repeat client for Chef's International. If I managed this situation poorly, I risked losing this table of customers forever AND I also risked having these dissatisfied customers tell 25 other people about the bad experience they just had in my restaurant. To this day, I execute with the voice-of-the-customer in the forefront of my thinking and every company that has ever employed me knows it. How about you?

What's your story? What behaviors have you repeated your entire life which have contributed to your many successes? Are you very good at articulating those important positives in every interview situation? If not, it's time to get good at "it" today.

AND PS: Stop rolling your eyes during those "HR-like" Behavioral Interview Questions because companies who ask these types of questions "usually" want to invest in great talent with high caliber repeat behaviors! Go for it - this could be your moment! (i.e. Tell me about a time when you were uncomfortable with a decision the team you were on made. What did you do to influence a change in direction? Tell me about a time when you fell short of a goal. What did you learn from that experience about yourself or the process that would help you with future projects?). This line of questioning should be viewed as the OPPORTUNITY that it is to draw on any terrific experience NOT tied to the last 14 months you have not been employed. Your repeat behaviors which have enhanced your work ethic and helped you operate with excellence - will never leave you no matter how long you are unemployed UNLESS - of course - you let depression win.

If this doesn't work, maybe we can get Corporate America to create "Bring Your Friend to Work Day!" Are you in?!!


Best regards,
Tish