I Dare You

I Dare You To Use the “D” Word With Someone

If President Obama used the “D” word on TV – he would be impeach by the
following week. I didn’t say convicted – but surely impeached. See, the House of Representatives is the Grand Jury and the Senate does the actual trial.

Don’t get nervous about the economy tanking, the stock market dumping
two-thousand points or losing your personal source of revenue – it will never
happen. How come? It is a Conspiracy of Intelligent Folks not to use the “D”.

We all know that saying so does NOT make it so. Except using the “D” word.
No politician or economist wants the responsibility for starting the ball rolling
down the mountain to oblivion. Would you?

Facts to Have At Your Fingertips

The U.S. population as of May 29 2010 is over 309 million. Remember it please.
And the world population is 6.8 billion. Got it? Now the U.S. unemployment is
15.3 million folks, and the number employed is 140 million. That is 9.9% unemployed and 58.8% employed.

Huh? Long term unemployed is more than 27 weeks and that is 46% - almost half.
What about folks who are working part-time because they cannot get full-time work?

Add another 9.2 million citizens. What about those who surrendered seeking a job? Add another estimated 15 million. Wow.

Do you care that teenagers have a 25.4% rate of unemployment? Bad sign. Black
Americans have 16.5% unemployed and growing. Conclusion: we are creating a
long-term underclass. How long? Well, the last “D” lasted from 1929 to 1940 –
eleven years.

Fact: 50% of the long-term unemployed will NEVER be hired full-time again.
Maybe they are seen as too old, too outdated, or too expensive. Is this a recession?

Internship

Who wants to work for nothing? Smart young people do. One major consideration
for not hiring is lack of experience. Not specific experience in a similar job, but in
the basics of working on a daily basis in a business environment.

When an interviewer looks across the desk at a possible hire, he/she is considering
whether that person will embarrass her department. That’s right, the principle is
ever thus – take care of #1 - the department of Human Resources.

Parts of Every Job Are Boring

Even the CEO must spends hours daily doing what he/she finds boring and
tedious because it is part of governance. We must hold certain board meetings because legal counsel requires it. The top executives must be recorded as present even though it is a total waste of their time.

If boring is part of the CEO’s job description, each hire must be trained in the
humdrum trivia of busy work. If you cannot stand the heat of boring stuff at your
first job (initial entry), you cannot be promoted. Crazy or logical?

Internship

It teaches you to show up on time or be fired from a non-paying job. Can you follow
directions or are you so creative you are considered unmanageable?

Can you motivate yourself to find things to do as an intern that are not assigned to you? People are evaluating and validating your work – yes, really.

If you pay attention to the business or institutional environment you are assigned to,
you will discover the system that organizes the joint. If you ignore the layout, department to department that makes it all work, you have lost a valuable work
experience. Your choice.

Open Door

An internship can produce a permanent position. You have the right to ask for a
meeting with any executive to ask questions about how the company works.
The more you ask, the greater your knowledge base, if you choose to win a spot
with the organization.

People remember those who have the nerve and ambition to want more from an
internship than a listing on your resume. Oh yeah, it is flattering to be answering
questions about your expertise. Will some executives brush you off? Sure, but
75% will listen to you and answer your inquiries. They will remember you.

The Kid At the NYC Library

He was in high school and took an internship with his local library. No dinero, and
really boring? He sucked up to the chief librarian and asked her about an idea
he had. The kid wanted to start a business collecting borrowed books that were
overdue.

His idea was $1 for each overdue book he returned. It saved the library from buying
a new edition to circulate for about $20+ each. He would also have the right to collect a fee from the book borrower (50cents) for avoiding fines. He would save them travel time returning their books. Nice benefit, but too expensive?

Where’s The Money?

The Kid would hire other students with bikes in different neighborhoods and make
an override. It was like the old newspaper delivery service. Bottom line: the chief librarian said, “ No Deal. There is no money in our present budget, but Kid I like your smarts, and you are now getting paid to work here after school and Saturdays.”

Years later when he needed a testimonial for his law school entrance, the librarian
supplied it. Life works for those who figure out how to work it, huh?

Endwords

Winston Churchill said, “Never – Never – Never give up. The turning point is
just ten feet away.” One more quote please – Joseph Stalin of Soviet Russia
said, “One single death is a tragedy, while one-million deaths is a Statistic!”

Careers: we live in the Knowledge Economy – unless you are a ditch-digger. Sorry,
even that job has gone to motorized equipment. Want a powerful competitive advantage to move your career forward?

If you could read and remember three (3x) books, article and reports, while your
peers can hardly finish one, is that a career competitive advantage?

Contact us for a free (no strings attached) report of how to be a speed reader and
win your next promotion because you are the Go-To person in your company.
Time-is-of-the-Essence so move now.

See ya,

copyright 2010 H. Bernard Wechsler www.speedlearning.org
hbw@speedlearning.org
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