Would You Be a Hero?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by evilqueenhr

Nothing shattered the fairytale more than 9/11.  I can still close my eyes like it was yesterday and remember everything about that morning.  I spent my Sunday afternoon watching National Geographic’s specials about 9/11 and I was brought back to that horrible day.  I watched the interview with President Bush, survivors and people working the scene and I wondered how I would have reacted.  What if I was running the country, climbing the stairs with a hose or was an employer in that building?  It was a frightening and inspiring thought.

Cantor Fitzgerald was a Company that lost 658 of 960 employees.  Can you imagine being the CEO of that firm?  Would you quit?  Howard Lutnick didn’t.  He rebuilt and gave back.  Cantor has kept its word to the families of those employees lost on 9/11 – distributing millions of dollars of the firm’s profits to them, and covering health care costs for the past 10 years, the Associated Press reports. ‘The best way to show someone you love them is to care for the people they love,’ Mr. Lutnick said.   Now every 9/11 Cantor Fitzgerald gives 100% of its revenue of that day to charity.

One gentleman they interviewed was saved by a Firefighter that was clearing floors.  He saved him and continued to go up towards the impact floor, the Fireman was not heard from again.  He mentioned how special you must be to be a Hero.  “There are people like me, who want to get out and then there are Heroes.  Heroes keep going, knowing they may never come out.”   Another man interviewed was blocked by rubble and couldn’t get out.  Another group of men screamed at him to climb up and jump over the wall, that they would catch him.  He jumped with blind faith and fear.  When he made it over, he kissed the guy that caught him.   Brian caught him, “I didn’t know what to say so I said, Hi, I’m Brian” They are lifelong friends now.  How could they not be?

Politics aside, President Bush was amazing.  How does one wrap their head around this kind of horror?  You can’t ever prepare for this.  He was being pulled in a million directions.  He stood firm after being dragged to three different places by Secret Service and said “I will deliver my speech from the White House.”  He couldn’t imagine a worse image than the president hiding in a bunker, he wouldn’t let the terrorists claim they sent the President running.  He was a calming force in a whole new world.  How brave he had to be in the weeks after 9/11.  How do you know how to lead through that?

I remember sitting on my couch, the prince was just a baby, I was watching the crash and saw the second plane hit.  I will never forget that moment.  At that point we knew it wasn’t an accident.  My husband was on his way to downtown Chicago, I was begging him to turn around. They rolled in cement barriers in front of the Sears Tower that night.   I remember looking in the sky for the next week and seeing nothing.  It was like the world stopped as we knew it.  It did and it would never be the same.

I wonder if I was on a plane that was taken over, would I sink in my seat or fight.  Would I run down the stairs of a burning building or would I check floors and help?  If I lost my entire company, would I bow my head and give up or make it bigger, better and give back?  I hope that in an emergency, my Hero would kick in.  But today I’m just so grateful for all those Heroes that helped on 9/11 and every day since.

Today of all days, please thank an everyday Hero.  Our Soldiers, Firefighters, Police and Paramedics run towards the danger each day!  God Bless Them! 

**Please click here to see the Cantor Fitzgerald Charity Day list.  Maybe we can all give a little on this day.

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Dress to Impress to Work in the Kingdom

Posted on August 24, 2012 by evilqueenhr

Once Upon a Time, I was screaming at the news…  It’s hard not to in this political season, but politics didn’t make me furious yesterday.  I was watching a news report regarding someone who was refused a job interview.  The disappointing part was how the interview was spun.   In case you haven’t picked up by now, I am an HR professional, we hire people sometimes.  We have been in a recession and lots of people are out of work.  If you want a job, you have to put your very best foot forward.  Now more than ever!

When I applied for a job at Al’s Beef in High School, I wore a skirt.  You dressed up for interviews.  It was how you showed you were well-groomed, respectful and eager to please your new boss.  You dressed for the job above the job you were applying for.  If you applied at McDonalds you would dress up.  I really don’t know when people decided that wasn’t necessary.  Maybe it started with casual Fridays.  It really should stop.  Talk to any recruiter and they will tell you stories of how people come in their office for jobs.  Flip Flops, jeans, short shorts are the new dress for success. It’s really the dress for how not to get a job and complain that there is nothing out there.

This news story was about a man who applied for a job at a city bus service.  He passed his written test and was going in for an interview.  He chose to go to his interview in pressed jeans.  The company sign said “Dress to Impress”, the man said he was not clear as what that meant.  I think unless you were raised under a rock, you know that means dress up for an interview.  I understand times are tough, but you can find a pair of Dockers and a dress shirt for about $10 at the Goodwill if you needed it.  When refused an interview in jeans and told to come better dressed and reschedule, he became agitated with the person turning him away.   “I kept my calm. I never raised my voice. I spoke to the man four times and told him that I was in shock and reminded him that it wasn’t personal, that I wasn’t mad at him but that I was astounded at the turn of events.”  He shouldn’t have been mad at anyone but himself and taken the opportunity to reschedule and start over.

He was asked by the reporter if he thought he was close to finding a job. “Sure, sure,” he responded. “I just thought it was, you know, academic, I had everything, I’m bilingual, I have experience, a lot of life experience. I’m certified as a driver. I have a clean record.”  This company interviewed 900 people and hired 191. 700 people did not get the job.  This is not a rare situation.   “Both the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) and the unemployment rate (8.3 percent) were essentially unchanged in July. Both measures have shown little movement thus far in 2012.  ”—August 3, 2012 Economic News Release, US Department of Labor

In this economy, nothing is academic.  You may have great qualifications, this man may have too.  But, I guarantee you that somewhere in that stack of applications there was another bi-lingual, experienced CDL Driver with a clean record.  A job interview’s purpose is to meet in person, to measure experience with personality, attitude and ability to think under pressure by answering questions.  An applicant may be stellar on paper and get in an interview and aren’t able to communicate or have a bad attitude.  Here is my common sense translation to that man coming to an interview.  He didn’t care enough to dress up, he was rude when asked to come back and thought he should just be given the job.  I would assume if hired he would never do anything beyond his position; he wouldn’t take responsibility for his actions and would not handle the public well.  I wouldn’t hire him.  I was bothered that the reporter chose to spin this person as the victim, but so encouraged that the comments were putting the responsibility on him.

Employers do not owe you a job. If you would like to be hired it is YOUR responsibility to sell yourself to them.  It’s an opportunity to shine and put your very best in front of a potential employer.  That should always include coming in “Dressed to Impress”.  What does that mean?  If you can’t figure that out, I’m not hiring you and neither is anyone else!

What was the best and worst interview question you were ever asked?

Here is a link with tips on what to wear for an interview from Tarleton State University.

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