Interviewing 104:

Is The Job Right for You?


Frederick M. Picroski

E-Mail: fred-at-nibbleandbit-dot-com


Most people take this as a crash course at The School of Hard Knocks. Most schools and books cover the following:

With today's corporate climate, most people will take Interviewing 104 whether they want to or not.
Grading is simple:

  1. Those who make things happen, those who act.
  2. Those who make things happen, but did it as a reaction
  3. Those who let things happen then acted
  4. Those who let things happen and reacted
  5. Those who let thing happen and do nothing

Unlike many books, this one is written with reality in mind.
Many other books make it sound like everyone else wakes up early with their hair in place and arrive at their perfect job on time. This book is written for those of us who hit the snooze bar 2,3,4 even 5 times before we get up to battle our hair before we dare start the daily grind.


It's all up to you. You have to ultimately make the decision. To quote from a song by RUSH "if you decide not to choose, you still have made a choice..." You've obviously made a choice to read this far, please read on. I wish to help you make a choice that you have to make. Use the following as a guide to help you make a choice, to ask more intelligent questions and make better observations as to have the bigger picture when making your choice.

Others reading this book may be asking "how did I get myself into this...?" If you are in a bad situation, you probably LET it happen. To me, the act of letting is passive, it takes little or no action to allow something to happen. To get something, you have to seek and acquire it, which amounts to some action. So now you may be asking, "how did I let this happen to me?"

You may have let this happen to you on day one. You did not ask all the questions you should have or did not get answers (or answers you could not understand) to all your questions; you let things slide.

You may have let things happen over time. You let someone put you down, you let someone blame you, you let some bunghole from management give you a task with little instruction. You may have let everyone boss you around until you became of no use to anyone. A major life change happened and you hoped that the new pieces would fit and they did not.

Lastly you may have got there. Breaking rules, taking advantage of your position, loosing accounts, poor work quality or not producing quantity are among the things that can get you in a bad situation.

Bottom line, it's time to get into action. Make some time and let some resources enlighten you, so you can get some direction.

Though I am not very religious, a few extra tidbits to keep in mind - stay true to your principals and pray. You may have the world at your feet with a red carpet rolled to your door, but it's up to you not to trip.

Chapter 1

(after taxes it's almost nothing!)
Asks you to think about the total package - salary, benefits, perks, etc...
  1. Salary
  2. Benefits
    1. Retirement
    2. Insurance - Health
  3. More Expenses
    1. Time As A Resource
    2. Food
    3. Professional Equipment
    4. Home Facilities
    5. Education
  4. Unions
  5. Miscellaneous Services
  6. Perks

Chapter 2

Makes the point that you should be interviewing the company while they are interviewing you
  1. The Lobby
  2. Location Of Interview
  3. The Interviewer
  4. The Interview's Time
  5. The Tour
  6. Coworkers
  7. Customers
  8. Product / Service
  9. Pre-Employment Agreements
  10. After Thoughts

Chapter 3

How to read between the lines when reading help wanted ads
  1. The Address
  2. ...On The Web...
  3. General Help Defined
  4. Where Does The Door Open?
  5. Study...

Chapter 4

Counter offers and why I say NO!
  1. Competitive Offers

Chapter 5

Discusses pre employment agreements
  1. What Is It?
  2. Scopes
  3. Your Own Time & Insurances
  4. Property
  5. Non-Compete Clauses
  6. Investments
    1. Passive Investments
    2. Active Investments
  7. Intellectual Property
  8. Termination Of Employment

Chapter 6

Asks you to ask yourself if you should start looking.
  1. "Advice"
  2. Customers & Coworkers
  3. Your Life
  4. Your Career Field
  5. Your Knowledge
  6. Your Interests

Chapter 7

Looks at the position and weather the position has a future with the company.
  1. Efficiency
    1. Vs Quality
    2. And Management
  2. Elimination
    1. Blue Collar
    2. White Collar

Chapter 8

Raises certain issues about protecting yourself at your current job.
  1. Advice And Tasks
  2. Evidence
    ...Gather It Anyway
  3. Other Conflicts
  4. Where's The Real Problem?
  5. ...You...

Chapter 9

Privacy on and off the clock
  1. Hourly
  2. Salaried
  3. The Internet - A.K.A. The Web
  4. Your Personality
  5. Coworkers And Your Time

Chapter 10

New ways to search for a job
  1. On Line Active
  2. Agencies
    1. Fees Involved
    2. Scum
  3. Traditional Methods

© 1998 Frederick M. Picroski