Author: IJAdmin

“No Problem” is a Problem

Truly Caring

Customer service is something I think about a lot.  All businesses and professionals should.  To that point, how you say something can be just as important as what you say.

Chick-Fil-A, a top national restaurant chain in the US, has the standard for their employees to respond to customers’ thank-yous by saying “my pleasure”.  Personally, I really appreciate this.  Another case is with a small local grocer called Brookshire’s.  Their training manual instructs employees to acknowledge customers’ thanks by saying “happy to help”.  In almost any similar situation, a simple “you’re welcome” will do nicely.

Conversely, there is something that really annoys me when, after I say “thank you” to an employee somewhere, they reply with “no problem”.  It might sound like I am being picky, but let me tell you why I feel this way.  Basically I see it as an immature response, as well as potentially a lack of corporate training.  (Just as irksome is when your expression is entirely ignored by the employee after thanking them).

Familiarity breeds contempt

No problem translates to “taking care of your needs was convenient enough for me this time, but at some point it might be more trouble than you are worth.”

However, “my pleasure”, “happy to help”, and “you’re welcome”, are acknowledgements which intentionally express appreciation to the thanker.  They say, “I am glad to be of service – you are the reason I am here.”

The good news is that it can be taught to those willing to learn.

Beyond Customer Service

This etiquette rightly extends into any context beyond customer service, including with friends and family, and in the office with co-workers.  As a consultant, I work closely with all sorts of other professionals at all levels in the organization.  Regardless of whether it is my boss, my subordinate, a QA tester, the CEO, or the administrative assistant, I endeavor to always practice the utmost courtesy and professionalism.

In such a competitive jobs environment as today’s, it is always best to be the one recognized for going above and beyond – to be welcome instead of just no problem.

– Stephen

2017 January US Jobs Report – 227k Beats Expectations

Good News

175k new [non-farming] jobs per payroll reporting were expected in January, 2017.  But 227k were reported.  4.8% is the current US unemployment rate.

Nov and Dec 2016 numbers were revised downward by 37k.

(source: Forbes & CNBC)

Wage growth is reported as flat.  From a personal standpoint, I can say that my compensation is about the same as it was in 1999.  As an IT consultant, it has seen plenty of ups and downs.

While the jobs numbers are good news for this reporting cycle, remember that such things always eventually swing the other way.  TradingEconomics.com reports an historical low unemployment rate of 2.5%, and a high of 10.8%.

What it means

As an optimist, my outlook is positive.  With evolving technology in energy, electronics, communications, robotics, medical, etc., there will be increasing demand for skilled workers in these fields as well as the ones that are impacted (such as travel, construction,  security, sales, healthcare, and anythings else you can think of).  So, the implications for you are to get prepared.  Keep in touch with the news, and study and learn about these technologies.  The modern workplace is changing faster than ever, and so the modern workforce must do the same!

– Stephen

Search Jobs in India on InternetJobs.com

Hyderabad

Our jobs network provides job postings mostly from North America – US and Canada, but we are working to expand our international reach as well.

Much of our traffic comes from India and its neighbors.  Now you can find India-located Internet Jobs by specifying Hyderabad in the location field.  Even if there are not jobs in our own database, our partner feed will display the relevant results.

Here is direct link to see Hyderabad search results now.

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

We all have ideas.  We can’t follow up on every one of them.

In my case, I had an awesome idea for a screenplay 10 years ago.  After writing a few pages, I held auditions for the female lead.  One of the actresses who read for me used to play a primary character on a serial drama in the 80’s and 90’s, and was also the lead in one of a series of well-known horror films.  I was jazzed about the prospects of my dream!

But then life kicked back in and my devotion to writing ceased.

About a year later I saw that there was a series on cable whose character sounded just like the description of my leading lady.  Same accent, same line of work, similar physical description.  I was flattened as my ambitions deflated.  It seemed that somebody else had beaten me to the punch.

This little article does a great job of illustrating how important it is to embrace ideas and follow up on the ones you have a passion for.  That is not to say that every idea that crosses your mind is viable or is a good one.  Rather, we should know ourselves well enough to be able to decide which ones to hang on to and which ones to let go.

Read the article on Linked In:

“Why Ideas Are Worthless To Those Who Fail To Act”

 

My life is still very busy, but my dream has not died.  I am still working on my screenplay, albeit sporadically.

– Stephen Dunham

Happy Inauguration Day, USA!

Congratulations to us all as we celebrate the wonderful peaceful transfer of power to our 45th president of the United States!  Regardless of one’s personal politics, this type of governmental transition is extraordinary among nations.

America is a great country within, and has blessed more countries than anyone else in terms of aid and opportunity.  At InternetJobs.com, we are here to serve all job seekers, career builders, recruiters, and employers.  Though we are US-based and most of our jobs are located here, we love and respect all peoples everywhere, and we are grateful for all the contributions to our country from beyond our borders.  Further, any honest American must acknowledge that America was originally build from non-“Americans”, and has been continually enriched by such.

Thus, no matter where you are, we wish you great success this year in regards to work, employment, and otherwise, and hope to do all we can to be a part of it!

– Team at InternetJobs.com