My eleven-year-old son saw this and said, “I want one!” All I could say is, “Me too!”

And a tip of the ol’ NotJobs fez to Patrick Madrid for the find!

The famous Flying Circus is 40 today! In the spirit of How Not to Get a Job, here is the Vocational Guidance Counsellor sketch:

Wikipedia: The first episode [of Monty Python's Flying Circus] was recorded on 7 September and broadcast on 5 October 1969.

Hat tip to Dave Banks

All gave some…
Some gave all.

I spent last Saturday with my kid’s scout unit helping put flags on the graves at Fort Logan National Cemetery. It was a reminder of those who have sacrificed for our country.

Two stories in the old Rocky Mountain News capture some of the details about those who gave all and are buried at Fort Logan:

• Silent eulogies whispered in stone
• Wake for an Indian warrior

Thanks to them for their service.

Steinar Skipsness describes himself as “a 27 year old Seattle native who doesn’t drink coffee.” Skipsness consults on search engine marketing, but seems to be looking for new employment. To help his chances, he taped mock interviews with some unsuspecting candidates.  I’m not sure I agree with his ethics, but his conclusions are strong.

Skipsness offers his 22 tips on “How to Nail an Interview.” His site contains a number of video snippets which support his points. As shown in the video above, some of his examples better demonstrate how NOT to get a job.

IMHO, his top ten tips are:

3. Be on time
4. Cell phone off
5. Know the company, and why you want to work there
8. Dress in a clean conservative manner
9. [Facebook & MySpace] Profiles to private
11. Don’t babble
12. Don’t badmouth a boss
14. Don’t play with your face/hair
19. Have accomplishments
20. Have passion

Take a look at all 22 tips on his web page:
http://www.howtonailaninterview.com/

In honor of April Fool’s Day, see the masters Cleese and Chapman demonstrate How Not to Interview:

Gooooood night a ding ding ding ding ding dinnng…

Since my employer is looking at a $54M budget shortfall, my civic co-workers and I enjoyed an unpaid furlough day today. While spending some time this morning shoveling out after yesterday’s blizzard, I had a chance to contemplate the nature of work. Once my driveway and that of my neighbors were clear, I came in to catch up on world news. Coincidentally, I found this 20 minute video of a talk that the Discovery Channel’s Mike Rowe gave back in December 2008. Rowe explains how castrating lambs during a Dirty Jobs filming brought discovery and enlightenment about work.

This video is worth watching.  The first 7 minutes are the castration part, and then Rowe quotes Aristotle on discovery (ἀναγνώρισις or anagnorisis) over the next three minutes. At 16 minutes, Rowe hits on his theme: How modern American society has declared War on Work. See the whole thing:

Rowe’s great insight is about the War on Work. He points out that this was not a planned campaign, but that it is a civil war, and a cold war. Rowe correctly identifies four fronts in this War:

1. Hollywood
2. Madison Avenue
3. Washington DC
4. Silicon Valley

Listening to him provoked a minor bit of anagnorisis for me. As a technical recruiter, I’ve been guilty of fighting against skilled labor on the Silicon Valley front. At one point, I believed that everyone should become computer literate because ever job could be done with a computer. What I didn’t appreciate is that Innovation without execution is meaningless. I didn’t appreciate the hard work it takes to build great technological devices until I worked in a manufacturing plant. Every genius with a gizmo need people who can assemble multiple copies of that gizmo. That where the skill is.

Hearing Rowe talk about Madison Avenue’s message about the War on Work was enlightening. Thinking about America’s current struggle with “work/life balance”, I realized that Rowe puts the blame in the right place: on the Advertising View that works against Work:

So many of the commercials that come out of there (Madison Avenue) in the way of a message. What’s really being said is, “Your life would better if you could work a little less; if you didn’t have to work so hard; if you get home earlier; if you could retire faster; if you could punch out sooner. It’s all there – over and over; again and again.”

“Life is better if you work less” – that’s the core message we hear about work/life balance.  Not that we have to be effective. Not that we have to get ‘er done.  Less work doesn’t make people happier – accomplishments make people happy. Working, being needed, and demonstrating mastery are what make people happy. And we wonder what happened to the American work ethic.

To help raise awareness of the forgotten benefits of labor, Rowe has a new project:

People often tell me that Dirty Jobs reminds them of a time when Work was not seen as a thing to avoid. When skilled tradesmen were seen as role models, and a paycheck was not the only benefit of a job well done. We need to recapture that sentiment. We need to celebrate, on a bigger scale, the role models right in front of us. Dirty Jobs has given me the opportunity to do that. With a little luck and the right support, mikeroweWORKS, will take it to the next level.

Good work, Mike! For what it’s worth, I’m adding you to my blogroll.

Hat tip to The Anchoress for the video find.

hat tip: Linked Intelligence.

Ephraim Salaam refers Chester Pitts to the coach of the San Diego State Aztecs. Pitts attended the California Academy of Mathematics and Science, which doesn’t have a football program.

This results in Pitts getting drafted in the second round, while Salaam didn’t get drafted until the seventh. This past season they were the starting left Tackle and left Guard for the Houston Texas.

I love the interview questions:
“What do you play?”
“I play the oboe.”

Does your company’s employee referral program screen people like Pitt in or out?

For more details, see the Sports Illustrated article: Pair of Texans reminisce at filming of Super Bowl ad

Today’s video break comes from Alabama, and is dedicated to all the working people out there. Keep up the good work!

Yes, I know that here in the USA, 40 hours is a start, not an end. Let’s not get too technical about this.