eZine August 2009

Part of a great work space is the people. Making the right hire is key. Here are some answers we hope you never have to hear! Yes, these are actual answers from actual interviews.

1. What interests you in this job?

Answer: I don't know. I couldn't possibly afford to work here for the amount of money you are paying.

2. How would you respond if a student asked you XYZ?

Answer: You've got to be kidding. No one would ever ask me anything that stupid.

3. Why are you interested in working in sales? (Note: It was a sales job.)

Answer: Oh, I'm not. I hate sales. I would never work in sales.

4. Are the hours of this job convenient for you?

Answer: Oh yes. I'll just get my boyfriend to drop the kids off here when he picks them up after school.

5. Why did you leave your last job?

Answer: Everybody there hated me. They accused me of stealing and I got sick of it so I walked out and never went back.

6. How would your last boss describe you?

Answer: Lazy

7. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Answer: I don't understand the question.

8. What did you like best about your last job?

Answer: It sure wasn't my boss. I hated her. I don't know who she thought she was, firing me.

9. How would you handle an irate customer?

Answer: Come get you to deal with it. Stuff like that isn't my job.

10. What's the most important thing to you in a job?

Answer: Plenty of sick time. I've got three kids who are always sick and nobody to help me.

Yes, these are actual answers from actual interviews.

Source: ezinearticles.com

Tero® International, Inc.
Your Elite Training Team

Monthly eZine - August 2009

Welcome to the Tero International Monthly eZine

As we enter the dog days of summer in the U.S., the office environment can have a distinctly stressful feel. Everyone wants one last summer escape, and the weeks of 100 degree temperature are starting to feel a little too repetitive. Instead of driving everyone in the office into a bad mood, a feeling of harmony can be achieved. Just import a little of that positive mentality you get on vacation to your office life and you'll have a distinctly different feeling about your work environment.

How do you make your office atmosphere a convivial one? Lots of natural light, soothing but colorful walls, interesting pictures to give the eyes a bit of a treat, and appropriate length break times can help make the office a place you want to be. We replenish school supplies for our children yearly. What supplies might you need to replenish to make your job easier or your tasks more efficient? By making a work area a place where you want to be could mean your personal or company's to-do list just might get checked off even faster.

This month, we have gathered ideas, both environmental and interpersonal, to make your work space the place you want it to be.

Ask Tero

This section contains questions asked of the training professionals at Tero. Do you have a question for Tero? Let us know! If there is a topic or question you would like to see addressed in a future eZine, please make suggestions so we can give you the resources you need. Thank you for the continued responses we receive each month.

Question: I've been with my company for a while and have been told my performance is excellent. I've been thinking of asking for a raise. Is there an appropriate etiquette for asking this? I don't want to offend my boss.

Tero says: The best advice etiquette wise is to first examine thoroughly your performance from your employer's perspective as well as your own. Too often we can tend to overestimate our own importance at work, and view expected performance in our job as something greater. It is expected that our performance be excellent once we have learned the necessary skills to do our job. Discussing actual behaviors, actions and successful consequences of your work in your performance reviews would be a good place to begin to document formally your efforts with your employer, and open the conversation as to what would be the types of additional behaviors and successful consequences that may lead to a raise. Also examine all aspects of your benefits. Taking stock of all of the perks your employer is providing may help you see the "hidden" value attached to your paycheck already. This way if you do decide to inquire about a raise, you will be approaching it from a standpoint of recognition of what you have already as well as expressing a desire to excel in your work even further. This is a much more appropriate and attractive approach than one that may communicate you simply feel entitled due to your present work performance.

Question: How can I make my office a more productive work space?

Tero says: Just as in life, we can only control ourselves and our own stuff! The same goes toward a work environment. Rather than focusing on the entire office, what changes can you make in your space to make it more pleasant and effective? What habits might you have gotten used to engaging in that are diminishing productivity? It is interesting, but they say when one homeowner begins to make improvements on their property the results in the neighborhood are contagious. You have the ability to influence everyone you work with into being more productive by making simple changes that in the scope of things can yield office wide results.

Click here to ask Tero a question

Feature Article - Creating Harmony in Your Work Area
by Jean Kaul, Tero Intern

As business becomes increasingly hectic, our workplaces reflect that chaos - cubicle after cubicle, piles of paper, noisy technology - all create a sense of disorderliness and unrest. It seems like the office is the place where you might get the least amount of work actually done. For some, working from home has become an option, but for most the office is the place where business will be conducted - and you will be there for at least 8 hours a day.

Since so much of our time is spent at the office, it's time a little more thought went into office design and arrangement. By using the principles of feng shui, the office can become more welcoming and productive.

Click here for the full article

Professional Development Activity - Invitation Intimidation

Have you ever received an invitation which has a dress code listed, but you had trouble interpreting it? Here are the standard social dress code guidelines.

White Tie: Ultra formal. Men wear full dress with a white shirt, vest, and tie. Women wear long formal evening gowns.

Black Tie: Formal. Men wear tuxedos. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.

Black Tie Optional: Men have the option of wearing a tuxedo or a conservative suit in a very dark color. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.

Creative Black Tie: Leaves room for trendy interpretations of formal wear. A man can go more modern with a tux - dark shirt, no tie. Women wear long or short dresses or evening separates with possibly an edgy combination or accessory featured.

Semi-formal: Semi-formal is tricky. Usually tuxes and long dresses are not required. A suit would be appropriate for a man. A cocktail dress or dressy suit for a woman.

Cocktail Attire: Men wear dark suits. Women wear short, elegant dresses.

Dressy Casual: Usually means no jeans or shorts. A jacket or cardigan would be an elegant touch.

Casual/Informal: Means you are likely to see just about everything.

Practice your different looks this week. Consider an outfit you would wear for each of the dress codes above. Better yet, enroll in Tero's Image and Influence workshop to acquire the skills and knowledge to ensure that the messages you send with your attire and image are aligned how you want to be perceived.

Source: Tero's Image and Influence: Polishing Your Professional Look training manual

Resources

Recommended Reading
Thank God It's Monday!: How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love by Roxanne Emmerich. Emmerich offers her theories on how to make an office environment not merely someplace you survive but somewhere you thrive.

What's New at Tero

Best Of
Tero International Voted Best Sales and Executive Training Company in 2009 by readers of the Des Moines Business Record. Click here for the article. Visit the Business Basics section to read about Tero.

The members of the Tero Team are especially flattered by this honor because it comes from the clients Tero serves and the members of the business community. For those of you who took the time to vote for the Best Of, we offer our sincere thanks and take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to offering the very best training experiences.

Tero Scholarship Update
Tero congratulates the following young people on their successful completion of their Tero Scholarship Courses in August:

IMPACT: How To Speak Your Way To Success

Erin Tancos from Des Moines, Iowa and attending Dowling Catholic High School

Bryant Tjeerdsma from Waukee, Iowa and attending Waukee High School

Outclass Your Competition

Gene Elliott from Des Moines, Iowa and attending Valley High School

Peter Helgason from Des Moines, Iowa and attending Dowling Catholic High School

Beau Schmitz from Des Moines, Iowa and attending from Dowling Catholic High School

Public Workshops

Outclass Your Competition
A 5-hour Business Etiquette and Dining Tutorial workshop.
November 19, 2009 (Des Moines)

Image and Influence: Polishing Your Professional Look
A 1/2-day workshop on polishing the message your appearance sends and discovering the best way to present yourself.
October 22, 2009 (Des Moines)

IMPACT - How To Speak Your Way To Success
A 2-day workshop on speaking confidently and persuasively.
September 16-17, 2009 (Des Moines), October 20-21, 2009 (Des Moines)
November 12-13, 2009 (Des Moines), December 9-10, 2009 (Des Moines)

MORE IMPACT - Advanced Presentation Techniques
A 2-day advanced presentation skills workshop for IMPACT grads only.
October 7-8, 2009 (Des Moines)

Time Management Through Goal Setting
A 2-day workshop on setting goals, balancing priorities, managing time and building stress strength.
March 3-4, 2010 (Des Moines)

Selecting Top Performers: Recruiting and Interviewing
A 2-day workshop on hiring top performers.
September 23-24, 2009 (Des Moines)

Click here to register for a public workshop

Online Resources

Are you a graduate of a Tero workshop? Your feedback is important to us.

Click here to fill out an evaluation of how your Tero acquired knowledge has impacted your everyday work and life. This opportunity is available in each eZine or you can visit the Tero website at www.tero.com to give us your feedback.

Inspiration - Things to Think About

"If you have a job without any aggravations, then you don't have a job."

Sometimes, as hard as you work to create a space and a work culture that is productive, soothing, and a joy to work in, some days, work is going to feel like work. Days like these will hopefully be few and far between, but if you are feeling a string of slow days at work coming on, beat the urge to procrastinate head on. Tackle that to-do list that has been sitting on the edge of the desk and finish it. Or if your to-do list is finished, tackle that project your supervisor hasn't assigned you yet, but you feel like the results might be useful to your company. Self-starters are the kind of people companies love to have around. They're also the kind of people that are never bored at work and the ones who seem to always have the great ideas before everyone else does.

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The Tero International Monthly eZine is written for the graduates and friends of Tero training programs. It is published by Tero International, Inc., 1840 NW 118th Street, Suite 107, Des Moines, Iowa 50325. Copyright 2009, Tero International, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Tero International, Inc.

1840 NW 118th Street, Suite 107, Des Moines, Iowa 50325
phone 515-221-2318 fax 515-221-2369

P. O. Box 241143, Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1143
Phone 402-334-6819

website www.tero.com
email training@tero.com