My Workplace Horror Story

Everyday was hell, being a bill collector was worse than being in debt. Working in bill collection is not an easy thing to do. I was 21 years old and need a job while I went to college. I worked 20 hours a week for a bank doing bill collection. I don't recommend working in bill collection, it is very stressful and you put yourself in situations of abuse.

As a bill collector, you are scum. You end up feeling this way at some point. You know that you are doing this job in the best interest for the bank. The people who you call, they owe the money that you are calling about, but somehow you end up feeling bad for bothering them. These are all rational feelings that you have when you are collecting past due loans. You work around 200 accounts in a day and 95% of the customers are legitimately past due. The 5% that would fall under "bank error," makes your own mind wonder if you could be caught in a situation sometime in the future.

At least once a day I would feel like crying. I would call an account that was still in a deceased person's name. I call the residence and I asked for the person, not knowing that they are passed away. The person who answers the phone has 2 ways to react to this situation. The first scenario would be for them to just explain to me that the person is no longer with us and state the person who has taken over the payments. The second reaction is the one that made this job a living hell. The caller would start crying. I would immediately back out of the conversation and wished them a peaceful evening. After laying my phone headset on my desk, I would stare at my computer monitor for a few moments attempting to hold in my emotions. I was responsible for bringing back painful memories of their lost ones. I have honestly never gotten over this.

I worked as a bill collector for the next two years. Unfortunately, I was good at the job. I was even promoted to High Balance collections. In January 2004, my office was merging with an office in Cleveland, OH. Since I just started a semester of college in Indiana, I couldn't move with the company. I was a happy man.

How To Professionally Reject A Job Offer

When on your job search, you will go through many interviews that you must endure to find the job that best suits your skills. On your search, you may get job offers that do not fit certain job criteria that you are looking to meet. Turning these jobs down is something that cannot be avoided. You must stay professional and courteous when rejecting job offers. You never know when you will run into these employers again. The company could be an important customer for a corporation you could be working for in the future. Here are some important ideas to remember when turning down a job offer.

Don't be afraid of a job offer. Interviewing is a skill that you will need to keep fresh while on your job search. You could be offered jobs after going on some interviews. Being afraid of turning down a company could lead you to miss out on some opportunities out there. You must remember that the rejection wouldn't be taken personally. They are a business and you are only looking out for your own professional interests.

Don't brag or boast about another offer. When turning down an offer, do not bring up that you are taking another offer over their company. Tell them that you appreciate the opportunity to work for their company, but you respectfully decline the offer. You do not have to explain why you are turning the job offer down. Sometimes the less you say, the better it sounds. The company doesn't want to know why you aren't taking the position, don't bore them with the details.

Send the company a Thank You card. A nice way to assure that you are not burning any bridges is to send the company a Thank You letter after your rejection. When writing the card, make sure it is professional looking. You want to write positive things about the company and wish them luck on their candidate search. If you interviewed with more than one person, you should send a Thank You card for each person that you interviewed with. Even though you do not wish to work for this company, you still want to show them that they didn't make a mistake in offering the position to you.

You will not have to reject any job offers, but you must realize that it is a part of the process. You should not be afraid of turning an offer down, the worst thing you could do is to accept a job that you wouldn't be happy with.

Is the #65th Seed Necessary?

The #64 and #65 teams are necessary for the prestige of the NCAA tournament. A lot of the actions and decisions the tournament committee makes are due to the pageantry of the event.

The NCAA tournament builds itself up as the ultimate Cinderella event. Anything that would help market thing event as that, the NCAA embraces. The Opening Round game winner will most likely be ran out of the gym by a #1 seed, but the fact that they can mark down this win as an actual NCAA tournament victory means a lot to the school who wins. The odds that the winner of the SWAC conference tourney will most likely play in this opening round game. It isn't predetermined that the game will feature a team from the SWAC, but history states there is a strong chance. The SWAC probably enjoys that a member of its conference has a chance to win a tournament game.

I think it's important to smaller teams that the #64 and #65 teams play a game. It builds confidence that leads up to the winner's game against the #1 seed. A #16 seed has never beaten a #1 seed. This game could lead to something like that happening. The only thing the NCAA should think about is naming this game something different than "Opening Round game" or the "Play-In Game." If they could call this the "Ultimate Cinderella Game" or something to that effect, I think the prestige of it would grow as well.

Tipping Can Be Difficult

Tipping can be difficult. There are a wide variety of questions that you need to ask yourself before you leave a tip. This article will help you become a smart and informed tipper. I’ve been a member of the service industry for a few years. Before I became a server, I struggled with tip percentages, mostly because I was uninformed.

Be aware of your surroundings. Is the place you’re eating is a fine dining restaurant or a place where they give out bibs? At a fine dining establishment, the variety of your food will be different. Tipping on food should be at least 15-20%. If any alcoholic drinks are purchased, the tip should be 20-25% for your drink portion. These percentage calculations should be a base. If your service was extra special, don’t be afraid to show your appreciation with a tip higher than the base. If your server doesn’t fulfill your needs, you can tip a lower amount. The lowest you should go should be 10%, not tipping should be on extremely rare occasions. “Stiffing” your server is very rude and usually ends up costing the server money. The only way it would be justified is if your server was verbally or physically abusive. In that case, please notify the manager of the restaurant. They should take care of you.

Know where your money is going. When you tip your server, not all the money is going to him/her. Most restaurants have the server tip out busboys, bartenders, hosts, and possibly food runners. The normal percentage that the server would tip these people would be about 1% of their total sales, each. If your bill is $100 dollars and you leave a 20 dollar tip, 5 dollars of that money is probably going to someone else in the restaurant. This is important information to be aware of, because if your server takes good care of you, it is important to take care of them.

Servers are taxed just like everyone else. Servers are usually paid somewhere between $2.50-$4 per hour. That wage depends on what the state’s minimum wage. They don’t get paid the minimum wage, because they get tips and exempt. Their hourly wage basically takes care of the taxes on their wages they claim every night. A server has to claim at least 8% of their total sales, as tips. If a server claims less than 8% on a nightly basis, they could get audited when they file their taxes.
I hope this information is very useful and can help you become informed about the art of tipping… and remember, take care of your servers and bartenders, I’m here all week.

How To Dress For An Interview

"Dress like you don't need the job," was the advice that my grandfather once told me. The better you look, the better you will appear to the employer. I'm not advising you to rent a tuxedo and a limousine, but looking your best will help enhance the overall appearance of viable candidate to the company.

The first thing any candidate needs to wear to an interview is confidence. Your attire will enhance your confidence and will make you stand up taller and feel more confident.

If you are male, a tie and a sports coat are a must. You need to be cleanly shaved and your hair must be styled. You do not need to shave off all facial hair, if you have a neatly groomed mustache or beard, you may keep them. White should be the choice of your button-down shirt that you wear with your sports coat. The white shirt will make your tie be more noticeable and will stand out. Choose tie color that will demand respect, but do not choose a tie that is too flamboyant. A solid color or a tie with a simple striped pattern should be your first choice. Make sure that your belt matches your shoes. This is a problem that many men overlook. Your possible employer could look at that as an act of incompetence.

The ladies have more choices than men when picking out interview attire. First, make sure that your ensemble would not be considered "overtly sexy." Necklines and dress-length should be modest, hem-lines higher than the knee should be avoided. Make-up should be worn to an interview, but used conservatively. If you are choosing a business suit, make sure that it is not too baggy, but not too tight. You may want to accessorize your outfit modestly. A necklace, watch, and earrings are the only pieces that would be needed.

Looking professional for an interview can help you make a positive first impression. Smile, Relax, and dress for success, you'll land the job.

How To Lose Your Job

Today's job market is flooding with candidates that can do your job either just as good as you or better. Losing your job is easier now than ever before. Job websites like Careerbuilder.com and Monster.com has made employees interchangeable. Here are some easy ways to lose your job.

Do not adhere to the dress code. Casual Friday is a thing of the past. You should start Casual Monday thru Thursday. Feel free to dress casually on Friday if you want, but I'm sure you will either be written up or reprimanded by then. Dress Codes give superiors power when trying to enforce the code. If you do not respect the dress code, you are taking a little power away from your superior, which is always a great way of losing your job.

Show up late to work, everyday. Make sure that you are showing up late enough for everyone to notice. If your boss arrives later than you and wouldn't notice if you showed up 20 minutes late, then take a longer lunch. Possibly bring in a cup from the restaurant that you were at and slurp it up in your cubicle when you get back.

Don't shave, or possibly bathe. An unprofessional appearance is another way to lose your job. To add some creativity, possibly shave your facial hair into different mustache shapes like a Hulk Hogan or a Hitler. You do not need deodorant, make sure that you get some nice pit stains in that Oxford shirt that you tie-dyed last night.

Date you boss's daughter or your boss. If you date your boss's daughter, make sure that he catches you with her, preferably at his house. If you try the "date your boss" scenario, make sure that you get a lot of photos. You will need to head to your local Kinko's and make a few large posters and hang them up in the employee lounge (this could even be useful if you date the boss's daughter).

Do not do any work, ever. This way is probably one of the hardest ways to lose your job. I have known plenty of people that never do any work and they get to keep their job. You will need to really go out of your way to show that you are not doing anything. Maybe take a walk around the office a few times a day and chat up the hot new temp in accounting. Play Solitaire on your computer, if you win, you must do dance. If that doesn't work, just take a nap.

Those were some ways to lose your job, feel free to add any extra creativity when practicing these methods. If these reasons do not get you fired from your job, you need to keep your job.

Nostalgic Album Review -Phantom Planet - The Guest

Jason Schwartzman is a great actor, but people may forget that he used to be the drummer for Phantom Planet. Here is the review for "The Guest," which you may recognize a song called "California," which appeared as the theme song for the tv show, "The O.C."

“Let’s hope these guys don’t run away and become famous actors. Oh, I think one may have already done that.”

After being together for six years and they are still only in the younger 20s, these guys have definitely gone through their awkward stage of life together. They have a great sense of quality songwriting that rivals elder bands in the business, but for some reason, they were dropped from their first label after their first album didn’t do as expected. Luckily for you, the guys bounced back in a big way and released their first album on Epic Records entitled, “The Guest.”

“The Guest” is extensive with the amount of quality songs it withholds. “California” was the first single that was released. It’s an anthem-type song that includes a piano interlude, but what really completes the song is the drumming. Usually the listener’s ears don’t guide towards that area too often, it was refreshing to hear that.

Another “anthem-like” tune would be the song, “Anthem.” Which is a song about how the whole world needs a song, but I think it deals with the songwriter’s struggles with attempting to write a song that will have mass appeal and meaning to everyone, which is almost impossible. It’s almost an anthem to any struggle songwriter trying to save the world with their guitar.

For a change of pace, there’s the tune, “Turn Smile Shift Repeat.” It’s a jingle that more or less sounds like it could have been a song on Radiohead’s Amnesiac. Their use of loops along with the eerie vocals is a change of their usual style. It’s risky, but seems like a nice addition to the album. Other additions that deserve merit are “Hey Now Girl,” “Nobody’s Fault,” and “Lonely Day.”

It doesn’t seem like Phantom Planet will be searching for another record label after this album. It looks as if they have a winner on their hands. Let’s hope that the drummer and lead singer don’t leave the group to further their acting careers. We’ll all be saying “Awwww…..Fudge!,” if that ever happens.