DEAR ANN LANDERS: As a secretary I
hope you will print what I have to say to job applicants.
I realize getting a job is not easy these days. But so many people
make it harder on themselves and then wonder why they aren't hired.
It makes me sad and angry. I am talking not only about young people,
but those in their late 20s and 30s as well.
Job applicants come in smelling like yesterday's onions, with bloodshot
eyes from the previous night's drinking bout. The number who have
an aversion to soap and water is astounding. If I can smell them
before I see them, their application goes swiftly into the "circular
file." Grooming can be of the utmost importance.
Clothes can be old and patched, but they can be CLEAN! Whatever
happened to combing hair and shaving or trimming beards and mustaches?
I always look at hands and fingernails. A nail file costs only 25
cents.
Please leave your tight jeans, bandannas, chains and knives at home.
They are not appropriate for the workplace. |
You would not believe the number of people who
have lived in this town all their lives and can't spell its name.
I have had many job applicants who don't know what day it is and
cannot spell January or February. Last month
nearly half the people who came here looking for work were functionally
illiterate. This problem can be remedied. I tell these individuals
to contact a local high school and ask about remedial courses.
People who cannot read or write are forever locked into menial,
low-paying jobs.
This letter might sound hardboiled, but if it gets just a few
readers to shape up and make themselves employable, it will have
been worth the effort it took to write it. - Tired of the Turkeys
Dear Tired: Your letter should be clipped out by everyone who
is looking for work. It may mean the difference between continued
unemployment and a good job, and I am not kidding.
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