We would like to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving. I know we have a lot to be thankful for . . . our spouses, children, health and country. We hope that you have lots to be thankful for as well.

Every year in elementary school, my youngest son always comes home with a new bit of information. As you might have guessed, he always draws me in on these trivial tidbits. I did some fact checking on the internet and provided some links to support them:

The true beginning of the present Thanksgiving Day is believed to have come in the 3rd year the Pilgrims settled in the new land. That spring and summer was hot and dry so Governor Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and it was soon thereafter that the rain came. To celebrate – November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving.

It wasn’t until 1939 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving would be the next-to-last Thursday of November rather than the last. However throughout our country’s history, from colonial time until there was an official Thanksgiving Day, we have been celebrating one or more thanksgiving days almost every year.

In 1789 President George Washington with both Houses of Congress established the first national Thanksgiving Day on November 26. The reason for establishing Thanksgiving was:

“…to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be–That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”

(signed) G. Washington, The Massachusetts Sentinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

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WEDDLE recently surveyed visitors to their website and asked where they expected to find their next job. A total of 1,270 people participated in the survey. Here is where those surveyed thought they would find their next job:

• 57.6% Responding to an ad posted on an Internet job board
• 16.8% Networking at business and social events
• 7.2% Responding to an ad posted on an employers website
• 7.6% Sending a resume to an employer by mail
• 3.9% Receiving a call from a headhunter
• 1.9% Receiving a call from a staffing firm
• 1.9% Attending a career fair
• 1.6% Responding to a newspaper ad
• 0.7% Joining a social networking site

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It sure feels like a holiday already, but we at The Hire Sense march on today. We’ll keep things light before the long holiday weekend. Google kicked up this fun article from a CareerBuilder.com editor titled The 10 worst things to do in a meeting.

Here’s a good tease:

Who among us hasn’t cringed as the office windbag launched into a self-aggrandizing discourse that was completely off-point? Pitied a meek co-worker who got trounced by the office bully? Or marveled at a colleagues’ ability to string together an array of buzzwords that mean absolutely nothing?

Oh, I have been in many of those meetings.

A couple of my favorite items from the list:

7. Chew Gum. The smacking, popping, cracking and cow-like chewing are annoying. Plus, it’s rude and unprofessional. ‘Nuff said.9. Wander Off Topic. Don’t hijack the agenda. Stay focused on what you and your team are trying to accomplish. If you must digress into unrelated areas, make sure it’s alright with the others present. A good way to handle important issues not related to the topic at hand is to record them on a flipchart and revisit them at an appropriate time.

Any of you salespeople or managers out there who have sat through software development meetings can probably relate to number 9. It is uncanny how the software guys can run a tangential discussion in a topic-specific meeting.

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