This is from an online job board:

I live in _______. I have a lot of customer service experience, but I am willing to do just about anything. I am in a lot of debt and need a good solid job to help me get out of it.

Not good.  Apparently the appeal here is to have a company provide money to them to relieve their debt.

I feel for them being in debt, but this type of positioning is terrible.  Far better to articulate what the company receives for employing the candidate’s services.

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Nary a day goes by that we are not assessing a salesperson for one of our clients.  This activity gives us the opportunity to measure different traits in a wide variety of salespeople in many diverse markets.

There is one trait pattern we always dissect and that is a salesperson’s self-esteem vs. their empathy towards others.  At the risk of going too deep, the issue is how much does the salesperson value themselves vs. others.  Here is why it is important – a salesperson who greatly overvalues himself will often appear condescending, or even cocky, to prospects when placed into a long sales cycle.

But if you have a high-rejection, short-term sales cycle, this overshifted self-esteem can be quite useful.  These salespeople tend to be almost bulletproof.  Rejection hardly phases them.  Their strong view of themselves allows them to keep moving through calls without overreacting to a hang up.

If your sale requires voluminous call prospecting, this strong ego-driven sales style can be most advantageous.

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According to a recent study by World at Work:

The number of Americans whose employer allows them to work remotely at least one day per month increased 63 percent, from 7.6 million in 2004 to 12.4 million in 2006.

Based on government estimates of 149.3 million workers in the U.S. labor force, the 2006 data means that roughly 8 percent of American workers have an employer that allows them to telecommute one day per month.

The article goes on to say that this trend is a result of the proliferation of high speed broadband, wireless access and the willingness of more employers to embrace flexibility in regards to work-life balance.

I think we also need to look at the rising costs in gas and the sophistication of technology. VPN tunnels allow access to company documents without setting foot in the office, the new MS Office products now allow simultaneous group work on a document and VoIP phones allow business-grade phones into a home office. With a gallon of gas going over the $3 mark and the amount of time that is being wasted on commuting, I think we will see this number continue to rise.

The national average commute time is 24.4 minutes which amounts to approximately 4.5 days a year spent in commute. The number one city is New York City with an average commute time of 38.4 minutes, Chicago is second at 32.7, Philadelphia third at 30.3. Our hometown of Minneapolis is tied with Nashville at 52nd (21 minutes) and rounding out the list in last place (or should it be first?) is Wichita City, KS at 16.5 minutes.

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As in driving the car!  From Yahoo News’ Shd u txt, chat n drive? Young drivers say OK (my emphasis):

A survey by the Zogby International polling firm released on Wednesday found 66 percent of U.S. drivers aged between 18 and 24 send text messages while driving and 93 percent talk on their cell phone behind the wheel.

I have no problems with people talking on their cell phone while driving, but text messaging?  I may be too old to appreciate this ability, but I have a hard enough time text messaging on my phone when I am sitting in a restaurant undisturbed.

Unbelievable.

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