The Key to Good Interviewing

There are a couple of factors to keep in mind when preparing for a job interview. First of all, you have to look good, and you also need to do a little preparation. You can usually look up standard interview questions on the net and find what the ideal answers are, then tailor your own experience accordingly.
The biggest key however, is one of the best kept secrets in interviewing. Here it is. Most interviewers don't know how to interview. This leaves you in a tremendously advantageous position if you know how to be interviewed! This might be an oversimplification, but basically you have 2 types of interviewers (with the exception of group interviews, panel interviews etc).
You have talkers, and you have listeners.
The listener will generally have a sheet of about 20 company issued questions to ask you. They will spend half of their time if not more staring at this sheet, clearing their throat before asking you a question, and occassionally offering a very nervous chuckle if you've said something amusing. With a listener you want to do a lot of talking. Talk about your birds, your cats, your kids, ask about their family, pets, education, personal background. The listener is waiting for you to fill in the gaps, and the listener finds the gaps incredibly awkward. You have to ease that for them.
You have to build a rapport, and that generally depends on finding some common ground. This again comes back to asking a lot of questions about them. The things that people generally enjoy talking about are their family and or pets, their hobbies, their work, their vacations, and with some, their heritage. Here's an example. I had an interviewer by the name of Bruce Patterson. He was a little nervous running me through a presentation on his company's computer system. At a lull in the presentation I asked him if he was Scottish by any chance. (Even with no clues there is about a 1-5chance that the average Canadian has some Scottish Heritage, and with a name like Bruce Patterson those odds go up to about 100%). He was of course, and after a brief dialogue about being Scottish he actually shut down the presentation and navigated to a family website where we talked about coats of arms and heraldic crests for the rest of our time. Needless to say I got the job. I had put the listener at ease by finding a topic of common ground that he was enthused about.
The other type of interviewer you will encounter is the talker. Here your approach should be entirely the opposite. Talkers love to hear themselves talk. Your best tactic is to engage in active listening, leaning forward, engaging them in an attentive manner, smiling and nodding a lot, and simply letting them talk themselves into hiring you. TRUST ME on this one. I know it sounds crazy, but 3 of the best jobs that I've ever had I landed with this technique. Ironically, you tend to meet this type of interviewer most often when applying for sales or people oriented positions. I have had hour long interviews with this type of person in which I picked up pretty fast that they loved to talk (you will too now that you know what to look for), and have seriously uttered no more than 4 or 5 sentences yet landed the job.
A talker will become frustrated if you try to talk over him, if you interrupt his or her flow. They quickly lose their train of thought when interrupted and struggle to find the momentum again. They will provide you with opportunities to answer specific questions, but often times they won't ask any questions at all. Your job is to listen, try to determine what they believe the key hiring factors are, and in your closing statement as you leave their office, re-iterate that those are the qualities you possess.
In the past few days I've had 3 interviews, and I've landed 3 jobs. 2 of the jobs I'm not at all qualified for. As for the other, my spotted work history should have set off huge alarm bells in the interviewers mind. This technique works, because it caters not to the job in question, but to the interviewer. It makes the interviewer feel very positive about their own skills and acumen. I have never in my life been out of work unless I chose to be.
Give it a shot, just for fun, you'll be amazed.

Corporate Assheads

My wife's place of employment recently screwed her over royally. For the past 3 years she's been working as the senior assistant manager, with the understanding that when a position opened up she would move into store manager. Let me illustrate just how certain she was of this. We stayed in a house that was a little too small for us for 2 years because they had told her she would be relocating unless her own boss quit, in which case she would just step into her shoes.
Last week her boss quit. Her chain of stores has a new regional manager, that has met my wife once before. She came down to interview for the position. There were 2 candidates, Janet, and Janet's assistant manager. We were 95% positive that Janet would get the job. If they chose her assistant Janet would have to train her in much of the job's duties, and it would be an entirely illogical choice. Well her boss decided to be illogical, and she hired Janet's assistant, so Janet gave her notice 3 days ago.
This meant that I had to find a job and quick. I was speaking with one of my friends on the day that it happened, and she said to me "She's quitting her job before you have one? Is that wise?"
Janet and I both thought this was kind of funny. Janet even went as far as to say "I was so not worried about you finding work that it didn't even occur to me.
Here's the thing. I am the king of cover letters and job interviews. I'll write about this in my next blog entry for anyone that's interested, but believe me when I tell you this: there are some interviews where it is best to just shut up, don't say a word, look the interviewer sraight in the eye and listen.

What Is This Stinky Stuff?

This is an article I recently submitted to a magazine in hopes of publication.

Southeast Asians use it like Kindergarten kids here use ketchup. Fish sauce is an absolute must in recipes from Angkor Wat to Yogyakarta (give me a break, I couldn’t find a Southeast Asian city that started with ‘Z’). You’ve probably tasted it and didn’t even know that you had. If you’ve ever had spring rolls, it’s quite likely you were presented with a bowl of smelly translucent liquid to spoon over them or to dip them in. This was probably fish sauce.
Some of you may even have been bold enough to inquire “What is this stinky stuff?” only to be answered with the ever enigmatic “Fish Sauce.”
The first time that I learned this delightfully salty sauce’s name, a thousand possibilities went through my head as to what exactly it might be. As a chef I first suspected that ‘fish sauce’ entailed a reduction of the juices and fats of a cooked fish of some sort. Then I thought that perhaps it might be a ‘sauce for fish’, and could thus have been constituted of God knows what. I even bemusingly entertained the idea of someone squeezing all the juice out of a raw fish into our little side bowl. Little did I know that this last idea was the most accurate.
Having been exposed to numerous hours of food safe training and kitchen sanitation lessons, when I finally looked up the true origins of fish sauce, I was initially horrified. If it’s a sauce that you already love, and you still don’t know what it is or how it’s made, I’ll advise you not to read any further. If you have the courage, (and the stomach for it), then read on.
Fish sauce, called "nam bplah" in Thai, or literally "fish water," is the water in the flesh of fish that is extracted in the process of prolonged salting and fermentation. It’s made from small fish that would otherwise have little value.
For fish sauce to be at its most palatable, it’s crucial that the fish be as fresh as possible. The fish are taken right off of the fishing boats as they come in, then mixed with sea salt – two to three parts fish to one part salt. From there, they’re put into large earthenware jars or wooden casks, lined on the top and bottom with more salt. A woven bamboo mat is placed over the fish and weighted down with heavy rocks to keep the rotting carcasses from floating when water inside them begins to ooze out.
The jars and casks of fermenting dead fish are then left in the hot Southeast Asian sun for anywhere from 9 months to a year. Occasionally the jars will be opened, allowing the hot sun to further dissolve and digest the fish into the resulting fluid, and to air them out a bit. It’s this sunning process that results in the finest fish sauces.
I managed to overcome my initial horror with the logical conclusion that I had never heard of anyone dying from eating fish sauce, and that it was perfectly safe. Quickly my taste for the little sauce that came with my spring rolls returned, and soon I found myself in the Asian foods isle looking for fish sauce. I’d asked around a bit, and my understanding was that there could be dramatic differences in the quality of fish sauces. Some of the low end variety add salt water to the mix, others don’t sun as often, etc. Golden Boy Brand, (the label shows a big smiling baby holding a bottle of the sauce) was recommended as one of the better varieties.
I bought the sauce and I also bought the makings for some spring rolls. I got the stuff home, whipped up the spring rolls, dipped them into a dish of the sauce, and nearly vomited. I have since learned that fish sauce straight up is not a good thing. Not to the culinary tourist anyway.
Apparently the fish sauce that one is provided with when one orders spring rolls isn’t actually fish sauce. It’s a sauce that uses fish sauce as one of it’s primary ingredients, unfortunately no one has proposed a name for it in English yet. Until now. And I propose that we call it…’Spring Roll Sauce’.
Here, for your dining pleasure, is my recipe for spring roll sauce.
Spring Roll Sauce
½ cup rice vinegar (regular white vinegar lacks the necessary sweetness)
½ cup fish sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsps sugar
½ cup water
2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
I like to heat the water in a small pot and dissolve the sugar into it, before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. I’d also avoid allowing the vinegar to come into contact with metal. I don’t know if it’s just me, but whenever my vinegar has touched metal it makes my molars contract. Probably just me.
Once I’ve made this mixture I store it in a sealed bottle in my pantry. Do not refrigerate it as this may cause the sauce to crystallize. When you are ready to serve it, I suggest that you garnish each little bowl with a few shredded carrots for some added color and freshness.
And there you have it. Now you know that fish sauce is the water that oozes out of dead fish after spending 9 months in the Southeast Asian sun packed in salt.
Mmmmmm good! Happy dipping!

Gettin' my Hardtail on the Trail.

Here's something you didn't know about me. I really like trail riding. Ever since I was a little kid I've been an 'enthusiast'
When I was younger I had a BMX and my friends and I would head out to the riverbank trails and go nuts. It was as much fun as riding a rollercoaster. Most of the time I was behind the rest of the group, I was a little neurotic and overcautious. Since those days I've flirted back and forth with trail riding. I'm a little ashamed to say that the last time that I did anything close to trail riding was probably about 4 years ago in Calgary. I lived a block away from Nose Hill, and I rediscovered the passion for a time there.
But this week I'll be getting my mountain bike out on the road again. It's in the shop right now getting a full tune up and a couple of minor but necessary repairs. And then it's party time! I discovered a great link today. It's a listing of trails in Saskatoon. I was shocked at how many of these trails I wasn't aware of. I'd always considered myself a little bit of an expert on the river trails, but I guess I have a lot to learn.

Pizzadillas (Peetza-deeyaz)

One of my big challenges as a Dad is keeping meal time diverse and healthy.
Here's a fast fun snack that I credit with myself with inventing at lunchtime today.
Pizzadilla
This half quesadilla half pizza thing was a big hit today
You'll need (per person):
1 Tortilla
2 Tbsp Pizza Sauce
2 Ounces of shredded Full Fat Mozzarello or Pizza blend cheese
Whatever other pizza-esque things your little heart desires. Basically anything that you can put on a pizza, you can put in a pizzadilla.
Lay the tortilla flat, spread the pizza sauce evenly over the tortilla.
Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pizza sauce.
Spread the additional fillings over the cheese.
Fold the tortilla over, so that it forms a half moon shape, place on a hot skillet (no oil) and brown each side.
When you're finished cooking it, cut into triangles and serve with fresh cut veggies or salsa.
MMMMMMMMM good.

Martin Luther King, 40 Years later.

Apostle of change

original article by MIKE MARQUSEE

Forty years after his death on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King is commemorated as an apostle of social harmony. In reality, his quest for justice made him a deeply controversial figure in his day.

It’s testimony to the awkward power of Martin Luther King’s life and work that so much effort has gone into sanitising his memory. Today he’s commemorated as an apostle of social harmony, a hero in the triumphant march of American p rogress. But at the time of his death 40 years ago, on April 4, 1968, his increasingly radical challenge to war and poverty had made him deeply controversial, spied on and harassed by his government, feared and loathed by millions of Americans.

The civil rights movement’s challenge to Jim Crow in the south had secured major advances, but had also exposed the intractability of American racism. Legal segregation had been destroyed, but economic inequality loomed larger than ever. Inner cities across the nation erupted in violence every summer between 1964 and 1967. The Black Power slogan had signalled a new black nationalist consciousness among younger activists. The role of white people in the movement came under scrutiny and there were calls for black-only organisations.
Under pressure

Martin Luther King stood in the middle of this tempest, under pressure from militant youth on his left and cautious elders on his right. In 1967, his opposition to the war in Vietnam had been denounced by mainstream civil rights leaders and liberal opinion-makers, including The New York Times. While he agreed with the militants that the movement had to enter a new, more ambitious phase, he continued to advocate both non-violence and inter-racial alliances. “We don’t enlist races in the movement. We enlist consciences. And anybody who wants to be free, and to make somebody else free, that’s what we want.”

In January 1968, King launched an inter-racial Poor People’s Campaign. The idea was to bring black, white and brown poor people to Washington, where they would establish a tent city and camp out in front of Congress until either a job or a living income was guaranteed for all.

Increasingly, King identified the war in Vietnam as part of a global struggle against colonialism, and black inequality as a function of class inequalities that also affected many whites. Though he opposed the separatism espoused by black nationalists, he had his own view of what “integration” meant: “We are not interested in being integrated into this value structure.” A “radical redistribution of economic power” was needed. “So often in America,” he observed, “we have socialism for the rich and ragged free enterprise capitalism for the poor.”

King’s political direction alarmed the FBI, which planted stories in the press to discredit him as a “Communist” and link the Poor People’s Campaign to violent plots against the government.

On March 18, he journeyed to the city of Memphis, on the Mississippi River, where for five weeks 1,300 black sanitation workers had been on strike for union recognition and a living wage. King was excited by the sometimes tense but creative coalition that had emerged in support of the strikers. Black churches, white-led trade unions, students and ghetto youth had kept up a succession of marches and protests, despite assaults and arrests by local police.

“All labour has dignity,” King told the strikers in Memphis. “It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.” He urged them to stay out till their demands were met. “Never forget that freedom is not something that is voluntarily given by the oppressor. It is something that must be demanded by the oppressed.”

In the U.S. in recent weeks the sermons of Barack Obama’s pastor, Jeremy Wright — notably his “God damn America” speech — have been denounced by all and sundry. Wright’s anger and “divisiveness” has been regularly contrasted with King’s gentle and unifying approach. But I doubt many of Wright’s critics would be much more satisfied with “the indictment of America” pronounced by King on that night in Memphis in 1968: “If America does not use her vast wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too is going to hell.”

King returned to Memphis on April 3rd. In his famous speech at the Mason Temple he acknowledged fears for his safety. But he told the strikers he’d been “to the mountaintop” and “seen the promised land”: “I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man!”

The next day he was shot dead on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was 39 years old.
Widespread protests

The civil disorder that ensued was the most widespread in U.S. history. Riots erupted in 125 cities; 70,000 national guard and U.S. troops were called in to quell them, with 50,000 on stand-by — the largest domestic deployment of military forces since the Civil War. In the end, 24,000 were arrested; 3,000 injured; 46 killed, all but five black.

In Washington, D.C., crowds 20,000-strong overwhelmed local police. Marines mounted machine guns on the steps of the Capitol. At one point, rioting reached within two blocks of the White House, which was guarded by the Third Infantry.

Sixty-five days after King’s killing, his alleged assassin was captured in London. James Earl Ray was painted as a racist loser and was declared to have acted alone. But there have always been doubts. Hundreds of police and FBI agents surrounded the Lorraine Motel that day. Ray not only escaped their detection to position himself comfortably within shooting distance of King; he was able to flee the scene without being stopped. It’s been suggested that not only the Memphis police, but U.S. military intelligence were involved in the assassination. In 1999, the King family brought a civil suit in Memphis for wrongful death; after reviewing the evidence in more detail than had ever been done before, the jury ruled that government agencies had indeed been involved in a conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King.

The immediate impact of the King assassination was to deprive the U.S. anti-war and black freedom movements of their most effective leader, perhaps the only one who could have united the disparate constituencies of dissent. Long-term, it deprived the world of a voice for social justice that was to be desperately needed in the decades that followed.

Who knows how King would have evolved? After the first flush of fame, leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956-57, and winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 1963, it would have been easy for him to rise above the fray and enjoy his prestige. He chose to do the opposite. He chose to take the hardest course, confronting the realities of power, the scale of change necessary and the obstacles to that change. He not only talked; he listened. King had something precious and very rare indeed among leaders, a capacity for self-criticism and growth. The real Dr. King was an altogether more demanding and inspiring figure than the emollient angel being celebrated this week in the U.S.

I Don't Want To Be a Granola Munchin' Flannel Wearin' Tree Huggin' Hippie,

but I think I'm turning into one. I've successfully quit caffeine now. Lately (i.e. the past few months) I've been making a lot of healthier choices in my life. These changes all seem to be creating a domino effect of sorts. For example.

I decided that I was going to get back into running. This made me swear off of the chicken wings and fried foods.

Then my brother had a heart attack. I began to eat even more consciously, choosing whole grains, making sure to get my recommended servings of fruits and vegetables in every day.

I've also subscribed to a running magazine, which gives me all sorts of diet and lifestyle tips. I think that this may have been where I first happened upon the idea of giving up caffeine.

So today, I find myself on day 3 (or 4, not sure) of being caffeine free. I checked out some websites on tips to help me beat it, and they have all suggested plenty of fruit and vitamin c in particular, avoidance of sugars and starches, stick to whole grains.

So earlier today I was reading the ingredients on some 12 grain bagels we bought. In the past I've had to choke these things down, they disgusted me. But today I was reading the ingredients: rolled oats, sunflower seeds, millet...and my mouth actually started to water. It seems that I've developed an appetite for this stuff. Seems I'm in the throes of a paradigm shift at the moment. I just hope I can remain relatively normal.

Walt Whitman is the Shizzle!

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of
all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions
of suns left,)
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through
the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.

Now come on, just how freakin' awesome is that?! That's from Whitman's 'Song of Myself', the poem from which is taken one of his most famous quotes:
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"


It's a beautiful poem in its entirety, but its entirety is large and contains multitudes as well, so I'm not going to print it here, but I will link to it here.

This is one of those pieces of writing that has had a deep and profound effect upon me over the years. Part of the reason is that it's a poem that has deeply affected many of my idols in writing, most notably Henry Miller. It's also a poem that really conveys a lot of my own deepest beliefs, beliefs that are difficult to communicate outside of a poem.

Here is another great passage from the poem:

I know I am deathless,
I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter's compass,
I know I shall not pass like a child's carlacue cut with a burnt
stick at night.

I know I am august,
I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood,
I see that the elementary laws never apologize,
(I reckon I behave no prouder than the level I plant my house by,
after all.)

I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.

One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself,
And whether I come to my own to-day or in ten thousand or ten
million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.

My foothold is tenon'd and mortis'd in granite,
I laugh at what you call dissolution,
And I know the amplitude of time.

Thinking About Quitting Quitting.

There are a whole lot of negatives associated with caffeine. But most of them are only a concern if not taken in moderation. For example, a coffee first thing in the morning followed by exercise (my own routine) can actually be a pretty good thing.

That being said, a smoothie first thing in the morning followed by exercise is an even better thing.

One major component of my desire to kick caffeine is that I don't really like coffee. I have to put in a ton of sugar in order to choke it down. I probably take in an extra 500-1000 calories daily just to get my caffeine fix. So in addition to the increased risks of heart trouble that caffeine gives me, I'm also running an increased risk of diabetes.

Hmmm. To quit or not to quit? Should just be today and tomorrow that are really bad. And today isn't that bad so far. Just don't have ANY energy or focus whatsoever
.
Here are some of caffeine's effects on the body, positives and negatives:

* Hormones- You can feel the effects of caffeine in your system within a few minutes of ingesting it, and it stays on your system for many hours—it has a half-life of four to six hours in your body. While in your body, caffeine affects the following hormones:

* Adenosine- Can inhibit absorption of adenosine, which calms the body, which can make you feel alert in the short run, but can cause sleep problems later.

* Adrenaline- Caffeine injects adrenaline into your system, giving you a temporary boost, but possibly making you fatigued and depressed later. If you take more caffeine to counteract these effects, you end up spending the day in an agitated state, and might find yourself jumpy and edgy by night.

* Cortisol- Can increase the body’s levels of cortisol, the “stress hormone”, which can lead to other health consequences ranging from weight gain and moodiness to heart disease and diabetes.

* Dopamine- Caffeine increases dopamine levels in your system, acting in a way similar to amphetamines, which can make you feel good after taking it, but after it wears off you can feel ‘low’. It can also lead to a physical dependence because of dopamine manipulation.

These changes caffeine makes in your physiology can have both positive and negative consequences:

* Sleep- Caffeine can affect your sleep by keeping you awake longer, thereby shortening the amount of sleep you get, and giving you less time in the restorative stages of sleep, which takes a toll on your level of alertness the next day and overall health.

Interestingly, though, caffeine doesn’t affect the stages of sleep the way other stimulants do, so it’s a better choice than speed or other ‘uppers’ to use if you need to stay awake.

* Weight Many experts believe that increased levels of cortisol lead to stronger cravings for fat and carbohydrates, and cause the body to store fat in the abdomen. (Abdominal fat carries with it greater health risks than other types of fat.) Also, if increased cortisol levels lead to stronger cravings for caffeine-laden foods, the body goes into a cycle that leads only to worse health.

The good news, though, is that caffeine can speed up metabolism. Also, it can help the body break down fat about 30% more efficiently if consumed prior to exercise. (You must be exercising to get this benefit, though.) Additionally, caffeine can keep blood sugar levels elevated, leaving you feeling less hungry.

* Exercise If caffeine elevates levels of cortisol and other hormones for a temporary boost, after caffeine wears off, the body can feel fatigued and feelings of mild to moderate depression can set in. This can make physical activity more difficult.

On the positive side, caffeine has been found to enhance physical performance and endurance if it isn’t overused. This, combined with its effect of fat burning during exercise, can actually enhance workouts and enable you to get in better shape if you take it at the right time.

Caffeine and Stress

Because caffeine and stress can both elevate cortisol levels, high amounts of caffeine (or stress) can lead to the negative health effects associated with prolonged elevated levels of cortisol. If you ingest high levels of caffeine, you may feel your mood soar and plummet, leaving you craving more caffeine to make it soar again, causing you to lose sleep, suffer health consequences and, of course, feel more stress. However, small to moderate amounts of caffeine can lift your mood and give you a boost.