There’s an interesting conversation going on over at Blogging Boss about an apparent new trend in job interviews—hostility.

When I was in the Navy, stories abounded about the legendary Admiral Rickover and the “stress” interviews he conducted for applicants to the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program. One story that made the rounds had the Admiral offering a piece of candy to the unsuspecting applicant. If the applicant politely refused, Rickover would urge it on him again. If the applicant then agreed and took the candy, the interview was over. “Can’t you make up your mind?” Rickover would roar, and send the poor guy slinking from the room.

Third Age has an article about this topic, too, so these types of interviews are clearly out there.

What can you do to prepare for one? I don’t think there’s much you can do, except to be aware of the practice and the types of questions that may be asked in such a situation. Knowledge is power. Personally, I wouldn’t want to work for a company who conducted interviews in such an unprofessional manner.

What do you think? If you or anyone you know has been through a “stress” or hostile interview lately, I’d like to hear about it.

If you’re a small business owner or solo-entrepeneur, you’ll want to jump on this COMP Teleclass right away… because there are only 98 spots available, and they are bound to fill up fast. Michael Port’s tele-classes on ‘how to get more clients’ always sell-out and get rave reviews to boot. Don’t miss this one!

There are several different dates set up for this fr’ee call, and the first one is Thurs, 27 Oct at 3 PM EDT.

You’ll get quick and easy step-by-step Book Yourself Solid client-generating, profit-producing strategies LIVE and DIRECT from Michael Port.

If you can’t make the live call, go ahead and register anyway and he’ll send you a replay link!

Just click here to sign up.

This is a great class, and I highly recommend it.

Jody Cohen and Terry Lanphear, the owners of Thankful Paws, produce a line of vests, coats, bandanas and other items used by animal charities to raise money and help find permanent homes for rescued animals. Both women volunteer with the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League, which is where I met them when we adopted our Dane girl, Ethel.

They are great people and make a great product! Read more about them on DoggieNews.

Things are moving quickly now. The retaining wall and walkway are finished, and it is a beautiful job. We want to do some hardscaping in the front next year, and I’ll definitely use this company again—Annapolis Stonewall & Patio.

Next up: painting!

As I said in the last update, the roof is done and it looks beautiful. I called the company on Monday, to make sure they were done and to ask how they wanted payment. The woman in the office (who never seems to know a thing, no matter what I ask) said she would leave a message for the owner and he would call me about the bill.

On Wed, at 7:15 AM, the owner called. I had just barely stumbled downstairs to make some tea and when the phone rang, at that hour, I immediately thought someone had died. No, it was the roofing owner. He asked if he could come by to pick up a check, and gave me the total. He said he’d be here in 30 – 40 minutes. Fine. Well, at 9 AM, he still hadn’t shown. I had an appointment and had to still get in the shower, etc, so I woke my husband up so someone would be around to meet the contractor. He finally showed around 9:30. My husband said he took the check, said it was a pleasure doing business with us, and left. No receipt, so now I’ll have to call the company again so I can get a full receipt for our files.

The retaining wall has been stalled by the rainy weather, so not much progress. They’re about 2 days, or less, away from finishing, as soon as the sun comes out. Unfortunately, this has pushed back the painting work.

More later.

If you could go back and start your business life over again, what changes would you make? According to a recent survey by Korn/Ferry International, over half of executives would choose a different line of work.

In a related question, the executives were also asked if their current career matched what they had planned to be when they were children. (Say, Timmy…what do you want to be when you grow up?) There were the usual answers of doctor or nurse, athlete and astronaut, but 18% of respondents said they had wanted to be a business executive. Now really…a business executive? Who believes that? Other than Alex P. Keaton, has any kid ever dreamed of being a business executive? I wanted to be Nancy Drew. Or a beautician. Something cool, anyway.

What did you want to be? Drop me a line and let me know.

Do you have trouble making decisions? Do you second-guess the ones you do make? If you’re at all concerned about your business or your life, you’ve probably had a decision crisis or two, and you’d just as soon not go through that again.

A colleague of mine, Lorraine Cohen (PowerFull Living) is offering a teleseminar that I highly recommend.

How do I choose?..... Let me count the ways!
Teleseminar hosted by Lorraine Cohen

Decisions…. decisions…. decisions…..

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WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS CLASS?

– Business owners who want to grow their business – Entrepreneurs who want to start their own business – Managers and executives who want to become more effective leaders – People who feel stuck and need the tools and motivation to get to the next level – Procrastinators who are sick and tired of spinning their wheels

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Sign up now—I’ll see you there!

We have movement on the renovation projects! We came home from our vacation to find the roof completed, and a very nice job it is. The retaining wall is half-finished, but that could have been weather-related delays. I’ll be calling around tomorrow to get the scoop from the contractors, and to schedule the painters.

Look for more updates!