Interviewing on the Sly

When searching for a new job, dealing with prospective employers is stressful enough: the numerous rejections before you get to yes, grueling interviews, tense salary negotiations and more. But add the almost universal need to conceal your job search — especially the interviews — from your present employer, and the result distracts many job seekers from preparing for interviews and even conducting them properly.

We asked several experts how to mitigate the troubles of the professional who must protect his current job while interviewing for a new one. The toughest challenges fall into three categories: scheduling interviews into and around the workday, dressing to impress without setting off alarms at work and finding excuses for those mysterious “appointments.”

Scheduling Interviews

The best strategy for scheduling job interviews is to set expectations with your prospects about the limits work places on your availability while remaining as flexible as possible. “Tell the recruiter or prospective employer early on about your hours of availability for phone calls,” advises Lindsay Olson, a partner and recruiter with Paradigm Staffing in New York City.

Many initial screening interviews are conducted by phone. Tight schedules notwithstanding, it’s critical to your present employment security to avoid doing phone interviews while the boss might be listening from the other side of the partition.

“Schedule your calls; don’t try to do them on the fly,” says Karen Loebbaka, director of recruiting for venture capital firm Bay Partners in Cupertino, California.

Even communicating with the prospective employer to arrange the interview can be problematic. “You’ve got to be creative — maybe take your lunch hour from 1 to 2,” when more managers at the prospective employer are likely to be back at their desks to take your call, says Melanie Szlucha, a job interview coach in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Some impatient employers and recruiters may not be satisfied with the once-a-day email habit of job seekers who wisely want to avoid their work computers. “Get Web service for your cell phone, or get a BlackBerry,” recommends Olson. “Ten dollars a month for Web access is a small price to pay.”

Pulling a Clark Kent

You know the drill: You work in a khakis or jeans office, but you’ve got to wear a suit to a lunch interview. If you need to pull a Clark Kent, plan what will serve as your phone booth in advance.

“I’ve changed my clothes in my car in a deserted parking lot,” says Szlucha. “You can also use hotel or library restrooms.” But the restroom of the coffee shop nearest the office is a bad place to dress up incognito.

Another tactic is to create a diversion with decoy dress-up days. “Start wearing dress clothes to work one or two days a week,” says Szlucha. You may receive suspicious glances and knowing remarks at first, but the reaction likely will fade over time.

You can reduce the risk of raising suspicions by not dressing up more than necessary for a particular interview. “Call the receptionist or someone in HR and ask what’s the dress code,” advises Szlucha. “For your interview, go one level up from there.”

Making Excuses

Now to face your biggest cold-sweat moment this side of the interview: Communicating your workday absence to the boss.

Some observers advise unforthcoming honesty. “You need to maintain a very straightforward approach,” says Brenda Greene, author of You’ve Got the Interview: Now What? “If anyone questions you, say you have an appointment. The less explaining you do, the less you’ll have to cover up.”

But if your employer corners you to ask about your “appointment,” deception can be justified, some believe. “One should tell the truth when at all possible,” says Michael Hoffman, director of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. “But it depends on the situation and environment you’re working in. If you see no alternative, you may be forced to tell less than the whole truth.”

“Sometimes you have to hide the truth, because telling the truth would cause a greater harm,” says Hoffman. “So it might be that saying you have a doctor’s appointment is ethically permissible.”

The bottom line, Olson says: “Once you get to the point in your career where you need to make a change, there’s nothing you can do about the need to lead a double life.”

Economic Ergonomics

It starts out as a minor twinge in the wrist that barely cramps the style of the countless workers who spend hours at the keyboard every day. But then, for many, it escalates until workdays are cut short with acute pain radiating from the hand to the elbow, shoulder and back.

Carpal tunnel syndrome and other forms of repetitive strain injuries (RSI) are a major issue for millions of employees. And a poll on the Society of Human Resource Management’s Web site found that 70 percent of respondents’ companies had no ergonomics plan in place. Furthermore, many RSI-prone independent workers aren’t subject to Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. But if you put a premium on your health, it might behoove you to examine the ergonomics of your work environment. Cornell University’s Ergonomics Web puts it this way: “Good ergonomics programs are always cost-effective; they save more than they cost.” With that in mind, consider these options for prevention and treatment.

Prevention

Although the treatment of RSI is mired in contradictory viewpoints, many prevention techniques are widely accepted. Experts agree that workers should take frequent breaks from their computer workstations, shift sitting positions and stretch regularly.

“The golden rule of ergonomics is to work in neutral positions,” says Jack Bellis, coauthor of It’s Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: RSI Theory & Therapy for Computer Professionals. This means positioning yourself, your chair, your keyboard and your computer monitor correctly.

Ergonomic hardware and furniture may offer substantial relief from hand, arm and back pain if properly chosen and installed. But beware: Some devices and furnishings may cause further injury. Check with a certified health practitioner before changing your behavior or workstation setup.

Hardware and Software

On the hardware side, ergonomic keyboards, and adjustable keyboards and mouse trays can help you maintain proper posture and neutral wrist position. If you ever type while talking on the phone, a telephone headset will help ward off a serious neck pain. Do you spend many hours a day working on your notebook PC? “Laptop computers on a desk may be one of the worst situations,” warns Bellis.

Some writers, programmers, designers and consultants have turned to speech-recognition software to reduce stress on their hands. These software programs, which in recent years have improved somewhat in accuracy and usability, let you dictate text and even enter commands with your voice. The financial investment is moderate, but most users spend lots of time correcting dictation errors and training the software to understand their words.

Treatment

When should you seek therapeutic treatment of RSI? As soon as you suspect you may have a problem. The longer you wait, the more costly the course of treatment — in terms of money, time and pain.

What kind of treatment should you get? There are many options. Some orthopedic surgeons insist that surgery is the only effective treatment for advanced carpal tunnel syndrome. “A lot of people get surgery, and it helps them immensely,” says Bellis. “But there’s a good chance that surgery will just address your latest point of failure.” For example, surgery may decrease wrist pain but not prevent the emergence of related RSI problems in the elbow and shoulder.

Physical therapy may be a better form of initial treatment for RSI patients, according to Bellis and his coauthor, Suparna Damany, a certified hand therapist and ergonomic assessment specialist. Massage is one therapy that can give lasting relief to some RSI sufferers.

If a physician suggests surgery, take a deep breath and consider therapeutic alternatives offered by licensed specialists. If you’re hyperventilating at the notion of spending several hundred dollars to improve your workstation’s ergonomics, compare that to the prospect of an RSI disability that could cost you thousands of dollars in billings.

Thrive in a Difficult Work Environment

Julie Jaqua has found herself in a rare situation: She and her coworkers love going to work each day at GCI Group, a public relations agency in Los Angeles.

“The environment is warm and friendly, yet professional,” she says.  “Even as an intern, everyone treated me with tremendous respect. This creates such a wonderful environment that even with the stress and difficult tasks, I enjoy my work and learn new skills.”

Most of us are not as lucky. But don’t fear. We can all survive, thrive and stay healthy in the office even without a friendly, supportive work environment. Here’s how.

Forget About Fate

Don’t leave anything in your career to chance. Put together a profile of your ideal career and employer. Andrea Kay, a career consultant and executive coach in Cincinnati, recommends including your ideal corporate structure, management styles, industry and corporate values.

Speak Up

Don’t wait for your employer to initiate discussions about job performance and expectations. “Check in regularly,” Kay says. “Find out how you’re doing and if your manager’s expectations are the same ones you’re working on.”

Foster Relationships

The better you get along with coworkers, the easier your job will be and the better you’ll perform. “It’s much easier to work with folks if you get along,” says Lisa O’Neill, a public relations account executive at Trinity Communications in Boston. Make an effort to put aside personal differences for the sake of your working relationship.

Give Credit

Give coworkers and subordinates credit for their contributions. Dick Lyles, author of Winning Ways: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well with People, says that competition with coworkers can be fatal. “Embrace this attitude: I win only if you win, and we all win together,” he says.

Keep Learning

A static knowledge base quickly becomes outdated and worthless. “Be sure you’re in a job where you’re going to keep learning,” says Anne Pauker, president of The Pauker Consulting Group, a human resources consultancy in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.

Find a Mentor

There’s no substitute for the wisdom of others. Pair up with someone who has the skills and insight you need. “That’s not necessarily an all-perfect or influential person,” says Pauker. “It’s someone who can help you learn what you need to get ahead.”

Balance Yourself

Living and breathing your job is a surefire path to failure. You’ll burn out quickly if you don’t maintain a healthy balance between your work and personal lives. Be clear with your boss about your personal obligations, and don’t let work take precedence over them.

Have Fun

Organize after-hours activities for you and your coworkers. The chance to interact on a nonwork level can strengthen your working relationships. Some companies, like GCI, have social committees that plan events each quarter. Jaqua says that jazz concerts, dinner or special events are great ways to relieve work-related stress at GCI.

Control the Damage

Most of us will fail at some point in our careers. Some of us will get fired. Don’t despair, says Kay. Be honest about your share of the blame and take away a few lessons. “Create a list of lessons that you may have learned from the situation,” she says.

Pursue Your Passion

If you love what you do, you’ll do it well. “If I don’t feel passionate about something, I don’t have time to do it,” says Pauker. “That’s the filter I use.” Be just as selective; choose a career and a job that you know will be personally fulfilling.

ExplorersWeb Week in Review The Pioneers Checkpoint

Is interstellar travel possible in our lifetime? Is there any money in space? Rooftop solar, biofuel and wind – are they our only chances to go green?

Last week ExWeb’s 4-part Space series went up, while the current Tech month featured the scoop on Iridium high speed OpenPort.

Other action included interviews with Simone Moro and Sarah Outen while on a sad note, Sven Gangdal was lost in a fatal boating accident.

Norwegian mountaineer Sven Gangdal dies in boating accident Himalayan climber Norwegian Sven Gangdal died in a boating accident on the night of September 13. Sven was alone in a small motor boat which ran at high speed into a cliff. Sven Gangdal had climbed five 8000ers and was twin brother of fellow mountaineer Jon Gangdal who became the first Norwegian to scale Kangchenjunga this past spring.

Mount Everest Iñurrategi, Vallejo and Zabalza have reached 7,500 meters on Everest North side normal route. The climbers are acclimatizing there before heading for the Hornbein Couloir in a single, alpine style push. It took the team three hours to reach 7,500 meters after spending the night at the North Col in high winds. “Conditions were tough as well, due to wind-slabs,” they told their home team.

Makalu Lugging a 20 kg backpack Ueli Steck climbed straight from BC to his small tent at 6700 meters on Makalu West Pillar in 9 solid hours. Hoping to leave a cache at 7,600 meters, Ueli had to turn back at 7200 meters in very deep snow. The climber now plans to hold, hoping for conditions to improve.

Renaissance explorers: ExWeb interview with Simone Moro about Cho Oyu SW face new route attempt Only months after his first winter ascent of Makalu, while preparing for a new route on Cho Oyu’s SW face, Simone Moro got a commercial helicopter pilot license in LA, improved his skydiving in San Diego, and is ready for a new son to be born. ExWeb caught up with the climber/pilot shortly after his final flying exam, and just before he takes off for Kathmandu.

Another team for a new route on Cho Oyu SW face Simone Moro and Herve Barmasse won’t be alone on Cho Oyu’s SW face – A Czech team (all climbing mates from K2) led by Leopold Sulovsky has come up with the same idea. Simone and his climbing mate Herve Barmasse will acclimatize in the Khumbu Valley prior to the ascent while Sulovsky’s team is already resting in BC, after setting up and stocking ABC. Simone’s new line attempt will probably go to the right of the Czechs’.

Koreans on Annapurna Kim Jae-Soo is in Annapurna BC where heavy rains have delayed the works on the route. Oh Eun-Sun is expected in BC by Sep 23-24th.

Manaslu sky-descents In addition to the Chilean ski-mountaineers, British Guy Willett & Emma Jack are on Manaslu hoping for a first complete ski-descent. Mallory & Irvine researcher and Everest climber Jochen Hemmleb sent a word about Manaslu ski-descent history: “Austrians Peter Woergoetter and Sepp Millinger made a ski descent from Manaslu as early as 1981. They started their descent from the notch at the base of the 40 m high final ridge, which they didn’t ski because it was knife-edged – so this was a complete a ski descent as could get, at least at the time. Also, this is often regarded as the first ski descent from an 8000-metre peak. They skied down all the way to the snow line.”

Pauner injured in a fall on Shisha Carlos Pauner has left Shisha with painful but not serious injury after he took a fall last weekend on the way to C1.

Shisha in Inaki’s footsteps? “We are climbing Shisha’s northern side, following Iñaki Ochoa’s traverse from the upper sections to the main summit,” reported Kinga Baranowska. Andrew Lock hopes to complete his 14x8000ers project on Shisha, which would be Kinga’s 7th. Juanito Oiarzabal and a team mate have joined Marco Panzeri and Nick Rice; also this team will consider the ‘Iñaki variation’,” Nick Rice stated.

Shisha’s South side Meanwhile on the South side, Edurne Pasaban’s team has moved up to ABC. Basque Juan Vallejo complained about at least one team intending to fix ropes all the way up Shisha’s British route. “All routes on Shisha’s South face have been opened in light style, and repetitions are usually done in the same way,” he said. “The place has become an ‘alpine style sanctuary’ among the Himalayan 8000ers, and it’s sad that some are unwilling to follow this un-written law and ignore History by climbing the mighty wall in heavy, ‘normal route style’.”

Dhaulagiri “We’ve got some problems with the Porters,” the Chilean team reported from the so-called Hidden Camp (at the French pass before BC). “Only four of them remain with us, after the rest abandoned us on a higher pass before BC where we are now, due to altitude sickness. Therefore, we are carrying the loads down to BC ourselves.”

HumanEdgeTech report: Beyond Inmarsat’s coverage – High Speed Internet and Video from Anywhere Over the last few years, improvements in Inmarsat BGAN systems have slashed costs and weight, and radically increased data speed. Those in polar and some ocean areas, have however been stuck with Iridium handsets and painfully slow data speeds of 2.4kb/s. Enter Iridium OpenPort. With true global coverage and speeds up to 128kb/s it radically stretches polar possibilities, albeit with some important limitations. Check out HET’s special report.

Heads up: Christoph Höbenreich, Paul Koller and Karl Pichler’s Queen Maud Land expedition Christoph Höbenreich from Tyrol will be leading an Austrian expedition to explore some unknown mountain areas in Antarctica’s Queen (Dronning) Maud Land during November and December 2009. “Instead of looking out for difficult rock climbs big wall style the Austrian team will try to ski across the ranges from West to East and climb mountains in alpine style or using skis,” Chris told ExWeb.

ExWeb interview with Sarah Outen “Talk to as many different ocean rowers as you can, go with the best boat builder around, prepare and train, and pack lots of chocolate.” 24-year old Sarah Outen recently became the first woman and youngest person to row across the Indian Ocean single-handed and unsupported. ExWeb’s Correne Coetzer caught up with her for a debrief interview.

Non-Russian commercial vessels transit the Northeast Passage On 7th of September, two multi-purpose heavy lift project carriers, MV Beluga Fraternity and MV Beluga Foresight, became the first non-Russian commercial vessels to make it through the Northeast Passage from Asia to Europe. The MV Beluga Fraternity had cast off on the 23rd of July and sister vessel MV Beluga Foresight five days later from Ulsan, South Korea. They entered the so called Northern Sea Route via the inspection point at Vladivostok in order to deliver their project cargo as far into the destination area as no other merchant vessel had previously been able to.

ExplorersWeb 2009 Space Conference report: Stuck like Velcro? It’s the money, stupid! The 28th annual International Space Development Conference kicked off May 28 in Orlando, Florida. Check ExWeb’s report about the latest on Virgin, Mars exploration, private rocket planes, a mono-rail for 0G bike rides, and some contemplation, “If you accept the vision of a closed future, sooner or later every other person on Earth becomes your enemy,” said Zubrin.

ExWeb 2009 space report, part 2: Interstellar travel – from LOX to eternity over Einstein’s speed bumps Traveling to other planets in our own solar system is fairly easy; a number of man made spacecraft are already doing just that. Faster than light travel is also not as impossible is it seems; we’ve come a long way, and most of it only in the last fraction of our existence. So what are our chances to travel outside our solar system in reasonable time? ExWeb’s interstellar space travel crash course is a must read.

ExWeb 2009 Space report, part 3 – Manna from Heaven: Space Solar Power Although gas prices didn’t take us for the same big ride this summer compared to last, fact remains that we are running out of juice. Man made global warming or not, we want to go green. At least until we start to count on it and speakers at this year’s Space conference offered some pretty chilling facts. There’s a third option though, where a new industry is quietly brewing: Space Solar Power. The idea is basically to launch solar panels into space, and beam energy with lasers or microwaves to collectors on earth.

ExWeb 2009 Space report, final: if you wish upon a star… On Manhattan this past June, Space Business Forum examined the budding $257 billion space industry. Real estate and new technology drive economy in a democracy, however, two thirds of engineer graduates in US are not US citizens and less than a third graduate in Science. If you want in you’ll be entering thin air when it comes to competition but plenty of POISK when it comes to money. Check ExWeb’s final Space report on where to find it and don’t miss ExWeb’s “real life” tales vs. Space investment banks’ advice for IPO.