Question - What else could go wrong or annoy employer before interview actually begins ?

Answer - A couple of things that happen more often than you might expect. Applicants turning up with one or more relatives expecting to also participate in interview are a classic.

Hint for jobseekers (6) - If you are not brave enough to face an interview by yourself, employers will not respect you. The WORST thing to do is bring your mother. This basically proves that you should be back in school. **** IF YOU ARE A SPECIAL CASE, SAY SOMETHING One other thing on a rather more touchy subject are problems associated with scheduling Islamic ladies for interviews. Arriving fully-masked except for their eyes, their religion does not permit them to be alone in a room with a man. But of course they only tell me this AFTER THEY ARRIVE. So if my (female) business partner is not available at short-notice to take over interview, then we have no choice but to send lady home. Her time is wasted and so is ours.

And it's not quite as simple as just asking someone on phone what religion they are. There are different degrees of Islam, and many such ladies do not have a problem with showing their face or being alone in a room with someone who happens to be a man.

Of course, there's also legal aspect. Businesses these days must be VERY careful about exposing themselves to threat of court action from an irate applicant. If we asked someone what their religion was, and then later on did not give that person a job for whatever reason, there is nothing to stop that person getting up in court & proclaiming that we rejected them solely due to religious discrimination. So we don't ask.

And for similar legal reasons, when any regular applicant asks us why they haven't been given any work, we do not give them any ammunition that could later be used against us in court. Instead of saying truth like, "We think your phone manner is awful and university students are usually completely hopeless at housework anyway", we would say something safe like, "We had 87 people applying for only 2 positions, so unfortunately someone had to miss out. I'm so sorry. I can give you number of another agency who may be able to help ..."

Hint for jobseekers (7) - If you have religious or moral objections to any aspect of a normal job interview process, tell employer on phone beforehand. Don't just spring it on them when you arrive. **** DON'T INVENT QUALIFICATIONS So applicant is finally through door and getting comfortable in our big lounge-type interview chairs.

Some people don't even get through first minute and here's why - they don't possess documentation or qualifications that they said they had on phone. For example "To start, could I just have your driver's license please ?" "I don't have my license" "But I asked you on phone if you had a car & license and you said 'yes' " "I'm having lessons. I'll have it soon." "When ? When are you going for your test ?" "Soon" "Have you set a date" "No date. Soon." "Give us a call when you actually get your license. Good-bye. I'll show you out."

Or this, "Could I just have your resume and references please?" "I don't have a resume" "But I asked you on phone if you had a resume and you said 'yes' ". "I haven't worked before ....".

You get picture by now I'm sure.

Hint for jobseekers (8)- Don't pretend to have qualifications that you don't actually have. **** SAY YOU'LL NEVER LEAVE In 21st Century, applying for a job without a resume is a waste of time. You will not be accepted. Whether you think it is fair or not to have your life story reduced to a few lines on a page is completely irrelevant. With large numbers of applicants competing for small numbers of vacancies, an employer has no choice but to filter out many applicants in most efficient way possible.

When an applicant hands over their resume to me, I go to an adjoining room to read it over while they fill out application form.

The first thing I look for is authenticity of references. Sometimes references are handwritten, and it has happened on occasion that I begin to suspect they are all written by same person. Similar handwriting, similar paper, similar format, similar spelling mistakes, sentence construction & grammar.

Most resume templates have a space for "Career Objectives". I received a resume today from a gentleman whose objective was "To make use of extensive experience in stores, logistics and warehouse operations ....". Well that's all very admirable, but not much use for housework. Not until people start buying forklifts to tidy up house. Jobseekers should try making just a little bit of effort to customise their career objectives to fit job they are applying for. Employers only care about your ambitions if they contribute to their own.

While I initially assume that all jobs listed in resume are genuine, I am not impressed by people who have four, five or six pages full of jobs they have done in past few years. I think our record here is a 12 page resume. It was spectacular & impressive, but person didn't get job because it was quite obvious they were a job-hopper. They kept moving their place of residence and frequently went on big holidays. So why would I hire someone who clearly isn't interested in staying in a job for any length of time ?

Hint for jobseekers (9) - Don't proudly announce in your resume that you can't hold a job. Don't fake references. **** YOU MUST ACTUALLY WORK Of few people who manage to make it all way through an interview at our cleaning agency, some still find further ways to stumble. Within a day or two, successful applicants are given their first cleaning assignment. A small percentage will accept job, ring client to confirm they will be coming and then on day, simply not show up. They then refuse to answer their phones for several days.

To this day I wonder why some applicants go through whole process - and I acknowledge that applying for a job is not easiest thing in world - only to give up & disappear just as money is about to start rolling in.

Final hint for jobseekers - When someone offers you a job - take it.

If there has ever been a time in history when we need to be strong, united and enduring, it is now. We must have a strong economy and total solidarity. Our leaders need our whole-hearted support.

The intent of terrorist is to frighten and paralyze those upon whom they perpetrate their acts. We cannot let them instil fear and paralysis in us. Should that happen we have given them victory over us and our affairs.

We come from hardy stock and are not easily frightened or manipulated. There is much pride and great humanity in our world. We have always become strongly united in face of threats. That is our glory and that is our strength.

Difficult as it is at this time, let us get back to repairing physical and mental damage done by terrorists. Let us show them their acts are no more significant than attack of a flea on an elephant. It is an irritant, but it is not frightening.