Minimum Job Requirements

I know a lot of people looking for employment now or who went through a period of unemployment during the recession and I've heard a common complaint about employers who post impossible minimum requirements. This video is for you. Don't let the unfair job market depress you; just watch this video, laugh a little, then go start a business of your own. If you've been through the unemployment roller coast, I say just start your own business and take the ugly duckling's advice who after realizing his true status in the world "now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around". 

Some of these job descriptions are pretty comical and I wonder if some of the impossible job descriptions I've seen posted ever get filled or if employers give up on finding Superman and just settle for someone who is an amazing professional rather than a perfect superhero. 

p.s. The person who contributed most to this video is my friend Dan Kubus who is currently looking for a job. He has an advanced degree in music education and is looking for a music teaching position. Also, he plays the piano better than anyone I've ever heard. Contact me in the notes and I'll connect you to Dan.

1 new job + 6 new chickens

I started a new job last month and have been adjusting to the new schedule, commute and travel requirements. I've been working on my next video for the last few weeks and hope to post it in the coming days.

Yes, I am still alive and yes I plan to post more videos. My frequency will likely change from a weekly event to an every other week or monthly schedule. If this offends you, I invite you to express your anger through some hostile tweets containing my Twitter handle @NecktieNinja. This will have the double benefit of allowing you to vent some frustration while stirring up some publicity on my behalf.

Another reason for my delay is I've been spending a lot of time building this chicken coop.


Please keep the ideas coming for future videos. If I haven't used one of your ideas yet, it's probably going to get used on some future video. Don't lose hope. Thanks to those who have subscribed to my YouTube channel. For those who haven't subscribed yet, you might want to consider it. Follow this link to watch my previous videos and be sure to click the subscribe button.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNecktieNinja/

How to Dress for Success at Work

There are a lot of Do's and Don'ts when it comes to your workplace attire and --THIS VIDEO-- captures some of them; I hope you like it.

This is a topic I'll probably extend into a part II in the future because I only covered a few things in this video. You notice I focused exclusively on men's clothing in this video because I've never been a woman and don't have much to say on that subject. If you leave me some comments on this blog or on my YouTube channel with suggestions, I'll incorporate your suggestions in the part II of "How to Dress for Success at Work" video. I'll definitely need some help on the Do's and the Don'ts for women. This is my 8th video and I've had a blast putting these together every week and wanted to thank the 3 of you who actually watch these videos. Feel free to share them on Facebook or MySpace or wherever you connect with your digital friends. The other 7 videos can be viewed by --CLICKING HERE--


You can also follow me on Twitter where I post some mid-week commentaries on the white collar world.

@NecktieNinja

A special thanks to my wife who helped write this video and to Stephanie who made the "Hi, My Name Is" name tag for this video.

Product Review: Lavalier Microphone

My biggest YouTube pet peeve is poor audio quality. Many YouTube videos sound like someone recorded the video in a dirty shower and it's such an easy fix to have better quality audio. My first shot at improving my audio was to record a separate audio track using the condensor mic I have used for the last few years for recording vocals and guitars for a side music project I'm part of. The mic ended up being way too sensitive and overkill for making these videos so I ordered the below lavalier mic from Amazon.com :

You can hear a clear difference in audio quality in this product review video I put together when I turn the lavalier microphone off and switch to the standard built-in mic that came with my camcorder.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICROPHONES

At the time of this post, the product sells for $17.17 on Amazon.com and is a quick and dirty way to improve your video's quality perception. I don't know why other YouTubers or Vloggers (or whatever the kids are calling them these days) don't spend the $20 to immediately improve their videos. I imagine this would be the ideal microphone for recording lectures or online tutorials for those who teach. If you're a musician, this probably isn't going to be the microphone for you; but for capturing the spoken word, this little microphone is the best. 

Disclosure:   Jordan Fife is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Despite this disclosure statement, you can be sure that any recommended products or services I use personally and believe will add value to readers. I would not recommend anything I didn't personally use and believe in. For this reason, you will never see a recommendation from me to buy a Shake Weight®.

Warren Buffett

In early 2010, I traveled to Omaha, Nebraska with some of my MBA classmates from the University of Iowa to Berkshire Hathaway headquarters for a Q&A session with Warren Buffett. After the Q&A, we went to Piccolo Pete's for lunch and I got to sit at the same table as Warren Buffett and ask him a few questions. I have plenty of pictures from the event but completely forgot that I had some video footage until this week. What a find!

Watch the video here:

I mentioned the experience briefly in my Name Dropping video which you can find here if you haven't seen it yet :

Or WATCH MY OTHER VIDEOS HERE

MLM Sales at Work

Every office has a guy or gal who makes you feel sub-human if you won't buy the latest Amway products from them or contribute to their son or daughter's school fundraiser. This video is dedicated to them and I encourage you to forward this video on to anyone who needs it. I have to admit, I did ask my coworkers last year if they wanted to buy some candles for my daughter's dance team but my approach was tactful and I made it easy for them to say "no" while still preserving the friendship.

Watch the video here :

I have been approached to join a few multi-level marketing businesses before and the sales pitch always has a desperate tone. They won't take "no" for an answer and it's hard to stay friends if you've rejected someone who's trying to recruit you or sell to you. That's why they call it N.F.L. marketing (No Friends Left). It's sad that I have to avoid certain people at work or in the hallway at church because I don't want a sales pitch from a friend.


As much as I love to see my loved ones filled with the false hope that get rich quick MLM schemes bring into their eyes, it's really awkward to have to turn them down over and over again. My thought is usually, "if the last thing you were into was supposed to be your key to success, then why are you still broke and trying to sell me stuff I don't need with this new company?"

Here's a non-exhaustive list of stuff that friends have tried to guilt me into buying :
Prepaid Legal
Magnet bracelets that improve your circulation
Tupperware®
Magic berry juice that heals all ailments
Amway®
Ameriprise Financial Advising (from someone who couldn't balance a checkbook)
Money Giving Club (this one is hilarious...I'll blog about this one in a later post)


WATCH MY OTHER VIDEOS HERE

What's in a (business) name?

We celebrated my daughter’s 6th birthday today at the Old Spaghetti
Factory and after ordering my usual penne delight, I wondered how they
ever came up with such a bad name for a restaurant. When I think of
eating, I don’t ever picture myself in a factory. In fact, the word
factory usually conjures up some image of a dark and damp room filled
with underpaid workers and bad ventilation. That’s exactly the kind of
place I want to take my daughter to for her birthday but it is HER
birthday so we go where she wants I guess. I was just grateful she
didn’t choose Chuck E. Cheese’s which by the way, is also a bad name
for a business. The Old Spaghetti Factory does have decent food so at
least their bad news is limited to the name only; I wish I could say
the same for Chuck E. Cheese’s.


It's hard to erase a negative first impression so why do companies stick with bad business names? The restaurant buffet business model starts in an uphill battle from the outset, then when you slap a ridiculous name on the door like "Chuck-A-Rama", I don't know how enough customers look past the ugly name to keep them in business. Chuck-A-Rama; by the way, has been in business for over 47 years. What other business names (whether food related or not) do you find ridiculous? I'm researching bad business names for a future video. Leave a comment on this blog or on my YouTube channel or on Twitter to contribute to the theme of bad business names.

WATCH MY VIDEOS on my YouTube Channel at :
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNecktieNinja/

Twitter:
@NecktieNinja