Category
Job Hunting
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01.21.12Permalink: Stories from GermanySTORIES FROM GERMANY by: Brooke Allen A Luftwaffe Airman's Daughter In 1980, my girlfriend and I were traveling on a rail pass. We left from Milan bound for Frankfurt only because that is where the train went. A German businessman sat across from us and asked, "Where are you going?" "Frankfurt." "Why? Frankfurt is so boring. You should go to Wiesbaden instead." We asked, "Why?" "Because that is where we live and you will stay with us." His wife spoke English with a perfect British accent. It turned out her father had been in the Luftwaffe and had been shot down during the Battle of Britain. He became best ...
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03.01.09RejectionRejection © 2009 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published as Borders in International Family Magazine Republished in Folks Magazine on 9/12/09. Dennis and I had never been to Canada. So, in February of 1971 we decided to hitchhike from Terre Haute, Indiana to Toronto by way of Detroit. A kindly gentleman in a pick-up truck offered to take us over the bridge to Windsor, on the Canadian side of the border. He said, “If you are dodging the draft, don’t tell me, but I’m willing to try to get you across.” At the border, the guards asked him who we were. “Just friends.” We would have made ...
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10.01.08Trade or ProfessionTrade or Profession © 2008 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine I have just returned from the annual meeting of the Chicago Quantitative Alliance (www.cqa.org) where one speaker made a convincing case that the brokerage and banking systems are bankrupt and another made the case that so is the Federal Government. The world is going to hell, and we don’t even have a hand basket.[1] At the lunch break I asked the fellow sitting next to me what advice he had for my children in college. He said, “Drop out of college and learn a trade; they can always go to college ...
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08.01.07Permalink: Sally Would be Proud of MeSally Would be Proud of Me © 2007 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine In 1993 I lost a job in Tokyo and returned to the States with a wife, two young children but no work. Most of my contacts were no longer at the phone numbers in my book and many were unemployed. It appeared our economy was in a recession. A friend arranged for a courtesy interview at a brokerage firm I’d worked at years earlier. Let’s call the interviewer “Bob”. Bob began, “I hope we aren’t wasting your time but we have no jobs; there is a hiring freeze.” “You ...
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08.01.07Permalink: Learning How to Land a JobLearning How to Land a Job © 2007 Brooke Allen brooke@brookeallen.net www.BrookeAllen.net Originally published in International Family Magazine A mentor is someone who stands out in your mind as a model for your own behavior. If you find yourself thinking “What Would Sally Do?” then Sally is a mentor. Here is the story of my Sally. In 1979, my boss asked for my help in replacing a secretary. Rather than pay a fee to an agency, Ted hired a temp and then advertised in the New York Times. We were flooded with resumes and some of these candidates had amazing credentials. He asked for ...
