Work from home Wednesday. This new segment will appear every Wednesady from now on and will focus on one work from home (telecommute / freelance) tip for the week.

I love working from home and couldn’t see myself doing anything else… well maybe being the chef at my own restaurant One of the things I suggest to people who are now starting off a work from home career is… DRESS THE PART! Many of you who work in a home office may never see your clients (or prospective clients) - so you say “Why does it matter how I dress as long as I make money?”

You’ve heard it said, “Clothes make the man (or woman).” But, have you stopped to consider that the clothes you choose to wear (or not wear) can affect your work attitude and production?

Experience forces me to wake up every morning and make myself ready for work. I’m not saying you should end up in a 3 piece suit, however getting out of those pyjamas, boxer shorts, birthday suit, etc is a good start.

Have a great day!

Chris

While going through the pile of emails form the night before for Genuinejobs.com I came across an email from a jobseeker asking for some assistance. Nothing strange about this, since it is support email I was responding to.

The said jobseeker was having some problems contacting the employer that advertised the vacant job which she wanted to apply for. I explained that we don’t do the actual hiring and that we only post the information that was given to us. I went on to further explain that the contact method (could range from… email, fax, phone or mailing address) that’s included with the job post is exactly what we received. I also explained that since the jobs listed were all work from home and can be accessed by anyone globally (afterall this is the internet) that employers must receive 1000’s of applications. For which, they will not personally respond to everyone who may have applied.

She responded to my email with complaints this time…

- why does my emails come back undelivered?

- why can’t you contact these employers to make sure they respond to all applicants

…there were a few more that I can’t remember at this point.

Again, I politely explained that there could be a number of things that would result in a bounced email:

- employers inbox could be full (back to the 1000’s of applicants)

- you may have typed the email address incorrectly when you sent the email

- the employer was not accepting applications any longer

- just the nature of the internet at times (we’ve all had problems emailing others at times)

Rather than say thanks for your help in understanding things and for the service you provide FREE… she wrote back complaining even more. I really wanted to write back and say “this is a free service that you can choose to use or not use”

* I wonder if this job seeker contacts newspapers with complaints, when she applies for a job posted in a classified section and not hear back from that employer? I very much doubt it.

I’m off to Toronto this morning (means driving in traffic which I absolutely HATE) to drop off the girls at my parents place..my sister is taking them on some top secret trip.

Have a great weekend.

Chris..

In keeping with my tradition here’s some more Monday morning peeves..

Why do bank employees think it’s appropriate to chew gum while they are helping us? I’m sure it has something to do with fresh minty smelling breath.. but I personally think it’s rude when I walk up to the teller and there he is chomping away at a piece of gum.

How about this.. you call a company and the person on the other end is (you guessed it) chomping away on a piece of gum. Just as bad are the people who calls you but you could hear them eat their lunch while they speak to you. Or those that light a cigarette before they dial your number, only for you to hear them puffing while you speak. Simply eat your lunch or finish your cigarette before calling…is it that difficult?

BTW.. the grad was great on Friday. However I had to ask, who has more energy? The kids or the camp counselors? Talk about a rowdy, noisy bunch. Speaking about noisy… this past weekend the soccer team that we sponsor took part in a tournament (our daughter India is on the team) so we were there for a couple games. There must have been 12-15 games going on at the same time, with about 50-75 moms, dads, sisters, grannys, aunts, uncles, friends (you get the picture) at each game SCREAMING at the top of their voices. I left the park with a humming in my head from all the noise

Just wanted to say congrats to all the girls on the team (Genuinejobs.com). You did a great job on the field and made many parents and supporters very proud. India.. great job my “solid” defender. And a special thanks to the coaches that have dedicated their time for the girls.