Job Interview

The latest technology in job interviewing - an automated telephone answering service. The American Automobile Association, headquartered in Heathrow, Fla., reports that several of its clubs nationwide are using interactive voice response to screen job applicants. A California AAA club says the number of people responding to its job ads tripled in 18 months with the system, from 50 to 150, and managers filled positions in 40 percent less time. The technology is provided by AlignMark, a nationwide company based in Maitland, Fla. Master the job hunt Jobtrak.

Frank Willis told his wife he was going into Philadelphia for a job interview at a motel near the airport. Police say that interview - whether it occurred or was even scheduled - may be the key to Willis' murder Saturday in the parking lot of the Airport Days Inn on Island Avenue. Willis, 33, a father of two and resident of Lawnside, N.J., was found shot four times, slumped in his 1986 Buick Skylark. Police said he apparently never even opened the door. Witnesses told police he had been killed by a woman who fired a gun through his car window.

To Robert Long, 20, the job interview is "just about the worst experience of my life. " For Rosa Solomon, 41, the job interview is a nervous nightmare of single- word responses and missed opportunities. To Willie Johnson, 27, the job interview is an encounter with the unknown, steeped in mystery and littered with hidden traps. The three underemployed North Philadelphia residents are among a group of 15 who don't lack job skills so much as they lack the knowledge to market themselves properly.

Don't cry too many tears for Linda Chavez. She may be a fine human being, and she seems to have done far more than most of us to help the less fortunate. But her protestations to the contrary, she is not the latest victim of the politics of personal destruction. When she took her name out of consideration for secretary of labor yesterday, denying any suggestion that she'd been shoved out the door by allies of the president-elect, it was because of what she had done to herself, not anything that had been done to her. She had committed a major political mistake, one that her candidacy could not survive.

We've all experienced it: Searching through the closet before a job interview only to turn away unsatisfied. In many cases, the appropriate outfit is there, but it isn't the "perfect" one. But for some women, there simply is no outfit. "For me, it's a problem because I don't have that many clothes," said Josephine Delgado, 18, of Philadelphia. "Your appearance is a big bonus. If you go to an interview looking nice, they'll notice, and you have a better chance of getting the job. " Delgado, a former job-training program participant, found work a few months ago but said she wishes someone had helped with her interview appearance.

In the end, it probably comes down to a gut reaction. Even as corporations try to make the hiring process more objective - with tests and "insightful" behavioral questions - a job generally is won or lost face to face. At the job interview. Skill, experience and past performance all are factors in an employer's decision, but experts say that the impression a job seeker makes in person can prove to be the most important. "It's the be-all and end-all," says Paul Falcone, author of two books on interviews and hiring who works as manager of employee relations and employment at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif.

A man awoke in the woods yesterday afternoon with a pillowcase over his head and bloodstained clothing, but no recollection of how he had gotten there, authorities said. A disoriented Scott Weiseberg, 18, of Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, stumbled from the thickets near Warren Street into a nearby business, whose employees notified authorities at 2:30 p.m. "We were surprised," said an employee at Fyth Lab, a contract engineering and software service. "It was just a strange situation.

The Temple football team held its annual pro timing day Friday, entertaining NFL scouts and media. The senior Owls, along with junior running back Bernard Pierce, went through strength and speed testing and positional drills in hopes of impressing the onlooking NFL personnel, which included scouts from 31 teams as well as Eagles coach Andy Reid and general manager Howie Roseman. Pro days are under way on campuses around the country. With the NFL combine wrapping up in late February, these workouts give pro prospects one more chance to show off their abilities before the draft.

Robert Harris doesn't much care to know your height, weight, marital status or other extraneous personal factoids. A jumbled resume with quarter-inch margins and a hard-to-read typeface won't sit too well with him. And please, spare Harris the typos and coffee stains. What Harris wants to see right away are specifics - the qualifications that instantly tell him that you'd be a good fit for his company. Send him a neat document with strong points that "really jump out," and up go your chances of getting in the door for a job interview.

ILIKE TO think of Supreme Court nominations as a chance to be part of a job interview, with us as the employer. We got to hear from Judge Alito, and as a prospective employer, I am smelling something funny. His interview answers are different from what his resume shows. I get the feeling he is not telling us the truth, which is not a good thing for a judge. One of the biggest red flags was his saying he lied during past interviews because he knew that's what they wanted to hear.

There are challenges to being hearing-impaired when it comes to basic workplace and social activities that other people take for granted. We struggle with cellphone plans. Job interviewers are often unprepared to deal with us. Even going to the movies can be a hassle. Let's start with cellphones. What good are voice minutes to us? They could offer us voice hours and we still couldn't use them. We feel like we are throwing money out the window. Text messaging is either bundled into the voice and data plan, or it's an added service for a fee. I understand the cellphone companies are concerned about profit, so why not offer an unlimited text and limited Web plan?

The Temple football team held its annual pro timing day Friday, entertaining NFL scouts and media. The senior Owls, along with junior running back Bernard Pierce, went through strength and speed testing and positional drills in hopes of impressing the onlooking NFL personnel, which included scouts from 31 teams as well as Eagles coach Andy Reid and general manager Howie Roseman. Pro days are under way on campuses around the country. With the NFL combine wrapping up in late February, these workouts give pro prospects one more chance to show off their abilities before the draft.

What: The NFL scouting combine is a gathering of more than 300 invited college players to be scrutinized by NFL scouts, coaches, and executives in advance of the April 26-28 draft. Players go through conditioning and position drills, undergo physicals and psychological testing, and are interviewed by NFL personnel. When: Wednesday through Tuesday Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis TV/online: NFL Network, nfl.com Who is expected to be there?

The 40-yard dash times, recorded to the hundredth of a second, get the most attention, followed probably by the bench-press repetition count. Even the less-heralded three-cone drill and shuttle run will get some NFL Network airtime. But some of the most influential events this week at the NFL scouting combine will come behind the scenes in Indianapolis, where fans and cameras aren't watching. "The interview process out there is just as important as the running and jumping and the agility," said Harold C. Lewis, an agent who will have several players at the combine.

Elizabeth McGinley is a freelance writer in Philadelphia who blogs at www.recollectibles . blogspot.com In the best-seller Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother , Amy Chua recounts how she tried to raise her children following the strict, high-expectations approach of her Chinese-born parents. I'm not hinting for a copy for Mother's Day, because I get enough expert criticism of my parenting: I have two college-age daughters. But I do like Chua's title, because I also had a tiger mother - of the Irish American variety.

WHEN JOHN GREEN was hired to be a photographer for Fan Foto in 2007, he had never held a camera in his hands. Zoom forward four years, and he's among the best in the firm, which contracts to take photographs of fans at sporting venues such as Citizens Bank Park. Fan Foto is owned by SharpShooter Imaging. Advance to two weeks ago, and the 50-year-old Green is fired just after the start of the baseball season because a background check showed he's an ex-con. Green, stunned and hurt, says he disclosed his status during his job interview with Fan Foto.

In signs of an improving economy, the nation's employment expanded by 216,000 jobs, the unemployment rate slipped to 8.8 percent, and Kathy Snead, a laid-off legal secretary, has a job interview Monday. The official statistics come from the U.S. Labor Department, which released its closely watched "Employment Situation" report Friday. Snead received four phone calls in four days last week about job possibilities. "That hasn't happened the whole time I've been looking," she said.

In a sign of an improving economy, the nation's employment expanded by 216,000, the unemployment rate slipped to 8.8 percent, and Kathy Snead, a laid off legal secretary, has a job interview Monday. The official statistics come from the U.S. Labor Department, which released its closely watched "Employment Situation" report Friday. Snead got four phone calls in four days last week about job possibilities. "That hasn't happened the whole time I've been looking," she said. What Snead, 56, of South Philadelphia, is experiencing in her personal job search dovetails nicely with Friday's encouraging government report.

Job-application forms are about to change in Philadelphia. City Council yesterday approved legislation that would block most employers from asking about an applicant's criminal history until after an initial job interview. Known as the "Ban the Box" bill, the measure was sponsored by Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller in hopes that it would help increase employment opportunities for ex-offenders. Similar legislation has been passed in a number of cities and states, including Chicago, Atlanta and Boston.