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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Forty-five participants in the Phil-a-Job program learned all about dressing for success at the "Grooming for the World of Work" program yesterday at the Opportunities Industrialization Center at 1231 N. Broad St. The workshop taught participants ages 14 and 15 how to dress for a job interview, how to dress for the job and about skin and hair care and makeup on the job. It was part of the Phil-a-Job summer employment and training program for youths...

When Narberth native Peter Pelberg moved from Atlanta to a business incubator in New York City, he missed one big thing: friends who shared his fitness goals. "I played club tennis for four years in college, so I never had an issue finding someone else to run or lift weights with," said Pelberg, 24, who studied at Emory University. "When I moved to New York City, I wasn't so fortunate. It was difficult to find others who shared my fitness goals, and when I did find someone else, scheduling became an issue.

DEARBORN, Mo. - To announce one of the biggest events of their lives together, Cindy and Mark Hill returned to the place where it all began - the high school where they became sweethearts in the 1970s. Surrounded by family and friends, the two were introduced Friday as winners in this week's huge Powerball lottery - an extraordinary stroke of luck that gives them half of the $588 million jackpot. The nostalgic high school homecoming seemed to reflect the couple's hopes of staying true to their roots and living simply, at least as simply as possible for winners of one of the biggest lottery prizes in history.

Need a job? Smartphone applications by the dozens offer help. This selection can provide you with a nearly instant resume, give pointers for getting and surviving interviews, and even assist you in quitting a job with flair. Pocket Resume , $2.99 for Android and Apple, is by Mani Ghasemlou. About 30 seconds after I'd opened the app for the first time, it accessed my LinkedIn account - with my permission - and generated a bare-bones resume from my profile information on that social-networking site.

Some time back, Marc Voci, a 25-year veteran hairstylist and owner of the Marc Voci Salon and Colorbar in Folsom, Pa., decided to rebrand his salon. He hung a sign on the wall that reads Happiness and set up the Colorbar, where customers loosen up with a glass of wine and surf the Internet, while stylists mix hair colors nearby. He gave away monthly makeovers, drawing on lessons he learned as a child when his beautician mom would volunteer a wash and curl for a struggling client in Voci's Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood.

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.