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When I was in my early teens, my friends and I would buy whatever fireworks we could. They were illegal where we lived, but if you knew the right people you could pretty much get what ever you wanted. Although not technically fireworks, one of our favorites were smoke bombs. They looked like small balls with a fuse sticking out of them. Anyway, we would always argue how much smoke  they created and decided to settle our argument by capturing the smoke. So, we decided to light a smoke bomb, drop it into a jar and close the lid. About 1 second after closing the lid we realized that this was not a very good idea and the jar could explode. We ran for cover. Fortunately, only the lid blew off.

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For anyone who likes a ‘what not to do’ story, I’ve discovered a great blog recently. HR Strange But True is filled with weird, entertaining and just plain cringe-worthy anecdotes, including some cracking interview blunders.

Scoring top points for most bizarre interview behaviour was one applicant who took out a piece of paper, made a paper aeroplane and flew it around the room before asking each of panel if they wanted an arm wrestle. Well, at least they tried to practically demonstrate their, erm, skills.

There’s also a story about another job candidate who when was asked what he liked least about accounting said: “The numbers.

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Indias overall employment increased 2.15 percent during the quarter ended June 30 compared to the previous quarter, recording rise in employment in all sectors except textiles and transport, the government said Wednesday.

During the quarter April to June 2011, the employment has increased in respect of all sectors except textiles including apparels and transport and the overall employment has increased by 2.15 lakh, said ministry of labour and employment said in its Quarterly Quick Employment Surveys.

IT/BPO sector hired the most, recruiting 1.64 lakh people during the quarter under review followed by 0.53 lakh (metals), 0.18 lakh (automobiles), 0.13 lakh (gems and jewellery), 0.01 lakh (leather) and 0.01 lakh by handloom sector.

This was the 11th quick employment survey conducted by the ministry in which information was collected from 2,289 establishments, by covering 21 centres spread across 11 states and union territories.

The survey said the maximum increase in overall employment by 1.9 lakh was seen in the direct category of workers as compared to 0.25 lakh in the contract category.

In the export oriented units, overall employment increased by 0.67 lakh.

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Hows your reputation?  Is there a Klout-type score for that?

During job search (or any other time you are working to create awareness for your brand) there are many great opportunities to create a good reputation (positive buzz) for yourself.

And there are an equal number of opportunities to completely screw it up.

To demonstrate, I took this picture at my front door yesterday.  I walked out to drop something in the mail box and these advertisements fell to the ground into a pile of promotional angst.

And my first reaction was Really? T

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So after graduating this summer and taking a few months off to celebrate your success and find work, you’re finally about to start your first permanent, full-time job. This is an exciting time and also possibly a nervous one. There is nothing wrong with feeling nervous, apprehensive and even a little anxious in the first days of your new career. In fact these are perfectly natural and healthy reactions to have. The first 100 days of your job will be about working through these emotions and settling in and adapting both to the routine and lifestyle of a full-time worker and to the organisation you now find yourself a part of. H

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