Looking for a job is a lot like dating….Part 1

Searching for a job is a lot like searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right. Showing up for your first date or interview too early or worse, late, will not land you that sweet job or beau. Did you take a spin in the mirror before leaving the house? You don’t look like Billie the Bum? Nix the Chanel No. 5 or any other heavy smelling cologne or perfume. Having a stick of Trident will keep your mouth fresh, but who wants to look like a cow chewing on its cud? Try a small mint right before the first “hello.” There’s more, keep reading…

First off, dress appropriately. Like a date, when choosing an outfit for an interview, err on the side of being conservative to show you take the interview seriously. For the men, wear a navy or black proper fitting, wrinkle-free business suit with a collared and long-sleeved dress shirt and don’t forget the tie. For the women, a navy or black proper fitting pants or skirt suit with a clean blouse, pantyhose and closed toed shoes. Hair should be presentable, fresh looking, not wild and untamed…no Punky Brewster styles! Oh, and let’s not forget ladies, check your nails. Is the polish chipped? If so, remove the polish and go with clean nails.

OK enough with how you should look. Let’s talk about what you should not do. For starters, as you’re staring across the table at your new beau, you hear a familiar show tune humming and he/she reaches for the cell. Huh, seriously, how interesting is the date if someone answers their cell phone while you behave like two star-crossed lovers? You don’t want that to happen while on a date and it shouldn’t happen during an interview. DON’T allow your cell phone to sound during the interview, turn to vibrate or completely off. Like on a date, you want all of the attention to be on you and a ringing cell phone will cause distractions. Remember, when it comes to dressing for the interview, think of the old acronym, KISS = Keep It Simple Silly! If you follow these basic initial steps, you’ll land that perfect job and love of your life!

Welcome to Kesha’s Korner

So you think just because you’ve been in one of our stores, bought our gas, devoured one of our tasty taquitos and refilled umpteen times in our smash $6.99 Freefill cups that you know RaceTrac? Well, I’ve got news for you. There’s more to us than gas! RaceTrac is also where cool peeps (if I do say so myself) work. We offer a performance-based career path for hard-working, smart and innovative professionals. Our Store Support Center is located in Atlanta, GA. Now who doesn’t want to live and work in the ATL? It’s warm for the majority of the year, has great nightlife and entertainment, and over 30 streets with the name Peachtree.  Cool, huh?

The RaceTrac Store Support Center is where over 400 professionals work tirelessly to ensure our retail locations have everything needed to run smoothly. Everything from the food, beverages and people, the Store Support Center ensures all of your needs as the customer are met. Inside the Store Support Center, we offer careers for Accounting/Finance, Human Resources, Learning  and Development, IT/IS, Customer Service, Maintenance, Real Estate, Construction Project Management, Civil Engineering, Procurement, Marketing, and Category Management. Our People come from so many different backgrounds, educations, industries and experiences, it makes it hard as the Recruiter to keep up! But I manage.

So, why a blog, you ask? That’s simple. The Cool Careers Blog is for you to live the life of a RaceTrac’er and to gain some What Not To-Dos and Career Search Tips to help you land that perfect job. We at RaceTrac want the best people in our employ and we plan to arm you with the proper tools and techniques so you will ace that interview! So sit back and relax. This is RaceTrac!