The American consumer wants dirt low prices.  However, they also want domestic, helpful customer service.  I hate to say it, but it’s not feasible with a U.S. Median wage nearing $14.00/hr.    The average call from a consumer to U.S. based customer service rep costs about $7.50.  Call centers in India average $2.30 a call.   As a result, the next time you decide to racially punish the foreign accented person on the other side of the line, channel your anger towards yourself for being cheap.

The other option for customer service is Julie, the infamous celebrity voice from Boston.  Julie Stinneford is the voice of Amtrak and handled over 18.1 million calls last year.  About a third of those required no human interaction.  She saved Amtrak over 100 million dollars last year.  She has actually become famous with stints on “Saturday Night Live” and more.

The Bush administration is being considered responsible for about 1-2 million Americans losing money last year.  First Madoff, now the government?  The administration changed legislature that gave companies the ability to automatically enrolls employees into a tax-free 401k retirement fund.  The stipulation is that the mandate required the company by law to invest them heavily in stock related portfolios when they failed to identify their own strategy.

The administration also quelled a more conservative approach that would have seen the assets rise about 4.7 percent.  In contrast, the assets from close to two million workers dropped at least 25 percent in every case.  The change in legislation came before the market crash and is sure to be on our socialist regime’s agenda.

Choose Your Timing Well

A thank you card should be sent on the day after the interview and not sent any later than two days after it. If you’re mailing the thank you card, get it in the mail as soon as possible after the interview. Then, also send a follow up email. You can repeat the same information in your email that you have in your card without using the same words. Polite persistence is a good thing when it comes to following up after a job interview. It shows excellent business communication skills.

Especially if the hiring process will be quick, you may even want to bring your thank you cards with you to the interview all ready to go except for space that you leave to add some specific details that occurred in the interview. For instance, if you were given a tour you could mention it and why you found it interesting or a good match to your interests. You could then finish the card at a nearby café before going back and asking the receptionist how you can get the card to your interviewer. You should also double check with the receptionist that you’ve spelled your interviewer’s name correctly. It’s a good idea to remember the receptionists name as well!

Get the Details Right

If you’re mailing your thank you card, do so immediately after the interview and make sure the address is correct and the company name is accurate. It won’t help you at all if you address the thank you card for your interviewer to Smith-Rite Solutions Inc. when the actual name of the company is Smith Ryte Solutions Corp. It may still reach him or her, but it won’t show you in a good light if you got the name wrong.

If more than one interviewer conducted your job interview, send one thank you card to each interviewer. Don’t create cookie cutter cards though – thank each person for something specific he or she added to the interview. If only one person actually asked you any questions or added anything to the interview, address the card to that person. If the others added to the interview in a minor way, you should mention their names in the card.

Be Professional and Sincere

Choose a professional looking thank you card. Make sure everything you write inside the card is clear and concise. It should be as polite and direct as: “Thanks for the interview yesterday that included the tour of the plant. I look forward to the possibility of being able to work on such a quality machine as the X230. Thanks again, Terry Stevens.”

Here’s another example of a suitable note to write inside a job interview thank you card “Thanks for taking the time to interview me Wednesday morning. I’m still extremely interested in the position and hope to hear from you soon about the second interview. Regards, Jacqueline Smith.”

Send a Letter or a Note

In most cases, a few lines written inside a thank you card are enough to send to your interviewer the day after a job interview. You should thank the interviewer for his or her time and mention something specific from the interview such as a certain subject you discussed or a factory tour you took. Then you should express your continued interest in the position and add that you hope to “hear from you soon.” A simple “regards,” “sincerely” or ‘yours truly” before signing your name is enough.

In some cases, a letter written on your resume letterhead paper should be added inside the thank you card before you send it. You may want to write a detailed letter if you’ve had previous interviews or have gone through a special lengthy interview process.

Writing a longer letter on professional stationery may help you stand out from the other candidates. Just make sure it’s appropriate to send a thank you letter and don’t babble – two pages maximum is more than enough. All business correspondence should be clear and concise with a polite, respectful tone.

Be Specific and Voice Your Expectations

Remember that the way to start a thank you letter after a job interview is by thanking the person for their time. Don’t summarize the interview, but rather mention something special or interesting that stood out.

For example, if you were asked for your input on something and you feel that went well and could mean you got the job, you could add something like “Thank you for your interest in my thoughts on the XYZ case and how my experience in xyz relates to the job. I’m still very much interested in the position and look forward to having a second interview with you at your convenience.”

You could also let your interviewer know that you are expecting to be responsible for the job duties he or she mentioned. You could write something like this in your thank you letter or card: “Thanks for your detailed description of the job duties. After reflecting on these, I’m still very much interested in the position and I’m hoping I’ll have the opportunity to be hired and show you what I can do.”

You Make Contacting You Convenient for the Company

Your business card should list your different phone numbers with the best times to reach you. Having a website address on your card is great if your website supports the image your business card promotes of you and further sells your skills and abilities.

In presenting multi contact options on your business card, you increase the convenience for hiring companies to get a hold of you. Make sure everything including your contact information is accurate on your business card. Never hand out old cards – keep your information updated.

You Make Yourself Look Like the Professional You Are

Having a business card sets you apart as a professional whether you own a business or not. Whatever your profession, announcing it on a business card with your contact information gets attention and promotes you as a serious expert. Keep the card tasteful and don’t be pretentious.

“Mary Smith, Floral Designer” is fine, but Mary Smith, Award Winning Designer of Floral Fantasies” is way over the top, not to mention ridiculous-sounding. If you have won an award, you can explain that in a separate line under your title such as: “Winner of the Connecticut Floral Association Design Award for 2008.”

If you’re involved in more than one profession, always have a separate business card for each one. “Jim Johnson, Professional Writer and Painter” just comes off as confusing and unfocused rather than professional. A business card that you hand out at a job interview identifies who you are to a potential employer, so be sure this identity is clear and professional-sounding.

You Look both Polished and Prepared

You may be surprised when you get to your job interview. Panel interviews with more than one interviewer are becoming more and more common. If you always carry a stack of your business cards with you, you’ll be able to hand out a card to each interviewer. This is likely to make a positive impression. By simply carrying extra business cards, you can appear both polished and prepared at your job interview.

Another way to be polished and prepared in a businesslike way is to be sure that all of your career communication tools form a cohesive presentation of who you are professionally. The contact information and image presented by your business cards, cover letter and resume should be supported by your voice mail, answering machine and website. Make sure all of your communications details are accurate and relevant.

Saying Thank You at the Interview Isn’t Enough

Some job seekers think that if they thank the interviewer for his or her time before leaving the interview, they don’t have to send a thank you card. This kind of thinking can and has seen the job go to the candidate that sent the interviewer a thank you card the day after the interview. It’s not simply a matter of being polite.

While it’s true that thanking the interviewer for his or her time is the main point behind sending a thank you card, it also serves to let the employer know that you’re still interested in the position one or two days later. Of course, you should specifically state in the card that you’re still very interested in the job and hope to hear back from the interviewer at his or her convenience.

Sending a Thank You Card Can Make the Difference between Getting the Job and Not Getting It

Think of the situation from the interviewer’s point of view. In most cases, there is only one job, but many qualified applicants. Even after narrowing down the list and weeding out obviously unsuitable candidates the “short list” may not be that short. How does the interviewer choose the best person for the job if several applicants all seem to have the needed qualifications and a likeable, professional attitude?

At this point, the interviewer is likely to consider the applicant that seems the most interested and motivated – the one that goes the extra mile. Sending a thank you card is often the extra mile that gets the job. It makes sense because taking the initiative and being self-motivated are qualities that many employers find desirable in employees.

Sending a thank you card after a job interview also shows the ability to follow up and the willingness to communicate. It also acknowledges the tradition of sending thank you cards as business etiquette. If the company you’re interested in working for seems extremely modern in its culture, simply pick a modern looking card. Then say something specific that you think the interviewer will respond to such as mentioning a particularly interesting detail he or she said to you about the job during the interview.

Sending a Thank You Card Gives You a Chance to Voice Your Expectations

Being sure to follow up the job interview with a thank you card gives you the opportunity to mention your expectations. After thanking the interviewer for his or her time, you can mention that you’re still very interested in the position and hope to hear back from the interviewer at his or her earliest convenience. If you’re sending the card after the first interview, you could express your hopes for a second interview by saying clearly that you hope the interviewer considers you for a second interview.

Being able to voice your expectations politely, yet in a compelling way shows excellent business communication skills. The ability to communicate well in all work situations is absolutely essential in today’s workforce in all industries and professions. Be clear and use plain, yet polite language such as “Thanks again for your time and I hope to hear back from you soon.”

Why Have a Website for Your Wedding?

When you’re engaged and have the date set for your wedding, consider having a website set up to help plan, organize and communicate your thoughts leading up to the big day. If the wedding is a destination one, the sight could include travel itineraries and weather conditions. Having a wedding website is a great way for your wedding guests from all over to connect and add their comments, share photos and receive your maps or information about the wedding and related events.

A message board or other interactive communication tools such as a blog with comments is a great feature to include on your wedding website, so look for a good web hosting company that offers these types of tools in their hosting plan. What some couples do is to include an extra card inside their wedding invitation that gives the website address so that guests can participate. The design and style of your wedding website should tie in with the décor and tone of the rest of your wedding including the look of your invitations.

Free Versus Paid Web Hosting

Look for a reliable, established web hosting company for your wedding website. If you don’t mind banner and pop up ads on your site, then a free web host could work for you. Otherwise, find a good paid web hosting service. In either case, look for an experienced, trustworthy web hosting company. Remember that you can keep your wedding website to post honeymoon photos and then use it as a family website after that.

You can blog about life as a married couple in a new home or whatever your situation is. A family website is the perfect place to post baby photos and keep family and friends informed of your life after the wedding day. Look for web hosting plans that give you room to keep adding photographs and links to other sites as well as a message board or other space for your family and friends to communicate.

Since you aren’t likely to need too many tools and special features, a free web hosting service could work out well for your wedding website if you’re okay with ads on your site, but still look for value. Back up services are important because if something happens to the host company’s website, they’ll still have your photos and information backed up. Whether you choose paid or free web hosting for your wedding website, look for excellent security to prevent computer hackers. A user name and password to access the pages is available from many web hosting companies.

What Not to Include on Your Wedding Website

Emily Post and other wedding etiquette experts note that while it is certainly acceptable to thank people that helped with your wedding on your website, this doesn’t replace sending out personalized handwritten thank you cards. Send personal, handwritten notes to your attendants and the host of your wedding shower.

Never use your wedding website to replace mailing thank you cards for gifts you received. Your thank you notes for wedding gifts should be short, but sincere and mention the gift. If you received money, you don’t have to specify the exact amount, but do say what you plan on doing with the money. If you purchase your wedding gift thank you cards when you buy the rest of your wedding stationery such as invitations, outer envelopes, reply cards, reply envelopes, place setting cards and paper for hand written notes, you’ll be prepared.