By Barry Green, NEJS Marketing Director
Don’t . . . .
- Bring your walker
- Tell Milton Berle or Henny Youngman jokes
- Forget to take your teeth or take them out while sipping your water
- Ask if you can have a desk close to the bathroom
- Reminisce about when gas was less than 50¢ a gallon and cigarettes less than 50¢ a pack
- Mention that when you were in high school hardly anyone had even heard of drugs
- Talk about the first McDonald’s in your town where hamburgers were a nickel and they could still keep track of how many they sold
- Mention that you remember a time when there were no computers or cell phones
- Ask if they have phones with enlarged keys and amplified sound
- Talk about the fun you had at Woodstock
- Talk about being a Grateful Dead Groupie or seeing the Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan Show
- Mention the good old days working for DEC (Digital), Data General, Wang, Lotus, Computervision or BBN
- Wear a leisure suit or a double knit
- Mention you went to a Who concert when Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend could still sing
- Talk about home many words a minute you could type on your IBM Selectric
- Mention “computers being the size of this entire room” when you first started working
- Reminisce about the water cooler discussion of the M*A*S*H finale with your co-workers
- Use the words “groovy,” “nifty,” or “far out!”
- Wear your mood ring
- Excuse yourself because you HAVE to get to the early bird special.
- Tell the interviewer that you have great grand children their age
- Mention that you watched Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob and Clarabelle
- Admit you were in love with Annette Funicello on the Mickey Mouse club
- Confess to being addicted to American Bandstand
- Point out that when you grew up you did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. In fact, there were no TV remotes.
- Admit it was a big deal when color TV came out
- Confess that you remember dialing to make a phone call
- Nod off, but if you do, then say you were deeply focusing on how best to answer the question
Remember to . . . .
- Take your nap before the interview, not during it.
- Turn off your cell phone, especially if your ring tone is “I’ve got you babe.”
