Schmooze (shmoos) v. a Yiddish word meaning to rub shoulders or chat, particularly in a self-serving way. >> In varying degrees of job desperation, 17 of us were there for La Passerelle Executive Centre's seminar this week on the art of Power Schmoozing. We were told to each develop our own "30-second commercial," learned the importance of distributing business cards (one participant said he had an abridged CV on his), and told to start packing a Rolodex--a fat one--if we didn't already have one. >> Almost by definition, schmoozing is a phony kind of communication, but occasionally during the seminar, some hints of raw fear at long-term unemployment would emerge. Is it okay to lie about your age during a job schmooze, asked one middle-aged man. (Not really, was the answer he received.) Another participant suggested that one of the biggest obstacles to approaching strangers and schmoozing them for a job was a certain desperation our speaker ended up naming "need-attitude." Nor was there anything schmoozy about the word our speaker used--"shredded"--to describe how she felt when she was downsized after 15 years of hard work with the same company. >> We had all learned a great deal about schmoozing by the 10-minute coffee break, but then the small talk somehow began to venture into dangerously un-schmoozy territory. An out-of-work accountant began speaking of the need to sterilize overly fertile welfare mothers; voices were raised and strong terms like "dick-chopping" were bandied about by his detractors. The argument ended with the call back to the conference room. Perhaps another session will be required before we all master the art of schmoozing. --Jacquie Charlton >> The La Passerelle Executive job search organization can be reached at 866-5982.
Schmooze (shmoos) v. a Yiddish word meaning to rub shoulders or chat, particularly in a self-serving way. >> In varying degrees of job desperation, 17 of us were there for La Passerelle Executive Centre's seminar this week on the art of Power Schmoozing. We were told to each develop our own "30-second commercial," learned the importance of distributing business cards (one participant said he had an abridged CV on his), and told to start packing a Rolodex--a fat one--if we didn't already have one. >> Almost by definition, schmoozing is a phony kind of communication, but occasionally during the seminar, some hints of raw fear at long-term unemployment would emerge. Is it okay to lie about your age during a job schmooze, asked one middle-aged man. (Not really, was the answer he received.) Another participant suggested that one of the biggest obstacles to approaching strangers and schmoozing them for a job was a certain desperation our speaker ended up naming "need-attitude." Nor was there anything schmoozy about the word our speaker used--"shredded"--to describe how she felt when she was downsized after 15 years of hard work with the same company. >> We had all learned a great deal about schmoozing by the 10-minute coffee break, but then the small talk somehow began to venture into dangerously un-schmoozy territory. An out-of-work accountant began speaking of the need to sterilize overly fertile welfare mothers; voices were raised and strong terms like "dick-chopping" were bandied about by his detractors. The argument ended with the call back to the conference room. Perhaps another session will be required before we all master the art of schmoozing. --Jacquie Charlton >> The La Passerelle Executive job search organization can be reached at 866-5982.