Honesty best policy, experts tell job seekers

By Kym Tyler
Diversity Institute Fellow

03.28.06

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The key to a good job interview is honesty, a panel of hiring professionals said Tuesday.

In fact, they told about 50 job seekers attending a session at the annual Project Paycheck: Job Expo and Workshop that applicants who are honest about their work ethic stand a better chance of being hired even if they have shortcomings.

"Our mission with this workshop is to provide information to job seekers, which will help them when they get to that point in their job search of interviewing," said Jacky Akbari, employment services manager for the Middle Tennessee Career Center.

More than 130 companies participated in the one-day job fair held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The event, which is in its 11th year, gave Nashville-area employers a chance to connect with qualified job candidates.

The interviewing workshop was among six sessions that were offered to job seekers to help them understand what employers are looking for in candidates by providing tips on résumés, cover letters and how to dress.

"I wasn't sure how well I had done on my résumé because it's been a while," laughed Chrissy Luther, 36, who now works part-time in the data-entry marketing field. "They were very helpful and very encouraging. They also pointed out some things that might be helpful to employers."

During the job fair, job seekers handed out résumés to their targeted companies, questioned companies about what they expect of potential employees.

Some college students realize it may be difficult to land a job with companies looking for full-time employees.

"A lot of people are looking for people who are going to be there long-term, being a student that is kind of difficult. So you kind of get eliminated pretty quickly with some companies," said Fallon Settles, 23, a business administration major at Vanderbilt University.

Project Paycheck organizers said they expected about 3,000 job seekers to attend the expo. Company participants included Aflac, BellSouth, Dell, Comcast, Bridgestone and Pepsi Bottling Co.

Chris Brown, 44, who works part-time as a church musician and is looking for a new opportunity, was attending the Project Paycheck event for the third straight year.

He remained optimistic about the prospects because he said the job fair represents a good mix of companies in the Nashville area.

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