Kanji in the Kitchen

6 ~ Kanji Right Livelihood
“The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life” ~ Ayn Rand

I started mowing lawns when I was 12. My dad, a college professor had impressed on us all the virtue of hard work namely by letting up know early on that his meager salary would barely keep the roof over our heads and if we wanted anything else it would be up to us to provide it for ourselves.
Regardless of how hard he seemed to be pressed to keep bread on the table and the electricity flowing come Christmas or Easter morning there was always a bounty to be found around the hearth of our simple home.
I call it simple but it was really much more than that with the dynamic of four siblings, a highly spirited Cuban mother and a father whose favorite time of his life seemed to be when we were toddlers and would look up at him with unfailing and unquestioning love in our eyes.
No matter how loud it got in the house during the day with the natural sonic disturbance that‟s the daily life of any household, come nighttime, while all the children were packed away upstairs vainly fending off sleep like they were going to miss something, anything, my dad would make the rounds shutting off the lights, banking back the furnace, closing blinds and making sure that his prized Doberman, Pepita, had all she needed to guard us all vigilantly against the darkening streets.
He‟d then, in complete darkness, sit down at his Yamaha grand piano and play. Softly at first he‟d start with old ballads, sweet with longing then, changing the tempo he‟d pound out a honky-tonk and then finally build up to some Aaron Copeland arrangements full of counter melodies and pumping back beat.
I fell asleep almost every night I lived in that house with the sound of my father‟s tinkling ivories dancing up the stairs to sing me off to slumber. It‟s one of the kindest, most serene memories of my dad and our family at 321 Woodmar Ave. Its recollection would succor me through some dark doubting moments, long after he was gone and the piano and gone silent.
I finally got the nerve to ask him why he played at night and not, maybe just maybe, play during the day when I might sing along with him; I so desperately wanted to be with my dad when he played – to be part of that man, shit man that was cool.
He took a while to answer me, perhaps gauging my ability to understand more than his words but more importantly, his intent.
“I do it for me. It‟s the one thing I keep for myself”, he said with a sadness I hadn‟t heard from him before.
“At one point in my life all I wanted to do was play piano in a smoky bar with a tip jar on the top and some sultry dame leaning against my instrument”
Of which instrument he meant I was still a bit wet behind the ears to have even asked.
“But that‟s not the way it worked out and so I keep this for myself to remind me of who I was once and what I aspired to.”
No matter how he complained about the bureaucracy of the intellegencia, parliamentary procedure, tenure, the ignorance of some of his students or the intricacies of working in a university my dad really, really loved teaching. The accolades of his students and for the most part his contemporaries bore this out as he was given the Chair of the Modern Languages department at Purdue University and other awards.
One of his manuscripts is still being used in advanced Spanish classes I understand.
It was perhaps fitting that on a Monday morning during class that he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital emergency room. I was in England at the time serving in the USAF. The old man dodged a bullet that time but it would come back to claim it‟s prize several years later after he had finally come to terms with his remaining years by planning a cross country camping trip with Pepita‟s replacement, the precocious Fina de Casta Van Worlock; or as we called her, „The Little Bitch‟.
He never got to make that trip.
He cast a mighty shadow when he lived and sometimes, when I am quiet enough, I can hear piano music coming from somewhere just out of sight, right around the corner.
So, if all he wanted was to be a honky-tonk piano player, how the hell did he end up teaching Spanish to my high school Spanish teacher?
Why, love, of course.
His ego may have wanted to be a musician for the same reasons that mine did but it was Love that won out in the end.
After he got out of the Coast Guard he went to work at a meteorological company based in Boston, his hometown. Batista, down in Cuba – whether a US stooge or just someone who was getting tired of his country getting its ass kicked every hurricane season, contracted with several US firms, one having just employed a fresh faced kid ready for anything, or so he thought.
The scientific thinking at the time was that if one could lace clouds with silver iodine crystals it would create a natural disturbance within the upper trade winds that would normally steer hurricanes from the warmth of the African coast eastward.
Instead of steering currents aimed at defenseless and desperately unprepared populaces from Bimini to the Gulf of Mexico the silver iodine would create wind sheer, slicing at the heart of the beast and leave it whimpering with a few gale winds and some much needed rain for crop rotation.
Sadly, as it‟s been demonstrated time after time, man‟s attempts to control the normal, nay necessary cycles of the Mother are only so much spittin‟ in the wind.
During the year and half that the experiments were being conducted my father was stationed in Cuba without nary a guidebook nor a how do you do. The chief mathematician of the project, Manolo Lopez, took pity on this gringo that couldn‟t eat because he spent most of his time in the out house. Manolo would invite my dad to his house for the weekend. Manolo was a naturalist, adventurer; quick to laugh and patient
to an outsider. He was also married to the eldest daughter of a family of seven, five of which were women of captivating beauty and a lust for life as it was lived for the fortunate few of the early 50‟s in Cuba.
My dad would hold court in the front room, playing the piano and generally making the women laugh, sing and swoon at the thought of this sophisticated, handsome, single American.
Once, early on in his assignment, my father had called his mother back in Boston and pleaded to come home because he felt out of place and was rebuffed; the old girl had a right to live her life too now that the tyrant of the house had thankfully dropped dead, When he finally did come back state side it was with a heart full of the Cuban people, culture, of a sense of belonging to that witchy island and the Spanish language.
Instead of following through on his meteorological career, one for which he was trained and now experienced in the world and playing piano in his off time he went back to school. This time he would study Spanish, get married and get his Masters in Modern Languages. He had his first child and when his doctorate was almost complete, had his second child, my brother Jason.
Upon Jason‟s birth he sold the watch his father had given to him to keep it all going, all the while dreaming of sharing his passion for the Spanish people, their history and their language.
Why? What could possibly drive him to a life in academia, moving his family, now complete with two new daughters, four times in ten years; each time learning a little more, sharing a little more and gaining ground until we found ourselves in Hammond Indiana and he, apparently, having finally arrived.
He followed his passion and shared it. Kind of what I do, certainly what his grandson Anthony James Lamb does, he teaches middle school; something that he didn‟t decide until his third year of college when it became his passion. My son is doing very well and is highly considered by his kids and fellow faculty members; sounds like someone I once knew. I‟ve given him the plaque that sat on my father‟s desk that says, Dr. Anthony J Lamb, because I know that he‟ll achieve that and more, as long as it remains his passion.
I‟ve cut lawns, delivered papers in sleet and rain, sold Thom McCann shoes, jeans, bussed tables, worked at a summer resort in Michigan every year I was in high school, worked in a steel mill and served in the Air Force.
No matter what I tried I ended up back in the restaurant business. Not because it was easy because anyone in the business will tell you it‟s akin to blood money, but because it has been my passion and I‟ve wanted to share it; with the guests and, especially, the guy or girl on each side of me because together, today, we can make a difference in someone‟s life.
Just because we‟re moved to share our passion.
I‟m a chef but I‟m also a teacher. I come from a strong line of teachers, each of us have chosen what we‟ll teach and to whom.
Genetic?
Evolutionary?
Who knows but I‟ll tell you this, and this is how I know that this is my right livelihood, I‟d be doing it, even if it never paid.
I think that‟s what my dad tried to teach me.
Just a short postscript: it took me years to figure it out but no matter how busted out my old man would make it sound he‟d wait till the night before Christmas then head out to the all night sales and go into hock for the entire next year building a pile under the tree just to see the look on our faces come the morning; I guess to him that one moment was worth whatever he had to do to make it happen.
Pretty cool, if you ask me.

No Experience Necessary

I LOVE THIS BUSINESS!
In order to create sustainable success many other professions require years of schooling, grueling certifications, demeaning apprenticeships, state licensing or other strict requirements usually accompanied by crushing school loans and years of practice unrecognized by anyone save direct supervisors.
It also takes months, years even of carefully planned steps culminating in a critical path which, if one is persistent and has a healthy share of luck, will result in something tangible that may stand for many years for all to behold and wonder on. Engineers and architects work in advanced mathematics, logic and physics only to pass along their brain child to another pair of, hopefully, competent hands, hearts and minds in order to manifest the project into reality.
I’ve heard it said that, given all the complexities, personalities, time and money constraints it’s a wonder that ANY movie gets made let alone be viewed by the public. Anyone working in the Arts or Humanities, or for virtually any professional occupation, has to navigate the slippery slopes of subjective morality, shifting fashions and the nightmare of grant writing in order to see any of their work come to the light of public view.
I know a few of you in the Hospitality Business will be jumping to their feet to protest my simplification but give me a moment to make my case.
Some of my best friends have sacrificed much to attain a certain amount of acclaim or in my case notoriety. I’ve got 23 years in and still learning. Greg Barnhill, one of the best chefs in the west worked through not one, but three year long apprenticeships, each with a different European trained, Michelin rated chefs. I have the honor of being part of the advisory board of The International School of Culinary Arts and know first hand the dedication of the teaching staff and the work that the students put in – all in the name of a title that many, much less deserving, use with impunity.
The true leaders of our industry have given up their children’s birthday parties, anniversary dates and holidays in service to our treasured guests; in the quest of that perfectly plated meal.
All in dedication to an experience so fleeting that most diners are vaguely aware of the hours of daydreaming, planning and experimentation that backs up every plate that hits that window.
‘The Making of Ironman – The Movie’? How about ‘The Making of Beef Milanese Neopolitano’? Now that’s something worthy of 20 minutes of film draped with a voice over from Morgan Freeman!
So I may have misspoke before when I implied that this business is something that can be done by anyone with little or no training – yet there are those out there who believe that. And bless them; I really mean that – it’s for these intrepid souls that I sing this particular song.
It’s for these stalwart, courageous business people that I say, ‘RIGHT ON!’
Here’s to: the contractor who inherits a restaurant because the owner couldn’t pay for the renovations, the public servant who nurtured the dream of his own little diner to retire to; here’s to the business man who, because of prior success in other industries, believes that he knows what his guests really want.
Here’s to the father that wants to build something with his 2 hands because he wants to leave a legacy for his children; here’s the mother, left with an empty nest and her grandmother’s peanut brittle recipe. Here’s to the college student who works summer’s on an oil derrick off the Texas coast and winter’s in Alaska fishing salmon because he has a vision of a restaurant where his crew LOVES to come to work.
Here’s to all the lover’s of life, and food, foolish enough to give this business a try – it’s to you I say, “Come on in, there’s always room for a good idea”. My brothers and sisters are here; ready, to turn your dream into a reality –just because we SAY SO!
Dedicated to the memory of Sean Foley; a gift to all she touched with her food & her spirit!

The Profit Paradigm

Statistics from the US Labor Board reveal that 65 % of the working population in this country are employed by small or medium sized businesses, making these businesses the economic engine of our economy and, as these businesses go, so does the rest of the country.
All the numbers in the world won’t change a thing and I’ve never seen a graph or pie chart that will sway anyone’s good opinion or force someone into a considered action.
No statistic will ever be as compelling as working with Wilson will ever be.
Wilson and his wife, both immigrants from a certain third world county less than 90 miles from the east coast of Florida came with high hopes for a better life for their family and a work ethic that wouldn’t be diminished by opportunity, or lack thereof, language barrier, nationalism nor prejudice. The ever present specter of extreme poverty and corruption that they had left behind in their native country was potent enough for both of them to work almost all the working hours in the day in the hopes of distancing themselves from the miasma that was their previous life.
We’d like to think that this is a country that celebrates hard work and dedication but the recent economic crisis has left folks just like Wilson and his wife exposed and vulnerable; the loss of any of their four jobs would leave them hanging at the precipice of financial ruin.
I’ve stood hip to hip with both Wilson and his wife, both perfect examples of why a ban on familial hires are often misplaced and silly, pulling pasta, making bread, separating deliveries and dicing and slicing; all done with their familiar smile of a job well done and a job being ‘of – use’.
A thorough clean up and they’re off, to another restaurant, separately this time, to complete another full shift before either of them can get home, be with the kids, check homework and then, finally, to spend a few quiet moments together in the silence of their shared struggle, only to get up the next morning and do it all over again; often staggering their days, and shifts off untl a whole week goes by without the synchronicity of a single complete day off spent together.
All for, and because of, their family.
But it’s getting increasingly harder for Wilson and other’s like him to keep this type of selfless sacrifice going for much longer.
Everything is going up in this business, everything that is, except for wages. As commodity prices go up, the profit margins are shrinking and more and more companies are cutting benefits, if they ever offered them in the first place and wages are, in some instances being cut – orphans of a disappearing middle class.
Once all these pressures are factored in owners and/or shareholders increasingly forget Wilson’s face and the kind lines cut around his eyes from
years of smiling in face of adversity and refer to him as only, ‘Cook 2’; much easier to axe a position than it is to cut a life.
Profit has no conscious and profit must be maintained.
I understand that the economy must be moved forward and innovation and ingenuity are cornerstones to it’s growth and maturation but the question, at least for me, has always been: How much is enough?
Understanding that you can’t put a food or labor cost in the bank, and the margins the thing – then how much margin does an owner or stock holder need?
Given that everything is equal and costs will rise; uncontrollable costs like commodity pricing, rent, insurance etc. then there’s only one place to look to squeeze out a bit more profit – your work force; and these are the same people who look to you to keep their best interest in heart, to help them help you in keeping our business vital and alluring, and their lives worth living.
And you’re willing to barter that away because you made a poor deal on your lease and you need to wring out another 10% in profits? So that you can make another payment on a boat that you take out twice a year?
Wilson, and his family, deserve so much better

Okay, Okay

I admit that I fell down the rabbit hole there for a while. My last post was in January and, like most of you I imagine, I've had my share of things to deal with - all the while withering a bit more in the process.
But NO MORE!
I fell into the trap of believing my ego's lies about a lot of what my life is about, what it's supposed to be about meaning and where do I go from here.
I lost my monthly article due to a change in editorial perspective - they wanted to hear from more than just one culinarian about what they were experiencing; completely valid but I chose to interpret it another way.
It seems that the shift that's starting to occur can only be preceded by a winnowing, or stripping back of past illusions, perceptions, self beliefs and self constructs.
The current market conditions and world economy have combined for the perfect storm for transformation - we can no longer rely on the processes, strategies or strength of the past; they won't work anymore - trust me I've tried.
Brute force and throwing one's self about in careless abandon only get's it blown back in your face.
My forehead is bloodied from butting up against the wall
After all that which got us here might not necessarily be the best way to proceed any further.
But, damn - it's hard giving up the skin that I've worn for most of my life!
And naked, what do I step in to now?
I questioned everything
I questioned what kind of a professional I had been; the crew that I was hard on or worse yet neglected in my quest for professional notoriety and while it's true that I did almost make Eddy Lee cry for a simple yet avoidable mistake, there is a battalion of chefs and sous chefs who started out with me and as one so eloquently put it:
'I get it now, thanks Chef'
Humble, mumble, choke just a bit when you see the sincerity in their eyes.
I did make a difference
I did make the world a little better for those willing to listen or watch
I am of worth
I am worthy
Yet in order to move forward there are amends to be made; I've been given a bill that requires payment and nothing short of my integrity will do so I'm about the business of balancing the scales of my life.
"And your permission is all I need to heal..." - Sixx AM
A Caamora to sear the soul and burn out the regret, sadness, self recrimination, guilt and shame.
As Scanlon said, "Pull up your skirt m*****f****, how much longer will you be the Master of your Misery?"
Clearly, no longer.
There is still a difference to be made
There is still work to be done

Oh What Fun

Operational Illiteracy
New Menu Rollout, what fun!
Weeks of planning, engineering really, all comes down to this – the moment of truth.
All the homework has been done; products sourced, yield tests, operational analysis; new menu items run as specials to gauge guest satisfaction and receptivity – now for the real work to be executed.
Menu Worksheets, check
Station Maps, check
Revised Recipes, done
Updated prep sheets, cut sheets and order guides: complete.
All new bulk prep has been done, and backed up to estimated par levels; one never knows until it‟s time to rock after all, and now - it is.
“What type of pasta comes with the Scampi?‟ I ask the pasta cook as I demo the dish in front of him, confident that he‟s had time to review the new menu specifications I‟ve prepared in advance.
“I don‟t know chef‟, he offers weakly.
„What do you mean, it‟s on the menu.” now I‟m getting frustrated, the adrenaline jacks into my bloodstream in preparation for what is to come.
All systems are go ready for launch Captain.
“No, it‟s not Chef”, I can feel the burning in my ears as my blood pressure rises to meet this new demand.
“It‟s right there” I stab at the menu with a greasy finger to the words „Angel Hair‟. After 5 double shifts getting everything ready for this I was a little short on patience.
As ready as I felt this was something I was not prepared for – ignorance.
“Please read the menu to me, aloud please” my voice rising.
I was considering making an example of him; an example of what to expect from Chef if one comes to work unprepared.
“C‟mon man read it!‟ I almost shout.
“You‟re making me very nervous Chef.” I bet I am, I would be too if I were in his shoes.
“We‟re running out of time, read it!”
He starts to, hesitantly, following my finger across the line of words.
It‟s then when it strikes me like a slap in the face from a jilted lover.
He‟s not reading the description as I‟ve written it, he‟s reading it as I‟ve explained it to him.
My word and stars, the man cannot read.
By any outward appearance he‟s a fully functioning member of society at large and a crewmember of some standing in the little world of our kitchen but in reality he‟s functionally illiterate.
I had completely taken it for granted that he could read the information that I had so diligently prepared but it was all of little or no use at all if he couldn‟t process it.
I took a good long look at my crew and started to ask myself some hard questions, most disturbing of which was, „How many more are like him?‟. He had been here for some time prior to my arrival, „Had this ever come up before?” and if so, „Why hasn‟t someone done anything about this?‟
We‟re all familiar with the language gap of emerging populations and have even come up with a bastard language, „Kitchenese‟; adaptable to any language it‟s mostly spoken Spanish & Creole crew so that their supervisors can understand that they were shorted on their paycheck or that they need new uniforms.
ESOL or English for Speakers of Other Languages has done a great job at preparing immigrants to enter the general work force but kitchens are dangerous, fast paced environments that require a stronger hold on the English language than most possess but there‟s been a disturbing trend in our industry in recent years.
A few years ago when skilled labor was hard to come by some Chefs and managers took crew with little or no language skills to do menial tasks by showing them the specific job and without the knowledge of why or where their part fell into the larger picture they drilled these „cooks‟; repetition crystallizes the skill in memory and then the task requires neither supervision nor any critical thinking.
This might have solved the manager‟s immediate crisis, someone to fry tortilla chips everyday, but it came woefully short of caring anything about the person in any way that would ensure the empowerment that comes from the skill of reading and writing language well.
It‟s the height of hypocrisy to protest about why this person preps the same thing, in the same quantity everyday whether we run out or end up with 2 cases of molded julienne peppers.
Hey, now worries, they‟ll just punch in today and do another 3 cases, whether we need it or not; smiling all the while because they think they‟re doing a good job and really, it‟s not their fault.
It‟s ours – we didn‟t care enough about them, as a person nor as a professional to want to set up an ESOL class in our facility for the neighborhood workers who could use language training or prepare them for the inevitable changes that must occur if we‟re to remain viable in any market.
Or make it mandatory to attend such a class, or to do anything of consequence so that the crew could learn, grow and remain an asset to the organization.
Just didn‟t care enough about them to care.
It‟s called „The Peter Principle‟ and there‟s only one way it ends and it‟s not with a promotion.
All we did was set them up for failure; we failed them and in doing so ensured our own downfall so don‟t be so surprised when we meet in the unemployment line because we couldn‟t be bothered with someone else‟s welfare.
my note:
Oh, Brother, Brother - don't you get that it's the bigger man that admits his limitations - regardless of the how and why - and asks for help so that he can get beyond them instead of engaging in the backstab of gossip in order to deflect attention from something that could have been corrected so easily. No matter what happens to whom or who gets thrown under the bus you're still left with your educational deficit and the fact remains: While a job is a job is a job you STILL cannot read and while the opportunity existed
you weren't courageous enough to do something about it at the time. I pray for your sake, and those of your family, that someone comes along that cares enough about you, and willing enough to hold you in your highest, to do something about it and this time, THIS time I hope you meet him/her halfway. Stand tall and frosty my friends Be a River

My Word & Stars

Friends & Family
I'm sorry that it's been a while since my last post - I got a little busy at work, LOL!
So here's to a prosperous, productive, joyful and abundant 2010; it's empowering to know that we all have what it takes to make this year what we seek - staring with today!
Rock On!

551 Resumes

All the bad press, sour statistics and droning talking heads can best be summed up by the email I received the other day:

‘Dear Chef,

We met several years ago when you were working at X restaurant. Last year the company I worked for moved me to another restaurant. Things got very tough financially for the group and since I was last in, I was the first to go. I live in Boca, have a wife and two children and am a very hard worker. Can you help me find another job?

Lost in Boca’

You can talk statistics all you want; 14 million unemployed in the nation right now. But nothing brings it home quicker than a compelling story from someone you know in real need. The frightening thing is I get at least one email like this a week.

As my story has unfolded over the past year I’ve found myself in this very same scenario. Since my last full time position was eliminated a year ago July I’ve been right in the mix and discovered for myself how tough it is to land a job right now.

Someone told my ex wife of my predicament and she said, ‘Nothing to worry about, Adam is always working.’ It’s true, whenever I found myself out of work, for whatever reason, I was employed within three weeks – the ink on the Cobra plan hadn’t even dried. This time, it’s been a little different.

Emotionally these circumstances can take their toll, leading to questions about self worth, skills, abilities until one is left with a simmering doubt that will not be of any use in securing a job.

It’s imperative that one keeps they’re head up, shoulders squared and completely confident of their skills and the ability to execute at a high level or a prospective employer will sense the doubt, taste the bitterness or hear the frustration in the answers to their questions.

Get up in the morning, have a routine – any routine that gets you geared up, mentally clear and focused and grateful that another day has risen and opportunities exist out there, somewhere.. Be workman like, even if you’re working from home; dress appropriately, pack or plan a healthy lunch, take time for reflection and then get back out there!

During a recent interview I was asked, “So you’ve sent out 10 resumes a week for a year? Why do you think you haven’t been hired?”

A good question with many answers.

As with any recession and there have been at least 5 in recent memory, labor is always a lagging indicator. Business dries up first and then staff starts losing jobs. Once business comes back many operators will hold off hiring new staff until the last moment, hoping to recoup losses incurred on the way down; thus the lag in labor numbers.

In the news they’re quoting statistics now that the jobless rate went down last month – the first time that’s happened in over a year – but the real truth is that some of those folks have stopped looking; instead contracting their expenditures and relying on government programs to keep their lives together.

The Hospitality business is hurt more than most because we rely on the good fortune of others to fill our pockets; all across the board restaurants are suffering – special occasion, fine dining, resorts, fast casual – the only sector to hold their own is fast food because they have the resources to weather the storm and offer deeply discounted meals which appeal to the price conscious.

My best friend who is a chef at a 5 Diamond resort in the west has seen the organization lose 6 chefs in 12 outlets and none of have been replaced, none.

None of this however is news to any of us; for the most part we’ve witnessed it with our own eyes. In talking with Dave yesterday, the worry was clear on his face, ‘The street has really taken a pounding.’ He realizes that if he’s to survive he needs to aggressively alter his business model and offer a more competitive menu as well as tighten his staffing levels – ‘In the end, I still want to open.’

Some operators, sensing an opportunity, have drastically slashed salaries; having done so with a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude. Some have gone out of the box as far as their compensation plan offering wellness programs and housing in lieu of payment for a start up. To a professional who is at the beginning of their career with little or no financial obligations that may be a very rewarding way to go but with anyone with a car, house or child support payment it could prove to be a precarious place to start over.

Some have had such a huge response to their open position postings that they, quite rightly so, have decided to take their time during the hiring process – sorting through the candidates, interviewing up to four times, having mystery box cook offs, theoretical menu writing for a ‘sample’ restaurant, one has even asked that applicants send a YouTube type video so that they can get a sense of the candidates’ personalities as well as the ubiquitous Minnesota Multiphasic personality and IQ testing.

Recently I went on an interview where the respondent had had 551 resumes sent in, in the first week – 1,000 after 10 days. This brings up a great question – how can anyone review accurately 1,000, 500, even 200 resumes? The answer is, they can’t, after a while the eyes start to glaze over and the words start running together – ultimately the brain locks down in information overload. Resumes are, after all, just a bunch of words on a page – nothing more.

So what happens if you sent your resume in on day 2 of the posting and you’re now number 321? Any chance at all that your qualifications will be seriously reviewed or does it now begin to look like an exercise where the manager is looking for key words, code phrases, or lack there of?

Would a gap in employment in this economy speak to anyone’s capability or skill set? Probably not, yet most managers would quickly give that resume a pass.

So how does one go about being noticed?

Well let’s first talk about a strategy for finding fulfilling employment.

First and foremost consider your resume. Does it speak to your talents, strengths, passions and the asset that you could be to an organization? If not change it, there are some employment sites on the inter net now that will do resume critiques – they’re trying to sell their services but you can still get good feedback without having to pay for an overhaul. Right now be very careful about over stating your past positions. I was told by a prospective employer that I might consider ‘dumbing down’ my resume. I was shocked – after 20 years of earning my laces I was being told to tone it down. I didn’t know if I should have been offended or just depressed but he was right. In this economy employers will first be concerned about one’s longevity – it costs money to hire and train staff and no one wants a staff member to jump ship 2 months down the road once they get a better offer, no matter how convincing they are during the interview.

‘Owner’, ‘Partner’, etc. are all red flags to some employers – it can be very intimidating to some if they think that their crew knows more than they do – we know that that’s dinosaur thinking but we’re about finding a job and putting food on the table, first.

www.simplyhired.com is a great site that polls listing from other sites into one place; you can even set up a ‘search agent’ to scan listing and have the results emailed to you.

www.hospitalitycrossing.com is similar but is a fee based program that, from what I’ve heard, has some impressive results

Still and all this is just detail – a resume will not get you a job nor will endlessly sending resumes out get you to an interview.

It’s about your network! We in the business make fast and hard friendships with the people we work with but we’re the worst at keeping those friendships fresh and up to date. After all we’ve got businesses to be run and money to make and very often it comes down to putting your attention and intention on your present circumstances. SOS, Taste of the Nation and other events like it are great because it gives professionals an opportunity and an excuse to network and find out what’s been going on over the past year. But in this day and age we cannot be that complacent if we are to be successful in this field – it takes constant networking and being in service to other.

Unlock your rolodex and fire up your Outlook; it’s time to reconnect with some of your compatriots and brother sisters in arms. Touching base with them is a great first step; let them know your situation and make sure they have a copy of your updated resume. Very often if they don’t know of anything within their organization they may know someone who’s looking for help.

Very often savvy recruiters will send an email extolling the virtues of a position that they’re working on. Sometimes they’re fishing to see if you’re in the market for a conversation but in order to be politically correct the email will state, ‘If you know of someone who may fit our profile…’ What they’re really asking is if you’re interested but if a friend or old co worker gets a similar email and they have your resume on file, the chances of them playing matchmaker are very good.

www.linkedin.com is a great place to start, a ‘FaceBook’ for professionals if you will; post a profile and then ask co workers to write recommendations for you – there are also some great on line associations and groups to join and network. I include my own for a reference: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamlamb

One of the very cool facets of this website is that it links to other job seeking websites and on a particular posting will have an ‘IN’ icon next to it; this usually means that the company or one of it’s employees in listed on Linked In and you can follow up on your resume submittal making reaching out to a current employee.

Upon hearing of a job opening at a restaurant I immediately started searching my memory to see if I knew someone on the inside. It turned out that someone I knew worked as a manager there and was able to give me some valuable insight about the operation and the players involved.

Ultimately one needs to get past the ‘gatekeepers’ of the position posting to make contact and start to establish a viable relationship with the person with the final say so or else you become just another name on a piece of paper.

Think outside the circle – when Matchbox 20 wanted to get signed by a record company they posted themselves in the lobby of the building where the record company was located for a couple of days and handed out free slices of pizza with their debut CD.

Once, with the help of an insider at the company I catered a business lunch for the CEO and his team of bankers as a way of introducing myself and marketing my skills.

www.squidoo.com is another great professional networking site.

All these are meant as jumping off spaces in order to get the word out to your network that you’re looking for a new opportunity – to a certain extent you can also use your FaceBook account to do the same. Always be professional in your networking and ask permission first before you send any information out – nothing is more annoying that an email blast to no one in particular; this is about establishing, cultivating and honoring professional relationships.

In every case always end the conversation, as my dear friend Clive Solomon would coach, ‘Do you know of anyone else that I could contact and would it be okay if I used your name in the introduction?’; polite and professional –always.

Professional Organizations and Charities are also excellent venues in order to connect with people in the know when times are tough. Search for, and join a one or two professional organizations that speak to you and attend meetings regardless whether you’re working or not. If you have extra time on your hands volunteering for a charity that you can be passionate about can have a powerful effect on your community in times of need and can be a great boost to your self esteem and ground you in the fact that you may be better off than your circumstances may permit you to believe and find a new job or opportunity in the process.

Lastly I want to talk about the greatest resource you never knew you had – your vendors. Vendors appreciate loyalty and if you’ve been doing business with someone for a long time and that relationship is something that you can count on, ask the question.

What’s happening on the street?

Have you heard of anyone opening a new restaurant?

Have you heard of anyone who might need someone?

They are your secret police, your CIA, in the trenches and in the know. They’ll help for several reasons. First it makes good business sense; if it’s an account they service, they’ll want to see a friendly face in the new position – if it’s an account that they don’t service, they may just get some new business. They make it their business to know what’s happening in the street and if you haven’t asked them then you’re ignoring a great resource.

I recently went on an interview; I had submitted my resume and written a great cover letter. Then the manager received my resume from a vendor, he asked only one question – ‘Is this a guy I should be talking to?’ Brendan said, ‘Yes.’ When I asked the manager whether he would have called me without the vendor recommendation he shook his head slightly and said, ‘I, I don’t know’. But here I was and I had a shot.

Nuff said.

Thanks Brendan for your belief in me when I had little and your support when I needed it the most just because you care.