ATTITUDE KEY FOR JOB SEEKERS

Employers want people who have a good attitude, a panel of business representatives said Wednesday.

The four-member panel discussed employer hiring practices at a Common Hour session in Robert A. Dempster Hall. About 100 Southeast Missouri State University students attended the noontime presentation.

"Be on time. Dress appropriately. Don't be crabby," advised Karen Hendrickson, assistant administrator at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The hospital employs about 1,200 people.

Customer service is important, she said. Patients remember crabby nurses or doctors with no bedside manner.

"We are looking for people that pay attention to customer service," she said.

"Some of you, I wouldn't hire," she told the students. Job applicants who aren't attentive and don't smile easily make a poor impression.

Employers like Southeast Hospital want employees who are "warm and fuzzy," she said.

Hendrickson said a person should give proper notice before changing jobs.

"If you are supposed to give two weeks notice, give it," she said.

If you don't, you might have trouble convincing another employer to hire you, she said.

"If you will walk away from your current employer, you will walk away from us,' Hendrickson said.

David Blanchard manages the Dana Corp. plant in Cape Girardeau, which employs about 350 people in making axle components.

The plant is part of a large corporation that promotes from within, Blanchard said. As a result, most job openings are in entry-level positions.

Even there, the company wants career-oriented people who have good communications skills, can solve problems and give a 100 percent effort on the job.

I.C. Bates is manager of training and hiring for Xerox Corp. in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma City.

"What we look for is people who have initiative to run a business for us," said Bates.

Dowell Holdgraf is one of those business owners. He owns Kinsey Document Solutions in Cape Girardeau, which sells Xerox products.

It is one of more than 3,000 Xerox agencies nationwide.

"It is important to know as much as you can about computers," he advised.

Holdgraf said Xerox provides a wealth of information for its agencies. Holdgraf has a computer data base of every business in Southeast Missouri.

Knowledge is important. But attitude is essential in any sales job, he said.

All four employers said resumes help job seekers get their foot in the door.

"A resume is one of the very first, first impressions you can make," said Bates.

Those applicants who send in resumes with typographical errors have little chance of getting the job, the panelists said.

Blanchard said cover letters can help. He said one young woman sent him a resume saying that she needed a job.

She said she grew up on a pig farm in Indiana, knew all about hard work and was willing to do any job. The company hired her.

The panelists said learning never stops. Employees should be prepared so they can take advantage of future career moves that might arise, Hendrickson said.