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In today’s economy many companies are looking for top notch sales professionals with a good amount of experience. This could potentially make it very difficult for those who are seeking their very first sales job after graduating from college since you will have little to no experience; or do you? One of the things you can do is to think about what you have done through high school and college that might relate to sales. Did you participate in a local drive or charity of any kind, volunteer with a non-profit, intern with top sales professional, etc?

Another option is to hook up with a staffing agency that specializes in sales and sales professionals that can help walk you through the process of preparing for a sales job. These agencies often have the first look at entry level jobs that may never make it to the light of day, which is in a newspaper or on the internet as they get filled by these types of agencies. The people and agencies who deal with companies that are sales oriented have connections that can help you break into these types of jobs. This also holds true of those who wish to change professions and move into a sales position.

Education is supposed to be the backbone of America and as parents and educators alike we know the best teaching comes from that done by example. With this in mind, is anyone asking what we are teaching our kids by the examples that are coming through loud and clear by politicians, business executives, the media, sports and entertainment? If we were really thinking this through then we should not be surprised by the current happenings in and around America.

Mark Kirk, Republican candidate in IL, is the latest example of lies being told by a politician in order to get elected; so why is he still allowed to run? This should go for any candidate from any party; shouldn’t it? What about the lies BP told to all of us over the years? If someone would have said they can’t do business anymore until they can level with the public would we be in the Gulf mess we are in? You’ve heard it all before, steroids in sports, cheating on spouses, fraud, partisanship, prejudice, dummying down and the many other behaviors that we reward with our money and our time. We are here simply because we allowed it and we teach it by example.

It used to be that the person to watch out for was the busy body neighbor or the gossip at your local church. Now it seems that it’s not only okay but fashionable to mettle in everyone’s business now that everyone’s business and personal life seem to be online. But the real question is; how did we get here?

Many years ago at a family function I was talking to one of my great uncles who also happened to be one of the smartest people I have ever known in business as well as a great person with relationships. The topic of the day was the rights of ordinary citizens. My uncle had studied the US Constitution and consulted with a foreign government after WWII to help them write their Constitution based on ours. With this experience he made this statement, “People who are free to vote, vote the very freedoms they cherish away little by little over generations”. I have come to believe him over time. We have given up our privacy in the same way as technologies arise that ask us to, little by little, acquiesce to their policies in order to connect with others. The final question we will eventually have to ask is; when do we as people say no to the invasion of our basic privacy? I hope it is before we discover that the price we pay is much too high.

I am a huge fan of cartoons.  I love the classics like Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry, and I love the modern cartoons like the Simpsons or King of the Hill.  Oh, and did I mention that I’m 30 years old?  Cartoons have made a huge comeback in the past few years, but with a brand new demographic – adults.  There’s even a latenight block of adult-themed cartoons on a Cartoon Network program called  “Adult Swim”.  I suppose I would say that the Simpsons really launched the cartoon into the primetime hearts of adults worldwide, but I think that perhaps an even greater phenomenon is Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, American Dad, and most recently, the Cleveland Show for the Fox Network.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the entire collection of MacFarlane-imation.  But, the fact that ALL THREE SHOWS air on the same night (Sundays) back to back, has me admittedly – a bit frustrated, and quite honestly overwhelmed.  Seems almost like MacFarlane has a monopoly on Sunday Night entertainment, and isn’t that supposed to be a bad thing?  Sometimes as I sit watching the seemingly neverending string of his cartoon creations, I suddenly envision Rupert Murdoch threatening me, saying “you’ll watch three hours of Family Guy, and you’ll bloody like it!”

I love you Seth, and everything that you do, but it’s time to give the nation joint custody of your shows – We’ll take Family Guys Sundays, American Dad Wednesdays, and The Cleveland Show every other weekend.

When people look back on the history of this country there is no doubt in anybodies mind that The Great Depression was one of the hardest time periods in our history. During the Great Depression the body of American withered and withered and almost died. But one thing that most people do not seem to realize is that the spirit of America had been dead the whole time. It had been dead since the previous decade. And nothing shows that the American dream had gone bad better than the literature of the time.

One of the best novels of that time period and also one of the best novels in American literature, the Great Gatsby, shows the corruption of the American dream. In the book, the main character, Jay Gatsby, has built a large amount of wealth for himself. On the outside it looks like he is living the American dream, rising from nothing to something. But as you read the book, you see that it was not by legal means that he had earned his wealth. Pressure from the upper class had made him decide that wealth by illegal means would allow him to be accepted by the rich.

Is it just me or are we being marketed to all of the time? We never have a chance to breathe because these advertisements are being shoved down our throats. If you haven’t noticed this yet you either never watch TV or you are just incredible naive.

One way of noticing how much we are marketed to is to go to a movie and count how many clear and blatant advertisements there are in the movie. An example of such an advertisement is if the main character drinks a Sprite. The companies that make Sprite paid for those placements so you will think how good those drink looks. They hope you realize just how thirsty you really are and drink a Sprite!

There is not much I can do to avoid these advertisements. I do not watch any TV at all anymore but I still see ads on the computer and at places I visit. I guess we just have to ignore the advertisements and not let them brainwash us. But since we are marketed to all of the time, ignoring them all the time shouldn’t be that hard.

There has been a lot of heated discourse surrounding the health care bill. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What has become a bad thing is the type of language used. Coarse language does not particularly bother me, but I don’t think it adds to an intelligent, productive discourse.

As Americans, we pride ourselves in our tolerance for free speech, even if the speech itself isn’t tolerant. I think it gets messy when you try to start splitting hairs on “offensive” speech like they do in Canada. However, that free speech should not be wielded like a hammer. Instead, it should be used like a handshake extended to those with whom we disagree. Speech has the power to divide and the power to unite.

The other day, as members of congress walked toward the capitol to cast their vote on the health care bill, people opposing the bill heckled them. Reportedly, racial and gay epithets were hurled at them. This is the perfect example of using free speech like a hammer. The tactic seems to be to simply talk louder than your opponent, rather than engage them. This is not good for our country. It divides us. It makes us distrust one another. We must rise above it if we want to make our country great.

I recently visited John W. McDougal Company in Nashville, TN doing some research on steel fabrication for a course project and found this company to be a great resource for many types of architectural and industrial projects. I had no idea what it takes to not only produce but to develop the technologies and systems to work in so many different applications in the US and around the world.

The Architectural Division works closely with the team of architects building each structure to ensure the perfect material and system for the job. A system is a way of connecting the panels or steel in a safe way as well for ultimate strength for the project at hand. They also deal in composite materials as well as other types of wall panels. It was interesting to see that the industrial side not only supports the architectural side but their research and development, which includes ways to improve and streamline the process, was extremely impressive. I now feel that I can better understand the process of building large structures after being able to familiarize myself with an actual company of this caliber.

Everyone has their top 5 movies. Roger Ebert, AFI and any number of local writers will list theirs. Often times they recite the usual suspects: Casablanca, The Godfather, 12 Angry Men, etc. I would like to veer away from that. These are the Top 5 that I love to watch. They make me feel good, and I can watch them over and over again.

5. Serenity – Joss Whedon’s space western is the continuation of the popular Firefly series. The movie does a great job of moving the story forward, and I hope there are more to come.

4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – This Christmas movie is watchable all year. Randy Quaid continues to make “Cousin Eddie” one of best comic characters in recent memory.

3. Spaceballs – This Mel Brooks masterpiece lampoons every sci-fi cliche. It is extremely quotable, and infinitely re-watchable.

2. Dark City – This brooding, film noir-ish feature is by underrated British director Alex Proyas. It takes the Matrix-style “what is real?” theme and turns it on it’s head. Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt and Rufus Sewell turn in masterful performances.

1. Rear Window – I love Hitchcock, and this movie is my absolute favorite. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly have terrific on-screen chemistry. Despite the suspenseful nature of the film, it is scattered with witty dialogue.

Benjamin Franklin was one of our country founding fathers. He was also one of America’s greatest men. He was the man who discovered electricity and is credited with many of the famous sayings we use today. In order to have all of the achievements he had in his lifetime, Franklin had to start early.

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin wrote that in his early life he attempted to teach himself all of the virtues in order to be a better, and if possible, a perfect person. He wrote them down and would work on each of them individually for weeks until they became habit. Franklin eventually abandoned this challenge. He said that if he became the perfect person then people would resent him for his perfection.

Benjamin Franklin had something that many people are missing these days. Franklin had a sincere desire to better himself. He didn’t want to better himself for other people. He wanted to better himself for himself. That is something that could really help people, me included. If we all wanted to improve ourselves just for the sake of improving then we would all be better people just for that one reason. I think this is at least one lesson we should all take to heart from Benjamin Franklin.