E-BOOKS
OCT 2016
E- Book Excerpt – ACE THE INTERVIEW: Part 2 – The Hard Questions
“How do you handle stressful situations?” It’s pure irony that this question can be one of the most stressful to find an answer for, but there is a very good reason why you’re being asked, and it helps to understand this. As with with many things in business and in life, knowing the reasoning behind a question can often be more important than the question itself.
Why They Are Asking – Whether it’s the job of your dreams or just something you’re doing to make ends meet, there will always come a point where work brings a special kind of headache. It follows then that any employer worth their salt would want to know if, and how, you handle yourself when things go wrong… because eventually they do.
Most modern, psychology-based interview questions are really a few questions wrapped into one. Can you deal with unique situations? Can you operate outside your comfort zone? Can you keep your cool when it all hits the fan? This is what your potential employer wants and needs to know when considering you for a position; doubly so if you are after anything in management.
What They Mean By “Stress”- Speaking about personal stress in the workplace is a different animal, and can very quickly descend into a rant about your own personal pet peeves if you’re not careful. As prepared as you may think you are, it’s easier than you think to wonder off course. Some skilled interviewers may even try to pull you off course in an attempt to get a better bead on your personality.
The “stress” that employers want to know about is related to the job itself. Whether or not you got along with Andy from accounting is frightfully irrelevant. For this question you will want to be prepared with something more than an office gripe.
Prepare Your Answer, And Don’t Open The Wrong Door – The key to acing any interview, and indeed the key to success in all business, is preparation. You will want to think of a specific, work related issue, not a general “working there was tough and I dealt with it every day.” Think of a situation that presented unique challenges, a situation that others were not able to handle easily, and where you came up with a good solution. It may seem off topic, but trust and believe that it is in fact what they’re looking for.
The number one rule here is to keep it about business. Your answer should be short, sweet, and follow this basic formula: What was a challenge that you faced during the course of your duties, what logic and hard work did you employ to find a solution, and what was the result of your solution. Keep to the path and keep your cool, and you can ace the interview.
NOVELS
Dec 2012
Novel Excerpt – “The Devoured”
“Boss, Herchel’s on the move. He’s headed straight into Carrollton.” Franky said seriously.
Leon looked at Elana, who had already gotten out of her chair and thrown on her long gray coat.
“Okay you tail him close but do not make a move until we get there you hear me.”
“Right.” Franky said as the phone hung up.
A few minutes across the bridge and then west on the over-water road that circled the perimeter of the New Orleans peninsula, Elana and Leon parked their car in a large lot by the docks that were the last taste of dry land before heading into the river city. They hopped out and started off down the maze of watery streets that filled the area. A few blocks in, they met up with Bobby and Franky on one of the sidewalks that lined the murky liquid streets. At this time of night the water looked almost black, and shimmered with the lights of the buildings and bars that made up the city. People pushed their way down the sidewalks, drunkenly hanging over the railing mean to keep them alive. The music flooded out of every dingy club and strip joint. Elana hadn’t realized that Sin City was alive and kicking.
“He went in there.” Franky said as pointed at the building just up the street from the alley where he and his partner had been hiding.
“Alright you too get around back and get ready…”
As Leon was making his plan Elana had taken notice of something strange; a tall man in a black coat and fedora a few blocks away. It wasn’t the way he was dressed, but the way he was just standing there as if he had no purpose but to watch them. Before she could think to speak though, an unmistakable sound could be heard, muffled by the building it came from. Two flashes of light pulsed from one of the windows on the top floor of the building that Herchel had gone into, and in the next instant, Herchel’s tired old body came crashing through the window and into sailing downward. His body bent the railing it landed on as Herchel’s brittle bones cracked just before he was whipped into the black waters of the dark street.
“Das it, git up there!” Leon yelled at his two faithful proteges.
All four of them drew there weapons and rushed into the building with Elana following last, but as the three men stormed into the small hotel and up the stairs, Elana stopped to watch the mysterious man turn and walk slowly into a nearby alley. She looked once more at the doorway the three eager policeman had rushed into, but as she watched tall figure vanish around the corner, something inside her screamed. Her friends were moving up the building, checking each floor as Elana rushed off down the sidewalk towards a prey that could be only hers. If she caught him, she wouldn’t let him be arrested, and she didn’t want Leon involved with the horrors she would inflict on him before he died.
Shonen Ahmad 