Larchmont Temple Chevra Torah

WW II interrupted what would have been, in view of my learning disability, a disastrous attempt to make myself into a law student. Instead, I made a pretty good infantry rifleman, and when the shooting stopped, was assigned by a set of curious chances to the Armed Forces Radio Service in Vienna, Austria. I’m the guy on the right, holding the papers.

Except for our commanding officer (behind the desk) who went on to become the Governor of Pennsylvania and the first Jewish candidate for the presidency, everyone else was a radio journalist, and that’s what they trained me be. I learned you could make a pretty good living writing and talking. I learned the art of interviewing and reporting, which was invaluable in both my vocation as a management consultant and my avocation as a job-search guide. I also learned how information, properly communicated, could manipulate target populations in order to generate desired response. So a career in marketing seemed more advisable than the law.

With the GI Bill I could go to school anywhere, but The Baruch School of Business allowed me to earn a science degree focusing on industrial psychology rather than accounting and statistics. Upon graduation, I apprenticed myself in each area of sales and distribution: manufacturer/distributor, wholesale/retail, direct/indirect sales forces, etc. When I was ready to hang out my shingle, I formed a boutique consulting organization that specialized in people-to-people relationships. Our programs, for such diverse multinational clients as Armstrong Cork, BMW, Caterpillar Tractor, Donnelley Corporation, Ford Heavy Trucks was a unique approach improving recruiting, training and supervision.

It was teaching management how to hire (see below) that inspired the books I’ve written and the courses I’ve designed to show the job-seeker how to be hired.