Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 17, 2010

7

Food & Drink

Ask jai……

 Mountain Views News Saturday, July 17, 2010

TABLE FOR TWO 

By Peter Dills

Arcadia Meets Beverly Hills -

Sesame Grill

Ask jai is a weekly column that will strive to honestly answer your job search 
questions relating to job searching techniques, networking skills, resume 
writing and interviewing. The employment situation is getting better, however, 
it is still a challenge finding were the jobs are located and how to get pass the 
“gate-keepers”. As an Executive Recruiter I was privy to working directly 
with Corporate Recruiters and understanding their process in selecting which 
candidates to interview and hire. I will candidly answer your questions, 
possibly bluntly answering you questions, but I will be totally honest. My 
objective is to help you achieve your employment goal. 

 I pulled out my Restaurant checklist this morning and decided 
to do the lunch checklist. On this checklist are: reasonable prices, a 
lovely dining companion, and great food. Check – Check - Check

 The Zagat Guide, several years ago, called the Parkway Grill the “Spago of the East”. I would 
like to submit that a challenger for the “Parkway Grill of the East” is the Sesame Grill. The 
restaurant is located between a Starbucks and a pool supply store, in the strip mall directly 
across from the famous Derby Restaurant. While the restaurant has a small interior, it does 
not feel cramped. The walls have grown into a magnificent shrine of endorsements from 
critics that came before me. There is no showcasing of a fancy television, or bring the view 
of the ocean to you. What they are is a nice neighborhood restaurant with food that soars 
far above the prices. Some people have labeled the food at Sesame Grill as Asian Fusion 
or America Bistro. I had an eclectic experience with the artful influence of the Pacific Rim 
tying it all together. 

 Soon after you arrive at your table, a server person rushes up with fresh, warm bread 
before you have an opportunity to warm your own seat. 

 Lunch offers a special menu. While the menu looks limited, you don’t have to feel 
boxed in because there is plenty to offer any diner. The First Course (appetizer) weighs in 
at the paltry sum of ($1.50) each (without entrée you get the a la carte price). Amongst 
the variety of choices are mixed greens, melon and prosciutto, or chilled calamari; I went 
for the Chicken Dumplings at - let me repeat - 
($1.50). Entrees range between ($7.50 to $10.50), 
and include Linguine with Meat Sauce, Chinese 
Chicken Salad, Fresh Salmon. Orange Chicken and 
Sand Dabs are two of the lunch hour highlights. Me? 
I luxuriated in the Chicken Ravioli that was cooked 
to perfection; the best I have had in many years. 
My lunch companion had the Shrimp Ravioli, I had 
work hard to distract her enough so I could steal 
a single bite from her plate. We both got stuffed, 
with no room for dessert. The only tiny chink in 
the array of presentations was that I thought the 
Chicken Dumpling sauce bordered a bit on a BBQ 
sauce. That was a very small imperfection in a place 
of paradise. 

Sesame Grill, 308 E. Huntington Dr. Arcadia 

(626) 821-0880

Listen to Dining with Dills every Sunday afternoon 
at 5 PM on 790 KABC Talk Radio

Q: I recently graduated with a M.B.A. with 
no experience as a supervisor or manager. I 
expected that I would find employment in 
management since I have a M.B.A. But, I 
am being told by employers that I have no 
supervisory experience. So how do I get 
management experience if no one will hire 
me? Aspiring Manager

Dear Aspiring Manager,

 Most companies will not hire you, even with 
a Masters Degree, directly into a management 
position if you have not supervised or 
managed a staff. I would suggest that you 
apply for Management Trainee or Junior 
Management positions. You will find a 
lot of these positions posted with major 
corporations in various industries. These 
positions are fantastic because the company 
will train new graduates in their corporate 
culture, sales, marketing and management 
style. As a trainee this will give you time to 
learn about the company and them about you. 
When companies hire you into management 
trainee positions you are consider a corporate 
investment and they will usually assigned you 
a mentor to insure your success. The Trainee 
or Junior Management position is a great 
track to management level positions and 
typically very short, between 1-2 years after 
your start date. 

 To apply for a Management Trainee or 
Junior Management position you should 
decide on what is your professional category 
(i.e., accounting, marketing, computer, etc.) 
and industry (i.e., medical, public relations, 
technology, education, etc.). Write a 
dynamic cover letter that clearly states: why 
you are writing to the company, your field of 
expertise, reason for choosing the industry, 
your goal and that your career path is senior 
management. 

 Be sure to include what valuable skills 
and experience you would bring to their 
company. Next, write a great resume to 
include any accomplishments that exemplify 
any of your leadership or supervisor qualities. 
This can include any volunteer or community 
activities, part-time or internship experience. 
Starting salary ranges for Management 
Trainee positions are not going to be what you 
expect but future advancement or promotions 
will eventually result in financial reward.

Q: I am trying to get a part-time job at a 
large retail store to supplement my income. 
Do I have to disclose that I have a Masters 
Degree? Need Extra Income

Dear Need Extra Income,

 Yes. Retail stores usually will require you 
to complete and answer all questions on 
an application form. At the bottom of the 
Application form you will be ask to sign a 
statement and agreement that everything 
that you have written on the application form 
and the resume you have submitted is true to 
the best of your ability and that if anything is 
discover to be untrue that the company has 
the right to terminate your employment. Do 
not risk termination. I would suggest that you 
enclosed or attached a cover letter explaining 
why you are seeking a part-time position 
with the retail store. Do not disclose in the 
cover letter any personal reasons or details for 
seeking employment. Be sure to include the 
skill sets that you have to do the job. 

Jai Johnson has over 20 years experience as a 
national and local Executive Recruiter, Job Search 
Advisor and Career Coach. She has assisted 
thousands of job seekers to find and secure 
employment in their chosen field of education and 
experience. Ms. Johnson is a member of NRWA 
and CPRW. Send your job search questions to 
her at: j.johnson@mtnviewsnews.com


Seeking and Finding

 The sight of someone thumbing away 
furiously on some sort of handheld gadget, 
oblivious to everyone and everything around 
them, is about as common these days as 
common gets. Even though this sort of 
behavior has been with us in various guises 
for quite some time, it has only been in the last 
few years or so that it has become the near-
norm for every age group or demographic 
that one could possibly imagine. 

 For the most part this activity can be 
described as mildly inane, in some cases, and 
just plain dangerous in others. The distracted 
driver is a danger not only to themselves, 
but to that part of the driving public that is 
directly exposed to their selfish behavior. 
Although there is legislation on the books 
against this behavior in nearly every state 
in the union, the behavior persists. And the 
behavior persists because, for many engaged 
in it, the payoff seems to be worth the risk, 
even more so than any possible penalty. 

 At its most basic level all of this endless 
tweeting, texting, IM’ing and emailing can 
be summed up neatly under one heading: 
“Seeking”. And unlike the type of seeking 
alluded to in spiritual songs, movies and 
literature, this particular form of seeking 
leads directly to an immediate satisfaction. 
Everytime. It is the itch that CAN be 
scratched. The attraction to this particular 
satisfaction is directly related to the fact that 
we can control it. We can control the content 
and flow of the stimuli, our response or non-
response to it and how much importance we 
place on the entire process. 

 At first it does seem to be all fun and 
games. Loading up the new device with all of 
our important data and contacts. Discovering 
and installing new killer apps. The endless 
customization to make it our very own unique 
creation, showing off our new pride and joy to 
friends and the endless toying with it. Toying 
might not be the right word to describe this 
interaction, because at some point there stops 
being an element of play involved in all of this. 
All one has to do to validate this viewpoint is 
to remember the twinge of terror that leapt 
in one’s breast the last time the cellphone \ 
BlackBerry \ iPhone \ fill-in-the-blank wasn’t 
in its familiar place and was thought to be 
lost or worst, even if only for a moment. It 
really was a big deal, probably bigger than it 
really should’ve been at the time. Even so, it 
mattered a lot. It mattered because in these 
times of more and more things that we can’t 
control, that we can’t find and that we can’t 
trust here is something that we can control, 
we can find and we can trust. 

 There is a real comfort in finding whatever 
it is we’re looking for.