Want to get noticed by recruiters? Go old school

DALLAS – Jim Whiddon says old school is new again.

So the 56-year-old financial consultant has written a how-to-communicate guide for millennials who want to jump-start their careers and employers who want to connect with the largest generation in the U.S. workforce.

His book, "The Old School Advantage: Timeless Tools for Every Generation," released in February by Brown Books Publishing Group, started out two years ago as a lengthy love letter to his four millennial children, who are now ages 17 to 24. He noticed that they and their friends just didn't have the same observation and listening skills that most boomers learned from their parents.

"Remember those station wagon vacations and listening to your mom and dad talking?" he asks. "Today they sit in the back seat with earbuds on.

"The economic climate all over the planet is going to make things more challenging for millennials than it was for my generation," he says. "It's really about equipping them for the future."

One chapter deals with having a pointed discussion without letting it disintegrate into pointless bickering.

You start with leading questions: What do you mean by that? How did you come to that conclusion? Have you ever considered …?

"Old School" also teaches power words or phrases that show off your intelligence and improve the way others see you as a person.

"'First things first' says you're organized and a sequential thinker," he says.

Supplant the mindless "awesome" with "exceptional" or "extraordinary," which will make you seem wise beyond your years.

His favorite phrase is "Let's get to work." "That sends chills up the spines of people my age because we love that go-getter attitude," he said.

Whiddon believes the most powerful word in the English language is "imagine." "Whatever follows in the fill-in-the-blank has hundreds of millions of meanings. Everybody imagines something different."

"We tell students to pick wow words that best describe them," he says. "'I believe in being consistent.' 'A lot of people would describe me as being very determined.' 'I have common sense.' 'I think it's important to … ' and then they fill in the blank.

Be prepared for: How did you find out about this position? Do your homework. Say that you like the company's products or admire its culture and decided to look into its job opportunities.

The biggest curveball question is: What books are you currently reading, or who is your favorite author?

That's one he teaches to corporate clients when they're working the other side of the hiring equation. "It's an excellent way for a recruiter to gain insight into not only your habits but also your character," he says. The only wrong answer is that you don't read.

A picture might be worth 1,000 words, but Whiddon contends that a story is worth 1,000 pictures. "Nothing is stickier or more memorable than the right story told the right way at the right time and place," he says. "When people tell you a story, their body language changes, they lean forward and look directly at you."

Among the arsenal of suggested loaded questions: What brought you to this company and why have you stayed here? What's the biggest challenge your company faces right now?

And my personal favorite: Why is this position open?

What if there's dead silence?