WerkaBlog

It’s Restaurant Week again!   Below is the list of restaurants. And this year they are doing $20 – 2 course lunches and 3 course dinners for $35

Diners will enjoy three or four course (depending on the restaurant) gourmet dinners for $35 per person (not including beverages, tax or gratuity). Participating restaurants pledge to donate $5 from each special dinner sold to the Houston Food Bank.

This is a wonderful opportunity for diners to try new restaurants or re-visit old favorites while helping to fight hunger in Houston. HRW is planned by volunteers so that 100% of funds raised are donated to the Houston Food Bank.

Starting Sunday, Aug 1 – Saturday Aug 21st

http://www.houstonrestaurantweek.com/Menus-2010.htm

*17
III Forks
51 Fifteen
Americas Post Oak “The Original”
Amerigo’s Grille
Arcodoro
Arturo’s Uptown Italiano
Au Petit Paris
Azuma
Azuma on the Lake
Azuma Sushi and Robata Bar
Backstreet Café
benjy’s in The Village
benjy’s on Washington
Bistro Catron
Bistro Don Camillo
Branch Water Tavern
Brasserie Max & Julie
Brennan’s of Houston
Brenner’s on the Bayou
Brenner’s Steakhouse
Cadillac Bar Houston
Café Moustache
The Capital Grille
Carmelo’s Ristorante Italiano
Cava Bistro
Cavatore Italian Restaurant
Ciao Bello
Cielo Mexican Bistro
Crapitto’s Cucina Italiana
Crave Sushi Boutique
Cullen’s Upscale American Grille
Damian’s Cucina Italiana
Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House
Downtown Aquarium
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood
Feast
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar – River Oaks
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar – Town & Country
Frank’s Chop House
Gigi’s Asian Bistro & Dumpling Bar
Gravitas
Grotto Westheimer
Grotto Woodlands
The Grove
Haven, A Seasonal Kitchen
House of Blues Foundation Room
Hugo’s
Indika Restaurant
Julia’s Bistro
Kata Robata
Kiran’s
La Colombe d’Or
La Griglia
Le Mistral
Mark’s American Cuisine
Masraff’s
Max’s Wine Dive
McCormick & Schmick’s – Downtown
McCormick & Schmick’s -Town & Country
McCormick & Schmick’s – Uptown Park
The Melting Pot – Westheimer
Michelangelo’s
Mockingbird Bistro
Monarch Restaurant and Lounge
Morton’s The Steakhouse – Houston Downtown
Morton’s The Steakhouse – Houston Galleria
Mo’s…A Place for Steaks
Noe @ The Omni Houston Galleria Hotel
The Oceanaire Seafood Room
Ocean’s
Olivette at The Houstonian
Ouisie’s Table
Palm Restaurant
Pappas Bros. Steak House
Pappas Grill
Perry’s Italian Grille
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille – Champions
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille – Clear Lake
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille – Katy
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille – Memorial City
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille – Sugar Land
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille – Woodlands
Pesce
Polo’s Signature
Post Oak Grill
Prego Restaurant
Quattro at Four Seasons Hotel Houston
Rainbow Lodge
Rattan Pan-Asian Bistro & Wine Bar
Ray’s Grill
RDG + Bar Annie
Ruggles Grill
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Sambuca Restaurant
Smith & Wollensky
Soma Sushi
Sorrento Ristorante
The St. Regis Houston – Remington Restaurant
Strata Restaurant & Bar
Sullivan’s Steakhouse
Sushi Raku
Tony’s
Truluck’s
Valentino Vin Bar
Vic & Anthony’s
VOICE Restaurant & Lounge at Hotel ICON
Willie G’s Seafood & Steaks
Yelapa Playa Mexicana
108

Thanks to the Houston Technology Center, I was given the opportunity to go onto the Great Day Houston show this morning.  I was part of a panel accumulated of seasoned, great HR professionals within the medical, energy and hospitality industries within the Houston market.  The show had a special segment about … yep, you guessed it – the big three-lettered word: J-O-B.  Most don’t know that Werkadoo has an internal rule that if you say that word we make you put a dollar into our dough-boy piggy bank.  And, if you just can’t break the habit then the rate goes up to $5!  (Now, I’m starting to wonder how much we’ve actually got in there , and how much more we would have had we applied that rule to the audience of the show today !) – Anyways, I’m jumping off course.  The reason we have this rule of not saying job is because with how the market is these days, we are much more confident in people looking for werk than going after the very scarce, traditional J-O-B route.  Doesn’t it make sense?  If there aren’t jobs – then what are people looking for?

The show had a great, diverse audience that was full of questions and I wanted to share some of those questions, and answers:

Do recruiters look at Facebook?

You betcha!  The recruiter has a lot on their plate – in fact, more so than ever before because of all of the readily available information at their fingertips.  Realize, once the recruiter has made the first filter of professionals who have all the same qualified skills, the next step is to get to know that person behind each resume.  Technology has given recruiters more information to learn about you from a behind the scenes view and they do google search, facebook peruse, and LinkedIn validate people before an interview is even scheduled.  So, words of advice: keep Facebook personal and LinkedIn, and Werkadoo, professional because the last thing you DON’T want is for someone to be turned off by your keg stand photo on your Facebook profile!

I’m a recent graduate, how can I stand out?

Standing out isn’t what it used to be.  What I mean by this is that the good ol’ job hunt after graduation has led so many students down an empty path to nowhere.  So, get active. What I’ve never understood is why students aren’t getting experience, even as an Intern, while studying.  Even an Internship at 2 hours a day doing research, data entry, PR, etc. gets you something to put on the resume, helps a small business out tremendously and gets you the exposure to start figuring out if you really like the field you’re actually getting your degree in!  Wouldn’t that be bad if you graduated with a degree only to realize walking into that position is something you ended up hating!  Companies NEED and APPRECIATE interns – testing the waters to see what you actually like isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

What causes a recruiter, or human resource, personnel to look me over?

This is actually a pretty logical, going back to basics, answer.  The minute an online professional profile, portfolio, proposal, etc. has a misspelling it shows you didn’t even take the time to make sure you presented yourself professionally – so why would they trust you to represent their company professionally?  Also, short-form communications is great for texting but not on professional emails, profiles, or written communications – no one has ever said “Oh, how cute – they use ‘Lol’!”  Remember, they need to have confidence you can actually get through writing an entire sentence without errors.  Lastly, believe it not, the constant emails and phone calls can work against you – they could turn to being annoying and you’ll get a big red X next to your name.  If you do feel compelled to follow-up with someone about a position, or project, inquiry – keep it friendly, relevant, and let them know when you’ll follow-up again.  When I say relevant, I mean, if you are, for example, interested in a project, do more research on the project background … industry … company … and if you find an interesting, applicable case study, or article, send it their way to show them how you are prepared to take on the project – build credibility!

In summation – put those privacy settings on your Facebook, and MySpace, pages … Interning isn’t a bad thing, in fact a smart thing … research and building specific project credibility can’t hurt you!