Discuss how a person can make a positive first impression at a job interview. There are many possible ways to make a positive first impression at a job interview, or to commit interview suicide. I will stick to the points that I try to carefully follow during a job interview, as I succeeded sometimes. First of all the job candidate needs to project a good image of himself, not being late is a must, as well as being well-dressed, wearing a suit or a tie, being shaved or having had the hair cut recently. Secondly the applicant needs to have clear ideas, to state what's distinctive or particular of him, why is he or she supposed to be the best possible choice for the employer, what would make hiring him or her a real benefit for the company. He needs to explain the reason why he wants to work for a company in particular, and why he is leaving the actual job: not mentioning having problems with the boss or working overtime is a must. Even if companies don't like yes men sometimes, the job candidate needs to be aware that yes is a better answer than no during a job interview. Furthermore, the person who is interviewd needs to be concerned with learning new skills, or perfect the ones he or she already has, more than being only interested in money; people work five days or fourty hours a week and definitely need to be keen on what they are doing. Eveybody needs to live his or her work as the best possible, any achievement needs to be a priority, bearing in mind what is the ultimate stage, job satisfaction both for the employer and the employess. Not having strings attached, wives or children may sometimes be a plus, even if many employers are changing their minds, and wouldn't see having a family as a threat to productivity or employer's committment to their duties. Last but not least the job applicant needs to be self-conscient and self confident, but needs to avoid being big-headed at the same time: that will give employers the definite perception that the applicant is a good team player or a possible team leader, and that's what a good working environment is about, team-playing.

What are the qualities or characteristics that define your generation? I belong to the so-called X-Generation, as I was born in the late seventies, and I was a teenager in the nineties. It was called X-Generation because we were not identifiable like the boys and girls in the seventies or the eighties were. There was neither a common belief, nor a political orientation that could held us part of a massive phenomenon, mood or vague at all. But there were some points in common. We were interested in Japanese anime cartoons since we were children, and most of us still love Hayao Miyazaki or Makoto Shinkai movies; we really loved metal or grunge music, and for most of us Nirvana or Pearl Jam have played the soundtrack of their lives; we were the first to play with videogame consoles, like the Sony Playstation or the Nintendo 64, and most of us have read books written by Herman Hesse or Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Music had a lot of importance in our lives, we spent a lot of time listening to it, and most of us loved Queen or Pink Floyd, who played their last gigs during the nineties. We were the ones to massively support the record industry before the big crisis went on. When I was a teenager none of us had an internet connection, or a mobile phone, no social-network at all, and we dealt with one another in a different way, we weren't in any tribe and we were no fashion victims or slaves, as I love to say. Most of us have experienced a divorce, with his or her parents splitting up, and we sincerely hope to live a better life, giving the best future possible to our children. This is the reason why most of us are really concerned about respecting the environment, eating healthy food and avoiding consumerism. We have been children or adolescents when AIDS was the biggest threat for umanity and, for that reason, we're still dealing with sex with fear, trust in our partners, and loyalty to them are a must for us. Most of us began to work in the Information Techonology at the peak of the "New Economy" era, and were the first to experience a massive change in the working environment, most of us have climbed the social ladder ages before their parents or grandparents, but most of us have descended the ladder since then, and are now experiencing unemployement and dissatisfaction.

writing about crime in my country: could you please give it a read? Crime is a serious problem almost everywhere in the world. Italy makes no difference even if murder rate is low compared to other countries like Brazil or the US. Our greatest plague is undoubtedly corruption: it has spread like a cancer evolved in a metastatis giving italian citizens nearly no chance to survive this plague. Corruption is everywhere, from school to hospitals, making really impossible to us to get rid of it. Another serious problem is violence, especially that against women. In spite of having a low homicide rate there is a huge amount of murders against women with boyfriends killing their girlfriends and husbands killing their wives. Aside from it there is a serious problem of sexual harassment or rapes. Robberies or abductions were a serious problem during the seventies (they were used to finance terrorist groups like "Red Brigades") but now have a very low impact on society: this may be due to laws changed through the years that have made impossible to pay any ransom to kidnappers. The way criminals are punished in Italy is not efficient with the richest always having a chance to avoid being sent to prison.