It's interesting to walk among people of all ages, economic and social circumstances, and races and hear the multitudes of reasons why they cannot succeed. No matter what the accent or color of skin, the excuses fall into basically the same three lines of reasoning.

Very rarely do any of them take the time to take a good, long, hard look at the person who is presenting themselves to the employer. Few do a self-critical analysis of their work performance. And even fewer have considered what it takes to succeed.

There was a career fair about three years ago where one attendee demanded information from the panel of experts. The audience and panel listened with due respect and attention and answered all questions that were presented. But at one juncture, a panelist whispered to another a sorrowful observation that the attendee's grammar was so excruciatingly poor. Given that the career fair was for paraprofessionals, there was speculation that the extraordinarily poor grammar was feigned. "Given how much there is, I don't think so," was the reply.

Did that career fair attendee realize that the lack of appreciation and use of good grammar was one of the things that was holding their career in a dead zone? Probably not. Did that career fair attendee understand that poor diction, improper choice or words, lack of tact and diplomacy, poor sentence construction, were all red flags that their work product would probably show a great deal of lack of attention to details, be slipshod in quality, and overall the candidate would probably be poor in overall work habits and client interaction.

These are just the objections associated with poor grammar. There are so many other issues that can blow you out of the workforce water.

Couldn't make the interview because of the flu. Well, it may be a legitimate reason. Then again, it may be an excuse because you just didn't want to get out of bed and get ready on time. Or it may be that you were too hung over. No matter. What it says to the employer is that you're not reliable. And if it's just the interview you can't make, no doubt the attendance record will be abyssmal. This will be a pass.

Try this same stunt with a placement agency (temp agency). One agency owner confided in me that he can tell the race, gender, and age of a candidate based on the excuses they use for not showing up. There was no mention of their postal zip code, which is typically considered fodder for racial exclusion. According to that professional, it was the candidate themselves who was their own undoing.

It would be easy to go on with even more examples of why mere race is not the reason for losing the opportunity. But that would be gilding the lily. The basic idea stands. It is the candidate theirself who is their own undoing.

Tighten up your act. Better yet, be a class act in good performance.