Like many who open themselves up to helping others, I see many – who for reasons undoubtedly born in their relationships with their parents – can’t seem to take my advice to the level required for them to see the method in the madness. I really don’t like hearing my voice – it must be the dang Jewish trombone, er, nose – and while I may be making a statistical faux pas, but within my sample size, this stuff really works.

But only if I do my part; when someone asks me for advice, for me the advice is only 80% of what I should be doing for someone. Advice fails when the givers neglect the final 20%; advice without action is what people who write columns do.

My friend Jon Hyland – LinkedIn, his blog – and a fellow Hofstra grad, called me a few months back and we met for coffee to discuss his career options. He sent me an update a few days ago…

I wanted to drop you a line to see how you’re doing, and also to share what I’ve done so far with my search.

I took your advice and got together a list of companies I would, ideally, like to work for. For most of June, actually, I was looking into how viable of an option it was for me to go to culinary school. I visited the French Culinary Institute and Institute of Culinary Education, and I realized that a) I do want to go to culinary school, but b) the financial aid isn’t there. However, visiting the schools did make me realize that I could definitely do a program of culinary study while simultaneously working.

So, I looked into food-related corporations and broke everything down in a couple of industry segments: Food Media, Equipment Manufacturers, Food Producers or Grocers, and Food Education. I came up with a list of ten, which is below:

Food Media

Food Network

Travel Channel

Food Education

French Culinary Institute

Institute of Culinary Education

Food Equipment Manufacturers

Cuisinart

Viking Range

Food Producers/Grocers

Boar’s Head

Fresh Direct

Whole Foods

Unilever (Skippy)

Since I’ve identified these companies, I’ve got some Google Alerts set up to follow news on those organizations/brands, and I’m going to use LinkedIn and Twitter to try and connect with the HR folks at them. If I had to tell you which companies I’d give my right arm to work for, they would be: Food Network, Whole Foods, and Boar’s Head. Food Network because, honestly, it’s inspired my love and creativity with food and I love their programming. Whole Foods, because of their dedication and mission to provide the best food to its customers. And Boar’s Head, because I LOVE their cold cuts – I seriously ONLY eat Boar’s Head!

Which is what I suggested Jon do – I really enjoy how he segregated his list: It helps me think about other companies or avenues of action to suggest. Obviously more work for me – but isn’t this what I’m obliged to do if tell someone I’m going to help them?

So I called a friend who works at Boar’s Head; where will it go? No idea but it’s part of my final 20%.

Advice is nice but action is better…