Q: I read your column about the value of creativity at work with great interest. I have read Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future,” (Riverhead, 2006) and you are right on. What are the innovative, creative, out-of-the-box companies looking for right brainers?

Dear Readers,

If you’re a job hunter leading with your right brain, obvious choices for potential employers are companies that are keen on capitalizing on new technology and introducing new products. Apple and Nike spring to mind. Another clue is whether a company is using new communication tools to connect to customers. Gilead Sciences, Hulu, Nokia, Intel, General Electric, and Toyota are among the magazine Fast Company’s latest list of 50 leading corporate innovators, which can be found online. Business Week also publishes a list from time to time.

These sorts of operations “take advantage of creative souls,” says Lynn Hazan, a Chicago-based executive recruiter who specializes in marketing and communications. Also promising are mature companies that have a growth segment. “They will have pockets that are still open to new ways of doing things,” says Hazan.

In addition to looking for innovative companies, you might identify ways you can deliver your special skills to a more staid business. One way to get noticed is to create your own web presence by developing a Web site, blog, or both. LiveJournal.com and wordpress.com both make it easy to get started, although updating your site regularly does take some time and effort. “It’s a way to form a unique position statement on your own behalf,” says Hazan. “It’s never been easier to create a voice.”

For more ideas, consult “The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People” (Ten Speed Press, 2007) by Carol Eikleberry. Its list of careers may give you a host of new options – from acrobat to young-adult librarian – to consider.

Friend or Phone?

Q: I text. I e-mail. But I hate talking on the phone. Now I am applying for jobs that will require me to use the phone to contact suppliers and field customer questions. I’m terrified. What can I do?

Dear Readers,

Talking directly with someone on the phone may seem like an antiquated form of communication but it’s not dead yet – and it probably never will be. Many conversations benefit from the participants hearing one another’s tone of voice, or recognizing that the other person is either hesitant or in a rush. The ability to detect or insert meaningful pauses mid-sentence or paragraph can also be quite useful. Example: (long pause, then in a voice that’s barely audible)… “I love you, too.”

Telephone conversations often play a key role in the hiring process. While your résumé may be selected by a computer programmed to scan for key words, getting hired almost always requires follow up screening by a key individual, via telephone, in person, or both.

As a reporter for Time magazine for 20 years, I got comfortable calling people out of the blue and firing questions. It’s a handy skill. You need to proceed with equal parts friendliness and self-confidence, explaining succinctly at the outset what you need and why.

Those who don’t have much practice making “cold calls” can help themselves by writing out what they want to say and rehearsing ahead of time. While that may seem like overkill, it can be a huge confidence booster. Rachel David, an intern for this column, dislikes using the phone a great deal. Pressed by me to do some reporting, she wrote out her introduction ahead of time. “At least I know if my brain falls out, I can keep talking,” she says.

If taking calls is more anxiety producing than making them, try to figure out what is worrying you. For many people, it is the fear of getting roped into doing something they don’t want to do by the person on the other end of the line, be it their supervisor or mother-in-law. If that’s the case, politely tell any caller who is pressing you to do something unreasonable that you need time to consider the request and will reply shortly. Then take the time you need to formulate your answer, call back, and politely decline. Both of these little speeches can also be written on note cards, kept by the phone, and rehearsed in advance.