How to Come Out a Winner Every Time They Ask, “And What Do You Do?

Third only to death and taxes is the assurance a new acquaintance

will soon chirp, "And what do you do?" (Is it fitting and proper

they should make that query? We'll pick up that sticky wicket

later.) For the moment, these few defensive moves help you keep

your crackerjack communicator credentials when asked the

inevitable question.

First, like Never the Naked City, don't toss a short-shrift

answer in response to the asker's breathless inquiry. You leave the

poor fish flopping on the deck when you just say your title: "I'm

an actuary/an auditor/an author/an astrophysicist." Have mercy

so he or she doesn't feel like a nincompoop outsider asking, "What,

er, kind of actuizing (auditing, authoring, or astrophysizing) do

you do?"

You're an attorney. Don't leave it to laymen to try to figure out

what you really do. Flesh it out. Tell a little story your conversation partner can get a handle on. For example, if you're talking

with a young mother say, "I'm an attorney. Our firm specializes in

employment law. In fact, now I'm involved in a case where a com