I”f you carry market morality to its end point, why should we have merit-based college admissions rather than a simple auction for university slots? Such a change would be enormously efficient—we could be certain that the people who “value” college the most got their preference. But it would change the meaning of “value” as it relates to the idea of the university.”
Grok Blog
A Sign Of The Hiring-pocalypse | TechCrunch
From TechCrunch”An entrepreneur-turned-venture investor told me over the weekend: Booms are the worst time to build a company.
Only capital is cheap. Everything else is expensive — talent most of all.”
- read on
How Recruiters See Your Resume – Business Insider
Although we may never know why we didn’t get chosen for a job interview, a recent study is shedding some light on recruiters’ decision-making behavior. According to TheLadders research, recruiters spend an average of “six seconds before they make the initial ‘fit or no fit’ decision” on candidates.
The study used a scientific technique called “eye tracking” on 30 professional recruiters and examined their eye movements during a 10-week period to “record and analyze where and how long someone focuses when digesting a piece of information or completing a task.” (Ed note: I spend at least 10 seconds on resumes…)
Get To Work By Meeting Procrastination Head-On
There’s a huge distance between the physical energy it takes to run on a treadmill–the muscles, calories, and breath–and the often larger emotional energy it takes to head to the gym after a stressful day. Just ask a guy who gained 40 pounds during graduate school.
Rory Vaden is now much more trim, and quite focused on evangelizing the power of self-discipline in books like Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success. But back in graduate school, it wasn’t really laziness that kept Vaden him from the gym, but self-criticism.
“The number one reason we procrastinate is, we don’t believe we have what it takes to pull it off,” Vaden said in an interview. “You think, ‘I probably don’t have the willpower to see this all the way through.’” You don’t necessarily say this exact line to yourself, though–you create a bunch of things in your head to do instead, even if, in the end, you don’t really do them.
Knowing and acknowledging when you’re actually procrastinating, and knowing what’s likely to trigger it, is probably your best defense against the monster that makes you feel busy without feeling productive. Here’s a few thoughts on acknowledging your misspent moments and not letting it bring you down, from Vaden and other brutally honest sources.
via Get To Work By Meeting Procrastination Head-On | Fast Company.
Sheryl Sandberg Leaves Work at 5:30 Every Day — And You Should Too
Somewhere along the line, ending one’s workday before 8:00 p.m. became a source of shame and sign of laziness — or at least that’s what many of us have tricked ourselves into believing.Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is familiar with the funny, uncertain feeling that comes with checking out soon after 5:00 to be with family, and although she used to worry about what others thought of her departure time which is a completely reasonable hour to head home, by the way, she has finally reached a point where she can take off at 5:30 p.m. without the lingering concern of how others are perceiving her.
via Sheryl Sandberg Leaves Work at 5:30 Every Day — And You Should Too.
Pitching the Advertising Life to the Digital Generation
The leading trade organization for advertising agencies is intensifying efforts to cast a wider net when recruiting employees with an initiative aimed not only at students, but also at talented younger people who work in other industries.
via Pitching the Advertising Life to the Digital Generation – NYTimes.com.
Dumb Things People Have Said During Job Interviews
(Good for a laugh)
We’ve all experienced it. That sinking feeling that occurs when the job interview that was going so well suddenly goes off track. Maybe it’s the expression on the hiring manager’s face, or the awkward pause that ensues, but there is little doubt when it happens.
Common interview mistakes, of course, include bad mouthing your former employer, failing to adequately research the company or the position and just plain talking too much. Careerbuilder.com, a job posting site, publishes an annual list of interview blunders, including asking the hiring manager for a ride home or flushing the toilet during a phone interview.
via Dumb Things People Have Said During Job Interviews – Yahoo! Finance.
The Walking Wounded. | The Drift from Upstream | Doug Weaver
Interesting results from a poll fielded by Doug Weaver of Upstream:
“People join companies but they leave managers.” Money may talk, but lack of management insight or action may be what’s ultimately making them walk.
New strategies to get a new job | Penelope Trunk Blog
When you see someone who has a career you want, it’s a safe bet that they spent the majority of their career clearly defining themselves and then differentiating themselves from all the other people who defined themselves the same way.
Self-knowledge is a huge career tool, but most people find it onerous and try to skip it. The problem with skipping over self-knowledge is that people hit a career ceiling, not because someone put it on top of them – we put it ion top of ourselves by not knowing who we are.
In order to differentiate yourself, you have to know what you don’t do well, and what you can do better than most people. This takes trying a lot of stuff read: tons of failures and it takes being wrong a million times read: take public risks. (see link for more)