Most people use social media to serve their self-interests. What could be more self-serving than evangelizing your local businesses, the heartbeats of your community’s economy? Thriving local businesses create local jobs, support local charities, and often offer a broad range of goods and services not found elsewhere. It’s the eclectic mix of independent coffee shops, restaurants, specialty shops,… Read More »
In my previous column, I outlined the steps for preparing for an interview: I wrote it’s understandable for interviewers to be interested in a candidate’s reason(s) for being interested in the job. Therefore, ensure you have a solid grasp of why you want the job and can confidently answer, “Why do you want this job?” or “Why do you… Read More »
Shiny objects catch our attention. When job searching, you want to be that shiny object that catches the attention of employers; exposure is the key. There’s no “shiny” without exposure. Some people—perhaps you know one or two—are constantly sought after by employers, while most chase employers. Sought after people understand it’s not their knowledge or experience that will… Read More »
In Mad Men’s season four episode Waldorf Stories, Roger Sterling tells Don Draper, who’d just interviewed a junior copywriter candidate, who unbeknownst to him was Roger’s wife’s cousin, advice he gave him he knew seldom works in the corporate world: “I told him to be himself. That was pretty mean, I guess.” The key to getting hired is telling… Read More »
More than ever, job seekers, with a sense of entitlement, are hyper-focusing on getting paid what they’re worth. Job seekers seldom consider, let alone quantify, the value of their work, which determines their worth. Hence, a candidate’s or position’s worth is calculable and, therefore, isn’t as subjective as is often assumed. INTERVIEWER: “What salary are you looking for?”… Read More »
A fundamental principle of humanity—innate freedom—is that everyone has a right to pursue their own self-interests, which inherently lends itself to liberal democracy and capitalism. In other words, you and I are free, within the boundaries of laws established by politicians who were voted in because voters believed they’d best serve their self-interests to make life choices we… Read More »
The American way (read: capitalism’s primary goal), which greatly influences the Canadian way, has always been about separating you from your money. I’d wager that within moments of the Internet becoming available to the public on April 30, 1993, many asked themselves, “How can I use this new medium to hawk stuff?” In 1997, SixDegrees launched the first online social… Read More »
I’m sure you’re aware of all the side hustle evangelists online touting that everyone should have a side hustle, peddling their “side hustle formula” and “get-rich-quick” schemes. They portray having a side hustle as a glamorous pursuit of ambition, masking the fundamental motivator: additional income to keep up appearances. Having said this, I can’t make this assertion without… Read More »
Call it my spidey senses—a feeling that something, or someone, is risky or dangerous—or “Professionally Ingrained Cynicism;” when someone doesn’t feel right, they just don’t “feel right.” When you’ve been hiring for as long as I have, you develop an innate sense that tells you when a candidate is exaggerating or lying outright. Consider these scenarios as a… Read More »
My March column, Do Smartphones Have a Place in Schools? generated a diverse range of opinions, notably from parents concerned that their child’s excessive smartphone usage is significantly reducing their one-on-one social interactions at a time in their life when they should be developing social skills that’ll play an essential determining factor in their child’s future success. Based on my… Read More »