Many job seekers spend their time and energy focusing on job searching factors beyond their control, namely how an employer designed their hiring process. Regular readers of this column know I stress the truism that employers own their hiring process, not the job seeker. Hence, rather than criticizing an employer’s hiring process, job seekers should work with it.… Read More »
American professor, author, and podcast host Brené Brown once said, “Empathy fuels connection.” Empathizing with someone, especially with their concerns, is how you build strong relationships. Interacting empathically with employers is a competitive advantage since few job seekers do so. All hiring managers have concerns. The times you weren’t hired were likely because of a concern(s) your interviewer… Read More »
Physical goods or services are commodities. All commodities exist to solve a problem. For example, apples—a raw agricultural commodity—are a solution to solving your hunger. As a job seeker, you’re offering employers a commodity, your labour power, in exchange for a wage. In other words, at the risk of offending sensibilities, you’re seeking to serve as a commodity to… Read More »
Schools aren’t the safe haven we’d like them to be. Students have access to many unhealthy options within its walls, such as junk food and drugs. The Toronto District School Board’s latest attempt at limiting students’ ability to cause self-harm is the creation of a new policy that would restrict students’ use of smartphones while in class, undoing… Read More »
Judging is part of human nature. Everyone is a snob about something, the most prevalent being job snobbery. You encounter job snobbery when you meet someone for the first time and, after judging your appearance, they inevitably ask: “What do you do”? Based on your response, they’re either delighted to meet you or look at their watch and excuse… Read More »
The relationship between your expectations and your emotions is direct; for this reason, it’s wise to cultivate the skill of managing your expectations. The difference between your expectations and reality, sometimes chasmic, determines how often you experience hurt, disappointment, anger, stress, happiness, or satisfaction. Imagine the rollercoaster of emotions generated by waking up on a sunny morning, expecting… Read More »
The adage, “You can achieve anything you set your mind to,” is a cruel lie. You most likely heard this phrase when you were young, your future was wide open, and your world was filled with possibilities. Due to your youthful, hopeful, and irrational perspective, you likely interpreted this phrase as referring to karmic or cosmic rewards, thus… Read More »
Venture-funded entrepreneurs taking advantage of the Internet’s ability to offer subscriptions and the ease of signing up and auto-paying are launching subscription-based companies in droves, resulting in the subscription economy, which grew dramatically during the pandemic. Let’s look at the ultimate subscription service that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the Internet: Netflix. You probably remember Blockbuster, the… Read More »
Damn! Last week, while giving spare change to a homeless person, I forgot to take a selfie. Who knows how many likes I would have received on Instagram! For some reason, no one was videotaping me as I was delivering a food donation to my local food bank. I would have loved to post such a video on… Read More »
2023 is officially a wrap! For those starting 2024 as a job seeker, I suggest prioritizing and focusing on the following: “Communication, the human connection, is the key to personal and career success.” —Paul J. Meyer, self-improvement industry pioneer. Make constantly developing your communication skills a priority. Nothing makes you more powerful than being literate and articulate. Your… Read More »