Sometimes you’re the mongoose; sometimes you’re the snake: instinct leading to fluent victory or your gut guiding you to the jaws of doom. Imagine your advantage when you learn to tell the difference.
Posts
Reframe Employment Gaps
Today’s HBR tip meshes with my last post. Regarding your answers to interview questions, I said, “don’t limit yourself to on-the-job experiences.” Why? Because it’s all about establishing evidence that you can do the job. You can definitely demonstrate skills outside of full-time employment (especially if you’re a student).
Prepare for Interview Questions
Guidance for students preparing for an internship interview. This recruiting season is winding up. Met a lot of great students. I always give out my contact information, but students rarely follow-up. One did and asked for help with interviewing. Apparently she’s applied scores of times, been interviewed a half dozen times, and received no offers.… Continue reading Prepare for Interview Questions
The Early Bird is Catching Even More Worms
Students: Don’t wait for “normal,” get to your virtual career fair! They’re awkward, and that means most people aren’t bothering and there’s more for you.
Strongly Recommend the Newest Manager-Tools Training
Manager Tools is giving away the results of millions of dollars in research.
3 Solid IT Resume Tips
This Top 3 Resume Mistakes focuses on IT resumes and hits the mark. Kassie Rangel’s September 2020 article for The Enterpriser’s Project is uncommonly good, and brief enough it doesn’t need a summary. Her advice will help you use better language, and focus on more compelling results.
What role did networking play in landing your current job or any past jobs?
That’s the question I saw on my alma mater’s networking site. Students can connect with and ask questions of alumni. It struck me. Earlier today I had a video conference with a student to give career advice. He was worried about class schedules. I was worried about his network. Is this a coincidence? No. Pervasive.… Continue reading What role did networking play in landing your current job or any past jobs?
Delightful Leadership Tidbits from Disney
tl;dr: Link to an excellent blog post about leadership lessons from the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.
Before Christmas, my colleagues and I were privileged to attend a multi-day leadership course from Jeff Kober. Jeff is insightful, patient, and charming.
To solidify our learnings, we’re reading his works in book club format. Jeff has graciously attended each chapter’s discussion via video. I can’t say enough positive things about Jeff Kober.
In our latest meeting we discussed chapter five of his book, Lead With Your Customer. (Chapter title, Why Should Employees Work for You?.)
Not only did Jeff attend and give great guiding comments to the group, he followed up with a link to one of his relevant articles about leadership lessons from the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.
Enjoy!
7 Ways to Conquer Interview Stress
So, you’re bad at interviewing? You freak out when you have to code in front of a recruiter? The latest episode tells you about a young man with just that problem, and seven techniques you can use to deal with performance crushing stress. Episode Outline Being Bad At Interviewing So there I was interviewing this… Continue reading 7 Ways to Conquer Interview Stress
Back in January, I found out that Mark Horstman’s second book, The Effective Hiring Manager, was available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It was a no-brainer: I ordered it immediately.
When a Manager Tools licensee newsletter announced in August that Horstman would be signing copies, I ordered a signed copy. I had to get a signed copy to match my signed copy of his first book, The Effective Manager.
Today my unsigned Amazon copy arrived, and I was as excited to unwrap it as my sixteen year-old daughter is to unwrap BTS merchandise.
If I ever met Mark Horstman (or Michael Auzenne for that matter) I’d be as speechlessly mortified as my wife would be in front of Barbra Streisand. It would be as bad as Troy from Community meeting LeVar Burton.
I know, in my head, they are just people. But I’ve heard their voices on the podcast for so long, and their guidance has made so much sense, and I’ve benefitted so much that I’ve been affected the way that is normally associated with cringing women at the front of a Beatles concert.
Unfortunately, a book on management is unlikely to ever spark a global craze of enthusiastic admiration. It seems that only happens for memes that are merely entertaining, diverting, or even infuriating. But, if you have to bear the responsibility of being accountable for another person’s performance, if you have to participate in the process of defining a company by deciding who gets to work there, if you find yourself tap dancing as fast as you can—wondering if you’re the only one that feels this unprepared: then get this book.
Now, there is one thing infuriating about Manager Tools. One thing that keeps me wondering.
You see, normally I don’t feel confident in recommending a technology without being aware of several instances where I would NOT recommend it. (If you can’t see anything wrong with a technology, then you are probably stuck in the bad part of the hype cycle, and painful enlightenment awaits.) So, I’ve been listening for eight years now and waiting for something I disagree with.
I’ve been waiting to find something to disillusion me. Show me your limits, Manager Tools! Well, I’m sure there’s something, somewhere….
Frankly, if you’re a manager or team lead then manager tools is the best thing since sliced bread. It’s hard for me to think of something wrong with sliced bread, too.