While most in the private sector are used to a one to two page resume, those in the federal workforce have been accustomed to a much longer format than most human resource officials would recommend. Very recently that has changed and resumes will now be limited to two pages. This week we’ll dive into how to be a distiller of information in order to maximize the impact of your resume.
I’ve heard a lot of people say “I hate small talk, it’s the worst!” I totally get it. There are many times when you just don’t feel like striking up a conversation. Especially those of us who are more introverted. Let’s be honest, we’re talking about networking here.
You can do it! Almost time to relax! At work today you took on that co-worker thats always trying to one-up you. After painstakingly looking over every detail of a presentation from the colors to just the right serif font, you are sure you have held him off for now in the race for the next promotion.
You would have had time to revel in that victory if the idiots on the road home didn’t almost make you miss the daycare pickup time. Luckily being stuck in traffic gave you plenty of time to get amped up over the latest atrocity happening in the political world. You are going to protest this weekend. Hopefully the weather holds out.
Thats when your mother calls telling you that your sister quit her job and you need to be looking out for her cause she can’t take care of herself and would it kill you to show up to Sunday dinner once in a while?
Depending on who you talk to there is a vast difference of opinions on cover letters. Do you need them? Are they worth your time? Some jobs require them, and some don’t. As someone who has served on many hiring panels in the federal government, I can tell you that the cover letter still holds tremendous value.
Successful and ambitious people have a huge future problem. They are always living in it. Striving fro the next big goal, promotion, or life achievement can cause us to always be looking ahead.
Hustle culture is killing us, both literally and figuratively. This is a product of societal norms imposed on us by a system that values numbers over people. If we aren’t constantly raising the bar at all times then we are expendable. Companies and organizations use people until they burn out. Then they replace them with someone who has yet to burn out. Good for the numbers, terrible for the culture.
Why are we so afraid of asking for something and being told no? We worry and obsess about the possibility of rejection so much that it often freezes us from asking for something in the first place. The reality is that the consequences of asking for something and not getting it are virtually zero in most cases. Still, we worry about how people will perceive us, or maybe more importantly, how we will perceive ourselves.
Developing exercises for training sessions can be a big challenge. If we get complacent we can fall into the rut of the same old style of training. We go into a conference room, sit down around a table and stare blankly at a power point until the trainer releases us mercifully, not knowing what happened over the past couple of hours.
For training to be most effective, it needs to be interactive and memorable. One of the most memorable trainings I can remember vividly happens to be one I took online several years ago. Now what could be so vivid about an online training course you ask? This wasn’t any online class, this was Harvard University Computer Science Professor David Malan’s CS50: Introduction to Computer Science course which is open to anyone who wants to take it.
Last week, the agency that I work for, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lost over 27,000 years of experience when about 1,000 people voluntarily retired early. Among those were several of my mentors that helped me to get where I am today. Each one brought a different perspective and gave me new tools to put in my toolbox.
This moment represents the most time you will ever have left on this Earth.
If that cold hard fact doesn’t freak you out, then you might want to check your pulse. The honest truth is that time is always running out on us. We don’t know whether or not we are going to walk out on the street and get hit by a bus tomorrow. Very comforting.
That is also very inconvenient for us as we need time to become successful, develop relationships, and ultimately end up where we want to be on this Earth. So why then is so much of our focus when it comes to success focused on money instead of time?