Once, back when I was a reporter in rural South Carolina, I covered a quality initiative at a local textile plant. They had a rally, gave some speeches and hung banners all over the place proclaiming, "Zero defects is our goal."
I found the whole thing sort of frightening, but fortunately the workers didn't seem to pay too much attention to it one way or the other.
However, over the years I've wondered why I thought the "zero defects" campaign was so outlandish.
I kind of do the same thing to myself.
Continue reading "Are You Too Hard on Yourself?"
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 2:12 PM | Leave a Comment (0)
Today's guest blogger is Allan McKisson, Vice President of Human Resources for Manpower U.S. To learn more about Allan, see his biography. Here's what he has to say...
About a month ago, my daughter Maggie was a guest blogger on Contemporary Working. Check out what she wrote in Find a Job. It was about her year long job search.
I was supposed to follow up the next week with parenting words of wisdom... about patience, support and encouragement. I waited for a few weeks and then things began to heat up. Maggie had a few interviews and was invited back for second looks. The stars were aligning -- I felt something good was about to happen so I waited a bit longer.
Continue reading "Good Advice"
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 1:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)
Following seven months of struggle, one Minnesota man made a simple change in his job search in August, and was hired for a new position only 30 days later.
What did he do?
Read on ...
Scott Bornstein, from suburban Minneapolis, was using what he thought was a well written resume, but without results. "Every time I sent it out, people would suggest changes to make. When I handed it out at a job fair, they'd say, 'Thank you' and file it away immediately." He wasn't getting called by employers.
Continue reading "The 30-Day Job Search "
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 11:56 AM | Leave a Comment (0)
Especially in this economy, a big part of getting ahead is first 'getting out there' and networking. Ever wondered how some people make it look so easy--and seem to effortlessly work a room? Well, many times, those folks aren't the most confident or outgoing in the world; they just know a few tricks for how to schmooze. The ability to charm everyone in the room can be learned. With the holiday party season right around the corner, here are the top Six tips ways to mingle like a pro.
1. Don't drink too much: A couple drinks to "lubricate" the situation is okay. But whether it's a professional or social event, you don't want to completely let your guard down.
Continue reading "Six Great Tips to Survive Holiday Party Schmooze Season"
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 11:14 AM | Leave a Comment (0)
It took long enough, but Internet video is everywhere. Yes, we had online video 10 years ago, but now it actually looks good--and works. The main reason for this is that end users (you and me) finally have technology in their homes that can handle playing online video. This means high speed Internet connections and computers with enough processing power to not crash when a website uses a Flash video player. The issue for content creators is that delivering video still poses some challenges. Sure, I was able to produce an online job search training course that relied heavily on video with little trouble, but I wasn't delivering video to thousands or even millions of people (I wish I had the problem). As your use base increases, the challenge of delivering video increase exponentially. Moreover, managing video content in an organized fashion is a completely different challenge than organizing text and images. Brightcove is a Cambridge, MA based company that provides an online video platform for many of the worlds biggest brands.
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 7:55 AM | Leave a Comment (0)
It feels pretty good to be talking about a Boston based newspaper today knowing that they have to report on another trip to the World Series for the Yankees; although, I'm sure they'd much rather be publishing stories on what Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon are doing during their offseason (possibly watching the World Series from their couches). Now that I've gotten in my dig at Red Sox fans, we can take a look at The Boston Globe, Boston's most widely read newspaper. The paper is owned by the New York Times and has an excellent web presence at Boston.com. Much like other newspapers the Globe has had significant financial struggles, and The New York Times even threatened to shut the paper down if the paper's union didn't accept major concessions. Apparently those problems have been worked out, and The Boston Globe is now on more stable ground. At least that's what the fact that they're hiring would indicate.
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 7:53 AM | Leave a Comment (0)
When I saw the name and location of Winston Salem, North Carolina's Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite recent reads--Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley. A North Carolina based non-profit with Reynolds in it name has to be tied to the tobacco industry, and it is. "The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation was established in 1936 as a memorial to the youngest son of the founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company," and it seems to be one of the few good things that has come out of the tobacco industry--"a trust for charitable works in the State of North Carolina." The Foundation is focused on making grants to non-profit organizations in the areas of Community Economic Development, Democracy and Civic Engagement, the Environment, Pre-Collegiate Education, and Social Justice and Equity, which, in my opinion, is a huge improvement on the other things associated with the Reynolds name.
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job
Posted by Candice Arnold on November 6, 2009 at 7:49 AM | Leave a Comment (0)
