The one thing that blinds you to the best in others

The one thing that blinds you to the best in others The one thing that blinds you to the best in others A few years back, a buddy of mine named Harry was dating someone new. Harry was excited because she was pretty and shared the same interests. One day, Harry phoned his new girlfriend to arrange another date. She didn’t answer her cell phone, so he left a message. A day or two passed by and no response. “That’s kind of rude,” Harry thought. “I left her a nice message, and she’s blowing me off.” Another day passed and now Harry was, to use his words, “Totally pissed.” He picked up his cell phone and left her an angry message. He told her how inconsiderate she was to ignore him. He said that most people have the courtesy to reply. “If you don’t want to see me, then fine, I won’t call you anymore,” he said. It was disappointing to Harry to be rejected and ignored, but he felt good about giving her a piece of his mind. Unfortunately, what Harry didn’t know was that she hadn’t blown him off. She was in the hospital, the victim of a serious stroke. - - - Don’t be a donkey Donkeys are fine animals. According to one breeder: A donkey is stronger than a horse of the same size. Donkeys have an incredible memory - they can recognize areas and other donkeys they were with up to 25 years ago. A donkey will not do something it considers to be unsafe. Unfortunately, despite these fine attributes, the male donkey is also known as an “ass.” We sometimes use the word pejoratively, to describe someone acting like a jerk. Which happens to be exactly how Harry felt, once he learned about his girlfriend’s stroke. Have you ever been an ass? I know I have. It’s not that we wake up and decide, “Today I will be a jerk!” It’s more subtle. We allow cynicism and low expectations to rule the day. We expect the worst. Pessimism has its uses. Assuming the worst and hoping for the best insulates us a bit from disappointment, or being taken for fools. Unfortunately, pessimism can breed negativism and blind us to the best in others. - - - Termites do more damage Little things build up over time. We tend to focus on the big stuff, failing to recognize the cumulative effects of small things. A good example is compound interest. Small investments, over time, slowly grow into big investments. The same is true with physical fitness. A lot of folks get inspired, join a gym, and then dive into a huge workout routine. Of course, it ends in injury or burnout, and soon they give up. Had they started with small, manageable workouts, they’d see steady progress over time. It’s a much more successful approach than doing too much, too soon. Author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar notes: “Remember, earthquakes and hurricanes get all the publicity, but termites do more damage than both of them combined and the termite takes bites so small that you cannot see them with the naked eye. However, termites are persistent, they take lots of bites, and there are lots of termites.” - - - An ass out of you and me The urban dictionary will tell you that the word “assume” means to make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” Sadly, there is a lot of truth to this observation. We go through life making assumptions. Assumptions about the intentions of others, what people are thinking, what political ideology they hew to, and more. Assumptions can be comforting because we feel more secure when everyone and everything can be placed in neat, little boxes. However, people and circumstances are usually more complex. My buddy Harry made an assumption that his new girlfriend was being rude. That she was rejecting him. He assumed the worst, not considering all the other possibilities, like illness, a lost cell phone, etc. I’ve assumed the worst in people, too. Particularly at work. As a supervisor, when some people called in sick, I assumed it was an excuse for a day off. Sometimes I was right, but other times I was wrong. Why do we do that? Why do we frequently assume the worst in others instead of the best? What if we assumed the best in others? What if we stopped jumping to negative conclusions and gave people the benefit of the doubt more? “It’s a rare moment when we take a break from the tribulations of the daily rat race to reflect on assumptions and values that we casually accept as gospel.” -  Graydon Carter - - - A more balanced approach The bad behavior of some people has given us justification to assume the worst. No one wants to be played for a fool, or taken advantage of. We protect ourselves by keeping expectations low. The challenge is in the calibration. People have a tendency to embrace extremes. If someone wronged you at work, then you immediately write them off. If your friend failed to pay you back for money loaned, you assume he’ll always be untrustworthy. The trick is to adopt a more balanced approach. Don’t assume the person who wronged you at work has it in for you. Have the courage to talk to her, express your frustration, and hear her out. Sometimes the problem is a misunderstanding. Instead of gossiping and complaining to everyone else about this one person, give him/her the courtesy to explain things. Or to make amends. As for that friend that failed to pay you back, maybe there’s an understandable explanation. Perhaps there is a hardship you’re unaware of? Instead of making negative assumptions and jumping to conclusions, find out what happened. “Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” -  Henry Winkler There were times in my career when I made erroneous assumptions about a few co-workers. Nothing is more embarrassing than finding out how wrong you were. We’re all human and sometimes our biases and emotions get the best of us. We also tend to suffer from confirmation bias. This means that whenever things happen as we assumed they would, we conclude that we were right all along. But sometimes we’re wrong. The reasons for certain events may be vastly different than our assumptions. Assumptions blind us to seeing people as they really are. We only see the negative. This cheats us out of experiencing the best in others. By all means, don’t get taken advantage of, but try to keep your assumptions in check. You might just uncover a whole lot of positive stuff you never noticed before. - - - Before you go I’m John Weiss. I draw old school, handcrafted cartoons and write about life. Get on my free email list  here  for the latest cartoons and blog posts.This  article  first appeared on Medium.

Your Career Path Will Be Full of Twists and Turns and That#8217;s a Good Thing

Your Career Path Will Be Full of Twists and Turns â€" and That#8217;s a Good Thing Your Career Path Will Be Full of Twists and Turns â€" and That#8217;s a Good Thing The job market is full of twists and turns youd never expect. I faced my first twist  during college. I grew up in the 90s alongside the internet. Companies like AOL were just starting out. With a fast dial-up modem, you could connect to the web through your phone line. It was just the sort of thing a teenager dying to go to college out of state needed. It was an exciting time. Everything and everyone suddenly seemed magically intertwined in a new way. Startups were popping up everywhere. Young people were getting investments to start businesses and were suddenly worth millions. It was like being a celebrity. The guarantee of a good job and a great financial future motivated me to study computer and systems engineering in college. I moved from Oklahoma to upstate New York for the opportunity. Midway through my time in school, the dot-com crash happened. Suddenly, startups were disappearing and jobs in the tech world were drying  up. Recruiters canceled their visits to my school â€" because the jobs they were hiring for were canceled, too. This was one of the scariest times in my career. It forced me to rethink the possibilities of what I might become. After some soul searching, I found a project management job. It wasnt what I had expected to be doing, but the good news was it was even better. This work capitalized on my strengths more than computer programming ever did, and it prepared me for my next challenge: graduate school. Getting my MBA presented a new set of hurdles. The first was saving enough money to quit my job to go. The second was moving across the country to a new city in California where I knew no one. While I was in school, the job market continued to be competitive. In fact, many employers were no longer paying for interns. The prospect of working for free was one catalyst to finish school early and begin my new career. Although I planned to change careers when I finished business school, employers didnt always agree. One company offered me twice as much money to do the same sort of work Id been doing before school. It was incredibly confusing. The money was great, but Id quit my job so that I could change careers completely. I turned down the offer and kept searching. Eventually, I became a digital marketing executive, and now Im a career coach. What Ive learned along the way is that your path doesnt always end up as straight as you picture it when youre 18, and thats okay. In todays job market, changing jobs every 3-5 years keeps you fresh. It diversifies your professional contacts and your experience and gives you the chance to negotiate for more money every few years. Very often, unexpected career interference is a true blessing in disguise. A version of this article originally appeared in the  Memphis Daily News.   Angela Copeland is a career coach and CEO at her firm,  Copeland Coaching.

Top 5 Nanoscale Manufacturing Processes

Top 5 Nanoscale Manufacturing Processes Top 5 Nanoscale Manufacturing Processes Top 5 Nanoscale Manufacturing Processes While there is much excitement reported around developments in new manufacturing technologies in the areas of robotics and 3D printing, there is a lot more going on in the nations research labs in advanced manufacturing than literally meets the naked eye. Breakthroughs in nanotechnology and other small-scale work are contributing to improvements in many technology and industry sectors. Many of the benefits come from the ability to create new materials at very small scales to exhibit certain properties, such as stronger, lighter, better electrical conduction and more. For instance, the Advanced Multi-Scale Manufacturing Lab at Arizona State University, directed by Assistant Professor Keng Hsu, focuses on new manufacturing processes at the nanoscale, microscale and mesoscale levels, aiming to bring theoretical materials to reality. Having studied and harnessed material-energy interaction to create new manufacturing processes for a number of years, Hsu, who holds bachelors, masters and a doctorate in mechanical engineering, the latter from the University of Illinois, is now also working with additive manufacturing. Ive seen lots of things come and go, he says. Today, he is encouraged by work that he believes offers the most promise for innovative manufacturing technologies based on new hybrid materials and nanotechnology, particularly processes that allow the generation of very, very small features in very large surface areas as well as some other related processes. Thermal-acoustic 3D printing of polymer-metal composites. Image: Arizona State University 1. Printing Integrated 3D Solid Materials The main technology for basic 3D printing today involves melting metals or plastics and applying it layer by layer to create an object.Because different materials have varying melting points, only one type of material or class of materials can easily be printed at a time. Researchers are working with sound, or vibrations, in a frequency above human hearing to manipulate material properties instead of heating and melting. When the material vibrates, the interaction with the material harnesses a property change and that allows metals to be processed on the same platform as polymers and ceramics. What that means is we will be able to construct an entire system with the push of a button on a relatively inexpensive 3D printer and it will spit out the [entire] product, Hsu says. 2. New Process for Semiconductor Patterning Semiconductors, so important for the rapidly growing fields of consumer and industrial electronics and optical sensing among others, have presented an interesting challenge for researchers. Both miniaturization and high-volume processing are important in producing affordable yet complex circuits used in many devices. When you want to generate very, very small features in the material, its not possible to create small features over a very large area in a cost-effective way, Hsu says. Typicallydone with various photolithography techniques, these are very powerful but very expensive and the maximum size today is only about a meter or so, he says. Additionally, when functionally graded semiconductor materials are produced this way, they are not scalable. Researchers are now studying contact-controlled chemical etching to produce nanoscale-to-microscale size features. Not only can the semiconductor be selectively patterned, the pre-patterned stamp can be reused multiple times, and the resulting material is also highly scalable, lowering costs. Lattice structures are a promising area of additive manufacturing. Image: Arizona State University 3. Microscale Assembly forNanostructured Metamaterials Currently, there is no way to assemble components across multiple-size scales. We can make these very tiny features and can harness the features to tap into nanotechnologies, but when things get that small it is very hard to assemble them, Hsu says, because there is no physical way of holding the device. Researchers are using modulated surface energy to control the adhesion of flexible tools to manipulate assembly. They are developing a set of tools with varying sizes of different soft contact tabs that can pick up very small devices and then reposition them. The traditional method is to place the devices in very high-end equipment where tiny robotic arms do the assembly, one by one. It takes days to make one device, Hsu says, and thus is very costly. 4. 3D Printing of Customized Shape Memory Polymers To some extent, 3D-printed active devices have been limited by the lack of small and lightweight actuator systems that have reliable mechanical properties. Researchers are working with shape-memory polymers that can serve as actuators because they respond to external stimuli by expanding or contracting. This is a very easy way to achieve actuation purely from using the materials response to its environment as opposed to putting mechanical components physically in the material, Hsu says. A big application would be space missions or anything launched into space where every single gram of material is very important. 5. Scalable Nanomanufacturing of Polymer 2D Materials As with semiconductors, a large-scale photolithography method for high-density small patterns on polymers, used primarily in microelectronics processing, does not exist.Current photolithography methods, while effective, are extremely expensive. Researchers are working on an optical process that avoids the expensive methods available. The process works by partially using the materials response to light while also controlling the light interacting with the material. By combining these, you can create very sharp features that are very small, Hsu says. It is low-cost, scalable and once developed can have a large impact in how electronic components are made and how much they cost. Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer When you want to generate very, very small features in the material, its not possible to create small features over a very large area in a cost-effective way.Keng Hsu, Director, Advanced Multi-Scale Manufacturing Lab, Arizona State University

If Youre Just Sending Resumes and Waiting for the Call ... STOP!

If Youre Just Sending Resumes and Waiting for the Call ... STOP! If Youre Just Sending Resumes and Waiting for the Call ... STOP! It breaks my heart when I hear from job seekers who send out resumes responding to job listings, but never hear anything back after that. And yet they just keep on sending their same old resume to employer after employer, with no response and without changing one darn thing!Of course, the problem could be your resume One possibility is that your resume needs some serious help. And if thats the case, you can send out a million resumes and never hear back. You need a great resume, targeted EACH TIME to the job you are applying for.Are you worried that will take too long? Well how long does it take to wait for no response at all? The effort you put in up front can make all the difference to whether you actually get the job you want.Here are some basic posts to help. And lets not forget the cover letter!How to Write a Strong Resume that Gets You Real InterviewsHow To Target Your Resume To the Job Youre Applying ForWhat Goes Into a Good Cover Letter? But  job search is much more than a g ood resume Lets assume you have a great resume, and you target it and your cover letter to each job. And youre still not hearing back. Now what?We all know its a tough job market. Even if things are picking up a bit, there are still a lot of people competing for the same job. And maybe some of them are a bit more qualified than you at least on paper. So you have to go the extra mile to get yourself into an actual interview.What else should you do?Look for informational interviews You can learn a lot about the job market or even possibly make careers)

5 Tips for the Stay-at-Home Parents Job Search

5 Tips for the Stay-at-Home Parents Job Search 5 Tips for the Stay-at-Home Parents Job Search 7 It can feel overwhelming to figure out how to do the same thing you did before- and it may not make sense to do so anymore. Your industry has likely changed considerably since you were last employed- and so have you. “Sometimes when you re-enter the workforce, you won’t be able to pick back up where you left off,” says licensed clinical social worker Amy Morin. “Expect rejection and don’t allow it to interfere with your job search.” In other words, instead of trying to play the same game, think about who you’ve become today and what you want now. If your family shares priority status with your career, it may be a better plan to do something new. For an increasing number of people transitioning back to work, that “new” thing might mean some type of flexible job arrangement or tackling part-time work from home. Here are five tips from Morin and work-family researcher Stacy S. Kim, PhD, founder of Life Junctions, on how stay-at-home parents can reinvent themselves for a career comeback. Five Tips for the Stay-at-Home Parents Job Search: Don’t get discouraged. Feeling negative about your job transition creates an unproductive vicious cycle that becomes increasingly difficult to climb out of. “Make peace with your past; don’t beat yourself up for leaving the workforce in the first place or not starting the job search sooner,” says Kim. “Tell yourself you’re starting now and focus on the present. Staying positive helps you become more attractive as a candidate.” Do things you enjoy. While it may feel frivolous to let yourself get drawn into what you’re attracted to, it can pay off in new opportunities. “If you love books, hang out at libraries and bookstores,” says Kim. “If you love animals, visit the doggie day care or animal shelter. If you love to knit, knit. This helps you meet people who can help you learn about jobs that interest you. It can also help you discover ways to connect your interests to your talents, which helps you find jobs you’ve never considered before.” Track your progress. It’s easy to get discouraged if you haven’t found that new opportunity yet. Instead, Kim advises making a list of all of the things you’ve done to open new doors, big and small. “List people you’ve met, websites of companies you’ve looked into, articles you’ve read,” says Kim. “Keep it in a calendar or journal. Not only does this help you stay organized, but it also helps you stay positive and energized.” Be Honest Whether you target traditional employment or flex work, it’s important to remember how your life has changed due to your family situation. Morin notes that sometimes people agree to more than they can actually handle without realizing it will no longer match their lifestyle needs. In some cases, Morin recommends considering jobs that you feel overqualified for. “When you attend an interview, be honest with an employer about the hours you can work,” says Morin. “Don’t offer to work evenings and weekends unless you really mean it.” Don’t compare. It goes without saying that each parent has a unique set of circumstances, resources, talents, attitudes, and children. Therefore, Kim suggests remembering that what works for someone else may not work for you. “When you see what others are doing, be they mentors, celebrities, neighbors, family, or friends, consider whether it is truly relevant to you,” says Kim. “You have to take charge and create your own path.” Readers, what are your best tips for the stay-at-home parents job search?

Best Job Search Articles of the Week June 6th

Best Job Search Articles of the Week June 6th Best Job Search Articles of the Week June 6th Every week thousands of articles are released offering tips, tricks, and advice on how to conquer the job search and land the next great opportunity. At  Simply Hireds blog  we publish daily posts giving such advice. But with so much floating around the web it can get difficult to determine whats worth reading, and whats just noise. With that in mind, today were pulling together a few articles from the last week that offer great advice. If youre only going to read a few articles this week, put these at the top of your list. 1. Call it a meeting… The job interview has always been a key aspect of the job search process that makes people nervous. Interviews can be intimidating, but there are ways to navigate through the job interview, despite this, and find success. Jen Hubley Luckwaldts article from PayScale suggests a great way to avoid some of the interview pressure. Nervous About A Job Interview? Call It A Meeting 2. What not to ask… Theres so much written about what you should ask in a job interview, rarely do we focus on what you should avoid. Lauren Riley offers a list, via Business2Community, of topics that you shouldnt discuss in your job interview. Sneak peak, dont ask about working from home! What NOT To Ask At A Job Interview 3. Stay positive… The job search can be grueling, difficult, and exhausting. If youve been unemployed for a while, its easy to have these feelings. Aaron Hursts article, published on LinkedIn, shows how you can find meaning in your job search via relationships, doing something greater than yourself, and through personal growth. 7 Ways to Stay Positive While Finding a Job 4. Find your passion…   Warren Berger published an excellent article this week, intended to help you discover yourself. If youre not sure of a which direction to take in your career, look no further than this article for inspiration.  Find Your Passion With These 8 Thought Provoking Questions 5. What email style says about you… So many emails are sent in professional life that at times they get very little attention. This is a tremendous mistake. How you present yourself in email directly impacts the way you will be perceived. In his article, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic shows what email style can reveal about personality and professionalism. What Your Email Style Reveals About Your Personality Stay tuned as we continue to curate great articles to educate and inspire as you track down that next great career opportunity. Happy reading!

Targeted Cover Letters Lead to Interviews & Job Offers

Targeted Cover Letters Lead to Interviews & Job Offers Targeted Cover Letters Lead to Interviews & Job Offers Targeted Cover Letters Lead to Interviews & Job Offers If you believe that using the same generic cover letter for each job you apply to will land you a job, you need a reality check. Targeted cover letters are the only way to successfully get an employer's attention and get your foot in the door for an interview. A targeted cover letter speaks directly to the job you're interested in, using words and phrases that match the job description. Thus, no two targeted cover letters should ever be exactly the same. It's a pain in the butt to tweak your letter for every new job application, but it's also one of the best ways to show you put in the extra effort to do it right. You don't have to rewrite your entire cover letter every time; just rearrange and restructure it to fit the specific details of the job opportunity. And please don't forget to change the title of the position, the name of the company, and the name and title of the contact person for each job! So, how do you actually write a targeted cover letter? Take your cue from the job description and the companys web site. See what keywords and descriptors they use, which qualifications they emphasize, and in which order they list their desired skills. Then mimic those in your letter. For example, below is an actual job posting for a Personal Banking Representative. Highlighted (in bold type) are the words or concepts we would include if we were writing a targeted cover letter for this position: The Job Ad Personal Banking Representative Provides world-class customer service which meets and exceeds the customer's expectations. Actively sells bank's products and services. Analyzes and determines the financial needs of each customer, matches this need to the appropriate product or service; grows profitable customer relationships based on customer satisfaction. Meets and exceeds personal sales goals and actively participates in all branch sales and marketing activities. Opens new accounts, processes loan applications, and closes loans according to guidelines. Demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of all consumer product and services. Takes personal responsibility for developing and maintaining knowledge required to fulfill job functions. Performs other duties as requested. May be asked to help out at a neighboring branch. May be asked to travel to meetings. Here's the sample cover letter using those highlighted keywords and phrases to target this employer's specific needs: The Targeted Cover Letter Dear Ms. Banker: The Personal Banking Representative position strikes me as an outstanding opportunity to contribute my four years of banking and customer service experience to an organization that shares my commitment to relationship-building, professional development, and continuous growth. As an Assistant Banking Representative at XYZ Bank, I have gained an in-depth understanding of how to sell the many products, services, and financing options available to branch banking customers, along with the associated regulations and guidelines. I take pride in providing service that matches the individuals needs, helping ensure customer retention and satisfaction. I am eager to build upon my sales and marketing skills to enhance your organizations profitability. I have earned an Associates Degree in finance, and I make it a priority to pursue continued training and professional development, not only to fulfill job functions but to maintain and develop my knowledge of this industry. I am confident that I can fulfill the role of Personal Banking Representative, excelling at both the official duties and those that arise unexpectedly, to become a valuable member of your team. Best regards, Job Seeker By using the same terminology the company presents in its job ad, and explicitly pointing out your qualifications and the employer's business needs, the employer can easily see that you're a good candidate for the job. Add a targeted cover letter to your well-written resume, and your skills and accomplishments will convince the employer you're worth interviewing.