Getting Started with Programming and Tech With Pluralsight

Getting Started with Programming and Tech With Pluralsight Just two more days until the $100 off sale at Pluralsight. $199 for a year of full access killer deal. If you are NOT in a tech role, but have always wanted to learn, I would definitely recommend dropping $199 and having a full twelve months to learn, and play, and dabble. I cant think of a better way to learn about this stuff with the depth and breadth that Pluralsight offers. Here are  seven  courses that are beginner or intro to to get you started in various parts of the tech world: Learning to Program Part 1: Getting Started (by Scott Allen) This 3 hour 12 minute course walks you through the basics and fundamentals of programming. It is introductory, so dont worry that you wont understand a thing. Scotts table of contents shows you learn about a lot of the things youll need to know for just about any language. Im bookmarked this to watch with my ten year old son, who wants to become a developer. Introduction to SQL (by Jon Flanders) 3 hours and 2 minutes of one of the most powerful aspects of development. SQL is how you access databases and it makes your web and app experience rich and dynamic. Im not going to say I was a great programmer, but of all of the things I did, I LOVED database design and SQL. Funny story: in a job interview, when I was still in college, the interviewer asked what I knew about SQL. My response was Not much, but how hard could it be? All you need to know is FROM, WHERE, SELECT, and a few other things. He turned out to be one of the smartest software engineers Ive ever known, and amazingly, I got the job. Introduction to Maya 2017 (by Justin Marshall and Eddie Russell) Maya is a 3D animation environment that enables video professionals who work with animation film, television programs, visual effects, and video games to create highly professional three-dimensional (3D) cinematic animations. That sounds freaking awesome. Maybe programming aint your thing but graphics is? From the course description: This course is designed for new Maya users, so the goal is not to weigh you down with a lot of technical information. Instead, its goal is to help you form some really good habits and workflows, allowing you to see the entire start-to-finish pipeline for this project Introduction to Web Development (by Nina Zakharenko and Brian Holt) I cut me teeth on web development. You can too. This course is from 2015, and things changed, but the basics and fundamentals are always good to learn. The course is a whopping 11 hours (yikes!) if you are serious about learning web development, buckle up and get learning. Oh yeah, who will you learn from? Nina and Brian, at the time their bios were up, were Reddit developers. Wowzers. Learning from developers of one of the hottest and most popular websites in the history of websites. Introduction to CSS for Designers (by Susan Simkins) CSS is freaking awesome. How old am I? When I moved away from programming, CSS was just starting to make waves. I didnt quite learn it, but I understood it was super duper powerful. You can probably make an entire career out of just becoming expert in CSS. Or, if you do any kind of web development, understanding the basics of CSS will help you. This 1 hour 48 minute course should be a great primer. An Introduction to Design (by Jason Roberts) Design is underestimated. Software developers arent necessarily good at it, but they need to understand it. I tell my graphics-oriented friends they should look at UX (which is design for the user experience) as a career option. I was talking to a recruiter last year who said they could not find one single UX designer in all of Utah. They were all working. This is a hot, hot field. The course is about design in general, but I get excited about UX 1 hour 53 minutes. Beginning Data Visualization with R (by Matthew Renze) Have you ever heard the phrase big data? I think the potential career choices for people who go there are mega-huge. Heres how I put it: I have a website with 13+ years of data. I know there are rich insights I should be getting from that data. But, I dont know what questions to ask. I dont know what I should learn from my data. I feel like I am MISSING OUT. If I had a big data person (or a data scientist), I might do things differently. I might grow my business and help my users more effectively. YOU could be that person. Just about every company out there has data and they are not using it in a way that can best help their users. R is a programming language, and data visualization can help managers and leaders make informed decisions. This three hour course will get you started in the right direction. Seriously, $199 for full access to those, and THOUSANDS more? What are you waiting for? Save $100 before the sale ends (on June 19th). Of course, you can watch my 32-and-growing professional development and soft skills courses here. Getting Started with Programming and Tech With Pluralsight Just two more days until the $100 off sale at Pluralsight. $199 for a year of full access killer deal. If you are NOT in a tech role, but have always wanted to learn, I would definitely recommend dropping $199 and having a full twelve months to learn, and play, and dabble. I cant think of a better way to learn about this stuff with the depth and breadth that Pluralsight offers. Here are  seven  courses that are beginner or intro to to get you started in various parts of the tech world: Learning to Program Part 1: Getting Started (by Scott Allen) This 3 hour 12 minute course walks you through the basics and fundamentals of programming. It is introductory, so dont worry that you wont understand a thing. Scotts table of contents shows you learn about a lot of the things youll need to know for just about any language. Im bookmarked this to watch with my ten year old son, who wants to become a developer. Introduction to SQL (by Jon Flanders) 3 hours and 2 minutes of one of the most powerful aspects of development. SQL is how you access databases and it makes your web and app experience rich and dynamic. Im not going to say I was a great programmer, but of all of the things I did, I LOVED database design and SQL. Funny story: in a job interview, when I was still in college, the interviewer asked what I knew about SQL. My response was Not much, but how hard could it be? All you need to know is FROM, WHERE, SELECT, and a few other things. He turned out to be one of the smartest software engineers Ive ever known, and amazingly, I got the job. Introduction to Maya 2017 (by Justin Marshall and Eddie Russell) Maya is a 3D animation environment that enables video professionals who work with animation film, television programs, visual effects, and video games to create highly professional three-dimensional (3D) cinematic animations. That sounds freaking awesome. Maybe programming aint your thing but graphics is? From the course description: This course is designed for new Maya users, so the goal is not to weigh you down with a lot of technical information. Instead, its goal is to help you form some really good habits and workflows, allowing you to see the entire start-to-finish pipeline for this project Introduction to Web Development (by Nina Zakharenko and Brian Holt) I cut me teeth on web development. You can too. This course is from 2015, and things changed, but the basics and fundamentals are always good to learn. The course is a whopping 11 hours (yikes!) if you are serious about learning web development, buckle up and get learning. Oh yeah, who will you learn from? Nina and Brian, at the time their bios were up, were Reddit developers. Wowzers. Learning from developers of one of the hottest and most popular websites in the history of websites. Introduction to CSS for Designers (by Susan Simkins) CSS is freaking awesome. How old am I? When I moved away from programming, CSS was just starting to make waves. I didnt quite learn it, but I understood it was super duper powerful. You can probably make an entire career out of just becoming expert in CSS. Or, if you do any kind of web development, understanding the basics of CSS will help you. This 1 hour 48 minute course should be a great primer. An Introduction to Design (by Jason Roberts) Design is underestimated. Software developers arent necessarily good at it, but they need to understand it. I tell my graphics-oriented friends they should look at UX (which is design for the user experience) as a career option. I was talking to a recruiter last year who said they could not find one single UX designer in all of Utah. They were all working. This is a hot, hot field. The course is about design in general, but I get excited about UX 1 hour 53 minutes. Beginning Data Visualization with R (by Matthew Renze) Have you ever heard the phrase big data? I think the potential career choices for people who go there are mega-huge. Heres how I put it: I have a website with 13+ years of data. I know there are rich insights I should be getting from that data. But, I dont know what questions to ask. I dont know what I should learn from my data. I feel like I am MISSING OUT. If I had a big data person (or a data scientist), I might do things differently. I might grow my business and help my users more effectively. YOU could be that person. Just about every company out there has data and they are not using it in a way that can best help their users. R is a programming language, and data visualization can help managers and leaders make informed decisions. This three hour course will get you started in the right direction. Seriously, $199 for full access to those, and THOUSANDS more? What are you waiting for? Save $100 before the sale ends (on June 19th). Of course, you can watch my 32-and-growing professional development and soft skills courses here.

The Font For Resume Writing - Finding the Right One For Your Job Application

The Font For Resume Writing - Finding the Right One For Your Job ApplicationA good font for resume writing is like the holy grail of resume writing. While it is true that the colors, sizes and styles of a resume will make or break the success of the job application, it is equally true that a badly designed resume could send the recruiter in circles and end up getting you rejected.Fonts are an important part of resume writing and just as a picture says a thousand words, so does a well-designed font and resume type. The problem is that sometimes, companies may use fonts that are too small or too big, or may not have enough whitespace between characters to make them readable. And it's these very factors that can make or break your application.These issues affect the fonts chosen by recruiters because they are the first thing a recruiter sees when they start looking at resumes. It is critical that their eye is drawn to the fonts used in resume writing. If the right fonts are selected, th is is the first sign of something that can cause rejection. And if the wrong fonts are chosen, there is no telling what might happen.It's important to remember that in today's computer age, it's possible to design the fonts that you want to see in your application. What was once limited to a lone graphic designer or a company that offered only corporate style fonts is now available to anyone with a little bit of hard work. But the trick is to design the font that will give your resume its most appealing and readable appearance. There are several ways to achieve this goal, but none is better than the other.One way to design your own font is to use various web sites that offer the fonts you want. Many of these fonts are based on actual lettering, so they are as close to the real thing as you can get without paying a visit to the library. And you'll find that a lot of them have different weights and widths and colors so that you can customize your fonts according to the specifications of your company. This can help to make your resume stand out from the crowd.Another way to get fonts that are more attractive is to purchase them and use them on your own. It's not unusual for these fonts to be much more eye-catching than a generic font and often do a better job of bringing the most essential information to the reader. Whether you choose the ones you see on a template or create your own, it's important to understand that having a font that is too small will make your resume look clumsy and sloppy. And if you choose a too large font, the same message won't come across as clearly, and this can certainly defeat the purpose of a professional looking resume.If you really want to create a font that will stand out, you may want to invest in some different fonts. When you choose your fonts carefully, it will give your resume the best chance of being noticed. This may require that you tweak the font slightly each time you add or delete characters from your resume. But once y ou get a good feel for your chosen fonts, and how your resume is going to look when you are done, this can be easy to do.Fonts for resume writing are important because they are the first thing a recruiter sees when they start looking at resumes. It is critical that their eye is drawn to the fonts used in resume writing. If the right fonts are selected, this is the first sign of something that can cause rejection.

UX Product Workshop For User Testing Goals, Planning, Conducting - Algrim.co

UX Product Workshop For User Testing Goals, Planning, Conducting - Algrim.co Companies put a massive effort into developing products aimed at the market needs. But, still there’s an instance of companies unable to influence the market and in worst cases, a complete product failure. This failure could be reasoned to companies unable to interpret the market needs and provide appealing product values. Product ideation evolves from intense market research paired with UX/UI design which builds the foundation for the developers to carve out a finished product from the iteration of prototypes. Any product development process is long and demands considerable attention from the product teams, inducing the risk of isolation and biasing within groups. Hence, businesses organize UX workshops periodically or depending on the needs to keep things on track. What is a UX workshop? UX teams are solely responsible for any action that involves products. It is the space for the origin of new product ideas and existing product development. But, as we know, companies do not conceive the product idea today and deliver the product to the market tomorrow. Product development is a long haul, starting from ideation to the product entering the market. This stretched period invites uncertainty in conditions. You could have intruders in biases creeping into the system, miscommunication or loss of information. Because of the existing danger of unwanted factors affecting the development, a UX workshop serves as a checkpoint during the process. Workshops keep the UX teams in check and align them with the user and company goals. A UX workshop answers various questions based on three aspects â€" personas, customer journey, and product strategy. Persona workshop It is a given that any research deals with a large amount of data. UX teams have to give the user needs their utmost priority when making decisions about each aspect of the product. But, this is not easy, especially when you consider large amounts of user information a particular research report might contain. Hence, to reduce the mental fatigue, designers come up with personas. Think of persona as a virtual representation of a customer in the market, with all their characteristics. Personas are the simplified form of customer profiles revealed from market research. This short form aids designers to define the customer easily, hence, plan a product that serves the market right. Persona workshops could be for persona establishment from the gathered information or updating the existing profiles. Since, the workshop is central to users, incorporating personnel who directly interact with the users is mandatory. It could be the sales team or customer support. You get more insight into the user personas instead of working with assumptions. What persona workshops aim is that the designers get in-line with the market demands. It helps designers perceive the product by putting themselves into the customer shoes, and make the necessary design decisions. Customer journey workshop Customer journey record the highlights of the user interaction with the product. They have the step-by-step progress of customer interaction with the product along with their desired objectives. Hence, a designer can expect customer journeys to reveal additional information about the user that they might not be aware of. This additional info could result in streamlining the user experience with the product by solving the potential problems. There can be three main phases to any customer journey â€" before usage, using the product and after usage. ‘Before usage’ phase answers questions like the user’s prior knowledge about the product, learning curve, wherefrom the user interaction starts. It shines a light on the user’s activity before he/she gets to know the product function entirely. ‘Using product’ phase speaks about real-time user interaction with the products; how users carry out a specific task and goal achievement. Finally, comes the question of production satisfaction, categorized under the ‘After using’ phase. With every product interaction, the user gets to know the product better, thus, rationalizing the product existence. Customer journey workshops help to understand the experience of users with the product. They play their part to aid in the step-by-step analysis of the connection between the user and product. A successful product is good at tending user needs with positive engagement and workshops intend to assure that. Workshops help align the user experience with the corresponding product features to achieve the desired user goals. Product strategy workshop Market research lets you know the user needs, but how you go about incorporating the pain points into the product as features is what matters. UX teams need appropriate planning for the product to take its final shape in an orderly fashion. Planning sets the track for the product development by the allocation of resources and time for various specific aspects of the product. Without a proper plan, there’s no guarantee that the final product built will be up to the standards or in time. Thus, we have product strategy workshops in place. These UX workshops run a rule over the whole product strategy, measuring bit-by-bit of the details like the methods and goals each method intends to accomplish. The workshops keep a check on the development process going off-track resulting in an undesired waste of resource and wandering off the goal. Having periodic workshops syncs the UX teams with the aspired user and business goals. Why UX workshops? We have only skimmed over the importance of UX workshops in their introduction. Although their primary aim is aligning the development process and desired objectives, workshops serve a host of other benefits. Developing products from scratch, or even spending time on improving existing products is a long turtle-paced movement. And you can’t help it, owned to the sheer number of teams (comprising of several members) and other hierarchical authorities involved. Though UX is a team game, at the end of the day, it’s the decision at the individual level that affects the overall progress of the project. Individuals together form a collective decision which in due course could further be influenced by external agents. Within all this organizational chaos, the actual purpose might be lost due to unwanted factors â€" the result, loss of market opportunity and potential customers. Hence, workshops are design fail-safes. While product teams function collectively towards shaping the product, workshops are present to evaluate their function. In a design team, any decision or step that is taken moves them closer towards the final product. On the other hand, any actions performed in a workshop are revision and evaluation of any decision involved in the design process. Workshops provide a stronger platform in updating the change in the market scenario with the involved individuals including the higher authorities, hence, aid successively working on an alternate strategy. Workshops are highly efficient in guiding teams over the long-term goals of the company. Long-term goals comprise a considerable number of process, with a high risk of diversion. Workshops perform their duties as checkpoints, evaluating the progress at each stage and ensuring the project is headed towards the stated objective in time. Most of the workshop activities deal with revising and examining the development process thus far. But, apart from that, a workshop can be the gold mine to innovations. Workshop meetings aren’t just privileged for the designers. Anyone can put their opinion out. It is not a given that the best design ideas always come from the design teams. The UX workshop provides a platform for each and everyone involved in the product development to represent their thoughts. There’s this thing of company hierarchy though. While some cultures encourage speakers from all parts, some have a bit reserved opinion on speaking out before a head. That said, workshops mainly focus on the involvement of personnel and to get everyone on the same page. Planning an effective workshop A UX workshop proves to be very useful in guiding product development. However, there’s a case of ‘if.’ If not conducted properly, workshops are meaningless and a waste of time. Any workshop that gets organized should have an outline. An aimless workshop won’t benefit any aspect of the development. Having a specific goal, along with the necessary questions that help gather information and method used to collect data are the cornerstones of a workshop agenda. The three elements â€" goal, issues and process, help workshops achieve their objectives. Goals define the desired outcomes from the workshop collaboration. They are the endpoint to discussions. Issues are the stimuli for gathering information concerning the goals. So, queries regarding metrics, audience, current state, all account for obtaining information in relation to purpose and its accomplishment. Process speaks about the exact procedure of information accumulation. It dictates the steps involved in acquiring information from the source and relaying to the concerned personnel. There are six steps to go about setting out an effective workshop agenda, which are: 1. Set goals Setting up goals is the first and foremost thing when you have the thought of conducting a workshop. Workshops are meant to evaluate the stages of progress relying on various parameters. But what makes for an apt goal? A suitable goal is measurable and enables to establish relationships with other elements of the process. Setting goal lets the participants know the aim of the workshop. 2. Forming questions for the information needed A facilitator has to prepare relevant queries based on the goals. The queries have to be on point to address the objective of the workshop. The questions will reveal the current state of the target, further evaluating the process with regards to time-frame. 3. Align process to answer your questions There needs to be a systematic approach to how you go around getting answers to these questions. Maybe go for dot voting when wanting a consensus. Alternatively, have a brainstorming session to have ideas pop out. 4. Conducting the workshop The 'actual' conduction of the workshop. The workshop should have all the relevant personnel capable of wording out their opinions on the subject matter. It should be as interactive as possible, with scope for everyone to speak and provide their insight. 5. Post-information process and sharing After the workshop session, it is vital to provide a conclusion to findings and sharing the overview with all other participants. It could also aid personnel unable to attend the workshop to catch up with the progress and maybe, provide some useful views. 6. Act on findings Once done with the sharing of the relevant conclusions, it’s time to act on the revelations. After all, this is the primary purpose of the workshop, aligning progress with desired objectives. As you can see, a facilitator needs to take care of a lot of things. Conducting workshops require planning for a sequential progression, however, it’s not a guarantee that things go as planned. Let’s look at some aspects of planning a workshop which lies in the hands of a facilitator. Elements to take care of when facilitating a workshop Here are the things a facilitator keeps in mind when busy planning a workshop. Time Time is something that is precious for everyone. Attending workshops mean allocating time in among the 'other' works. Workshops should make the best use of time for everyone that’s involved. Keeping things concise and pre-arrangement of required resources goes a long way to ensure a smooth session. Although it is better to gather every factor responsible under a single roof, that’s not always possible. However, the key influential personnel should be on board. Alpha state Gathering everyone is all well and good, but the key is to engage everyone in the process. Keeping up the interests of participants can be hard, especially when one’s surrounded by people you least know about. Thankfully, there’s something called 'alpha state' which can help grab the attention of the audience. In simple terms, the alpha state helps the mind to be more open, receptive and less critical. There are numerous methods to achieve an alpha state. But for the sake of simplicity and some limitations, you can rely on music. The Internet is full of alpha music. Show process A facilitator needs to demonstrate all the process involved in workshops. The room is full of diversities. Hence, a process demo will get all on track with the progress and developments. Even when full of like-minded people, do show the process to establish a mutual understanding throughout the space. Fun/recreation There’s a limitation to the alpha state, that can only be overcome by short breaks between workshop sessions. It is necessary to get mind off things to have a mental rest. The refreshed spirit in participants might spark new ideas and solutions. Remove hierarchy A no hierarchy sphere builds a level field for communication among the participants. It is preferred in a workshop that there’s no sense of authority to allow for a natural flow of ideas. However, some cultures are inert to it, and facilitators have to take care of such aspects. Adapting A facilitator makes the plan for a workshop, but most are sure that the session might not coincide with their plans, especially when unexpected information or condition pops up. Sticking to the program could be hard in such cases. However, facilitators have to do it. Slowly but surely, facilitators have to steer the ship back into the calm waters, so that the overall objective of the workshop isn’t diluted. A UX workshop has to reach its assigned goal, else it’s just pointless. These things keep the facilitators on their toes when they are planning any workshop. There are numerous articles around underlining the importance of UX/UI and Product Design. This article concentrates on an alternate approach to the topic by emphasizing the importance of UX workshopping with some insight into the process of planning a workshop agenda. Additionally, we had some outlook on the various aspects a workshop facilitator has to deal with.

Teach First University of Manchester Careers Blog

Teach First University of Manchester Careers Blog Last week we had a visit and update from our friends at Teach First. They are really keen to recruit recent graduates as well as current students. Teach First is a two-year graduate programme. They create leaders, who can go into a challenging school and inspire enthusiam and ambition in young people. Teach First is designed both for graduates who want to make a career in teaching and those who would like to teach for a couple of years before moving onto another career.   Apparantly two thirds of previous participants have stayed in teaching, while the other third have gone onto a wide range of careers in everything from corporates, public sector, charities and setting up their own businesses. How Teach First works Attend the intensive residential six-week Summer Institute. You will then be placed in a school to start teaching from September. Participating schools are located across England and Wales and experience a range of challenging circumstances. First Year You will receive training and support   throughout and work towards your Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) and gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Summer between first a second year You have the opportunity to take on a mini-internship Summer Project to gain work experience and practise your leadership skills.   At the end of the summer Returners Week provides the opportunity for all participants to share experiences and prepare for the new year. Second Year Now a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) you will be able to take on more responsibility in your department. You will continue to receive support from mentors and tutors. You will have the option to work towards a part-time masters qualification which would take two years from the start of your second year on the programme. Who they are looking for You need a minimum of a 2:1 and 300 UCAS points. You also need at least a grade C in GCSE maths English. You dont have to teach the subject that your degree is in. You could teach either maths or English if you have at least a grade B at A-level, or science if you received at least two Bs in science subjects at A-level. EU applicants are welcome to apply if you need to check about the eligibility of your qualifications get in touch with Teach First directly. Teach First have especially high target numbers for STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering maths) and for black and ethnic minority participants, but they welcome applications from anyone who meets the criteria. Applying Selection process Start by registering your interest. Complete the application form within 12 weeks of registering interest. If you pass that you will be invited to a one-day Assessment Centre which includes an interview and delivering a 7 minute mock lesson. Inside news: All the interview questions have changed this year, but they still test the same competencies. Use the STAR model (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers. The competencies that applicants tend to find most difficult are resilience and problem solving so think especially hard about those. You are not in competition with the other candidates at the Assessment Centre.   All of you could get selected or none of you, you are being tested against a standard. The goal at the Assessment Centre is to work together not to compete. Applications opened in June, and assessment centres have been taking place since July. Typically opportunities to teach primary and secondary humanities subjects fill up first. Check their website for current subject availability.   At the time of writing all subjects were open, but history was nearing capacity. If you are interested apply ASAP, they hope to fill 80% of places by Christmas. You could secure an offer within just a few weeks leaving you free to plan the rest of your year secure in the knowledge you have a job. You could also apply now for a deferred place to start in summer 2015 if you can demonstrate commitment to the programme. Want to know more? Start by investigating the Teach First website which is very comprehensive. The contact at Teach First for The University of Manchester is Mr Oladapo Owo (Ola for short).   Ola will be on campus for several talks and events over the coming months. Ola graduated from The University of Manchester in 2003 with a degree in Chemical Engineering before participating in the Teach First programme teaching maths, he has also worked for United Utilities. He is also happy for people to email him if they have questions or concerns  which is not covered on the website. All Graduate Applications and interviews Assessment centre graduate schemes jobs Teaching

Help Writing Health Insurance Work Resume

Help Writing Health Insurance Work ResumeMost healthcare providers, if they are considering healthcare job positions, will have a Health Insurance Work Resume that can assist in locating potential jobs. When a healthcare worker is preparing for an interview or attempting to land a job, the amount of time and research he or she has put into developing a resume can be well worth it.Most people who get into the healthcare field at one point in their lives will need a Health Insurance Work Resumes to help them in securing a position. However, the number of job openings available has slowed over the past couple of years. Because of this, the success of a Health Insurance Work Resume is more important now than ever before.People who are looking for healthcare job positions are going to want to take the time to develop a unique Healthcare Job Resume that is specific to the industry they are interested in. They are also going to want to do some research on the type of positions available in their area. A Healthcare Job Resume needs to show some work experience and education when showing a potential employer that the potential healthcare professional is interested in healthcare work.When it comes to developing a Health Insurance Work Resume, most people don't know where to begin. There are thousands of possible jobs available and the exact criteria for each job is different. In order to get the most out of a Health Insurance Work Resume, one must begin by researching the specific details of each job opening.The first step is to gather all of the employment background information that is pertinent to the job that is open. When gathering employment information, many people focus on the name of the employer, the type of job the position is, and where the person was employed before they obtain the specific information they need to create their Health Insurance Work Resume.Secondly, once it is known where a person was employed before they were employed at a specific job, it is time to begin compiling their healthcare work resume. With the data collected from the education, training, and experience obtained, a healthcare worker will know exactly what to include in their resume.Thirdly, medical schools, hospitals, medical practices, and other healthcare companies often provide healthcare jobs as part of their training program. Some healthcare schools will supply training videos and training tools in order to assist with healthcare work. In some cases, individuals may be able to request these training materials from the school in order to better understand what is required in order to be successful in securing a job as a healthcare professional.In order to stand out from the crowd, a healthcare professional should also create a detailed Healthcare Work Resumes that is specifically tailored to each potential employer. The prospective employer may be willing to spend the time and money to train their employees to the highest level of competency. A healthcar e professional who can provide the exact details of their own professional experience and education should be prepared to offer their healthcare job applicant the best chance to land a position.

Common Interview Questions and What They Mean

Common Interview Questions and What They Mean Have you ever wondered why an interviewer asks certain  interview questions? Some of the questions seem so vague and random that it can be hard to figure out the logic behind the interview process. Whats right? Whats wrong? What does the hiring manager really want to hear? Below is a quick guide to the translations for some of the most common interview questions.Question:  Tell me about yourself.Translation:  Why should I hire you?Recommended response.  Dont take the question too literally. Hiring managers dont want to hear that you grew up on a small farm in Kansas or that you enjoy world travel. Furthermore, they dont want to hear that you are a great communicator, team player, and fast learner. They want you to show tangible proof of why you would be a good fit for their organization. Outline two to four of your key competencies and couple each competency with proof of success. For example an operations professional might showcase one of his/her competencies by saying, I have stro ng project management skills and can quickly resolve customer inquiries. For example, in my last job, I resolved 98 percent of all pending customer inquiries within 24 hours which was 50 percent faster than the companys expectation for problem resolution.Question:  What is your weakness?Translation:  We know what your weakness is. Prove to us its not a liability for this position.Recommended response.  Before your  interview  address any potential obstacles that the hiring manager may pick up on. Perhaps it is your lack of knowledge with a specific software or your lack of experience in a particular industry. Show how you would overcome these obstacles or demonstrate how you have overcome similar obstacles in the past. For example, if you apply for a position that requires a certain technical skill and you have limited experience, give an example of another software you are proficient in and how you gained that proficiency to prove that your current limited knowledge is a minor liab ility that can be quickly overcome.Question:  Where do you see yourself in five years?Translation:  Do you have a realistic perspective on what this job/company is about?Recommended Response.  Craft a response that makes sense for the employers business environment. If it is a small company, dont say you expect to have a position with increasing responsibility that may not be feasible in their organization. If you are taking a job as an accountant just to get a foot in the door of the company but really want to be a controller, dont bring that up during the interview. The hiring manager needs to know that you are committed to the job you are applying for, not already thinking about a  new job. You can mention that you see yourself in a position where you can continue to learn and contribute to the companys bottom line and give an example of how you were able to successfully do that at a previous organization. This answer will help managers feel confident in your level of commitment to the current job and your future commitment to the organization.Question:  What have you been doing since your last position ended?Translation:  Why have you been out of work so long?Recommended response.  Discuss any volunteer or  consulting  assignments you may have had in the interim. If you have been actively  interviewing  but havent been extended an offer, you can mention that you have been interviewing but havent found the right fit yet. If you have had limited activity, you can let the hiring manager know that you have been using this time to evaluate your skills, craft your  resume, conduct informational interviews, and  network  within professional circles. Obviously saying youve been watching re-runs of 20 consecutive seasons of Law Order wont go over well, so stick to discussing the professional activities you have been involved in.Question:  Are you interviewing with other companies?Translation:  Are you worth investing some time in or are you about to take another offer?Recommended response.  Generally its best to be somewhat vague in your response, particularly if you are at the beginning of your search. If it is early on, let the employer know that you have just begun the interview process. If you have been in search mode for awhile, let them know that you have been actively searching but havent found the right fit yet.Question:  Tell me about the accomplishment you are most proud of.Translation:  Is your past experience similar to what we need you to do here?Recommended response.  The accomplishment you are most proud of might not be the one that is most relevant to the organizations needs. Showcase an accomplishment that proves you have the specific competencies to do the job they need you to do. The story you select may be different for different interviews. Thats OK. You can be proud of more than one accomplishment, and it is more important to showcase the right accomplishment than it is to bring up the achievement that brought you the greatest personal satisfaction.Question:  Tell me about a time when you lacked the appropriate resources to do your job and how you handled it.Translation:  We are severely understaffed  or  we dont have a budget for anything.Recommended response.  Give an example that proves that you have been in this situation before and that you can do more with less. But if you notice this is a running theme throughout the interview, proceed with caution. You could be setting yourself up to assume an impossible role with very limited support.Question:  How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?Translation:  Are you analytical, how do you solve problems,  or  do you mind if we just want to mess with your head?Recommended Response.  This type of question is often referred to as a brain teaser. Interviewers dont expect you to know the answer, but they will want to see how you tackle figuring out a strategy to come up with an answer. These questions tend to be most popular in high-tech companies, but job candidates in other industries sometimes get them as well.

Not your regular office christmas party - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Not your regular office christmas party - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog What is the christmas office party like, when you work for the Happy at Work Project? Well, it might go a little like this: Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related