Monthly Archives: February 2022

How to Show Confidence During Job Interviews… Job Opportunities Look Bright for 2022 Grads… Remote Work Costing Gen Z Valuable Life Lessons

How to Show Confidence During Job Interviews

Job interviews can be stressful for a number of reasons, but these five tips can help lessen anxiety.

Prepare, prepare, prepare. Pour over the company’s website to learn about who’s who and what’s what. Findreviews about the organization using sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn. Reach out to contacts in your network who may shed light on the interview process. Finally, make sure to look up information about your interviewer.
Create examples to highlight skills. To stand out from others being considered for the job, prepare stories of examples that illustrate desirable skills. Instead of vague answers such as I helped increase sales, provide a specific example: I helped increase sales by X percent by doing X.
Practice responses. Once you have gathered a number of responses, create talking points. Then rehearse aloud until you feel comfortable retelling them.
Be positive. Prior to the interview, practice active positivity. Listen to upbeat music or watch inspirational videos. Think about prior successes and use positive self-talk.
Work off nervous energy. Whether it’s jogging, dancing, or lifting weights, burn off nervous energy to avoid coming across as anxious or wired.

Finally, know that those butterflies in your stomach are signs that you care about the position. That’s not a bad thing, experts say.

Source: Vozza, S. (November 16, 2021.) 5 ways to boost your confidence during a stressful job interview. FastCompany. https://fastcompany.com

Job Opportunities Look Bright for 2022 Grads

Employers plan to hire 26 percent more new graduates this year than they did in 2021, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook 2022 report.

Between an unemployment rate below 5 percent and more than 10 million job openings, the class of 2022 faces a rosy employment picture. In fact, 60 percent of employers surveyed say they plan to increase hires.

NACE’s annual Job Report collects data from employer members as well as nonmember companies. A total of 157 respondents were queried between August to October 2021 about hiring for the new year.

Source: Gray, K. (November 11, 2021). Employer hiring plans jump for class of 2022 graduates. National Association of Colleges and Employers. https://naceweb.org

Remote Work Costing Gen Z Valuable Life Lessons

Gen Zers overwhelmingly indicate their desire to work remotely. But experts say doing so costs the new generation of workers more than learning the ropes from seasoned employees. It’s hurting their personal growth, too.

In the not so distant past, most employees spent more time at the workplace than anywhere else. The office was where new-hires matured by learning how to resolve conflict and handle interpersonal challenges. This was especially true for workers under the age of 25, an important time for human brain development.

In-person work likewise helped young people develop by forcing them to deal with authority, cope with emotions, control impulsivity, and learn to read social cues. A mix of competition and congeniality, the pre-pandemic office provided a unique atmosphere to hone life skills while junior staff members were working side by side with more experienced coworkers.

However, being isolated and working from home has deprived young adults of opportunities to learn about human nature. To offset this deficit, more experienced workers suggest that their younger colleagues mindfully build work relationships, seek out face-to-face time, and not hide from uncomfortable situations–the very experiences that lead to personal growth.

Source: Knight, R. (October 19, 2021.) What Gen Z misses out on by not being at the office. Business Insider. https://businessinsider.com

Catching 5 Common Grammar Mistakes

Incorrect grammar not only reflects poorly on the writer—it makes an organization appear careless. Below are five of the most common grammar mistakes and an explanation for how to correct them.

Apostrophe use. Apostrophes have two purposes: to indicate possession or ownership, and to make a contraction. Most errors come from the former.

Wrong: We need to improve our sale’s numbers. [Unnecessary apostrophe. The plural noun is not possessive.]

Correct: We need to improve our sales numbers.

I/me. Use I as the subject of a verb. [Use me as the object of a verb or when a verb is acting on someone or something.]

Wrong: The supervisor told Sofia and I to finish the project. [I is not the subject; it is being acted on by the verb.]

Correct: The supervisor told Sofia and me to finish the project.

Its/it’s. It’s is always a contraction for it is and is never used to show possession of the pronoun it.

Wrong: The organization held it’s press conference at headquarters. [The possessive its never requires an apostrophe.]

Correct: The organization held its press conference at headquarters.

Less/fewer. Less is used when something cannot be counted. Fewer is used for countable things.

Wrong: Less than 100 customers made use of the reduced price. [The number 100 is countable.]

Correct: Fewer than 100 customers made use of the reduced price.

Lose/loose. Lose is a verb that means suffering a loss. Loose is an adjective meaning not tight.

Wrong: We can’t loose if we maintain these sales numbers. [loose is an adjective meaning not tight.]

Correct: We can’t lose if we maintain these sales numbers.

Try your skill in catching the errors in the following sentences. Correct the improper word. Mark the sentence with a C if it requires no correction.

Employees do not want to loose their benefits.
People often misplace their cellphones, so its important to enable the “track” feature.
All team member’s were asked to take time off after they had completed a difficult project.
The copier was giving Elisha and I trouble.
Julio felt less worried after he received an excellent performance evaluation.
Its difficult to maintain composure when being criticized.
Three manager’s were told their positions were being eliminated.
It was fewer than 40 degrees outside.
Johann and I worked together to land a new account.
The department store has less items to try on since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The papers in the folder were loose, and when Antonia dropped them, they scattered.
My supervisor and me received kudos for a job well done.

Catching 5 Common Grammar Mistakes Exercise

Catching 5 Common Grammar Mistakes Key

Is Facebook Responsible for Instagram’s Impact?

Over the last three years, researchers at Instagram, which is owned by Meta (formerly Facebook), have studied the impact the photo sharing app has on young women. Their results have consistently showed that a large percentage of teenage girl users experience psychological harm directly as a result of using the app.

Specifically, the researchers found that Instagram use worsens body image in one-third of teenage girl users, but that all users tie their anxiety and depression directly to Instagram. Worse, six percent of users in the United States blame Instagram for suicidal thoughts. That number is even higher in the United Kingdom.

Instagram lives or dies by its number of users under the age of 22 and boasts approximately 22 million of them. The platform rakes in more than $100 billion per year, revenue that Meta doesn’t want to see diminish. Not surprisingly, the company has regularly minimized its knowledge that Instagram negatively impacts the public.

However, a recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal found that Meta is “acutely aware” that its products and systems “routinely fail.” Internal researchers at Meta, the Journal reported, took a deep dive into teenage mental health, which has been notoriously imperiled in recent years. They concluded that many problems teens face link directly to Instagram rather than to social media as a whole.

According to the WSJ report, teens reported that they knew using Instagram was causing them to feel “unattractive” and that they spent too much time on the app. The young users also acknowledged not having the self-control to log off. The negative feelings and addictive behavior attributed to Instagram use were heightened during the pandemic, the research concluded.

That the very nature of the app—sharing best moments combined with a constant pressure to appear perfect—fuels its addictive nature, is common knowledge among Meta officials. The company’s evasiveness and secrecy about the information has been compared to tobacco companies withholding data about the lethal effects of their products decades ago.

Is Instagram the new Big Tobacco?

Discussion

Since the Wall Street Journal report, a coalition of eight states has begun investigating how Instagram affects teens. Does the government have a legal and ethical obligation to involve itself in this situation?
Should Meta be held responsible for the impact of its products? Why or why not?
What can Meta/Facebook do to mitigate the harm Instagram has on so many of its users?