Articles | Biola's Center for Career Development

The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Food

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Tim Brandon

Here is Fast Company‘s list of top innovative food companies.

Which companies do you think should or should not make the list and why?

01 / PepsiCo >>
For its ambitious nutrition R&D. Does better nutrition require curbing our appetites for Cheetos and Fritos and Mountain Dew (oh, my!)? Not if PepsiCo can help it. The snack-food giant recently opened a clinical research center charged with making its products healthier–slashing fat, sugar, and sodium by as much as 25% in the next 10 years–without changing their taste.

02 / Trader Joes >>
For vaulting past Whole Foods to become America’s favorite specialty grocer. Though Trader Joe’s masquerades as a neighborhood store, it boasts $8 billion in annual revenue. Its stores carry 4,000 different products, compared to typical grocery stores’ 50,000. This meticulous stocking helps it sell $1,750 per square foot–twice as much as Whole Foods.

03 / Madecasse >>
For building a bean-to-bar chocolate company in one of the poorest countries in the world. Seventy percent of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, but less than 1% of the world’s chocolate is made there. Instead, farmers sell whole cocoa pods to the first of many middlemen who eventually export the cocoa beans to chocolate makers in Belgium or France. Tim McCollum and Brett Beach founded Madécasse in 2008 to keep more economic benefit within the island nation.

04 / Cargill
For charging into the sweetener market with a plant-based product that’s aims to be eco-aware and health-friendly. The agricultural giant has perfected a process to grow and refine sweet leaf extracts from stevia, a type of South American plant, allowing it to quickly command a sizable slice of the faux-sweetener market.

05 / FoodHub
For creating an online tool to connect local food producers to food buyers big and small. Think of FoodHub as the Match.com for the locavore movement. Wholesale food buyers log on to access thousands of small and regional producers, as well as info on varietals sold, minimum orders, insurance, and delivery options. Launched by environmental not-for-profit Ecotrust, FoodHub has already signed on hundreds of Portland restaurants, grocery stores, and businesses and expanded to neighboring states.

06 / Current Energy
For greening restaurants (and saving them money in the process). Fast food eateries such as Jack in the Box and Qdoba are turning to this Dallas-based energy firm’s smart sensors to majorly slash their energy use (and costs). For instance, sensors can ping restaurant managers with text messages if a walk-in refrigerator is left ajar for too long, or coordinate pizza-oven temperatures based on real-time sales.

07 / Chipotle
For boldly taking advertising in-house. After burning through four ad agencies in five years, the burrito mecca took on its own advertising, including replacing wacky promotions with on-message marketing. For instance, “Boo-rito” giveaways for Halloween were replaced this year by a campaign to promote how truly scary other fast food is, with sales of discounted meals going to support Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

08 / McDonald’s
For changing the way we think about the most iconic restaurant in the world. With a $2.4 billion budget, McDonald’s is launching its first total makeover campaign since the Carter administration, redoing at least 400 domestic outposts, refurbishing 1,600 restaurants abroad, and building another 1,000.

09 / Bolthouse Farms
For its ambitions to double the $1 billion baby-carrot business by using junk food tactics. Jeff Dunn has tapped his past as a Coca-Cola exec to goose baby carrots from a flat industry to a hotly marketed snack food, from adrenaline-fueled ads (think: Mountain Dew) to snazzy grab-and-go bags (think: Doritos).

10 / Max Burger
For being the first carbon-footprint fast-food chain. Calories printed on fast-food menus seems downright quaint compared with Max Burger, which is one of the first burger chains in the world to print the carbon emissions of each sandwich right alongside its cost.

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Stop Multi-Tasking And Get Productive

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Alex Sparks

We love being distracted. We have grown up on the internet and can’t help but drift towards Facebook anytime our browser is open. We love to feel busy. It is a false sense of productivity. If you’re “busy” all day then it can feel like a successful day whether you accomplished anything or not. We also love to multi-task. Unfortunately, we’re just not very good at it.

The average person in the United States spends 30 hours a month on the internet, 8 of those are on Facebook alone. This averages out to about 15 minutes a day. But keep in mind this is the average American Facebook account. This includes your grandmother’s untouched profile and that account you made for your cat. I am going to guess that the average college student more than makes up for their slack.

Factor in the 150 times that the average person looks at their phone in a day (every 7 minutes) and you can be certain that we are a pretty distracted culture.

Here are a few tips to help you get back on track and actually get something done.

Set goals, then milestones, then tasks: Writing “Finish Final Project” at the top of your to-do list is the perfect way to make sure you’re still hammering away at it the night before it is do. Break down the work into smaller and smaller chunks until you have specific tasks that can be accomplished in a few hours or less. Plus you get to cross more things off a list, which is always fun.
Stop multi-tasking: The simple fact is that we aren’t any good at it. Switching from task to task quickly does not work. In fact, according to CNN, changing tasks more than 10 times in a day lowers your IQ more than doing drugs. Be smart, stop multi-tasking.
Kill all of your distractions: Lock your door, put a sign up, hide your phone, and if you don’t need it turn off your internet and shut your laptop. Go to a quiet area and focus on completing one task.
Schedule your internet use: Pick two or three times during the day when you’re going to check your Facebook and email. Constantly jumping on the internet throughout the day creates a ton of noise and kills your productivity.
Use the phone: Email and texting are imperfect forms of communication. They are simple, private, and flexible. But they are time intensive. If you are trying to be productive give your thumbs a rest and call the person. It will be a lot quicker and you won’t have to sit awkwardly awaiting a reply to avoid finishing that term paper.
Work in 60 to 90 minute intervals: Your brain uses up more glucose than any other bodily activity. Most of it will be gone after 60-90 minutes. So take a break: Get up, go outside, grab something to eat, whatever you want just do something completely different to recharge your brain.

Now get off Facebook and get back to work!

Do you have any other tips or tricks to staying productive? How do you balance classes, work, and a social life? Let us know in the comments!

Tips taken from INC.com

Posted in blog | Tagged facebook, multitasking, productivity, tips | Leave a comment

Great Strides in Technology

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Alex Sparks

This groundbreaking video is a must see for anyone interested in a career in technology or multi-media. The video depicts a 3D model of Golan Levin (MIT grad and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University) produced by connecting an Xbox Kinect to an SLR camera. The image is recorded into a custom built framework and then edited together.

The new technology is being dubbed “virtual cinematography” and has never been done before. Not only is the technology inspiring, but its enchanting to watch. Believe it or not, despite all of the complicated movements this entire film was shot on a stationary camera in front of the talent.

On top of the revolutionary technology, Levin answers several questions about the expanding technology industry, the importance of education, and the future of invention.

More information on the project can be found here.

Posted in blog | Tagged 3d, advances, design, film, levin, media, technology, virtual | Leave a comment

Voices of the Jobless: Working Far Below My Dreams

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Mark Matthes

Reader response:

In high school, I worked two jobs, took college coursework, participated in ten student organizations, held prominent leadership positions and earned a 4.0 GPA. I was rewarded with a scholarship to a top twenty university and had the whole world ahead of me. In college, I studied Business. I was active in campus groups, had multiple internships and held a 3.9 GPA. After seeing many of my older friends obtaining great jobs with signing bonuses and benefits, I decided to graduate 3 Semesters early. This was May 2008.

After graduation, I began applying for my dream jobs. I started to get some responses, and then the economy tanked. I tried to follow-up with those who had expressed interest. No response. I extended my search to other cities and states and could not even get a phone interview. I then began searching for less than ideal positions. Not a call back to even be a Secretary. So, I became a bartender.

Eventually, I took an unpaid internship in a field I never imagined working in. There I was, Miss 4.0 Honors Student, working for free with freshmen and sophomores in college. After a year of promises that the position would soon become a paid one, I decided to move on. Refusing to move back in with my parents, I picked up a second job. Then one day, I got a call. The company I had interned for had recommended me for a position with another firm. I couldn’t believe it. Summer of 2010, over two years after I had graduated from college, I finally had a real full-time job.

Only this job was nothing that I would have ever wanted to do. I am still here to this day, only because I know how difficult it will be to find another. I continuously read articles about unemployed recent graduates and lend a sympathetic ear to my job seeking friends. I feel as if I am wasting my life, sitting here at this desk, doing trivial work and browsing news articles all day. When people tell me that I am lucky for having a job, I want to cry. How can this mundane existence actually be envied?! I do have a roof over my head and health insurance, but my optimism about the work world has been severely damaged. I did not work this hard in order to obtain this outcome. Serving people drinks was more rewarding than what I do at my full-time job, and it is killing me inside.

It is terrible that so many of our nation’s top youth are going through the same struggles. Some say that we should not expect things to be handed to us, and that we should just stop whining. That may be the case for some, but what about those of us who never expected anything? There are thousands of us who worked hard and did everything that we were supposed to do. We were told, “If you push yourself and work harder than everyone else, you will succeed.” We did not create the problems our nation is facing today. We didn’t vote for the politicians, we didn’t borrow too much money, we didn’t buy things we couldn’t afford, and we didn’t build the hopes and dreams of an entire generation, only to have them come crashing down.

To those of you unemployed now, go find an internship. Freelance. Volunteer. Do anything to make connections. If you are still in college and are not trying to get multiple internships before you graduate, you are a moron. Does it suck that you have to work for free? Yeah, it sucks and it isn’t fair, but that is the only thing you can do right now.

Source: The Atlantic, Sep 2011

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Write comments below, or click here to submit your own experience.

Posted in blog | Tagged business, dream job, gpa, grades, internships, job search, Leadership, underemployed, unemployed | 1 Comment

Voices of the Jobless: Subject Line…”Mad as Hell”

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Mark Matthes

Reader response:

I’m only 23 and it’s been barely over a year since I graduated from university. Yet already the work environment and the consequences of the “real world” have warped and degraded me. All I have are feelings of disillusionment and betrayal. If I were a mood ring, the color would translate to somewhere between quiet desperation and self-loathing. I work full-time at a temp position that under-utilizes me. I make sure not to finish work to quickly, for fear it doing so will only shorten my employment. Before that I worked in retail. Before long, I may end up back there.

Much of my rage is reserved for a predatory system of higher education and the failures of a generation that came before. I’m angry that a “state” university costs as much as it does. That many, if not most of the students who attend, treat the experience like a 4-year version of MTV’s Spring Break. Massive grade inflation means one less standard deviation between myself and those who don’t try. Lax entrance standards means that even in smaller classes, half of the students do as little as possible, have nothing to contribute, and see learning as a necessary evil, if even that. These “state” universities are more interested in funding nice football stadiums than maintaining up-to-date libraries or modern classrooms. They are more interested in your tuition than your education. And will continue to hound you for alumni contributions long after graduation.

Then there’s the baby boomer generation. Guardians of the state, they have left it dysfunctional. Watchdogs of the economy, they have let it burn. Stewards of the earth, they have done little to curb its exploitation or prepare for a more sustainable future. From Reagan on the country has lived “above it’s means.” More tax cuts and higher spending. And every time the house of cards threatens to fall down, consumer spending receives another stimulating injection in the hope of averting the dismal reality on the other side of of the bubble. But this time there’s apparently nothing left to do. This time the debt is just too big. This time, the baby boomers say from the comfort of lower unemployment and a stable mortgage, there’s no escaping the pain. They are more concerned with keeping inflation low then the employment of their children. They are more interested in protecting their 401K and Social Security benefits than investing in tomorrow. They spent our future and now need us to pay the costs.

But most of my anger is reserved for myself. I pursued a “Liberal Arts Degree” in communications rather than a B.S. in engineering or computer science. I spent all four years at a state university rather than the first two at a community college. I worked in the summer instead of getting an internship. I worked harder at my classes than making contacts and networking with professionals. Not everyone is suffering in this economy, and if I were going to college for the first time this fall I’d know how to prepare. But I didn’t at the time and now I’m left to face the consequences. I want to blame the universities and “grown-ups” who I feel should have known better. They were the ones, after all, peddling the mantra of “go to college, study hard, get a job.”

Instead, egotistical like the rest of my me-first, entitlement ridden generation, I blame myself.

Source: The Atlantic, Sep 2011

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Posted in blog | Tagged communication, depression, Internship, job search, liberal arts, mad, networking, real world, underemployed | Leave a comment

Voices of the Jobless: “A Grad Degree…My Worst Decision”

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Mark Matthes

Reader response:

I’m an African American woman in my late 20s. I worked my way through my undergraduate degree and finally received it just as the recession started. As a result, few people were hiring then. So, after spending nearly 2 years volunteering and helping out my family in whatever ways I could I headed to graduate school (a decision that I now consider to be the worst decision I’ve ever made). I’m nearly finished with that degree and after a year of being a graduate teaching assistant in my program, personal reasons dictated that I relocate closer to my family. As a result I’ve spent the last year unemployed. I recently began working part-time at a big box store–on the sales floor making what I made at my last retail job 5 years ago–and I’m probably the most educated person in the store. I can’t get a management position because I don’t have enough experience in retail–so I’ve been told on several interviews. Apparently, teaching adult students–both in the classroom and as a volunteer tutor–are not skills easily transferred to the training of adult workers in a retail store.

I’m starting to feel like something is wrong with me internally. I know that I’ve made some poor decisions in my life (getting a graduate degree in women’s studies is the biggest among them), but I’m still out here trying. I’ve applied to literally hundreds of jobs, and for all of those hundreds of jobs I’ve had maybe four interviews. Only one of those jobs paid a human wage. I’m not asking for much. I would just like to make $30,000 a year. At least that way I could afford to sleep on a bed again. Did I mention that I haven’t slept on a real bed in over a year? I go out of my way to help people, not because I want something from them, but because I’ve always been this way, and when I need something (and I don’t usually ask for help), no one is ever there to help me.

It’s sad to know that if I didn’t have to work my way through school and take extra time, I’d probably have a job now. It was that extra year that put my entry-level job search in the recession’s beginning. I look at my peers who are getting married and having children and generally living life and it’s depressing. They’ve got jobs, health insurance, relationships, homes; I don’t even have a real bed to sleep on.

So people can criticize the educational choices that I’ve made. I’ve criticized myself more severely than anyone else can. I know my graduate degree was an awful, awful idea. Especially since my research ideas didn’t get much traction in the department. People can say that I should have become a nurse, or an engineer or whatever else, but when I started college and the economy was still good young people were sold the idea that they should ‘follow their passions’. The jobs were supposed to come. I didn’t take out a mortgage for a property I couldn’t afford; I didn’t participate in credit default swaps or create a Ponzi scheme. I went to college and educated myself. I’ve spent countless hours at libraries educating myself. I’ve taken care of sick relatives and taught immigrants how to read and write in English–with no pay. But I’m not responsible enough to run a retail store. I could have spent those hours drinking or partying or whatever else, but I’ve spent them trying to ‘improve’ myself in different ways because I seriously feel like I’m damaged goods. Why else can’t I pin down a full-time job with some benefits?

I hope someone can find something of value in my words.

Source: The Atlantic, Aug 2011

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Write comments below, or click here to submit your own experience.

Posted in blog | Tagged experience, Graduate School, job search, jobless | 1 Comment

Top 10 Internship-centric Universities

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Mark Matthes

The following 10 “national universities” produced the highest rates of graduates with internship experience in 2010 according to U.S. News and World Report:

Rank, School, % of graduates with internship experience
1 // American University (DC), 85%
2 // Colorado School of Mines, 81%
3 // Dartmouth College (NH), 72%
4 // University of Pittsburgh, 69%
5 // George Washington University (DC), 66%
6 // Florida Institute of Technology, 60%
7 // South Carolina State University, 60%
8 // University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 57%
9 // Pace University (NY), 57%
10 // University of South Dakota, 53%

The average percentage for “national universities” in 2010 was reported at 30.4% compared with the 53%-85% range of top 10 schools listed above. Biola University, also a “national university”, came in above the 30.4% average at 60% in 2010.

Another list of stand-out internship schools is the one below voted on by 1,500 peer institutions according to U.S. News & World Report. These schools require or encourage students to apply classroom learning in the real world through supervised internships. Listed in alphabetical order:

// Berea College (KY)
// Drexel University (PA)
// Georgia Institute of Technology
// Kettering University (MI)
// Northeastern University (MA)
// Purdue University–West Lafayette (IN)
// Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
// University of Cincinnati (OH)
// University of Maryland–College Park
// Wagner College (NY)

Sources: U.S. News, “…Most Interns,” 9/27/11; U.S. News, “Internships/Co-ops”; Biola’s statistics from the Center for Career Development

Posted in blog | Tagged co-op, internships, universities, work experience | 2 Comments

Top 10 Recruiting Predictions for 2012

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Mark Matthes

Recruiting is not what it used to be. Here’s a glance at what to expect in 2012 (in no particular order):

Vehicle: 2011 was about social media recruiting, 2012 will be about the mobile platform recruiting (smartphones, tablets). People will manage every aspect of their professional life digitally.
Niches: The talent war will return in select regions and industries. Regions are China, Australia, SE Asia, and India; industries are mainly technology-related.
Turnover: Organizations are getting worse at retaining talent, so turnover rates in high demand jobs will increase by 25%.
Data: Social media recruiting will be increasingly coupled with data analytics.
Easier: Most knowledge jobs can be remote, making recruiting easier.
External: Recruiting outside talent will be more advantageous than developing employees from within. This is because there isn’t time for existing employees to learn completely new skills.
Internal: Organizations will rely more on employees’ social media contacts for recruiting than on “recruiting agencies”.
Communities: Long-term branding is increasingly about building talent communities within organizations.
Applicants: Employer criticism on the web (e.g. Glassdoor.com) will force employers to treat applicants better. Otherwise recruiting and revenue performance will suffer.
Metrics: Forward-looking predictive metrics will replace backward-looking recruiting metrics.

Source: Mark Matthes’ summary of an article by Dr. John Sullivan, ere.net, Dec 5, 2011. Dr. John Sullivan is a well-known thought leader in HR. He is a frequent speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 and Silicon Valley firms. Formerly the chief talent officer for Agilent Technologies (the 43,000-employee HP spin-off), he is now a professor of management at San Francisco State University. He was called the “Michael Jordan of Hiring” by Fast Company magazine.

Posted in top ten | Tagged 2012, predictions, recruiting, recruitment, talent, trends, war | Leave a comment

Top 10 Most Innovative Consumer Products Companies

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Here’s Fast Company‘s list of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Consumer Products. What do you think? Are these companies worthy of the list? Which companies should or should not have made the cut?

01 / Nissan

For creating the Leaf, the first mass-market electric car.

02 / Nike >>

For its mix of sports, style, and yes, plastic bottles. Nike developed 2010 World Cup jerseys for 10 countries/teams from discarded plastic bottles scavenged from Japanese and Taiwanese landfill sites. The bottles were melted down to produce a yarn for fabric for the jerseys.

03 / Samsung >>

For transforming itself into a steady source of cutting-edge electronics. Samsung has rolled out new and sophisticated options for kitchen appliances, including the Samsung FTQ307 induction range, which features a three-fan convection oven and warming drawer, and the Samsung RF4287, which features a flexible middle drawer that can help save energy usually lost to people (especially kids) opening the entire fridge and hanging in the doorway.

04 / Dyson

For continuing to rethink urban appliances–with style. The Dyson City vacuum, technically known as the DC26 Multi-floor Vacuum, is explicitly designed for urban apartment dwellers in need of a space-saving solution. Dyson Air Multiplier fans draw in air and amplify it, from 15 to 18 times, with no blades or grille, producing an uninterrupted stream of smooth air without unpleasant buffeting.

05 / P&G

For implementing a systemized, measured means of achieving a broader set of sustainability goals. Executives announced this year a series of 10-year goals, including using renewable energy for 30% of its factories and 20% renewable or recycled materials for all products and packages.

06 / Whirlpool

For its smart washer and dryer line that brings the kind of intelligence and personalization to laundry that we’ve grown accustomed to in, say, our home-entertainment centers.

07 / Method

For doubling down on its commitment to both good design and sustainability in home cleaning products. Its new eco-friendly laundry detergent uses pump technology (a first for laundry detergent brands) to eliminate the mess created by traditional jugs of detergent. If the consumer follows the “four pump” rule, there is less wasted detergent.

08 / Oxo

For reshaping more and more everyday household tools with its smart design ethos. The International Design Excellence Awards recognized the Oxo cork pull, which comes with a built-in foil-cutter; the firm also won a bronze Spark Design Award for its GG 360 LiquiSeal Travel Mug. Next up: moving out of the kitchen. Oxo Tot is a kid-friendly line that includes bathing, cleaning, feeding, and lighting gear.

09 / Unilever

For helping consumers change their cleaning habits to become better stewards of the earth–and making more of its own eco-friendly products–as part of its Cleaner Planet Plan.

10 / Merck

For developing a groundbreaking FootMapping technology for its Dr. Scholl’s brand that uses 2,000 pressure sensors to measure the different areas of the foot that take the biggest hits when walking, and then recommends different orthotics solutions. FootMapping is part of an in-store orthotics center that Dr. Scholl’s (a brand in Merck’s consumer care division) is installing in drug stores and shoe retailers.

Posted in top ten | Tagged 10, companies, fast company, ten, top ten | Leave a comment

How to Find a Mentor

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Alex Sparks

It is always beneficial to have someone helping you through important decisions. Whether you are trying to pinpoint a career, pick a major, or land a promotion. Statistically, people with mentors are more likely to ask to be pushed or request a raise than those without one. Often times we need the extra motivation to make us take the plunge. Unfortunately, finding the right mentor for your situation is not always easy.

Here are 8 steps to help you find a mentor:

1 || What do you want in a mentor:

The first step in finding a mentor is deciding what type of mentor you want. Are you looking for a strictly business mentor, a spiritual mentor, or a general mentor to help guide you through the day-to-day of life? Do you want someone inside your workplace who can help you take the right steps to advance? Or someone with specific knowledge on a business challenge – asking for a raise, dressing well, or preparing for an interview? These are all questions you have to ask yourself.

2 || Check with your employer, school, church:

Next you can start asking around depending on what you’re looking for. Most large employers have a mentorship program in place. If not, talk to potential mentors or people with mentors and ask them how they got connected. The same goes with your school. A lot of majors at Biola have a mentorship program. Talk with your department director and see if you can find any information. Professors are also great people to talk to. Whether they are a potential mentor themselves or not, they will have an idea of who to talk to. If you are looking for a spiritual mentor or at least someone with the common bond your church is a great place to look. Talk to your head pastor or college leader about whether or not they know of any elders or long-time attendees who may be interested.

3 || Practice your pitch:

In a way you are trying to land a job. You are asking someone to pay you with his or her time and advice. You have to be willing to promote yourself so they buy that it is worth their energy. This is no time for modesty. Show potential, talk about your accomplishments, and your drive to succeed. Sidenote: steer clear of the formal request. “Will you be my mentor,” is corny, plus it sounds like a lot of work and responsibility.

4 || Make it fun:

For the same reason we avoid formal requests, we also want to make it fun. A worthy mentor is going to be more interested in helping you if you make it sound like fun. Less like work and more like an opportunity to grow a friendship. Express interest in their wisdom, as well as their fellowship.

5 || Start with a single question:

The best way to enter into a mentorship is by posing a single question as opposed to regular meetings or official titles. When you have found a potential mentor, approach them with a particular question about your work. Ask them about switching careers or their thoughts on your resume. Later approach them with another question. Eventually, this pattern will develop into the regular meetings you are hoping for.

6 || Return the favor:

Don’t forget that mentorship is two-way street. The exchange needs to be mutual. There is a lot that you can learn from each other. In fact, many older Businessmen and women seek younger mentors for advice with technology and media. Use this opportunity to return the favor if they have any questions about the digital world you’ve grown up with.

7 || Be a mentor:

Being a mentor yourself will give you a better understanding of how to interact with your own mentor. You will also see the limits of mentorship from their viewpoint. You don’t want to expect too much of them. Check with your school and local non-profits for opportunities to volunteer.

8 || Listen:

Always be willing to listen. Sometimes the initial reaction is to defend yourself, but the purpose of a mentor is to receive sound advice. Ask honest questions and expect honest responses. Listen intently.

Content taken from Kerry Hannon’s article on Forbes.

Posted in blog | Tagged advice, business, career, how to, mentor | Leave a comment

16 Essentials of Men’s Style

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Mark Matthes

Put This On is blog series devoted to “dressing like a grownup.” Their advice is practical and comprehensive, though I may not agree with all of it. I combed their site and summarized gold nuggets that are specifically helpful to job seekers.

According to Jesse, “Your goal in dressing for an interview should be to convey that you care about the opportunity, and that you’re willing to be part of the team. You should dress conservatively, without ostentation, and err on the side of formality. … Basic interview attire is a navy or gray suit, black shoes, a white shirt, and a simple tie. … Never showy, always appropriate. Simple, neat, never distracting.”

Below is a summary of 16 essentials of style that every job-seeking man should consider.

Jacket should follow the lines of your upper body and not be too loose or tight.
Suits in gray, navy (and also in black, in my opinion).
White dress shirts.
White t-shirts underneath dress shirts.
Unbutton the bottom button of jacket and/or vest.
Buttoning the top button is optional on 3-button jackets.
Black belt with black shoes, brown belt with brown shoes.
Belt or suspenders, but never both.
Standard dress belt ~1 1/4″ wide; don’t go narrower. Wider than 1 1/4″ is casual.
Pants are fine with or without cuffs, with or without pleats; but without is more modern.
Pant length somewhere between bottom of heel and where shoe heel meets the ground.
Tailor suits, sport coats or pants as necessary.
Tie should have a dimple in the knot.
Tie should reach belt line–not above or below belt.
Wear a tie only with a suit, sport coat or sweater, but never solo.
For casual attire: light-weight wool pants, khaki pants, good straight-cut jeans with no holes, patterned long sleeve shirts, solid polos and sweaters.

Sources:

Put This On: 25 Pieces of Basic Sartorial Knowledge So You Don’t Look Dumb
Put This On: Pant Length
Put This On: Tie Dimple Illustration
Put This On: Belts
Put This On: Essential Man’s Wardrobe
Put This On: Job Interview Attire

Posted in Featured, Interviewing etc | Tagged appearance, interviewing, men, style | 2 Comments

Top 10 Most Innovative Education Companies

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Here’s Fast Company‘s list of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education. What do you think? Are these companies worthy of the list? Which companies should or should not have made the cut?

01 / NYU

For opening up a second campus in Abu Dhabi. There, NYU is shepherding the most successful and ambitious attempt yet to export overseas a full-fledged American liberal arts university.

02 / LinkedIn >>

For developing LinkedIn’s Career Explorer, which offers users career path recommendations that are tailored to their interests and based on the real paths of professionals with similar profiles. CEO Reid Hoffman is also actively involved in the national conversations surrounding the future of education, and envisions his company as a 21st century diploma.

03 / Khan Academy

For building a collection of more than 1,800 short, simple video lectures and chalkboard demos that cover everything from math to physics to economics. The brain behind these web tutorials: Sal Khan, a 33-year-old Harvard MBA who developed the project out of his closet. Now, with Gates Foundation funding, he’s taking his adaptive learning system to classrooms.

04 / Discovery Education

For leading the way in the digital learning movement by making video-based content that reaches more than half of all U.S. schools, including 1 million teachers and 35 million students. The company developing digital math and science curricula for public school students in Chicago and Detroit.

05 / Togetherville

For creating a social network built on top of Facebook for kids, families, and teachers that allows them to express their thoughts on educational issues. Roughly 90,000 U.S. schools are already included in its database.

06 / Autodesk Sustainability Workshop

For teaching mechanical engineers (for free) the principles behind sustainable design. The workshop is the brainchild of designer Dawn Danby, who has worked on furniture, urban planning, and retail systems projects.

07 / OpenStudy

For building a social learning network where students can ask questions, offer help, and connect with other students studying similar topics. Its mission is to make the world one large study group, regardless of students’ locations or backgrounds.

08 / Irynsoft

For providing the first basic mobile platform that allows users to take a course on their iPhone. It has already been adopted by MIT Open CourseWare.

09 / Straighterline

For developing an online for-profit college where the first year costs $999.

10 / Inigral

For creating Facebook apps that help students stay in college by connecting them to a community of students who share their interests. Inigral also received the first-ever venture investment from the Gates Foundation.

Posted in top ten | Tagged 10, companies, Education, fast company, ten, top, top ten | Leave a comment

10 Things to Remove From Your Resume

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Alex Sparks

I wanted to write a blog on this article because I thought it was so helpful. However, when I tried to use it as a source I found myself struggling to cut anything out. All of it is great advice and comes from a true expert in the field. So I decided to include the article in full.

Written by Don Goodman and taken from Careerealism.com

Continue reading →

Posted in blog | Tagged career, edit, resume, tips, writing | 1 Comment

Top 10 Most Innovative Biotech Companies

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Here’s Fast Company‘s list of the 10 Most Innovative Biotech Companies. What do you think? Are these companies worthy of the list? Which companies should or should not have made the cut?

01 / Amyris »

For deploying novel methods to fight an old foe, the malaria parasite.

02 / Omeros

For a new test to identify potential drug receptors.

03 / Synthetic Genomics

For its multi-application approach to synthetic microbes.

04 / Galapagos

For its super-efficient drug pipeline.

05 / Amgen

For a new osteoporosis drug that could also battle hormonal breast cancer.

06 / Fate Therapeutics

For devising an innovative way to test drugs on human cells.

07 / NovaBay

For antibiotic-like compounds that fight their battles by mimicking the human immune system.

08 / Oncogenex

For protein-targeting, chemo-boosting cancer treatments.

09 / Myelin Repair Foundation

For its unorthodox, highly collaborative approach to drug development.

10 / Kane Biotech

For a wound-care spray that could aid and speed healing.

Posted in top ten | Tagged biotech, innovative, Top 10, top ten | Leave a comment

Body Language Improves Interviews

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Mark Matthes

Social psychologist Amy Cuddy reveals in the below video that altering your physical posture, even for only 2 minutes, can change your hormone levels and the way you feel and are perceived by people. This can equate to better interviews.

Use expansive body language which can include shoulders back, arms out, and smiling. She recommends practicing such actions prior to an interview to raise your testosterone level and to lower your cortisol level. Higher testosterone is associated with confidence, power, and higher risk tolerance. Lower cortisol levels are associated with less stress and calmness. This combination is linked with effective leadership. Contracted body language (closed) is linked to feelings of lower status and worth, and is exemplified by hunched shoulders, head lowered, crossed arms and legs, and not smiling.

This research gives scientific evidence to what most of us already know–that simple actions of smiling and using open body language can improve how people are perceived by others. Try it before and during your next interview!

Amy Cuddy: Power Poses from PopTech on Vimeo.

Posted in Featured, blog | Tagged body language, cortisol, hormone, interview, interviewing, posture, science, smiling, testosterone | Leave a comment

Unpaid Internships: Legal or Illegal?

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Mark Matthes

A few months ago I blogged about the ethical concerns surrounding unpaid internships in the article, Unpaid Internship: Is It Worth It?. This article, on legality, covers the other half of the controversy. New York Times sparked the debate last year in their article, The Unpaid Intern: Legal or Not, and it’s been a hot topic nationwide ever since.

The focus of the debate revolves around unpaid internships at for-profit companies. The following 6 points must be met in order for unpaid internships at for-profit companies to be legal according to federal law:

The training (internship), even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to what would be given in a vocational school or academic educational instruction
The training (internship) is for the benefit of the trainees (interns)
The trainees (interns) do not displace regular employees, but work under their close observation
The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees (interns), and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually be impeded
The trainees (interns) are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training (internship) period
The employer and the trainees (interns) understand that the trainees (interns) are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training (internship).

What this means in plain English is that virtually every unpaid internship at a for-profit company is illegal. Why? Because it would be almost impossible for a company not to derive at least some “immediate advantage” (#4 above) from intern activity. Organizations must produce goods and services (producing “immediate advantage”) for their survival. Therefore why would interns be separated from this essential role? Answer: they’re not separated.

If all unpaid internships at for-profit companies are illegal, what should students do if they wish to pursue this type of internship? First of all, it’s unrealistic for students to try changing deep-rooted systems like this. Getting good experience matters more, and sometimes it may require volunteering time as an investment. After all, some industries refuse to pay interns because they don’t have to; industry competition may be fierce and jobs rare. Film, fashion, music, sports and entertainment industries are known to be this way. These industries consider “payment” to be industry exposure, contacts, insider access, and a foot-in-the-door. The federal government has threatened fines on companies that violate these laws, but large scale enforcement is hard to imagine in our current (or future) economy.

Most people who have spent a decent amount of time in the work world probably recognize that their path took multiple turns, sometimes into lesser known areas. Investing time and personal resources are often necessary steps to pursuing dreams.

Posted in Featured, blog | Tagged illegal, intern, Internship, legal, unpaid | Leave a comment

10 Reasons You Didn’t Get Hired

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Getting hired is tricky business. You updated your resume, ironed your shirt, and deleted all of your embarrassing Facebook pictures. What else can you do?

Many times we assume it must be something wrong with the ones doing the hiring. However, the reality of things is that many job seekers are giving off warning signs to employers the tell them to look elsewhere.

According to a 2009 CareerBuilder survey, 47% of employers said that finding qualified applicants was the hardest part about hiring. Multitasking, initiative and creative problem-solving were the most important qualities they looked for.

Make sure you do everything you can to be right for the job.

Here are 10 reasons your last interview may have gone sour:

1 || You lie.

Any lies you tell to a potential employer will come back to bite you. In a 2008 CareerBuilder survey, 49% of hiring managers reported they caught a candidate lying on his or her résumé; of those employers, 57% said they automatically dismissed the applicant. Thanks to the Internet information is easily accessible. It is always better to be honest. Tell your story, focus on your strengths and accomplishments and explain any areas of concern if needed.

2 || You bad mouth employers.

It’s certainly tempting to tell anyone who will listen about how big of a joke your current boss is, but a hiring manager for a new job is not that person. A 2009 CareerBuilder survey showed that 44% of employers said that talking negatively about past employers was one of the most detrimental mistakes a candidate can make.

Find a way to turn the negative into a positive. If you can’t get along with your co-workers, for example, say that you’re looking for a work environment where you feel like you’re part of a team.

3 || You don’t show long-term potential.

Employers want to hire candidates that have a drive to work their way up in the company. If you are asked where you see yourself in the future and don’t give an answer that relates to the position or company you’re interviewing with, then you kiss your chances goodbye.

4 || You have serious digital dirt

Be careful what you put on the Internet. Social networking sites and online searches are the common way that employers are checking up on prospective hires. A 2009 CareerBuilder survey showed that 45% of employers use social networking sites to research candidates; 35% percent of those employers found content that caused them to dismiss the candidate. Make sure to remove any photos, content or links that can work against you in an employer’s eyes or be smart and don’t post them in the first place.

5 || You don’t know anything about the job.

Do your homework before an interview. Research the company online and find as much as possible about the job expectations. Prepare your own questions for the interviewee, as well as answers to their questions. The more you prepare, the more employers will take you seriously.

6 || You acted bored or disinterested.

A little enthusiasm never hurt anyone, especially when it comes to a potential new job. In a 2009 CareerBuilder survey, 45% percent of employers said that the biggest mistake candidates made in the interview was appearing disinterested. Every business wants to put their most enthusiastic people forward with clients and customers, so if you can’t show interest in the interview then you won’t get anywhere.

7 || You were a little too personal.

Candidates often provide too much personal information in the interview, which essentially blows their chances at the job. Not only does personal information offend some people, but also anytime you talk about topics such as your hobbies, race, age or religion, you’re setting yourself up for bias. Though it is illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants because of any of these factors, it does still happen.

8 || You were all about the money.

You should never bring up salary before the employer does. Doing so is tacky and makes the employer think that you only care about the money involved, not about helping the employer succeed. When the topic does arise, however, be honest about your salary history. Employers can verify your salary in a matter of minutes, so lying only makes you look bad.

9 || You can’t give examples.

Companies want employees who can prove that they will increase sales, improve productivity, or help it succeed in some way. If you can’t explain to an employer how you would go about accomplishing these things, then everything you say will sound empty. In fact, 35% of employers said that the most detrimental mistake candidates make is not providing specific examples in the interview.

10 || You don’t have the experience.

Companies often don’t have the time to train and mentor new employees. The more experience you have, the more likely you are to the job. The best way to show that you know what you’re doing is to give the employer concrete examples of your experience in a given job duty.

Information taken from CNN.com

Posted in blog | Tagged 10, didn't, employers, hired, interview, list, not, reasons | Leave a comment

Top 10 Most Innovative Design Companies

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Here’s Fast Company‘s list of the 10 Most Innovative Design Companies. What do you think? Are these companies worthy of the list? Which companies should or should not have made the cut?

01 / Stamen Design »

For clever ways of delivering both bountiful information and surprising beauty gleaned from data sets — and Twitter.

02 / Local Projects.

For showing how digital design can create powerful emotional experiences.

03 / Hoefler & Frere-Jones

For creating brilliant typefaces used in everything from presidential campaigns to stock tables.

04 / Berg

For tackling design challenges, from iPad apps to RFID tags, as if they were science experiments.

05 / Fuseproject

For proving that great commercial design can be used to underwrite great philanthropic design.

06 / ideo

For opening its own innovation processes to the world.

07 / Ammunition

For cutting-edge consumer electronics that still have soul.

08 / Pentagram

For graphic design that sets a new standard, for old-school books as well as newfangled animated logos.

09 / Michael Van Valkenburgh

For transforming rotting docks and wastewater facilities into enchanting environments.

10 / Studio Dror

For melding visual poetry and practical multitasking in products, interiors, and architecture.

Posted in top ten | Tagged 10, company, design, fast company, innovative, Top 10, top ten | Leave a comment

Infographic: The Greenest Way to Travel

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Alex Sparks

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Infographic: How to Market With Facebook

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Alex Sparks

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Infographic: The Small Business Checklist

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Posted in twitter | Tagged business, infographic, small, twitter | 1 Comment

Why Should I Blog?

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Blogs are an important part of the professional world. They allow customers to see a company in a more personal light and employers can look at the blogs of potential hires to determine if they are an appropriate fit.

If you have been thinking about starting a blog, there is no better time than the present. The benefits far outweigh any hesitance you may have. Not to mention blogs can be run for free! All it takes is a little bit of time and a regular schedule.

Still not convinced it’s for you? Here a few ways blogging can help launch your career:

Create a Brand - A resume is fairly limited. With a blog you can show employers who you really are. You control the design, the content, and the structure. All of this is a reflection of your personality and style.

Establish a Voice – Employers want to know whom they’re hiring. Blogs let you put your knowledge and experience on display. Plus it gives them a way to feel you out and make sure that you are a good fit for their company.

Share Ideas - A blog lets you share your ideas with other people in your industry. Brainstorm each other’s ideas and form an online think-tank. You never know how a peer’s comment or post may inspire you.

Show a Portfolio – If you work in a visual industry such as art, photography, fashion, or film a blog will allow you to display your work to a large audience. Resumes alone don’t give you this freedom.

Network - Running a blog will connect you to like-minded professionals from around the world. This network of people is crucial when branching from one job to another. Use these relationships to find your place in a career. At the same time, if you ever need to hire someone you know where to look.

Now that you know you need to start a blog, it is important to decide what kind of blog you want to manage. Is your blog personal or strictly business? Do you post original content only or do you repost other sources you enjoy? These are questions you will have to answer depending on your career path and intended audience.

Here are a few free blogging sites to get you started: Tumblr – WordPress – Blogger

Posted in blog | Tagged blog, blogger, networking, professional, question, reasons to, should i, tumblr, wordpress | Leave a comment

Top 10 Most Innovative Architecture Companies

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Alex Sparks

Here’s Fast Company‘s list of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Architecture. What do you think? Are these companies worthy of the list? Which companies should or should not have made the cut?

01 / Snøhetta >>

For design that’s both social and beautiful that blurs the lines between architecture and landscape. Snohetta’s buildings are notable for their “architecture of engagement,” in which the social experience of the structure is as important as its form.

02 / BIG

For winning high profile commissions and international accolades–a feat given the firm’s small size–thanks to the work of its Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The studio has designed Denmark’s much-lauded pavilion for the Shanghai Expo, put the final flourishes on the Figure 8 House in Copenhagen, unveiled a pyramid-shaped residential tower for Manhattan, and knocked off the competition for a waste treatment facility in Denmark by envisioning the unglam building as the site of an urban ski slope.

03 / Foreign Office Architects

For its bold vision for the digital media education center at Ravensbourne College, which defines the school as a machine for learning by melding departments, rethinking the function of classrooms, and incorporating social media into design.

04 / Sanaa

For Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa’s ability to design properties that meld light, transparency, and materiality into ethereal spaces. These winners of the 2010 Pritzker Architecture prize designed the acclaimed New Museum in New York and the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. Next up: a new branch of the Louvre.

05 / REX

For transforming the abandoned skeleton of an unfinished hotel in Istanbul into the Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center, a significant new addition to Turkey’s contemporary architectural landscape. Joshua Prince-Ramus’s firm also won accolades in 2010 for designing the Wyly Theater in Dallas, the Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo, and the Finnish Innovation Funds’ Low2No sustainable development in Helsinki

06 / Michael Maltzan

For scoring tony commissions, such as designing Michael Ovitz’s house, while also tackling less glamorous work by by providing shelter and other accommodations for the poor in Los Angeles. Over the past 16 years, Maltzan has also worked on several housing projects and designed an arts complex for underprivileged children.

07 / Kengo Kuma

For developing a signature style that uses light and nature to reinterpret the design of traditional buildings. Kengo Kuma’s big win in 2010 was beating out an array of the globe’s heaviest architecture hitters to create a new landmark building for the Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland.

08 / T.R. Hamzah & Yeang International

For going beyond the usual LEED guidelines and broadcasting the green credentials of the buildings the firm designs by wrapping them in continuous strips of vegetation. Next up for thei Malaysian firm: a 26-story high-rise in Singapore whose photovoltaic panels, natural ventilation, and biogas generation plant are all wrapped in a “living wall” that covers half of its surface area.

09 / Moshe Safdie

For having a banner year, despite the difficult economic climate for architecture, and for debuting projects from Singapore to Arkansas. His most recent commission: a large residential tower in China.

10 / Diebedo Francis Kere

For doing innovative architecture projects in his native Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in Africa. Among them: using traditional unbaked mud bricks to rebuild a school.

Posted in top ten | Tagged architecture, companies, fast company, top ten | Leave a comment

“Your First Job Doesn’t Really Matter”

Posted on November 11, 2011 by allie.loy

I’m a sophomore and not only do I have absolutely no idea what I want to do in life, I don’t even know what I want to major in. However, when I begin to stress out, I take a look around and realize that I’m not the only one who’s confused. I see thousands of new college graduates facing high unemployment rates and frustrating job applications and I know I will be in their position soon. It can be both physically and mentally exhausting.

However, I recently found hope: my first job out of college may not matter as much as I thought. Jodi Glickman, from Harvard Business Review, polled one hundred women leaders and found out that the women didn’t continue on with the career path they planned when they graduated. This reminds me that it’s ok to work a job that has absolutely no correlation with my major. It also reminds me that whatever major I declare, it will not define my career path.

Glickman recommends that students use their time in college to learn and explore career options. I plan to take the time that I have and not waste it- even though I don’t know what I want to do. I’m currently working on campus to learn skills that are improving my work ethic and gaining experience that will help me stand out in the real world. I’m actively searching for an internship that I find interesting and hope to get the most out of it. When an internship comes around and it’s not what I expected it to be, I will use those experiences to learn- then pursue something I might enjoy more. My time will not be wasted but rather each experience builds on the next towards what God has planned for me.

Read more of Glickman’s advice here: Harvard Business Review, Oct 17, 2011

Posted in Featured, blog | Tagged decisions, job, major, unemployment | Leave a comment

Job Attainment: Liberal Arts vs. Other Majors

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Mark Matthes

Is it a problem that no defined job path exists for humanities and social science majors? Hey, it’s not much different for undergrads in business, communication, and psychology. Flexibility is a benefit of generalist-type degrees, but it can also be a liability in trying to land certain jobs.

So why would someone hire a liberal arts major over others? Analytical thinking, creative problem solving, and effective communication are some of the skills liberal arts majors are trained in. And these are qualities most organizations value highly. One problem, however, is that the jobless rate tends to be higher among recent liberal arts grads compared with other majors.

The New York Times illustrated this problem in a recently published article showing the percentage of college grads under 25 years old holding jobs that require degrees (a.k.a. the college labor market):

1. 71%, Education
2. 69%, Engineering
3. 68%, Math/Computer Science
4. 65%, Health
5. 57%, Physical Science
6. 56%, Business
7. 51%, Communication
8. 46%, Humanities
9. 45%, Area Studies (including Social Sciences)
Source: NY Times, May 19, 2011

These statistics reveal that choice of major can affect how long it takes to get a job, which can have a significant financial impact on recent grads’ salary earnings. People attend college partly to enrich their lives but also to become equipped to land jobs with a higher skill level and salary. This same article said recent college graduates’ median salary is about 41% more per year ($11,000) compared to people without college degrees. A $11,000 disparity may seem low until you realize that it includes full-time, part-time, and temporary workers–in addition, there are many people who earn more than the median.

It’s no mystery that high-demand skills, such as nursing and computer science, produce higher salaries than lower-demand skills. But how much should this influence peoples’ choices in majors? Should people who are passionate about, say, humanities refrain from studying humanities for economic reasons? Short term economics may indeed be challenging, but what about long term job prospects? It seems reasonable that people who do what they love can eventually earn decent earnings if they are persistent in improving skills in their target area while also pursuing key decision makers in their field.

Why is it hardest for Humanities and Area Studies (Social Sciences) majors to land jobs after graduation? One reason is likely because cost efficiency is more important than ever in organizations. People without specific training to boost revenue, cut expenses, or invest company assets can be perceived to hold less value in many organizations. This doesn’t mean, however, that humanities or social science majors are less capable of producing cost efficiency. Nevertheless organizations tend to make more conservative hiring decisions during hard economic times. In other words, they may perceive it as a higher financial risk to employ humanities or social science majors over some other majors.

On the other hand, companies like Google and Apple are now reaching out to humanities and social science majors (source: NY Daily News, Sep 4, 2011). “It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with humanities, than yields us the result that makes our heart sing,” says Steve Jobs of Apple. “Products must appeal to human beings, and a rigorously cultivated humanistic sensibility is a valued asset,” says Damon Horowitz of Google. The NY Daily News article describes a trend in some universities to mix technology, liberal arts and communication to equip people for the workplace of today. To what degree is Biola heading in this direction?

For anyone who might suggest that a liberal arts education has a questionable future, here are some recognizable names who hold humanities and social science degrees and have achieved some form of career success (source: NY Daily News, Sep 4, 2011):

Bradbury Anderson, CEO of BestBuy, BA in Sociology
Kofi Annan, Politician, BA in Economics
James Baker, Former Secretary of State, BA in Classics
Jerry Brown, Governor of California, BA in Classics
George W. Bush, Former President, BA in History
Bill Clinton, Former President, BA in International Affairs
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State (and former Senator), BA in Political Science
Ethan Coen, Filmmaker, BA in Philosophy
Katie Couric, Journalist, BA in English/American Studies
Rivers Cuomo, Musician, BA in American Literature
David Duchovny, Actor, BA in English Literature
John Elway, Athlete, BA in Economics
Jodi Foster, Actress, BA in English Literature
Art Garfunkel, Musician, BA in Art History
Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York, BA in Political Science
Philip Glass, Composer, BA in Mathematics and Philosophy
Matt Groening, Creator of the Simpsons, BA in Philosophy
Bryant Gumbel, Journalist, BA in History
Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Athlete, BA in History
Michael Jordan, Athlete, BA in Cultural Geography
Ashley Judd, Actress, BA in French
John F. Kennedy, Former President, BA in History
Tommy Lee Jones, Actor, BA in English
Lisa Loeb, Songwriter, BA in Comparative Literature
Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Leader & Pastor, BA in Sociology
Bill Maher, Entertainer, BA in English
Steve Martin, Performer & Actor, BA in Philosophy
Phil McGraw, TV Psychologist, BA in Psychology
Toni Morrison, Writer and Nobel Prize Winner, BA in English
Conan O’Brien, Entertainer, BA in History and American Literature
Barak Obama, President, BA in Political Science
Michele Obama, First Lady, BA in Sociology
Regis Philbin, Talk Show Host, BA in Sociology
Brad Pitt, Actor, BA in Journalism
David Plouffe, Political Consultant, BA in Political Science
Natalie Portman, Actress, BA in Psychology
Sally Ride, Astronaut, BA in English (and Physics)
Stephen Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble, BA in Anthropology
Janet Robinson, CEO of the New York Times Co., BA in English
Philip Roth, Writer, BA in English
Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice, BA in History
Willard Scott, TV Weatherman, BA in Philosophy & Religion
Maria Shriver, Journalist, BA in American Studies
Paul Simon, Musician, BA in English literature
George Soros, Philanthropist, BA in Philosophy
Mira Sorvino, Actress, BA in Asian Studies
Sonya Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justice, BA in History
Michael Steele, Politician, BA in International Relations
George Stephanopoulos, Journalist, BA in Political Science
Barbara Walters, Journalist, BA in English
Meg Whitman, CEO of HP & former CEO of eBay, BA in Economics
Robin Williams, Entertainer, BA in Sociology

Posted in Featured, blog | Tagged famous people, humanities, joblessness, jobs, liberal arts, major, return on investment, roi, social science | Leave a comment

Bad Bosses from TV and Film

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Alex Sparks

The Entertainment Industry loves to portray bad bosses. Work takes up so much of a person’s time and is unfortunately a prominent cause in a character’s frustration. Here is a fun look at some terrible work situations from TV and Film. Take this as a personal guidebook on what to avoid when settling into a job.

If you have any more examples let us know and we will add them to the list!

Office Space

The boss: Bill Lumbergh
The employee: Peter Gibbons

Bill Lumbergh: Hello Peter, whats happening? Ummm, I’m gonna need you to go ahead come in tomorrow. So if you could be here around 9 that would be great, mmmk… oh oh! and I almost forgot ahh, I’m also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday too, kay. We ahh lost some people this week and ah, we sorta need to play catch up.

Mad Men

The boss: Don Draper
The employee: Peggy Olson

Don Draper: That’s how this works. I pay you for ideas.
Peggy Olson: You never say ‘thank you’.
Don Draper: That’s what the money is for!

The Simpsons

The boss: Montgomery Burns
The employee: Waylon Smithers Jr.

Mr. Burns: Oh no. Smithers, why didn’t you tell me about this market crash?
Smithers: Well, sir, it happened 25 years before I was born.
Mr. Burns: Oh, that’s your excuse for everything.

The Office

The boss: Michael Scott
The employee: Everyone.

Michael Scott: You may look around and see two groups here: white collar, blue collar. But I don’t see it that way, and you know why not? Because I am collar-blind.

Futurama

The boss: Capt. Zapp Brannigan
The employee: Lt. Kif Kroker

Captain Zapp Brannigan: I’m de-promoting you, soldier. Kiff, what’s the most humiliating job there is?
Kif Kroker: Being your assistant.
Captain Zapp Brannigan: Wrong. Being *your* assistant.

The Devil Wears Prada

The boss: Miranda Priestly
The employee: Andy Sachs

Miranda Priestly: Do you know why I hired you? I always hire the same girl- stylish, slender, of course… worships the magazine. But so often, they turn out to be- I don’t know- disappointing and, um… stupid. So you, with that impressive résumé and the big speech about your so-called work ethic- I, um- I thought you would be different. I said to myself, go ahead. Take a chance. Hire the smart, fat girl. I had hope. My God. I live on it. Anyway, you ended up disappointing me more than, um- more than any of the other silly girls.

Ugly Betty

The boss: Daniel Meade
The employee: Betty Suarez

Daniel Meade: I realize I have some awful big [looks at Betty]…teeth… shoes to fill.
Betty Suarez: This is what you wanted, isn’t it? To humiliate me and make me quit? God forbid you had to work with the ugly girl your dad forced you to hire. Well, congratulations.

List compiled from the LA Times.

Posted in blog | Tagged bad, blog, bosses, film, fun, tv, work | Leave a comment

Is Studying Abroad Worth It?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Alex Sparks

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Can Happiness Fuel Success?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Alex Sparks

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Rethinking Work

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Alex Sparks

We all know that work can be a bit of a drag at times. You can only take so many orders or send so many faxes before you begin to burn out. We often find ourselves in routines that do little to aid our overall productivity. Every one of us is creative and we want our work to be appreciated. But in our busy world it is easy to get lost in the race.

According to some of the world’s most visionary leaders, it doesn’t have to be this way. There are ways around feeling stagnant in your career no matter what the field of work.

Here is some practical and inspirational advice from the book End Malaria* on how to stand out in the work force and avoid the rut:

Nancy Duarte || CEO, Duarte Design & Author, Slide:ology:
Don’t blend in; instead, clash with your environment. Stand out. Be different. That’s what will draw attention to your ideas. Nothing has intrinsic attention-grabbing power by itself. The power lies in how much something stands out from its context.

Nilofer Merchant || Author, The Now How:
When we are silent, we are hurting the outcome… Research proves that even when the different points of view are wrong, they cause people to think better, to create more solutions and to improve creativity in problem solving.

Premal Shah || President, Kiva.org:
People need opportunities to be creative; it’s absolutely vital. What I’ve learned is that if people feel like they need to paint by numbers, they’ll work at one-third of their productivity level. So we’ve created a system in which once in every five iteration cycles, our engineers do an “innovation” iteration, in which they can release any kind of programming code they want. And what we’ve found is that they create three times as much code during the innovation iteration. People can experiment without asking for permission and this creates a huge boost in morale.

Jonah Lehrer || Author, How We Decide:
Sometimes, too much focus can backfire; all that caffeine gets in the way. For instance, researchers have found a surprising link between daydreaming and creativity — people who daydream more are also better at generating new ideas. Other studies have found that employees are more productive when they’re allowed to engage in “Internet leisure browsing.

Chris Guillebeau || Author, The Art of Non-Conformity:
Don’t make a thirty-step plan; make a two-step plan: think about it and do something about it. Ask for advice on a crazy idea. Contribute more — or less — at a meeting. Make a list of a dozen colleagues; then think of one specific thing you can do to help each of them this week… Choose ordinary courage today.

Gina Trapani || Project Director, ThinkUp:
Great work is doing stuff that gives back to the world, as well as serving your own purposes. It’s the difference between writing things down to remember them versus writing things down to teach others.

* End Malaria is an book complied by Seth Godin. The book takes 62 of the world’s most visionary leaders and has them speak upon business, creativity, and productivity in the light of “doing great work.” However, the most interesting aspect of End Malaria is that it serves a bigger purpose than that. 80% of the book’s profits go directly to buying mosquito nets in order to literally attempt at ending Malaria in Africa.

Posted in blog | Tagged advice, business, Creativity, end malaria, leaders, rethinking, work | Leave a comment

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