Biola Career Development

fastcompany: So what did the designers at Google actually do...

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:00:57 -0400

So what did the designers at Google actually do not just to make their product so much more beautiful, but so much more beautiful than Facebook? Co.Design talked to Google+ lead designer Fred Gilbert to unpack the subtle brilliance behind their awesome redesign—a redesign that was completed in less than two months—and his notes are full of lessons that could hone the experience of almost any product.

4 Key Insights From The 57-Day, Blitzkrieg Redesign Of Google+

Photo

Sat, 05 May 2012 14:03:23 -0400

6 Tips for Designing a Promotion Worthy Business Card

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:59:33 -0400

6 Tips for Designing a Promotion Worthy Business Card

fastcompany: DId you eat breakfast? It really is the most...

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:01:07 -0400

fastcompany:

DId you eat breakfast? It really is the most important meal of the day.

See more->

thebestandworstofeverything: Startup words of wisdom.

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:57:27 -0400

thebestandworstofeverything:

Startup words of wisdom.

Bad Bosses from TV and Film

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:04:54 -0400

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.

Creating isn't easy, try not to forget.

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:42:24 -0400

creativesomething:

To be a successful creative you have to make the time and do the hard work first.

The artist who works long hours in the day just to pay the bills still comes home at night and paints until she can’t keep her eyes open. The writer who has a family to look after does the work required to help them be happy and healthy and then writes from 1 am until 3 am each day in pursuit of his passion.

It’s the same story for entrepreneurs, designers, illustrators, film makers, photographers, craftspeople, and anyone else who creates.

You can come up with all of the excuses in the world for why you don’t have time to do creative work, but then you’ll be just like everyone else: unsuccessful at pursuing your creative endeavors. If you really want to be successful, you’ll do what it takes to reach that point.

Think about it. We’re all given roughly the same opportunity to work for our success. Sure, some people are given the tools and money and time to pursue their creative passions without much effort, but that’s only a small minority. Even then, those who don’t have to work tirelessly for years to achieve creative success seem to never have the same quality of work as those who do.

So let’s get on the right trail and set the sail straight here: if you really want to succeed, it’s not going to be easy. It takes countless nights of tirelessly hammering the stone to create a statue worth mention. For some of us, the hard work will last for many years.

Myself included. I’m now approaching the five year mark of relentlessly pursuing creativity to become an expert in understanding what it is and how we can use it. But I know that the work pays off because I’ve seen how it has for hundreds of artists and craftspeople and inventors and writers before me.

Creating is not easy, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of time. That’s just the way it is. Take it or leave it.

Photo of Pollock working in his New York Studio via, and copyright by, Time Life

Signs of a Great Employee

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:47:00 -0400

Great employees are hard to find. There are lots of good employees, but a really great one is a rarity in the work world. Employees have to be reliable, diligent, easy to lead and easy to follow.

If you want to become a great employee try to include these traits into your work ethic.

1. Ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done. When a problem arises a great employee jumps in without being asked, even if it’s not their job.

2. Be eccentric. The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavor. People who aren’t afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.

3. Know when to dial it back. Someone with an unusual personality has to know their limit. When a major challenge pops up or a situation gets stressful, the best employees stop expressing their individuality and fit seamlessly into the team. Remarkable employees know when to play and when to be serious and when to challenge and when to back off. It’s a tough balance to strike, but a rare few can walk that fine line with ease.

4. Publicly praise others. Praise from a boss feels good. Praise from a peer feels awesome, especially when you look up to that person. Remarkable employees recognize the contributions of others, especially in group settings where the impact of their words is even greater.

5. Only complain in private. We all want employees to bring issues forward, but most problems are better handled in private. Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could create a problem.

6. Speak up when others won’t. Some employees are hesitant to speak up in meetings. Some are even hesitant to speak up privately. Remarkable employees have an innate feel for the issues and concerns of those around them, and step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.

7. Prove others wrong. Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. Education, intelligence, talent, and skill are important, but drive is critical. Remarkable employees are driven by something deeper and more personal than just the desire to do a good job.

8. Constantly tweak. Some people are rarely satisfied and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow. Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to, but because they just can’t help it.

What else have you noticed from great employees? Let us know in the comments.

Content taken from Jeff Haden’s blog on Inc.com

Stop Multitasking!

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:01:42 -0400

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

startupquote: There is no finish line. So love the journey. -...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:03:41 -0400

startupquote:

There is no finish line. So love the journey.

- David Weekly

Catch David Weekly at Echelon 2012 (11 &12 June)!

This Startup Quote is a joint collaboration between Startup Quote & e27.

How To Jumpstart Your Creative Career in a Bad Economy

Tue, 01 May 2012 10:03:29 -0400

How To Jumpstart Your Creative Career in a Bad Economy:

Great tips from guys at the 99% website.

fastcompany: Dropbox Unveils Incredibly Simple Two-Click File...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:03:03 -0400

fastcompany:

Dropbox Unveils Incredibly Simple Two-Click File Sharing

To share a file, simply right-click on the item or folder in your desktop Dropbox, and click ‘Get Link.’ That’s it. The link can then be shared by any means—emailed, texted, tweeted, whatever—to give others access to your files, even if they don’t use Dropbox.

Read more->

Education Matters

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:01:48 -0400

Education Matters:

Solutions that don’t break the bank, reinvent the wheel or marginalize our teachers are within our grasp. We could have rigorous classes, safe and disciplined schools and treat teachers like valued colleagues rather than easily replaceable cogs, and we could do so tomorrow if we wanted. The cost? You demanding it. Help demand it with me, contact Chris Guerrieri at, guerrieridistrict5@gmail.com

Education is extremely important and it has to start young. Pass it on!

good: 25 percent of Americans between 18 and 25 don’t have...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:04:39 -0400

good:

25 percent of Americans between 18 and 25 don’t have health insurance, but that doesn’t mean we have to go without medical care altogether. From Living Social deals to clinical trials, here are five strategies to get health care on the cheap.

A Workout Mind Hack You Can Use For Your Finances

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:03:58 -0400

A Workout Mind Hack You Can Use For Your Finances:

moneyisnotimportant:

When you’re trying to start an exercise routine, many experts suggest that you should tell yourself that you only have to go for ten minutes. If you don’t feel like continuing after ten minutes is up, you can go home and plop back down on the couch for more reruns of King of Queens. It’s so…

What is more expensive than college?

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:03:47 -0400

Not going to college, that’s what!

College is expensive. There is no way around it. Between classes, housing, books, and food the cost starts to stack up pretty quickly. The average student in the United States graduates with about $25,000 worth of debt. That is a pretty good chunk of change for anyone, but can be especially daunting to a prospective student or recent grad. A lot of times it sounds easier to skip the college process in favor of working your way up the totem pole. But the reality is the path to the “American Dream” has changed a lot in recent years and statistics show that you don’t always get to climb as high as you’d like to.

Not going to college can be just as expensive. This is true on an individual level as well as a national level. People without a Bachelor’s degree make 40% less than those with one. If you don’t graduate from High School, statistically you will make 80% less than someone with a 4-year college degree. How does this in turn affect the country’s financial situation? A 2012 study estimated that American youth, between the ages of 15-24, who are not engaged in employment or an education program cost $37,450 a piece, or $4.75 trillion for the 6.7 million American youth in this position. These numbers may sound a bit extreme, but there is no denying that without education American youth will earn less money in their lifetimes. When people earn less money, they spend less money, and the economy naturally suffers.

Other statistics dealing with the issue:

A 2009 McKinsey report estimated that if Americans could raise their education performance to the level of Korea, they could improve the US economy by more than $2 trillion.
A study from the Hamilton Project found that $100,000 spent on college at age 18 would yield a higher lifetime return than an equal investment in corporate bonds, U.S. government debt, or hot company stocks.
Statistics show that the highest-income countries have the highest rates of enrollment in secondary school and the smallest share of informal employment that is vulnerable to an economic downturn.

America’s educational system is not perfect. It is often overpriced and there is heavy importance placed on obtaining degree rather than mastering a subject. Junior College and Vocational schools deserve a mention as well, because they both raise potential earnings in the same way a standard university does. Despite its flaws, education is important. It equips our youth to be the leaders of tomorrow and benefits all of us on a personal and national level. Education generates a higher cash flow for individuals and pumps money into the nation’s economy.

Information taken from The Atlantic.

Proper Business Etiquette

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:03:29 -0400

Etiquette is a bit of a dying habit. With the growth of the internet and social networks it is easy to forget what is appropriate and what is not. For new employees entering the work world for the first time it can be an even bigger challenge.

Below are a few tips on how to stay polite in the workplace:

1. Send Thank You Notes

Writing a thank you note after a meeting or interview is the simplest way to set yourself apart from competition. It only takes a couple of minutes and a few cents in stamps, but it works wonders on your reputation. It immediately establishes you as considerate, responsible, and dedicated. More importantly it shows that you are truly interested in the job or contact.

2. Know Everyone’s Name

This takes time and practice, but knowing all of your coworker’s names is one of the first steps to proper business etiquette. This doesn’t just mean memorizing the top tier’s names and favorite colors, or knowing those employees limited to your specific office. Meet the janitor, the guy down the hall, and the lady at the front desk. Everyone inside a business plays an important role in its success. Remember this. If you take the time to really get to know everyone it boosts morale and encourages collaboration. Not to mention that if everyone likes you it will only help to advance your career.

3. The “Elevator Rule”

At school, we might call this the “classroom rule” or the “dorm room rule.” You don’t start talking about a test or a professor until you get out of the classroom and you don’t tell your buddy how your DTR went until you get into the dorm room. It is basic courtesy and it helps prevent any embarrassing eavesdropping. In the business world, you don’t want to talk about how your meeting or interview went until you are out of the elevator and on your way out of the building. The longer you wait the better. Getting the butterflies out isn’t worth potentially damaging your reputation.

4. Put Your Phone Away

It is tempting to rely on the endless updates of your iPhone to fill the brief voids in your busy day. If we are multitasking we feel like we are getting more done, but it just isn’t true. We are distracted and ultimately getting less done in two different tasks. In fact, we’ve already talked about this. If you are in a meeting, put your phone away. Focus on the people you are meeting with. Facebook and Draw Something can wait, the meeting won’t. If you are zoned in and attentive you will stand out and accomplish more.

5. Don’t Judge, Don’t Criticize

It is really easy to poke holes in the way other people do things. Especially, when that other person is a superior or direct competitor. Everyone thinks they have the best way of doing things. But this doesn’t give you the authority to critique and nitpick your coworkers methods. If it doesn’t affect you then don’t worry about it. You are only responsible for your own work and actions. It is not your job to be the workflow police for everyone in the office.

Etiquette is simple. It is positive and encouraging.

If your actions are bringing other people down you are not practicing proper etiquette. Even difficult situations can be handled properly. In the digital age it is a lot easier to get ourselves in trouble. It is so easy to let 140-characters and a quick temper get the better of us. Slow down and think before you tweet.

At the end of the day, did you handle yourself in a manner that lifted others up? This is more than proper etiquette, it is a fulfilling life and it extends far beyond the business world. It is who we are called to be in every aspect of our lives.

Content taken from Eliza Browning’s article on INC.

fastcompany: Your friends are why you’re fat. The Eatery, an...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:03:33 -0400

fastcompany:

Your friends are why you’re fat. The Eatery, an app from health technology startup Massive Health that lets users take pictures of their food and then asks them to rate photos of other users’ food based on perceived healthiness, has yielded lots of data since it was launched last year. In this infographic, Massive Health uses information from its hundreds of thousands of users to tell us just how contagious our eating habits can be.

Read on->

Jobless and Grad Degree

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:02:19 -0400

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.

Work Related Tattoo Stories?

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:26:33 -0400

Do you have any tattoo stories involving your job or place of work? Bad experiences? Good experiences? Known places/industries to be tattoo friendly?

We want to hear your stories! Let us know in our questions box and we’ll post the best ones in a blog.

Tell your story here.