Job Advice Blog

In March of 2015, Mark Zuckerberg (founder and CEO of Facebook), rolled out a golden rule of hiring. “I will only hire someone to work directly under me” he said “if I would work for that person.” What this means is that the qualities he looks in in prospective employees are the same qualities he would look for in a boss or manager. While this is not a quote that is attributed to every hiring manger in the world, it has gotten a fair bit of press, and is beginning to trend as a new way to screen applicants.

We all know the feeling- the sun beaming comfortable warmth down onto your bed, or the lull of the rain against your window- that feeling as we are first becoming conscious again that is oh so comfortable and just wants you to go right back to sleep. Sometimes we give in, sleeping late and feeling groggy. All the big plans we made the night before to really dive in and get our work done fall by the wayside. Today we are going to look at how we fight back against the demotivating morning.

There are few things worse than having an extremely competent and skilled employee who refuses to utilize herself to her best ability. Whether we have skills or not is a simple matter of training, whether or not we have a good work ethic and play well with others goes a little bit deeper. Today we are going to look at some of the symptoms of bad-attituditis, giving you a chance to self-diagnose early, as well as take a look at some specific forms it takes.

The 50/20/30 approach is a well-received budgeting tip that suggests you spend 50% of your income on necessities, put 20% into savings, and spend 30% on whatever you fancy. The idea behind this is that you are always saving a decent amount of money, while still allotting yourself enough to survive and even thrive.

Whoever you are speaking to has spoken to a lot of people that were “motivated”- and some of them turned out to be telling the truth, some of them were not. Point is, the word no longer has any meaning to them. It is kind of like walking in there and saying “I am human!”- you might need to be to get the job, but you don’t really need to tell the hiring manager. If you want to impress a hiring manager you have to tell them something that they don’t already know.

If you’ve been following our blog you have read the recent posts on spending your money, and volunteering in your community. While these are both excellent ways to help keep your community thriving, there is, of course, one more- you can work in your community. This is perhaps the way to help the community that it is easiest to see your own benefit, as this community service comes with a paycheck. Sometimes this is an easy decision, but sometimes there are other pressures that make it more difficult to see why working local is the best option.

The danger with nepotism is that the favored employee will not feel the need to work hard, will not feel the need to do their best. This, of course, is unacceptable. There is nothing wrong (or illegal) with an employer using their sway to help friends and family, there is something wrong when this kindness is abused. If a family member gets a job due to nepotism, and excels at it, this is a great situation for everybody- but if a family member gets a job due to nepotism, and is terrible, then everyone loses.

We are, of course, talking about volunteering. I like to say volunteering helps you with three things- momentum, connections, and direction. By getting up and doing something, you gain a little bit of momentum that you can apply anywhere. You will meet other people while volunteering, increasing your list of connections. Finally, you will feel good about yourself and what you are doing, you will have a sense of direction- a sense of purpose.

Our local community is an integral part of our identity, no matter where we live, or who we are. We are social creatures, communal creatures who got to where we are as a species by working together.  Because of this, when we take care of our community, we are really taking care of ourselves. If our community is thriving and healthy, it will help guide us towards health and prosperity, so we are wise to return the favor.

The three little words “sorry, you’re overqualified” are among the hardest to fully understand. Being told that you can’t get hired because you are too good for the job is strange, ideally they would let you make that choice for yourself! As you’ve probably guessed, however, “overqualified” is used as code for a number of different possibilities. An “overqualified” candidate is one who may end up being: too expensive, insubordinate, or temporary.