How to Maintain a Routine at Home

 By Sam Bauer

I usually like to start off my posts with a bit of context, so as a full disclaimer I have struggled with anxiety and depression. If you’re wondering why I’m telling you this, it’s because generally people who suffer from mental illness benefit hugely from a set schedule and separate areas for work/relaxation. So for me, working from home absolutely stinks. I don’t need to be anywhere at a certain time, my morning commute is from my bed to my desk (in my bedroom), and I don’t leave my house unless I have to. Suddenly the time between now and my next deadline becomes this huge nebulous space that becomes hard to structure. You have too many choices but none of them are your choosing and the things you normally would have control over aren’t options anymore. Not to mention the overwhelming amount of distractions. 

That was a very long winded way of saying I know what a struggle this can be and it isn’t your fault if you’re having a hard time working from home. Your brain wants to be productive, it really does, but all of the cues it's getting from your surroundings are saying “Don’t work too hard, this our relaxing space”. Here are tips that work for me to ease that process. 

1. If at all possible, do not set up your workspace in your bedroom. I learned this one the hard way. Even if you can train your brain to recognize the bedroom as a workspace, then it means you won’t be able to relax and go to sleep because you’ll be permanently stuck in work mode.
2. Wake up at the same time you normally would and use set lunch/snack breaks. Technically you get up whenever you want, but my brain usually takes that as an excuse to go “I don’t want to work on this so go get snacks” or “We got up late so clearly it’s not a work day”.  
3. Wear some form of work clothes. It pains me to even write that because if I could live in sweatpants, I would. But remember that we don’t have the luxury of using location as a form of structure so we have to trick our brains in a different way. Do I hate dress slacks? Yes. Do they keep me productive? Also Yes. 
4. Turn off your phone unless you need it. You may have better self control than I do but if my phone is near me, then I’m going to look at it. And whatever self control I might have had at work is nonexistent at home. So do yourself a favor and turn off your cell phone. The telemarketers can wait.
5. Finally, just remember that when work hours are done, you’re done. Don’t force yourself to go back and answer emails or try and finish a project after dinner. Uch as you want to be productive, there’s only so much your brain can do per day. Setting a schedule for downtime will help you on track to be productive later.

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The Benefits of a Professionally Written Resume

 By Sam Bauer 

Before I begin this piece in earnest, I should add a personal disclaimer which is: I love writing. I took at least three creative writing classes across three different semesters in college and those semesters were by far my favorite. It also wasn’t by accident that the vast majority of the classes I took depended upon my ability to write essays, not my acuity with synthesizing numbers. 

With this in mind, I absolutely loathed writing my resume. It felt like I was trying to write a travel brochure for a town that no one had ever heard of and that also hated tourists. The whole concept of writing a resume seemed ridiculous in theory and proved to be depressing in practice. My life experiences didn’t look good on paper and trying to upsell them felt dishonest in a way I couldn’t quite articulate. So, when a friend of mine told me she had experience writing resumes and offered to look at mine, I jumped at the opportunity. The end result turned out better than anything I could have produced by myself. 

Had I not had my friend as a resource, I would have eventually invested in a professional resume writer. But why? I was already “good” at writing so why not just look at some samples and get started? Well truth be told, I did. But a resume is a sales pitch for your services. It requires the appropriate language and formatting to fit that purpose. There were extra-curriculars in my college career that I thought were barely worth mentioning in a conversation, let alone a resume. But my friend reframed them and suddenly they were my strongest selling points. And the thing is, you only need to make that investment once. As soon as someone else sets up the formatting, you can simply update your resume whenever you need to because the groundwork is already there. Spend the money once on a resource that lasts.

https://www.bestresumeforyou.com/

Who’s hiring and are they worth it?

 Who’s hiring and are they worth it?

By Sam Bauer

In my previous posts, I talked about what companies are expecting from the hiring process and which companies are taking care of their workers during Covid 19. Now it’s time to tackle a more basic question: who even is hiring these days and are they worth a resume? 

Before I get into the raw data, I want to first define what I mean when I say a company is “worth it”. A company that is worth it will fairly compensate you for what you are being asked to do. Working an all night shift for minimum wage with no benefits isn’t worth it in the long run because you are earning a wage at the cost of your health. All other judgment calls like career advancement and company culture are decisions that the individual will have to make on their own. But whether or not a company will treat their employees like people is a universal concern. 

These companies are hiring and they have been vetted through independent fact checkers:

Cisco - 1,200 positions

NVIDIA - 700 positions

Procter & Gamble - 600 positions

Apple - 600 positions 

Baxter International - 600 positions

Biogen INC - 500 positions

General Mills - 300 positions

HP - 300 positions

Texas Instruments - 240 positions

Allstate - 150 positions

The New York Times - 100 positions

Humana - 100 positions

Ford Motor Company - 100 positions

The Clorox Company - 100 positions 

General Motors - unknown  

*This list was made with help from Just Capital.

 

How has the hiring process been affected by Covid 19?

By Sam Bauer

There seems to be a lot of rumors flying around when it comes to hiring in the pandemic. Which is fair, considering the world economy was thrown upside down five months ago and we still haven’t felt the full impact of this pandemic. Plenty of companies are engaging in mass hiring but the national unemployment rate is record high with an additional mass of college graduates entering the workforce. With so much up in the air, it's hard to tell anything substantial about recruitment in this economy. 

One tangible effect of the virus is how many companies have switched over to online interviewing and recruitment in lieu of seeing potential candidates in person. In an article by Scott Steinberg published on CNBC, He points out the impressive statistic that 84% of recruiters have switched to remote interviewing. Of that number, more than half have shifted to using online job boards to widen their search for potential employees. Places who have resisted adapting with the internet so far, seem to have gotten the message: change or get left behind when the economy starts moving in earnest. 

This isn’t to say that companies don’t value face to face interviews. But the likelihood of that screening process being used for lower level positions is dwindling. Those who have been glued to the job boards might have already noticed this change. Big corporations like Amazon, Stop & Shop, and UPS have a questionnaire applicants fill out; questions about work ethic and past habits of taking office supplies. If the vacancy, resume, and answers all check out, then the process is over. Keep that in mind when applying for jobs. If you’re looking at an executive position, I wouldn’t skip out on practice interviews. But if you are a brave soul trying to be a grocery store worker in this insane time, don’t count on an interview being part of the process.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/24/how-recruiters-select-and-interview-job-candidates-amid-coronavirus.html

Cheap Technology to help with Virtual Interviews

Cheap Technology to help with Virtual Interviews By Sam Bauer

With Covid 19 still in full swing, many companies have opted for virtual interviews instead of in person ones. This does have some benefits, such as only having to dress professionally from the waist up and being able answer difficult questions in the comfort of your own home. But there are some major drawbacks, the biggest one is that these interviews often rely on third party technology. Not to mention the extremely unfair fact that your technology is part of the interviewer’s first impression of you, regardless of the position that you are applying for. I had an interview a few weeks ago, where my tiny computer could not handle the responsibility of running Zoom with 5 other devices connected to the WIFI. Needless to say, it did not go well. To help with that, I found 5 pieces of technology to help bolster the tech you most likely already have (i.e. your computer and phone). The best part? They are all 25 dollars or less. 

(Disclosure: I am not a computer expert so do your research before you decide if this list is right for you)

Cyber Acoustic Headphones: They might look like something straight out of a computer lab and they sure don’t look as fancy as Bose or Samsung headphones but you don’t need them to be. They work with both computers and smartphones, so if your phone is your only option you’ll still manage to look professional without asking the interviewer to repeat themselves.

Price: $9.86

https://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Acoustics-headphone-microphone-AC-204/dp/B0055CR9M0?ref_=Oct_s9_apbd_simh_hd_bw_birY&pf_rd_r=G3ZNQH3H0E0GY6G3NYW6&pf_rd_p=a1c26881-468a-546f-bca3-21be8566b67c&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-11&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=172456

Cat8 Ethernet Cable: If your laptop is your only option and it has an ethernet port, I would 100% recommend getting an ethernet cable. Most of us are living with other people so bandwidth might get dicey when it comes time to interview. An ethernet cable means you get first dibs on the WIFI rather than your family watching netflix in three separate rooms. Just remember that this isn’t foolproof. Too many devices or large downloads will clog up your internet access despite your priority access.

Price: $8.99

https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Outdoor-Connector-Weatherproof-Resistant/dp/B07QLXC6QR/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2GQQVMI5JXJ8E&dchild=1&keywords=ethernet+cable&qid=1594741730&s=electronics&sprefix=eathe%2Celectronics%2C168&sr=1-5

Wansview PC webcam: This is the more expensive item on the list but it is also the cheapest on Amazon and it works with almost every operating system under the sun. Even though cameras usually come built into most laptops sometimes the resulting image isn’t flattering. This camera is a cheap upgrade and like I said, no matter what computer you have this will work with it.

Price: $23.79

https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Wansview-Correction-Streaming-Conference/dp/B088D3VXC6?ref_=Oct_s9_apbd_onr_hd_bw_birY&pf_rd_r=X4ADCZ6AEQW3H1PTKYXJ&pf_rd_p=f3e16cda-fdef-5b98-b290-c8c7661d2113&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=172456

Phone Stand: If you don’t have access to a computer, then most likely you’ll be using your smartphone in the interview process. In that case, a phone stand is pretty self-explanatory. Both you and the interviewer will have uninterrupted views of each other and you don’t have to do the whole thing one-handed.  

Price: $10.95

https://www.amazon.com/Nulaxy-Foldable-Compatible-Nintendo-Readers/dp/B07F8S18D5/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=phone+stand&qid=1594744309&sr=8-4

Performance Troubleshooting: If you’re worried about how your device will handle whatever interview software the interviewer is using, troubleshooting software is an easy way to find out. Trust me, finding out the day of your interview that your computer can’t handle the software is embarrassing and annoying. Most computers already have troubleshooting software installed but they don’t always work as advertised. Just in case, I found a list softwares that are easy to download, free, and are a bit more sophisticated than the pre-installed variety. 

Price: Free

https://windowsreport.com/troubleshooting-tools-software-windows-10/

Still Looking ?

Still Looking?

By Steve Higgins

http://www.linkedin.com/share?viewLink=&sid=s193553688&url=http://lnkd.in/XFNv_H&urlhash=PagS&uid=5418136292279980032&trk=NUS_UNIU_SHARE-lnk

Aldin Beslagic, President of BestLogic Staffing quoted in this magazine publication.