Your Morning Joe

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It’s the holiday season people. That means great food, annoying family members and time off. If you’re in the business of job hunting than this is not the time to take off. I repeat, do not take off December if you are job hunting. This is prime time for job hunting and career success. Did I make that clear enough? Good, now lets talk about why.

Less Competition:

Again, it’s the holidays. People are taking time off. No one wants to be bothered filling out job applications or searching for open positions when Thanksgiving has people traveling and Christmas is in the air. That leaves you ample opportunity to steal the spotlight. Less competition means it’s more likely that you’ll stand out from a normally large stockpile of resumes and cover letters. Take advantage by continuing your search, or even upping your game during the holiday season. This will ensure that once companies hit a dead spot in incoming resumes you’ll be left solely in the lime light. If companies were to take off from the hiring game, you should be first in line by the time they resume hiring operations.

End of the year deadlines:

Sometimes companies do decline in hiring throughout December. However, recruiters are often rushing to fill positions before a December 31^st deadline. As applicants fade out throughout December recruiters will settle for a resume that may not have held up as well in an onslaught of resumes.

Business is Booming:

Business is booming throughout the holidays. Projections have spending going upwards each year and this year is no different. Another factor that has those opening positions looming ominously over employers. Applicants will slow down as business is on the rise, leaving you prime for the taking. You are the hire that comes in and saves the day by filling in a much-needed position at a critical time.

So do not let up this holiday season. Take some time off but make sure you dedicate some time every day throughout the holiday season to send out some resumes. It doesn't take much so don't make excuses. Your value is up, competition is down and business is high. It’s the perfect recipe for success and you hold all the ingredients. 

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Winter is coming. No, not in a Game of Thrones kind of way, but in a holy hell here comes finals kind of way. With finals fast approaching students everywhere will be cancelling plans to have anxiety attacks next to an open textbook and a half empty wine bottle. So, go do what college students do best and cram all the knowledge from the entire semester into your head the night before for that hour and 15-minute test and then instantly forget it all. However, utilizing these two tips will help you study faster, more effectively and ultimately produce better marks.

Use these tips to study with a smile on your face. Source: pexels.com

Quality Over Quantity

Reading your entire notebook front to back twice over. If reading every note you’ve taken doesn’t sound too appealing than maybe you’ll want to try a different method of studying. A way of studying that is smarter, more effective and takes less time.



Subconsciously human beings gravitate towards familiar and easy. This is the reason millions of people hesitate when doing something that is out of their comfort zone. The same holds true for studying. You may not realize but you’ll end up studying and spending more time on subjects and topics you already are well informed on. For instance, if chapter 4 was the easiest chapter for you to understand you could end up spending more time studying that chapter as the positive reinforcement of your correct answers ensures you’ll do well. It isn’t until after you’ve done poorly on a test that you’re left pondering how it happened after you spent hours studying.

Study chapters and subjects you’ve done subpar in while just skimming over what you already know. The study session may appear more difficult as you struggle to answer your flash cards correctly as often. In the end though you’ll be studying what you actually need to study. Always remember its quality over quantity and that holds true in the case of studying for finals.

Toughest First
Stop me if you've heard this scenario before. It's the night before finals and you're looking over the material that is said to be on the test. You come across something rather ambiguous and start to panic. You have questions so, you send the teacher an email only to not have them reply. You start to stress and you either make assumptions on your questions or say F it and skip that section altogether.

Studying the subject you've had the most trouble with gives you ample time to prepare for such a scenario. Chances are your toughest subject is also the test you need to do ace more than the others. Another reason to study earlier on, allowing you to study multiple times. Humans, especially college students, are creatures of habit so seeing the same material over the course of weeks can help drill it into your head.

Try these two tips to help you study more effectively this semester. Doing so will also allow you to remain less stressed and keep a clearer head. So, this semester start studying smarter, not longer.

Good luck my friends.

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College is stressful. I’ve seen students cry in class in front of people they have never even spoken to before. I’ve seen breakdowns on campus and I’m sure you have too. Maybe you were even one of these poor souls. Rough classes and a lot of credits mixed with numerous work hours is a recipe for hair pulling anxiety. Whatever reason you choose to blame, anxiety is the most popular disorder that plagues college campuses with depression following suite. These two facts make it easy for one to believe maybe taking off for a semester isn’t such a bad idea?

So, let us tick some boxes under the pro column shall we.

Mental Decompression

Taking off a semester is a good way to decompress and relax. You feel, even though you haven’t graduated yet, it’s kind of relieving to not have to worry about midterms finals papers homework and making schedules or having bad professors. The list is extensive and with each one you breathe a sigh of relief. This can be the first step to coming back more focused and motivated to succeed upon your return.

A Chance to Explore Opportunities

If you’re going to take just one semester off than you have to be careful about opportunities that you seek out and potentially accept. But doing so intelligently can be beneficial to you in a myriad of ways. Seeking out contract offers or internships that expire after a matter of months is an excellent way of making connections, garnering experience and oh yeah, making some money.

Gain Perspective

You’d be surprised by the number of students I have spoken to that are second guessing their major or career aspirations. Take this semester off to take a look at where you are, what you want to do and how you can strategically move forward. Often times you’ll find that changing majors or setting a new career goal may not set you back the time and money you once thought it would. Some down time will allow you to reflect and if your using this time to get into the field, even only briefly, you can use your experience to gauge future interest or paths.

Now, as with all things in life if we talk about the good, we should probably talk about the bad.

Setbacks

Lets start by addressing the obvious. If you take a semester off then you are setting back your entire plan. Graduate by this date, get a job by this date, by a house by this date. The plan usually goes a little something like that. Then again life usually doesn’t go according to our plans. You shouldn’t be afraid to deviate from the plan; just be aware of how much time you are actually losing and adapt to conjure up a new plan.

Breaking Rhythm

If you leave school for an extended amount of time you are running the risk of breaking rhythm. What this means is you have now broken that continuity of having a schedule, keeping a schedule and keeping up with deadlines. Now that you have taken time off you could potentially fall out of that sense of time management you culminated over college semesters. This could be detrimental upon returning to school. Breaking rhythm will have the reverse effect of this whole plan. You may return to school sloppy and tardy. Being mindful of breaking rhythm will help you ensure it does not occur.

Short Term Turns to Long Term

So far it seems like the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to considering taking off for a college semester. The fact that doing so comes with a risk of never returning may just swing the pendulum in the opposite direction however. Whenever students take a semester off from college they risk never returning to finish their degree for a number of reasons. Take into consideration the fact that getting a better paying job now that your schedule has opened up may be a short-term gain but a long-term mistake. Getting too comfortable in an entry-level role could improve your current situation and standing but in the grand scheme of things it could leave you reaching shorter than the self-investment of a college degree.

Taking a semester off from college isn’t the huge deal everyone seems to be making it out to be. Be mindful of the pitfalls and career traps that could ensue and you should be just fine in taking some time for yourself. Whether you do so or not in your particular scenario is a call you’ll ultimately have to make by weighing up your own situation. Make sure if you do decide to go on a little vacation from college that you use your time wisely and return more focused and more motivated. After all, that is the purpose of this whole idea. 

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Normally I write about tips and guides on how to succeed in the professional world. These articles are for college students and recent graduates because I myself am a soon to be recent grad. Every now and then I stumble upon little news in various topic that I want to share with you all. Off Topic Tidbits is a series of just random news and events I think you may find interesting.

Apple is a company unlike any other company. This is the company that removed the headphone jack from its smartphone and bragged about the courage it took. The use of the word courage to describe the removal of a staple feature to its customer base took a certain level of arrogance I believe no company has shown before. That being said, I shouldn’t be shocked by the bloated ego of this company and figured it has reached its peak during that moment. Today, Apple has outdone itself.

Apple, turning 40, will now sell you a book containing 450 professional photos time lining their various products and tools from the past 20 years. It’s essentially a picture book for the minuscule price of $300. The video that accompanies the product page is pretentious to say the least. I struggled to hold back my gags as the video consistently strokes its ego over and over again at how amazing their design language has been and still is. Although some would argue it has been increasingly one-note these last couple of years.

Granted Apple has pioneered the technology design game and almost single handedly drives innovation in various areas of consumer electronics. This does not excuse the audacity it takes to sell off a minimalist picture book for $300, but hey you can always opt for the smaller version for the bargain price of $200. For what it’s worth the pictures are numerous, and photographed beautifully with Apples favorite background color of choice, white. Hell, even the cover is white, at least until its covered in coffee stains.

You really have to hand it to Apple for creating a fan base that is so loyal and die-hard that they will shell out for a $300 book that takes Apples arrogance to all new heights…and believe me, they will.  Designed by Apple in California is the name and it is now available for purchase. Although, if you are such a loyalist to the Cupertino based company and planned on buying this, you probably already knew all of that.

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Intangibles are just that. They are Intangible. They cannot be measured in experience or certifications. You cannot go to school for intangible qualities and there is no online college degree for it. You won’t see these qualities listed on job posting sites or college information websites. It’s merely a quality one possess, or may develop over time through trial and error. These qualities may help you obtain that job you may just seem to be a bit under qualified for but deep down you know you’d do well given the chance. The intangibles can help you latch onto that opportunity and maybe beat out some intense competition. These three qualities require no skill, no talent and should be incorporated into your repertoire in order to make you a better employee and better armed to succeed.

Part One: Three Intangible Skills Every Success Seeker Needs

The Ability to Be Coached

Being coachable is a skill in its own. The ability to be coached is a quality employers love to hear in an interview process. It is best to bring this to an employers attention if a question arises during the interview that you are unable to answer.

No one can know everything, and employers know that. Being coachable shows an employee that you are a team player. It tells them that you are willing to listen to feedback and digest it in the name of making yourself a better and more valuable employee.

Work Ethic

Work ethic is all about understanding. Having a good work ethic shows an employee you understand the various factors that create a good work ethic. Crafting a well-rounded work ethic shows a level of maturity that could potentially be a determining factor especially with entry-level jobs that usually deal with recent college graduates. Good work ethic is a rare commodity in this branch of the professional world.

Taking passion in the quality of your work is one way to promote good work ethic. Knowing the difference between doing the job and doing the job well is something an employer can take solace in seeing and hearing. Showing an understanding of your responsibilities as well will comfort an employer. This shows you understand your role in the company and how valuable it is. Again, this proves a sense of maturity and promotes a great work ethic. It could just be the difference between you and another candidate in getting the job.

Effort

Effort is essential, its career success 101. Showing effort is another way of proving some key points to your employer. It shows employers you are constantly working to improve and taking pride in what you do. Lacking in effort can put even the most knowledgeable employee on the chopping block. 

Effort allows some slack for you to work with given you do not understand or cannot execute a particular part of your position effectively. Putting in effort shows you have a dedication to being a better employee. Employers know they cannot teach effort or drill it into you with lectures and discipline, so being able to show effort gives you a quality that is unteachable and therefore very valuable.

It has been proven that not always the best candidate gets the job, the promotion, the raise. Sometimes it is the one with the bloated resume and shining credentials. Sometimes it is just all about connections, as I recently showed you. Other times however, it’s underlying factors that may not even be known to all the people involved, but are almost certainly felt even if not on a conscious level. An employers everlasting search for employees will never list such qualities and sometimes nor will they even be aware they are factoring into the final decision. But that is why these are the intangibles and working on them can provide a great boost when you may be lacking in tangible assets such as education and experience.