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Gender in the Job Interview

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Career Advice | Job interviews |Women in the workplace

by Robin Mamlet | February 21, 2017

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Tim Foley for The Chronicle

 

As women move up the leadership ranks in higher education, they find fewer and fewer female peers. That’s been fairly well documented by the American Council on Education and other sources, and is no surprise to those of us in the executive-search industry.

Why that’s the case is a topic fraught with complexity. There is the matter of stepping up and Leaning In to be sure, but there is also sexism — sometimes the overt kind and sometimes the subtle kind that occurs all along the leadership trajectory and affects who is mentored, who is labeled “leadership material,” and who gets the kind of opportunities and assignments that lead most directly to advancement.

Of the many factors that limit women’s advancement, two are things we ought to be able to resolve: how candidates present themselves in job interviews and how search committees interpret those interviews. Read more…

 

 

 

Mark Cuban: Don’t Go to College to Study Business. Study the Humanities | February 18, 2017

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Career Advice | Higher Education

by John Feacuban

Johnson: So essentially what you’re making the case for is education and job training for grown ups.

Cuban: No, no. I think that won’t matter. What are you going to go back and learn to do?

Johnson: What it takes, right? Whether it’s finance, whether it’s software programming.

Cuban: No finance. That’s the easiest thing — you just take the data have it spit out whatever you need. I personally think there’s going to be a greater demand in 10 years for liberal arts majors than there were for programming majors and maybe even engineering, because when the data is all being spit out for you, options are being spit out for you, you need a different perspective in order to have a different view of the data. And so having someone who is more of a freer thinker.

Cuban’s forecast of the skills needed to succeed in the future echoes that of computer science and higher education experts who believe people with “soft skills,” like adaptability and communication, will have the advantage in an automated workforce.

Cuban highlighted English, philosophy, and foreign language majors as just some of the majors that will do well in the future job market.

Watch the entire interview here.

Critical Skills You Should Learn That Pay Dividends Forever

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Coauthor Emotional Intelligence 2.0 & President at TalentSmart

Mar 2, 2016 

aaeaaqaaaaaaaavxaaaajdzkntzmndizlwm3mzktngzlny1hodu4ltkwztnhmzi5ywy4nqThe further along you are in your career, the easier it is to fall back on the mistaken assumption that you’ve made it and have all the skills you need to succeed. The tendency is to focus all your energy on getting the job done, assuming that the rest will take care of itself. Big mistake.

New research from Stanford tells the story. Carol Dweck and her colleagues conducted a study with people who were struggling with their performance. One group was taught to perform better on a task that they performed poorly in. The other group received a completely different intervention: for the task that they performed badly in, they were taught that they weren’t stuck and that improving their performance was a choice. They discovered that learning produces physiological changes in the brain, just like exercise changes muscles. All they had to do was believe in themselves and make it happen.

When the groups’ performance was reassessed a few months later, the group that was taught to perform the task better did even worse. The group that was taught that they had the power to change their brains and improve their performance themselves improved dramatically.

The primary takeaway from Dweck’s research is that we should never stop learning. The moment we think that we are who we are is the moment we give away our unrealized potential. Read more…

12 Ways to Make a Great Impression at Work

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By Dennis McCafferty  |  Posted 2015-11-26

It takes more than technical wizardry to emerge as a standout success at work. Unfortunately, many professionals lack the soft skills—including dedication, leadership, motivation, team spirit, etc.—that are essential to get ahead. Indeed, nearly one-fifth of managers cite a lack of these skills as a key reason for not hiring job candidates. With that in mind, we present the following 12 ways to make a great impression. They were adapted from the recent book, You Did What?! The Biggest Mistakes Professionals Make (Career Press/available now). In the book, authors Kim Zoller and Kerry Preston cover everything from written and verbal communications to networking etiquette to meeting decorum to handshakes. Taken individually, you may conclude that these practices aren’t really a big deal. However, when you incorporate each one into your routine, you elevate your professional presence and position yourself for career advancement. Zoller is president and founder of Image Dynamics, a professional development consultancy. Preston is a leadership, communications, strategic planning and time management consultant. –

See more at: http://www.baselinemag.com/careers/slideshows/12-ways-to-make-a-great-impression-at-work.html#sthash.fBgE3sIn.dpufgreatimpresswork_0a

Essential Soft Skills | Office Hours

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By on February 20, 2013 3 Comments

Are we preparing graduates for the information workplace? That’s a question I recently considered while reading Paul Fain’s article “Grading Personal Responsibility” in Inside Higher Ed (12/13/12). He describes a new initiative at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, NC, emphasizing as part of the curriculum “soft skills,” including personal responsibility, interdependence, and emotional intelligence.

These are important concepts to consider, and I wonder just how much emphasis is placed on these types of skills as students move through our programs. Are LIS grads as work-ready as they could be? Are there some soft skills particularly necessary in information ­professions?

Consider the following soft skills essential for our libraries and information centers.

Communication

A given, right? It should be a tremendous concern if a student is graduating without experience communicating via the written word, as a participant in a conversation or group meeting, as a presenter in front of groups, and online within various interactive channels. Clear, concise writing no matter what the format—memo, proposal, brief, email, blog post, Facebook posting, Tweet—is paramount. A focus on literacy, in every sense of the word, should be crucial as students move toward their degree.

Initiative

I would also stress the willingness to speak up and be heard. New librarians are often too silent. Of course, they shouldn’t be annoying or act as know-it-alls—those traits are career killers—but they should be willing to submit ideas up the chain, talk to higher-level administrators when they can, and use their communication skills to make themselves heard, recognized, and appreciated. They should join teams, even during probationary periods, and submit ideas for efficiencies and improvements. With money tight and staff limited, any good administrator is going to welcome this type of new librarian.

We don’t have the luxury to have new hires wait for detailed step-by-step assignments or direction. Librarians should take their projects and run with them and have the support of their administration to do so. Is the student who asks multiple questions about every detail of an assignment destined to be the hesitant micromanager hooked on having meetings with little tangible outcomes? Read more…

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