What I Learned From My College Reunion

What I Learned From My College Reunion Recently, I attended my college reunion. Let’s just say it’s been more than a couple of decades out. And it was different from the first several, in a positive way. The 5th reunion was almost “too soon” for me. Not enough had happened, and we were all still about the same. It was more about catching up on gossip and satisfying curiosity about “what ever happened to (fill in the classmate’s name).” The 10th reunion was draining in that everyone seemed to be preening and those who had something to brag about pretty much did. It was less fun for everyone else. Then I skipped some reunions. But I’m so glad I went to this one, because here’s what I learned. There are two kinds of people There are two kinds of people: those who become more judgmental as they get older, and those who are less judgmental with age. The good news is, the ones who go to college reunions tend to be the latter. So if you’re on the fence, go to yours! And when you go make sure to be generous, be kind, and be forgiving. I can tell you that my classmates and I were all grateful to be alive and well enough to make our way back to campus. This is what made the reunion such a special occasion. By the way, one of the things our class organizers did was to make sure that cost was not a barrier to people participating. Those who could afford to donate more did so, and others offered housing. If you’re ever in charge of a reunion, keep that in mind. It’s about getting everyone involved. It’s about who you include, not who you exclude (to borrow from Arizona State University President Michael Crow’s vision for the New American University). You have a common bond “The older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.” This one comes from Mary Schmich who wrote a piece in the Chicago Tribune that’s been turned into a song and also a book. It’s also completely true. Even though there were 1600 people in my class and I probably only met 10% of them back in the day, there’s something about sharing an experience from the past that creates bonds more quickly than you ever thought possible. That’s one of the reasons that I tell my coaching clients to reach out to alums from their universities, high schools or former places of employment. This common bond and seal of approval means more than you might think. No one is immune Going to (a great) college and having a great job or career does not make you immune to life. We all have our troubles. Most of the time, we only see our own, or what’s visible to the outside observer. But the reality is everyone has problems. Disasters even. 60 of my classmates have already passed away, and we aren’t that old! It still hurts to think of the ones I knew well, and even those I knew not at all. It feels like we're way too young to go. And then there’s my classmate whose son became a heroin addict at 13, lived on the streets and was in and out of jail for 9 years before getting clean 18 weeks ago. We are sending positive thoughts and support their way. Or my classmate who has had four bouts with cancer, the latest treatments weakening her heart and causing her to have a stroke four months after her husband died. She’s paralyzed on one side of her body, but she still showed up. Yes, she’s that tough and determined. Or my classmate and his wife who had autistic twins 20 years ago, during a time when there was far less knowledge, research and support for autistic children and their parents. Having taken time out from their careers to discover how to care for their children, it’s wonderful to know that their twins are now enrolled successfully in a mainstream university. And my classmate and his wife are still married. All weekend, there was an outpouring of unconditional love and respect for our classmates. And these are only a handful of the stories. What matters most Family, close friends and health trump everything else. No matter how accomplished we are, our relationships and our health are what raise and dash our hopes the most. Without these, we are adrift. So, why is it only in those moments when we’re brought to our knees by some piece of awful news that we remember we should have been grateful for who we are and what we have? Spoiler alert: it’s not about our things and our status. In every such moment for me (and I’m incredibly fortunate only to have had a few), I know I would trade it all â€" every last bit of the trappings of success. It’s not about our things and our status. Family, close friends and health trump everything else. Time to grow up At some point, we do stop feeling jealous and envious. Even me. Finally, I’ve been able to experience joy and pride at the accomplishments of my classmates without feeling like I haven’t measured up. To give you some perspective, when I was about to go away to college, my mother pulled me aside and gave me some advice. The conversation went something like this: “May, when you go to college and are away from home, I want you to remember the 3 C’s” “Okay, what are they, Mom?” “Avoid unnecessary competition, comparison, and conflict.” “Okay, thanks Mom” Yes, that was it. Ungrateful me. Clearly, I didn’t get what she was saying. At the time, I assumed it was some well-known advice handed down from a sage from the past. To be ignored as well-meaning motherly concern. It turned out that sage is my mother who knows me only too well! That turned out to be GREAT advice. Advice that I use TO THIS DAY. That’s why I am so pleased that I finally went through an entire 4-day reunion with highly accomplished classmates and felt only genuine pride and affection for everyone. It’s a new feeling for me, and it feels great! In case you’re wondering, it’s not because I reached some “top dog” position (as you know, I have not). Nor is it because I have given up on my goals (you can be sure I have not!). Perhaps I finally have “grown up”?! But if I can finally be comfortable in my own skin, you can too. And hey, you’ve probably gotten there already â€" which is great! Life is short This whole experience â€" of going back to this joyous reunion with people who knew me when I was young, hearing everyone’s stories, supporting each other, and sharing tears and laughter â€" makes me want to be a better person. To make the most of my time on this Earth. It’s a reminder that there’s no point in waiting, whether that’s waiting until your proposal is perfect, until you’re sure that everyone will love what you have to say, or whatever else you may be waiting for. Life is short. It’s time to “go for it”, whatever your “it” is. Be the best you can be So even though they say, “God laughs when we humans make plans”, I’m more determined than ever to act on my plans: to share what I know to help others achieve their goals. To help people be the best they can be. To help others make their difference in the world. How about you? What are your plans for being the best you can be, and how will you get going and keep going? And what are your experiences with reunions? Leave a comment for me â€" I’d love to know.

Get your house in order - Hallie Crawford

Get your house in order Before making any kind of change, especially a career change, you need to make sure that your house is in order. This includes having financial stability and creating a support network of friends and family to keep you motivated. One of the ways to help you plan for a career transition is to work with a financial planner. This can really be beneficial to you as it directly impacts your bottom line. I had a great conversation recently with my career coaching client, Eric Mangold. He coached with me about a year ago and has now landed his dream job. His financial services company provides their clients with an innovative and holistic approach. I was really impressed by it. You can check it out here: http://www.livingbalancesheet.com/client/NationalFinNet_web/Clients_webHi.htm Its very different from what Ive heard from most financial planners. This is a great way to get your finances in order at any time during your career planning. Way to go Eric! Youre an inspiration to all of us. Career Coach P.S. If you’d like to have inspiration like this delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our free career newsletter! Every issue contains how-to articles, inspiring and informative tips, and free resources to help you Create Your Career Path towards finding the career you’re passionate about. Sign up today!

Custom Resume Writing For Teenagers, Teens and High School Seniors

Custom Resume Writing For Teenagers, Teens and High School SeniorsCustom resume writing for teenagers, teens and high school seniors is the only career option for them in today's job market. But that does not mean that you can't succeed with your own resume in these days of job hopping. You just need to know a few tips on how to do it.To put it bluntly, the high school students are not at all writing their own resumes, but taking help from the online sites that claim they can do it. This type of writing will cost you a lot of money, since you have to hire people for this purpose. But the truth is, there are some proven resume writing techniques that can be adopted by high school students in order to make their resume stands out in the crowd.One of the first things you should do is to find out what a perfect resume needs. This would include important and essential information that would help you find your way through the job market. Try to find out what jobs these teenagers want to ap ply for and learn about their degree.Also, check the list of jobs the teenagers have done in the past, their previous work experience and what industries they are interested in. You may also want to check out if they had a good performance at their schools or they have good references. These two factors are what will help you to shape your own resume to meet the requirements of the job market.Make sure that you include the right personal details in your resume, so that employers will know who you are and how you came to be there. For example, a youth with Bachelors in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Finance may not sound as impressive as one with only a high school diploma. You should also include any extracurricular activities that they are involved in, such as athletics, volunteer work or theater.Now comes the part of getting an interview. Since job hunting is a competitive business, most employers prefer candidates who can show them the most skills they need. So, in order to get this kind of benefit, you need to hire the services of professionals in this field.The most reliable ones are the companies that specialize in hiring professionals to do resume writing for teenagers, teens and high school seniors. These companies offer comprehensive training, including certification in resume writing for teenagers, teens and high school seniors. The best part is that you can have them for free.

Bill Gates Recommends Steven Pinker Better Angels Book

Bill Gates Recommends Steven Pinker 'Better Angels' Book Yesterday, Bill Gates gave a graduation speech â€" via Twitter. And the richest man in the world has helped propel a psychology book to the penultimate spot on the Amazon best-seller list using just 140 characters. First published in 2012, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, by Harvard psychologist Steven A. Pinker, argues violence has actually been decreasing in recent centuries, and attempts to explain what may be driving this phenomenon. Mark Zuckerberg previously named it as a “book of the year” pick. As the Washington Post first noted, as of Tuesday morning, since Gates’ Tweet, the book has climbed 608,850 percent to move to No. 2 on the overall Amazon best-seller book list, just behind perennial graduation-time best-seller, Oh, The Place You’ll Go!, by Dr. Seuss. Here’s what Gates had to say about “Angels”: “[Pinker] shows how the world is getting better. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. This is the most peaceful time in human history,” Gates says. “That matters because if you think the world is getting better, you want to spread the progress to more people and places. It doesn’t mean you ignore the serious problems we face. It just means you believe they can be solved. This is the core of my worldview. It sustains me in tough times and is the reason I love my work. I think it can do same for you.” You can buy Pinker’s book at Amazon. Here’s Gates’ full Tweet-speech: We’ve included affiliate links into this article. Click here to learn what those are.

How To Respectfully Stand Up To Your Boss When Youre Overworked - Work It Daily

How To Respectfully Stand Up To Your Boss When Youre Overworked - Work It Daily How To Respectfully Stand Up To Your Boss Lately, I've been hearing heard a common theme among many of the senior leaders I coach. They are tired, frustrated, overwhelmed, and overworked. Maybe it’s the time of year, but many of these leaders feel they have little control over how they spend and manage their time since they are regularly responding to “urgent requests” from their executive leadership team. Related: Burned Out? How To Take A Vacation Without Taking A Vacation And, more often than not, these requests are not something they can delegate to their direct reports. As you may be able to understand, they are in fire-fighting mode more often than they want (or need) to be. So, what can you do to stop the feeling of overwhelm, which leads to the tiredness and frustration? Do you stand up to your boss? How To Respectfully Stand Up To Your Boss There are two things you can do to alleviate this situation. First, you must prioritize. Clearly, there are only 24 hours in a day, so you have to be the leader who knows what the priorities are and decide what truly is urgent and what can wait for another time. Chances are you effectively prioritize for your team, so why not do this for yourself as well. Yes, I know… your boss called and has a new urgent priority that now sits with the four other urgent tasks you were already working on, right? Not everything can be top priority urgent and something must fall below the most urgent of all the urgent priorities. As the leader you must decide what must shift to make time for the new priority so everything can be done in a quality manner. This often means you need to pushback, which is the second thing you can do to alleviate the sense of overwhelm. Yes, I said you must pushback on your boss (or whomever is handing out the urgent requests). I know that pushing back on someone at a higher level is not always an easy thing to do. It’s not always easy to confront your boss (or anyone at a higher level than you) when they assign you additional work or a new project; however, continuous urgent requests not only impact your ability to get work completed but also complete it in a quality fashion. So pushing back is often a necessity. There are three things that you can do to effectively push back on your boss (or whomever is continuing to add urgent tasks to your list). Choose Your Approach Based On The Person Are they data-driven? Getting excessive pressures from their leadership? Dealing with their individual set of unrealistic requests? Knowing these things will help you know the best way to approach them. Next, Use This Knowledge When You Approach Them For example, if your boss loves data, present him or her with data that supports your need to challenge what he or she is requesting. At the same time, if they are getting excessive pressures from their leadership, present an alternative solution. For example, perhaps your boss has given you the urgent task of investigating a customer issue. The time it will take for you or your team to handle this will remove resources from another strategic priority your team is working. While you share data that reinforces your limited resources, you can also present an alternative shift in your teams priorities that supports the latest request from your boss, or, ask your boss if the latest request can wait, based on the other urgent priorities your team is working. The idea is to continue to show support for what your boss needs while at the same time remaining true to what you and your team can realistically accomplish. Finally, Get Their Perspective While Holding Your Ground After you present the facts to your boss, allow him or her to share their viewpoint on what you've presented. Often times it will take you pushing back a few times before they are able to see your perspective. Remember, they are also dealing with their own feelings of overwhelm so their initial reaction to your confrontation may simply be an acknowledgement but not a shift in the request. That’s why it’s important for you to hold your ground. If you don’t and continue to take on more and more, eventually something will give and slip through the cracks. Too many times, it’s you and your own physical or emotional health that suffers because you didn't pull in the reigns. As great a leader as you are, you are not supernatural (and neither is your boss). Keep things in perspective and remember that success does not happen if you are buried under a pile of folders feeling exhausted, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Prioritize and push back to prevent this situation. By consistently doing this, eventually you begin to see your way out from beneath that never-ending list of urgent priorities. This month’s development tip: Review the current “urgent priorities” on your “to do” list. Is this a manageable/doable list? If not, take the suggestions above and begin prioritizing and pushing back so you can regain control over your time and tasks. This post was originally published at an earlier date. Related Posts What To Do When You Have A Bad Boss Overworked? 5 Ways To Avoid Job Burnout How To Work Your Bad Boss Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join For Free!

5 New Years Resolutions You Can Finish In A Single Morning

5 New Years Resolutions You Can Finish In A Single Morning5 New Years Resolutions You Can Finish In A Single MorningSetting New Years resolutions can sometimes feel like a trap. Eating only salads, giving up Starbucks, going to bed before eleven oclock These are pipe dreams for many of us. However, there are some things that you can knock out not only in the first week of the New Year, but in the first day.Here are just a few of the fastest, easiest New Years resolutions for college students and recent grads1. Revamp Your Resume (30 Minutes)abflug with your resume, Kendra.This is a task you could theoretically spend hours and hours on, but the reality of the situation is Its more about the content than the style. If youve gotten advice from a manager or a career counselor before on your resume, then youre probably just going to need a tuneup. Put your latest accomplishments and extracurriculars on it, update the dates, and then get ready to put into application systems.2. Update Your Online Profiles (30 Minutes)Its basically Facebook negativ the interesting stuff.This should be very quick. Use a nice, recent photo. If you dont have one, put on a nice top and get someone to take a picture of you (Portrait Mode, please) in front a neutral background. Think you sitting in front a blank wallbut smiling like youre about to accept an awardThese are frequently checked by recruiters, so just make sure they are up to date. If you dont have any yet, start here.3. Ask For References/Recommendation Letters (20 minutes)If youre anywhere between a child and an alien in cuteness, then youre all set.This is really the easiest one on the list, because fruchtweinly everyone you ask (nicely) will say yes. Think of your favorite professors, TAs, managers, and even family friends if youre desperate. If youve ever had a debate gruppe coach, camp supervisor, or any other responsible adult who believes in you, then youre all set.For people with whom youve got a closer relationship, se nd them a text or even give them a call. For professors and managers whom youve got a more businesslike acquaintance with, send them a brief, friendly email.Let them know youre starting the year off right by applying to jobs or internships and youd love it if you could list them as a reference. Say its because you admire them as a professional/person/whatever and you really value their opinion.Dont overthink this ask. Its very simple and shouldnt be more than three brief paragraphs.Example text/emailSUBJECT LINE Hi from Your NameHi, Professor BlankfieldHope your holidays went well. Im hoping to start off my New Year right by kicking off the job/internship search.Im contacting you because I really admire you, enjoyed working with/studying under you, and hope that you enjoyed it, too.Would you mind if I listed you as a reference on my job/internship application? I would really appreciate it.Heres where you can ask for their contact info, if you dont already have it.If youd prefer to s peak to me before moving forward with this or need anything else on my end, please let me know. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.All the best,Your NameThats just one example, but if you want to copy it word for word, then go ahead4. Start The Job Search (30 Minutes)Were talking thislevel of thorough.Luckily, while youre waiting for those references and recommendation letters to start rolling in, there are plenty of jobs and internships that do NOT require them. Find a bunch of those jobs and start making a list of jobs you want to apply to.If you see ones along the way that do require them, still make note of them and wait for the recommendations to come in before sending in your applications. If they have a deadline that ends very soon, then try using a family friend or closer adult acquaintance whom youre comfortable asking to move faster on a letter.Part of looking for a job is to decide what you really want. If you dont do this, then your job search can be painfull y aimless. If you need help figuring out what you really want, check this out.5. Apply To (At Least) One Job/Internship (20 Minutes)This might seem like the Herculean task at the end of a long roadbut its really not.The truth is, no matter how badly you want a job or an internship, most applications are just a small leap of faith that you have to just take. Small adjustments to your cover letter, resume, and online profiles can help, but they are just that small.Once youve prepared a resume, online profile, and gotten some references in order, then just do it.Write a brief cover letter and apply to the job. Its as simple as thatand its a huge step in the right direction.Just Dont Stop ApplyingAt this point, youre probably wondering, Can I really check off everything on this list in a single morning? The answer is Absolutely, yes. If you find yourself spending more than an hour on any of these, youre taking too much time and need to make decisions faster.Altogether, the actual work o f this stuff should only take 2 hours and change. That leaves the other hour or so of the morning for some other stuff.You can earmark this extra hour for a couple of things your natural menschenwrdig tendency to triple-check stuff related to job applications, your need to snack, the very high likelihood you need to look at yourself in the mirror and say, I got this, between every one of these steps.Whether its January 1st or the 21st night of September when youre reading this, its never too late to start on some self-improving goals. (In fact, if yourethatlate, just think of yourself as starting early on your 2020 goals. Silver linings)

Un-Answered Problems With Best Resume Format 2018 Revealed

Un-Answered Problems With Best Resume Format 2018 Revealed Moreover, a resume that isnt ATS-compliant is not likely to ever be selected as a match, irrespective of the candidates actual qualifications for a job. Functional resumes are perfect for men and women who dont have a great deal of work experience regarding the job they are applying for. You should understand, that resume format is vital, as it can boost your odds to get invited for an interview. Each resume format was produced to improve your odds to find the job in 2018. Best Resume Format 2018 Features Actually, you should not create your own document the precise same as an example or template. Together with helping with your layout, resume examples will be able to help you landsee what type of content you should put in your document. The absolute most hard step here is to choose which resume format is best for you. When you format your resume you wish to ensure your leave enough margin space to permit for print ing. The Number One Question You Must Ask for Best Resume Format 2018 Plenty of job seekers even dont understand where to begin. Functional and conventional resumes arent the only resume types to select from. Its cool that youre searching for a job to have some money, but you need some troubles with resume. Also, in the event that you frequently change jobs, you might also think of a functional resume. You could say its as its something new and you will be right Ensure you didnt miss whatever could cost you the job that you dream about If youre thinking about how to create a resume, youre in the correct place When youve reviewed resumes in your field, peruse resumes across fields to learn how to vary the usage of action verbs and receive a feel for what makes a highly effective accomplishment statement. Possessing a great resume format is crucial to organizing your data in a sense which will help you become noticed. Know you will likely mucksmuschenstill have to apply o nline, therefore its more important how your resume looks digitally. There are three major types of resume formats. Resume formats are easily found and downloaded from the internet.