Loud Thinking

Archive for January, 2015

Don’t Bring Up Money During a Job Interview

When you’re job hunting, don’t start talking about money until the time is right. Companies don’t hire people who put money or benefits first. They want to know what you’e going to contribute, not what you want. Hold off on asking about compensation until you have an offer. The best time to talk salary is when you have leverage, and you have leverage once you’ve won them over. Of course, you might be asked salary requirements before or during the interview, and that&rquo;s not an easy question to dodge. Prepare a short, professional response: “My requirements are negotiable.” If you’re pushed, be a little more specific: “This is roughly what I’m currently making, but the job you’re interviewing me for is obviously different.” If the hiring manager wants more, say, “Well, I’m being interviewed for jobs paying X.” This projects where you see yourself in the marketplace.

Adapted from “Setting the Record Straight on Job Interviews” by Amy Gallo.

“When you come to the edge of all the light you have, and must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, believe that one of two things will happen. Either there will be something solid for you to stand on – or you will be taught how to fly.”

—Patrick Overton
Author, Poet, Teacher

An out of box suggestion to reduce the debt burden..!

Dear Mr. Prime Minister

AoA.

Sir,

The three recent steps (activation of National Action Plan against terrorism, reduction of the prices of petroleum products [sans the lubricants] and swiftly controlling the shortages of petrol in the province of Punjab) initiated under your direct command, speaks volumes about your concerns regarding the public welfare issues, for which you deserves full kudos.

In this regards, I invite your attention towards the fragile economic situation of Pakistan and the golden opportunity available to us, in the shape of an international decline of prices of the petroleum products.

Pakistan’s economy is heavily burdened by the sheer weight of debt servicing, which in coming days will keep on increasing.

We must find some out of the box solutions to eliminate the debt burden of the country soonest possible.

Now considering that the poorest of the poor has had negligible benefit or the trickle down affect of the petroleum prices reductions, in at least the public sector transport fares segment and also considering that reduction of debt burden of the country is the prime strategic objective, it is proposed that the financial benefit of any further reduction(s) on the petroleum products prices (except of the kerosine oil) should be deposited in a National Debt Servicing Fund, to meet the most important financial need of the country.

I am sure many financial wizards will oppose this proposal and bring their own reasons, to not to accept the above suggestion, but nevertheless, they should be told that no solution is perfect/ideal and the country can not shift its focus from its major issues, due to minor problems.

Best Regards,

Subject: Life is like a journey on a train..!

Just want to share a beautiful message

Beautifully illustrated! ??????????

Life is like a journey on a train…with its stations…with changes of routes…and with accidents !??????????We board this train when we are born and our parents are the ones who get our ticket. ?????????? We believe they will always travel on this train with us. ?????????? However, at some station our parents will get off the train, leaving us alone on this journey .?????????? As time goes by, other passengers will board the train, many of whom will be significant – our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life.?????????? Many will get off during the journey and leave a permanent vacuum in our lives.?????????? Many will go so unnoticed that we won’t even know when they vacated their seats and got off the train! ??????????This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, good-byes, and farewells.
???????? A good journey is helping, loving, having a good relationship with all co passengers…and making sure that we give our best to make their journey comfortable.?????????? The mystery of this fabulous journey is :We do not know at which station we ourselves are going to get off.?????????? So, we must live in the best way – adjust, forget, forgive and offer the best of what we have.?????????? It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to leave our seat… we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life. ?????????? Thank you for being one of the important passengers on my train… don’t know when my station will come… don’t want 2 miss saying thank you !! ?????????? Thank you all for being part of this journey.

“I may not be there yet, but I’ll get there. No matter what it takes, I’ll get there. I refuse to let the trivial things of today weigh down my tomorrow.”

— Author Unknown

The Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review

Make Engaging Your Older Workers a Priority

To increase motivation, performance, and loyalty, companies need to do a much better job of engaging a valuable and growing segment of the workforce: older workers. Start by acknowledging and using their experience. Check in with individual employees and ask what problems they might foresee in executing a specific task. Ask for their input before making a big decision. Consider giving them jobs with more customer interaction (frontline roles) or jobs dealing with internal customers. Research also suggests that putting older and young workers together helps both groups perform better. They’re at different stages of their lives, so they are less competitive with each other, and they make good allies because they have similar interests. So they’re far more likely to help each other and to form good teams.

Adapted from “Engaging Your Older Workers” by Peter Cappelli.

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You are a collective of every experience you have had in your life. You are every single second of every single day. So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words run through your veins and let the colors fill your mind until there is nothing left to do but explode. There are no wrong answers. Inspiration is everything. Sit back, relax, and take it all in. Now, go out and create something.”

— Jac Vanek

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.
Mother Teresa

“Believe deep down in your heart that you’re destined to do great things.”

—Joe Paterno (1926-2012)
American Football Coach

Strategy work can be a frustrating, stressful process that rarely generates results.
Too much time is spent in endless meetings rather than building a clear action plan.

~HBR