Tuesday, June 30, 2009

An update... on maybe the world?

First things first: VOTE ON MY POLL! IT'S THERE FOR YOU TO VOTE!

Since I've been reading the news lately [and since I'm kinda bored at work right now because my supervisors are busy doing their stuff that I can't really help them on... that's due tomorrow too...] on http://thebostonchannel.com and yahoo
news, I thought I should post something about what going on with the rest of the world... and update this blog more now that I have some time to.

Bostonchannel first:

Aside from the big headlines I see when I first enter the page, I go straight to the "Weird News" section [yes it does exist] of the website. Hmm... there are only 3 new ones...

1. Ore. Man's Wallet Resurfaces After 63 Years
-- That'd be pretty cool actually... I'd be nice if I could find something I lost now in 63 years. It'd be so nostalgic...

2. Surgery Gives Man Round Head Again
-- so this one's about plastic surgeons reforming the head of a man injured in a motorcycle accident, for FREE. There are actually nice doctors out there; ones who actually care about the patients, and are not just doing it for money. I wanna be like him -envies-. Oh the article said that right after the crash, the patient didn't have enough money to piece his skull back together, so the doctors, in order to keep the skull alive, put the piece in this "tummy". Wtf stomach o.O. I wonder how that would feel............

3. Boy To Customs: The Dog Ate My Passport
-- hahahahaha except it's true... >_<;; Imagine being the airport people hearing this... I'd totally be like wtf but lol

Yahoo News

Since this has more, I'm just going to comment on some of the interesting ones.

1. 5-year-old survives jet crash
-- Lucky kid... out of 153 people on the plane, a 5 year old survives...

2. 'Grim' news for NBA star
-- Awww YaoMing might not be able to play anymore due to his injury on his left foot... :( [broken left foot that doesn't seem to heal...]

3. Top-paying jobs for women

No. 1: Pharmacists

Women's median weekly earnings: $1,647
Women's median yearly earnings: $85,644
Percentage of men's earnings: 84.9%
Education required: PCAT; Pharm.D. degree; six to seven years of collegiate study
What they do: Distribute pharmaceutical drugs

No. 2: Chief Executives
Women's median weekly earnings: $1,603
Women's median yearly earnings: $83,356
Percentage of men's earnings: 80.1%
Education required: Varies; many hold a bachelor's or graduate degree in business administration or more specialized discipline
What they do: Hold overall responsibility for the operation of an organization, including corporate and small businesses

No. 3: Lawyers
Women's median weekly earnings: $1,509
Women's median yearly earnings: $78,468
Percentage of men's earnings: 77.5%
Education required: LSAT; J.D. degree; about seven years of collegiate study
What they do: Advocate in criminal and civil courts and provide legal counsel to clients on business and personal matters

No. 4: Computer Software Engineers
Women's median weekly earnings: $1,351
Women's median yearly earnings: $70,252
Percentage of men's earnings: 87.3%
Education required: Bachelor of computer science or software engineering
What they do: Design, develop, test and evaluate computer systems and software

No. 5: Computer and Information Systems Managers
Women's median weekly earnings: $1,260
Women's median yearly earnings: $65,520
Percentage of men's earnings: 85.4%
Education required: Bachelor's degree; often a technology-specific MBA
What they do: Implement technology into an organization, often overseeing network security and IT operations

Kinda interesting... except my supposed future career makes more money than that and isn't on the list. What kinda list is this >:[ WHERE IS DOCTOR?!

4. Ace the Interview Questions -- this is kinda useful, except I haven't really been asked these in an Interview yet... [nor have I been rejected from a job that interviewed me either now that I think of it... -brags- :D;;]

What’s your greatest weakness?


It’s an interview cliche, but it still gets asked. The key is to come up with something that is truthful, yet doesn’t impact your ability to do the job, according to career coach and blogger, Miriam Salpeter. More important than what you identify as a weakness is the part about how you’ve overcome it. Salpeter offers this example: A computer programmer might say, “Speaking in front of very large crowds really scares me, but I’ve been working on becoming a better public speaker. I’ve joined Toastmasters, and I stand up in front of my mirrror, pretending there is a crowd.” It's a good one because public speaking is something most people are afraid of, and it is also not likely to be essential to a job as a programmer. One thing you should never say, says Salpeter, is that you are a perfectionist because no one wants to work with a perfectionist. If you want to know why, read this spot-on post by Penelope Trunk.

So tell me about yourself? (Also posed as “Why do you think you’re the person for this job?” “Why should we hire you?” “What distinguishes you from other candidates?”)

This is not an invitation to recite your biography. It is an opportunity to draw out the parts of your story that best sell you for the position. So if you were born and raised in Boston and are passionate about the city, that might a good topic for conversation in an interview for a marketing position with the Boston Red Sox. But it wouldn’t necessarily be worth mentioning if you were talking about a job in international banking. If you’re fluent in three languages, have worked overseas, and have parents who hail from outside the U.S., then those facts would be good ones to highlight in the interview for the international banking job.

Talk about a time you failed and how you recovered.

Since we all mess up from time to time, the important thing is that you choose something where you can demonstrate what you’ve learned from the experience. A classic example here would be a time that you took on too much responsibility or agreed to do something on an unreasonable timetable, according to career coach and resume writer, Chandlee Bryan. Your recovery could be as simple as the fact that you now feel comfortable raising concerns about what you can deliver on a given schedule.

What changes would you make to our company if you came on board?

This one can set you up to stumble in a variety of ways, according to Ford R. Myers, author of the new book, “Get the Job You Want Even When No One is Hiring.” "No matter how comfortable you feel in this situation, you are still an outsider, and don't know the inside story,” warns Myers. “Even if your suggestions are good, you might make them look like idiots, if they don’t see things your way. And if you say something that doesn’t align with the company’s culture, then you look like an idiot.” Myers recommends saying something like this: “I wouldn’t be a very good doctor if I gave my diagnosis before examining the patient. If I were hired, I’d take a very good look at what’s going on, speak to a lot of people. And after examining the entire situation, I would come to you with a proposal for your input, and collaboratively we would come up with a solution.”

Why are you returning to a field or a company you left?

The key with this one is to present your time away as a learning experience and focus on what you know now that you didn't understand before, says Chandlee Bryan. Say you were in banking, helping to evaluate companies for mergers and acquisitions and went for a stint to a startup. You’ll now be able to say that you understand the start-up mentality from more than just a balance street perspective. You might want to add that the time away helped you understand why you are more suited to working in a large organization than in a small one, or some other observation about the difference in cultures and why the one you left is a better fit for you.



On a completely random note, I had to get a ride from Eric Y. today to work because my mom and her friends with kids the same age as my bro are forming their own camp and it's like a day at a parent's house and so today it's at my house. I made up their schedule and it's like math/english/writing/chinese and of course there needs to be fun time~ I'm also getting a ride back from Eric too... since my mom doesn't have time to pick me up >_<

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