Our episode today is, “I Am Competing With Three Billion People For My Job! Really?”
Yes. This show is intended to remind us that whether or not we want to think from a global perspective as individuals that we are subject to global realities. Thus, instead of focusing on your employment opportunities in a particular city, country, region or other limited part of our planet, you are impacted by global competition for professional opportunities. This title of this episode was inspired by the following content, “A good job is a job with a paycheck from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week. Global labor economists refer to these as formal jobs. Sometimes leaders and economists blur the line between good jobs (formal jobs) and informal jobs. Informal jobs are jobs with no paycheck, no steady work. […] Of the 7 billion people on Earth, there are 5 billion adults aged 15 and older. Of these 5 billion, 3 billion tell Gallup they work or want to work. Most of these people need a full-time formal job. The problem is that there are currently only 1.2 billion full-time, formal jobs in the world. This is a potentially devastating global shortfall of about 1.8 billion good jobs. It means that global unemployment for those seeking a formal good job with a paycheck and 30+ hours of steady work approaches a staggering 50%, with another 10% wanting part-time work. [...]This also means that potential societal stress and instability lies within 1.8 billion -- nearly a quarter of the world's population.” (http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/149144/coming-jobs-war.aspx) We are all competing (in some sense) for the optimal quality of life for ourselves and our loved ones. We seek the ability to stretch ourselves intellectually, to be able to apply our knowledge in useful ways to better society and have an enjoyable and productive live. The article quoted above is from a book that asserts a “coming jobs war.” We should at least consider the possibility that we are not isolated in our professional and career aspirations no matter where we currently are on the planet. I love international business issues! I was born in Germany, live in the US currently and have worked as a speaker/ corporate educator in India, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Italy, South Africa, The Netherlands, 49 out of 50 US states including Alaska and Hawaii (I still need to work in Wyoming), and many other parts of our planet. I have had the privilege of learning more about myself and our wondrous planet. I have also had the first hand opportunity to meet and share knowledge with people from diverse areas of our planet. Although there are differences among us regarding local laws, cultural norms and perspectives there is a uniform desire for people to be respected, fairly compensated and provided future growth and development in their careers. It is amazing how similar we humans are! In fact, [...] In our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series we explore how to combine the positive benefits of our professional endeavors (“business”) with the overall positive emotional return on our efforts (“joy”). The act of engaging in professional endeavors, in any capacity (i.e., as an employee, employer, entrepreneur, contractor, volunteer, paid, full time, part time, intermittently, etc.) is an expression of our ideas and creative talents (“art”). All of this is in furtherance of our mission to surpass our goals! Our episode today is, "Why You Have To Apply For Jobs You Don’t Think You Are Qualified For!”
I often make the assertion that “data is your friend.” That is because credible data will help us make better decisions as we will have more reliable information and facts. We will also have a more accurate perspective on society at large (instead of simply relying on our individual skewed experiences and beliefs). One challenge is that you will never have perfect data. There will be some incomplete, outdated or corrupted information that impacts your decisions. Thus, how do you know that you are not the most qualified for a job? Perhaps you determine that you are unqualified because you ‘only’ have 55% of the stated job criteria, yet you do not know who else will apply and what their percentages will be. This is due to the fact that you only have complete data on yourself and incomplete data on the overall applicant pool, etc.. You have nothing to lose by determining your own value. Logically, if you apply for a job that requires a doctorate degree in physics and you have a high school education and no college degree, it is highly probable that you will not be hired. Yet, if you have a high school education and experience as a bookkeeper, why not apply for a job that requires bookkeeping experience and states a preference for a college graduate? If there are 10 criteria listed for a job and you have met 6 of them, why not apply? Here is a statistic that asserts that some gender groups (males) do exactly that (emphasis added), “Confidence gap: He thinks he can. She thinks she can’t […] A few years ago, the computer giant Hewlett-Packard found that their female employees applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100pc of the job requirements. The men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60pc. “Underqualified and underprepared men don’t think twice about leaning in,” write Kay and Shipman. “Overqualified and overprepared, too many women still hold back. Women feel confident only when they are perfect. Or practically perfect.” (http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-news/confidence-gap-he-thinks-he-can-she-thinks-she-cant-30428323.html#sthash.uJVRw2oM.dpuf) Why do some people feel happy to apply to apply when they meet 6 out of 10 requirements and other people deny themselves opportunities at 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, and wait all the way until they feel they meet 100% of the requirements? Simple. They are qualified (to some degree) and competent but they believe they aren’t. It is their imagination but these imaginary issues deny them real life jobs, income and opportunities. Consider the following (emphasis added), “Compared with men, women don’t consider themselves as ready for promotions, they predict they’ll do worse on tests, and they generally underestimate their abilities. This disparity stems from factors ranging from upbringing to biology. […] In studies, men overestimate their abilities and performance, and women underestimate both. Their performances do not differ in quality.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/the-confidence-gap/359815/) The individuals (of any gender identify) who refuse to participate in professional opportunities guarantee that other less qualified people will be hired. They are waiting around on the sidelines of life not even competing. So, the person who is 60% qualified applies for the job. The next closest qualified candidate that applied met only 40% of the requirements and the 60% candidate was hired. The illogical decision of the person who was 95% qualified to not even apply for the position left them with no job. They also failed to take advantage of the other benefits that even an unsuccessful applicant may glean from applying and being considered (making a positive impression, networking contacts that may result in future professional opportunities, etc.). The strange thing is that the person who voluntarily refused to be in charge of their lives and refused to apply for the position will later complain about how people less qualified than them earn more income, have a more powerful job title, etc.. Well of course they do! They showed up to their own life and took charge of what they would do (and applied). If you don’t compete, you lose. The catch is [...] Our episode today is, “Is The Size of Your Vocabulary Limiting The Size of Your Paycheck?”
Whoa! Do words matter that much? I was teased as a kid in school for "using big words" and "reading too much" (it was not fun being teased and taunted). I have a lifelong love of words and reading. I was not popular when I was growing up, especially when I would rudely "correct" people for using or pronouncing words inaccurately (so don't do this!). I am naturally biased to want to believe that all of the teasing had a silver lining and that there is a benefit to having larger vocabularies. That does not mean it is true, just that I would love for it to be true as it would make me feel better. So, as we discuss in many of our programs, what does the data tell us? Why is vocabulary important (for my income)? 1) From E. D. Hirsch, Jr., a professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia, “there’s a positive correlation between a student’s vocabulary size in grade 12, the likelihood that she will graduate from college, and her future level of income. The reason is clear: vocabulary size is a convenient proxy for a whole range of educational attainments and abilities—not just skill in reading, writing, listening, and speaking but also general knowledge of science, history, and the arts. […] Simply put: knowing more words makes you smarter. And between 1962 and the present, a big segment of the American population began knowing fewer words, getting less smart, and becoming demonstrably less able to earn a high income. […]" (http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_1_vocabulary.html) 2) Higher vocabulary ~ higher income (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/06/higher-vocabulary-higher-income/#.U9mYeYBdVmg) How vocabulary affects your family (not just your professional and income opportunities) 3) From Stanford University, “Fifty years of research has revealed the sad truth that .... In our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series we explore how to combine the positive benefits of our professional endeavors (“business”) with the overall positive emotional return on our efforts (“joy”). The act of engaging in professional endeavors, in any capacity (i.e., as an employee, employer, entrepreneur, contractor, volunteer, paid, full time, part time, intermittently, etc.) is an expression of our ideas and creative talents (“art”). All of this is in furtherance of our mission to surpass our goals! Our episode today is, “Fake it ’Til You Make It?”
This is a popular concept and we need to really explore what it means! 1) What are we faking? Confidence. 2) What is confidence? Belief in yourself that is communicated to other people. It strongly correlates to power as people believe in leaders who believe in themselves. “Perhaps the clearest, and most useful, definition of confidence we came across was the one supplied by Richard Petty, a psychology professor at Ohio State University, who has spent decades focused on the subject. “Confidence,” he told us, “is the stuff that turns thoughts into action.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/the-confidence-gap/359815/) 3) Why are we faking it? Because it is necessary, we don’t have it and we know it. Effective (and contented) leaders (of an organization, of a family, of a group, etc.) believe in themselves and then have a much easier time having other people follow their lead. “A growing body of evidence shows just how devastating this lack of confidence can be. Success, it turns out, correlates just as closely with... |
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