Heres What Happened When My Team Worked Remotely for a Week

Heres What Happened When My Team Worked Remotely for a WeekHeres What Happened When My Team Worked Remotely for a Week Think about the last time you were on a conference call with someone in a different drehort. Did you run into any communication challenges- technical, or otherwise? Did you find yurself trying to speak up but failing to get a word in? If there were multiple people on that call, did you find that everyone was able to participate?Remote meetings are becoming increasingly commonplace. elend everyone you work with is able to sit down in the same room with you. For many of us, most of ur meetings now include remote employees or gruppe members from across the globe.Thats the trend we started to see at HubSpot. As we expand globally, more and more of our meetings and gruppes are spread out across our different offices. That doesnt just mean waking up early or staying up late to have a call with colleagues in Sydney. It means learning to work with our coll eagues in a completely different (and potentially challenging) way.After talking to other companies with growing numbers of remote employees (including Zapier CEO Wade Foster), our marketing team decided to do Remote Week.We had three goals for Remote WeekAfter a week, we gathered feedback from everyone who participated, and discovered some common trends that will help us more effectively manage our remote employees moving forward.1. For larger meetings, you need a facilitator.For meetings on the larger side, it can be a real challenge to enkoranvers everyones voice gets heard. Everyone is talking, side conversations happen between people in different locations and before you know it, the meeting is over and you didnt get the chance to weigh in on the discussion.This is where the team facilitator comes in. The job of the facilitator is twofold 1) Make sure everyone gets a chance to talk. 2) Recognize when side conversations happen so you can make sure these are shared with the ful l group.To make sure everyone gets a chance to talk, its important to notice when someone is trying to get a word in and keeps getting overlooked. A good way to spot this is to have the facilitator keep a lookout for the goldfish face the face someone makes when they keep opening and closing their mouth before they get the chance to actually say anything. By having a facilitator picking up on this and prompting participants to speak in turn, the issue can be eliminated.Another issue with large remote meetings is that side conversations that happen with people in the same location. For example, my team is spread out across Cambridge and Dublin. There are often side conversations that go on between the teams in Cambridge and Dublin by muting the call to say something to their colleague sitting next to them.One effective way that we learned to solve this is making everyone go in a different room (even if they are in the same location) to give everyone a ritterlich chance to speak and to make sure these side conversations dont derail the main discussion.When you are physically in the same location as your colleagues, you have the opportunity for spontaneous conversations throughout the day. Whether its a morning recap of the latest Game of Thrones episode, or a quick chat to hash out the details of a problem that couldnt be solved over email, these unplanned face-to-face meetings bring us closer to our colleagues and help us discover new perspectives.During our remote week, we knew we needed a way to recreate the beauty of these spontaneous conversations. In practice, it takes a bit of effort. It means you have to be open to hopping on a quick, unplanned video call to answer a question or clarify the details of an email .We also are big proponents of recording a quick video over Loom to communicate something when your team isnt all available for a live call. In fact, I have woken up to many Loom recordings from my team in Dublin to explain a detailed analysis o r the latest experiment they wanted to run.Having regular, open communication like this is key to avoiding any miscommunications and making sure your team still feels like a unit even if they do not see each other face to face.In the morning I wake up, shower, get dressed, walk my dog and catch the bus. I get to work, make my tea, do some morning reading, respond to emails and start my day. I have my morning routine , and I have another routine at the end of the day to wrap up.We are creatures of habit - having a clear routine gives us structure and enables us to be productive. And thats doubly true for remote workers.At the beginning of Remote Week, a lot of us found that our routine was just off. We woke up and then were unsure what to do next. Do we start responding to emails? Do we work on that next experiment? Do we make breakfast? Work out? What do we do first? At the end of the day, we had the same conundrum. When do we stop working? Should we have dinner, and then go back to work?Even when you work remotely and dont have to get into the office by a certain time, its still important to have a routine. Though it took us all a couple of days to figure out how to structure our time during Remote Week, we eventually all figured out our own individual rhythms to ensure we were getting our work done without burning out .If you are one of the only remote workers on your team, it can be easy to get heads-down on your work and lose out on the regular communication that goes on with the rest of the team. Something that our team became very aware of during Remote Week was finding a way to remain available and visible to our colleagues even when we werent directly in touch.There are a couple of keys to staying on your teams radar, even when youre not in sight. One of them is through participation in team meetings. When youre remote, its extremely important to speak up and share your thoughts during big discussions.Another way to remain visibleis to participate in group discussions over chat. At HubSpot, we use Slack for our communications, and have cross-team channels devoted to everything from work-related projects to out-of-office interests, like yoga and dogs. Its easy to not participate in those discussions, but its way more rewarding and valuable to share your ideas, the latest interesting article you read, or even what you did that weekend.Even if you cant be physically visible in the office, its important to stay visible within the organization.I saved the best, and arguably most important, for last. Ensuring you have the proper technology to do your job and stay in touch with colleagues is absolutelyessential. It can be frustrating for everyone involved if all of a sudden your computer freezes, or your internet crashes and your call is disconnected. And you know that always happens when its least convenient.Before you plan to work remotely (even if its just for a day), test out the locations you plan to call in from. If you are working from home , make sure that you have a strong WiFiconnection. Test it out with a friend or colleague ahead of time to make sure youll be able to get your job done effectively and stay in touch with the necessary people.If you think you might want to journey to an alternative location during your remote work week, test that out as well. I encourage my team to test out new coffee shops they want to work from during lower-stakes meetings - like 11s with their manager - instead of waiting until a larger team meeting. This reduces the danger of your technical difficulties impacting more people.As youre getting your remote setup ready, figure out if you need other tech besides WiFi. Having a second monitor at home, for example, can help increase your efficiency. Having a standing desk is another way to make sure you get to move around during the day.Remote Week was a fantastic experience for the team. It gave us a unique opportunity to put ourselves in our teammates shoes and tru ly understand the pros and cons of remote work.Since this experience, weve learned to be more collaborative with our remote counterparts, make sure everyone has a voice in team meetings and be more flexible when hopping on a quick video chat with a remote colleague. The next time you interact with a remote colleague, remember these lessons to ensure you build a productive and collaborative environment for your team and co-workers, no matter where they work.This article was originally published on HubSpot . It is reprinted with permission.

Top 5 Trends in Materials Engineering

Top 5 Trends in Materials Engineering Top 5 Trends in Materials Engineering Assembled marvels abound and astound. But the fundamental elements that make up any engineered piece of technology, be it a mobile gizmo or an arm on a Mars rover, are often just as marvelous as the whole of which they are a part. Here, we examine five areas that are likely to have a radical impact on the products of the future. 1. Atom Thick Graphites nice. You can write with it, or make squash rackets. But its even cooler when its wickedly thin. In 2004, researchers used Scotch tape to pull up layer after layer until there was only a single-atom layer left. Since then, others have come up with more efficientand more advancedmethods for making atom-thick sheets, called graphene. The honeycomb lattice of carbon-to-carbon bonds has some pretty remarkable properties. Its flawless, light, and strong. Its flexible, can be bent into any shape, can carry a charge, and it wont oxidize. The potential applications are many. People are putting graphene in polymers, ceramics, and metals, says Nikhil A. Koratkar, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineeringand materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Researchers are trying to make gas sensors that can sense down to very low concentrationsat the parts per trillion level. Theyre also using graphene to create coatings that would make any metal rust-free, windows that would darken themselves when the sun is at its strongest, anodes for lithium-ion batteries, flexible solar cells, membranes for fuel cells, and membranes that would remove salt from water. 2. Electric Ink 3-D printing is upending many a field with the speed at which a single part can be dreamed up and created. But right now, the things that come out of a 3-D printer are largely inert. There is vast interest in 3-D printing, but fruchtwein of the commercial printers developed to date are used to produce pbrdeic prototypes, says Jennifer Lewis, a professorat the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering. Conductive inks would enable the integration of electrical circuits not only on planar substrates, but within 3-D printed objects. One can imagine wiring up 3-D objects to create an internet of things. The ink would allow the masses to print their own circuit boards. Antennas, solar cells, LEDs, and other electronics could come hot from the printer when and where they are wanted.MIT chemists designed a pencil lead consisting of carbon nanotubes, allowing them to draw carbon nanotube sensors onto sheets of paper. Image Jan Schnorr / Mit.edu 3. The Heroics of Multiferroics Magnetism and ferroelectricity usually dont show up in the same material at the same time. Certain materials, though, particularly metal oxides, can exhibit both. An electric field will alter the magnetic state, and a magnetic field can alter the electrical polarization. This allows us to store dat a using an electric field, which is much easier to generate than a magnetic field, says Caroline Ross, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. But with the magnetic state still present, data can still be stored magnetically. Additionally, the discovery that electric currents can flip the magnetization of small structures, or translate magnetic domain walls, is exciting for data storage and there are already spin-torque switching magnetic memory cells being manufactured. says Ross. 4. The Nano Anode A major challenge in improving the energy density of lithium-ion batteries is the development of electrode materials increased lithium capacity, says Jeffrey Fergus, professor at the Materials Research and Education Center, Auburn University. The search has long been on for a better anode that will maintain that high capacity during cycling and in a wide range of environmental conditions. Silicon has been a contender for some time, thanks to the fact tha t its cheap and highly conductivethey have a much larger capacity than the standard carbon ones in use today. Unfortunately, silicon expands when lithium hits it. This expansion can generate large stresses, so creative geometries or combinations of materials are needed to accommodate these large strains, says Fergus. Researchers at the University of Southern California may have found both. They used silicon spheres mixed with boron and etched pores onto them. The result is a battery that holds three times the energy and can be charged in ten minutes. So whats holding them back from getting into electric cars? So far, the batteries are good for only 200 or so cycles. 5. Spinning Smoke Talk of nanotubes has been batted about for years. The promise of an incredibly strong, light thread was always just around the corner but never realized. But last year researchers at MIT came out with their nanotube pencil. With a tip of compressed nanotubes, it allows the user to sketch nanotubes wher ever he might want them. Great for making sensors, but not quite what we need to lift things into, say, space. Now researchers at Rice University have finally managed to make a nanotube thread. Its long enoughand flexible enoughthat theyve wrapped fifty meters of it around a spool. The trick was putting nanotubes in chlorosulfonic acid and drawing them out through tiny holes. The resulting thread is ten times as strong as steel. And its as conductive as copper. Spinning smoke is what David Burleigh, a professor in the Materials and Metallurgical department at New Mexico Tech, calls it. In theory we should be able to build the space elevator, an elevator to a geosynchronous space station. Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Researchers are trying to make gas sensors that can sense down to very low concentrations- at the parts per trillion level.Nikhil A. Koratkar, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Wind Turbines Whirling Arctic Regions

Wind Turbines Whirling Arctic Regions Wind Turbines Whirling Arctic Regions A telecommunications company providing mobile services in Scandinavia is readying a combination of systems using solar and wind power to replace its costly diesel-powered system.The company began exploring alternative forms of energy because its 20-year-old system was supported by an unreliable grid in a highly remote location in northern Norway, and delivery of diesel fuel was becoming increasingly expensive. About six months ago, installation started on a distributed renewable energy solution as a replacement, consisting of one off-grid Urban Green Energy UGE-600 wind turbine, called the eddy, and panels providing about 400W of solar energy.The telecom will start to binnensee savings when the system is up and running within a few months. Off-the-grid sites like this typically see payback in two to five years, says Mateo Chaskel, vice president of operations for New York City-based Urban Green Energy (UGE), the company engaged to develop the new system for the telecom project. Savings depend on how much energy a site consumes, with the range generally $10,000 to $20,000 per year, Chaskel says. Because this will be a relatively small site, running on a small turbine and solar array it will likely result in somewhat less than average savings.The company is not alone in turning to an alternative to traditional forms of energy. In the past decade a number of companies and remote communities have begun replacing diesel-powered generators with wind and solar power due to both economic and environmental benefits.Extra TestingBecause of the extreme environmental conditions, there are extra steps and testing that must be done, especially for wind energy, because of the moving parts of components. Average temperatures in this Nordic area are below freezing for seven months out of the year, and the average nightly temperature is below zero degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Additionally, solar rad iation is effectively nonexistent in the winter since there are only about five hours of sunlight. The system is heavily reliant on wind energy during this period.Urban Green Energy wind turbine being set up for a test at the commercial cold testing site in Inner Mongolia. ruf Urban Green EnergyAccording to a 2008 report by Martin O.L. Hansen, an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Denmark, icing can reduce power production of turbines operating under such conditions in a number of ways, including unbalancing rotors, causing anemometers to prevent startup even during high winds and misalignment of the yaw drive.For such installations operating in such harsh environmental conditions, UGEs wind turbines have undergone special testing, including analyses of all components, identification of the right bearing lubrication, and also full-scale testing at a commercial cold-testing site in Inner Mongolia, chosen because it is not to o far from UGEs manufacturing plant outside of Beijing. Before the full-scale testing, models are created in order to understand how the brittleness and strength of different materials might be affected under such intense wind loads in cold climates, such as ensuring the structural integrity of steel towers.Bearings have proven to be particularly sensitive to temperature fluctuation as temperature decreases to sub-zero, says Chaskel.Optimizing for DurabilityAnalyzing bearing reaction to cold temperatures involves placing a bearing in a temperature-controlled freezer and allowing the entire component to reach the set point temperature. Parameters for torque and geometric dimensions, for example, are also taken into consideration to determine the best bearing configuration. While a decrease in bearing performance is to be expected in low temperatures, minimizing the effect by optimizing the configuration for durability is the goal, Chaskel says.Most important also is the type of lubri cation when designing for cold environments, he says. The challenge is finding a lubrication type with low viscosity changes and a low freezing point to ensure the turbine continues to operate within the design specification tolerance.In addition, UGE sends out the composite of fiberglass, carbon fiber, and other materials it fabricates to produce the blades to be verified by independent laboratories.UGE also analyzes mounting systems to confirm they are adequate for such extreme weather conditions. A special kind of steel may be required for very cold environments. Working closely with experienced tower manufacturers, UGE analyzes resonant frequency because of possible issues related to material stiffening, fatigue correlations, brittleness, and ultimate strength, all because of the harsh environment.When all the components are ready, the turbine goes to the Mongolian test site. There, where temperatures can get to 40 degrees below zero during winter nights and rise considerably on sunny days, UGE can stress the wind turbine design in a large variety of ways and verify computational theories related to durability and performance. After this testing, We can confidently deploy our products in the locations that matter most for the client, says Chaskel.Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer.Because of the extreme environmental conditions, there are extra steps and testing that must be done, especially for wind energy because of the moving parts of components.Mateo Chaskel, VP-Operations, Urban Green Energy

The 4-Step Recovery Program to Beat Burnout

The 4-Step Recovery Program to Beat niedergeschlagenheitThe 4-Step Recovery Program to Beat BurnoutThe signs of being burnt out are pretty obvious (at least, they are to those around you). Youre tired. Youre grumpy. Youre frazzled. Youre set off easily by little annoyances, and you no longer feel the love and joy for your work that you once did.But the solutions for dealing with it are a little less so. Maybe youve tried the usual tactics- setting weekday lunches with friends, trying to relax on the weekends, and making sure to hit the gym at least a few times per week. But if youve been dealing with long-term stress or unhappiness thats resulted in full-on burnout mode, youve likely found that even those moves dont get you very far. If this sounds familiar, dont worry While it may seem like you have to change jobs or make a significant life change to get over the hurdle, there are smaller steps you can take to move from burnt out to back in the game. The four-step recovery program f rom Creative Boom features strategies for anyone whos feeling overwhelmed and over it- and while theyll take a little more time than an hour on the treadmill, theyre definitely more effective.Stage 1 Be ProactiveBurnout is often the result of issues in the workplace or problems with clients. In which case, be proactive and make the necessary changes to improve the situation. Youll feel much better if you actually do something about it, rather than allowing things to get worse.Do This Now Think about the top two or three things that are really wearing on you. Is it a demanding boss? A problem employee? An overwhelming workload? Then, for each of those things, identify one thing that you could change about your current situation (even if it seems like it might be unrealistic). Chances are, theres at least one thing you could ask for from your boss and co-workers that might make things better.Stage 2 Find SupportBurnout can make you isolate yourself from the world. But instead of hidin g under your duvet, turn to family and friends for support. Dont be ashamed to admit that youre suffering and share your problems with loved ones.Do This Now Ask a trusted colleague or a friend in your field to lunch, and share that youve been feeling burnt out. Trust us, you are certainly not alone in this feeling, and youre likely to get sympathy (and smart strategies for coping in your specific world) from someone whos been there before.Stage 3 Reassess Your LifeBurnout can offer a silver lining by encouraging you to reassess your life in general. It can help you to reevaluate your goals, priorities, hopes, and dreams. It can make you discover what does and doesnt make you happy and help you take positive steps towards a better existence.Do This Now This can seem like an overwhelming process, but try taking just one small step Even a long conversation with a friend or taking one of our favorite career assessments can help you remember what you love, value, and want from work (and whether or not your current gig is providing it).Stage 4 Take Time OutBurnout sometimes requires a complete break from your working life. Therefore, use up any holiday entitlement you have to get away. Make sure you leave your laptop and mobile phone at home to completely recharge your batteries and get better.Do This Now Plan your next vacation from work, stat. Dont have vacation time? Ask your boss for a few personal days with the promise that youll return to the office recharged and reenergized. Even if you cant get out of town, a few work-free days to do whatever youd like can have amazing benefits.Tell us How have you dealt with burnout in your career?Photo of burned out man courtesy of Shutterstock.

Lazy is the most annoying Millennial workplace stereotype

Lazy is the most annoying Millennial workplace stereotypeLazy is the most annoying Millennial workplace stereotypeWeve heard it all by now Millennials are bad at tipping, they expect to be millionaires in their lifetimes and retire at age 56 you get the idea.But research from Udemyon working Millennials shows that by far, the most annoying workplace stereotype about this generation is that theyre lazy.However, while 59% surveyed say theyve been employed at the same workplace for more than three years, 60% think employers have unreasonable expectations of the skills and experience young employees should bring to the table.Forty-four percent agree that a flex schedule is the best type of work arrangement, and 42% report that learning and development is the most crucial benefit when deciding where to work.Toluna Group surveyed more than 1,000 Americans between the ages of 21 and 37 for Udemy.The most annoying Millennial stereotypesThese are the ones that annoy respondents the most.Lazy 51%Entitled 36%Self-centered 35%Know-it-all 34%Over-sensitive 33%Unprepared for real workplace 33%Short attention span 26%Needs constant affirmation 23%Politically correct 20%Idealistic 19%While 43% say they do work on the side to gain more cash, 86% say they feel undermined by myths and misconceptions about their generation.Millennials on improving their skill setsJust 42% say that their workplaces give them chances to learn fresh skills. While 67% of respondents think that think theres a gap between their perceived potential and what employers expect from them, 73% think theyll need more education or training to get ahead at work.Heres how they plan to maintain or enhance what they bring to the tableLearn on my own with online courses, books, etc. 46%Go back for another degree, continuing education 35%Rely on training provided by my employer 34%Attend industry conferences, webinars, etc. 27%Do an apprenticeship, internship 26%I dont think Ill need more training 14%Attend bootcamp -style program 13%Shelley Osborne, Head of Learning and Development at Udemy, commented on the research in a statement.Theres a clear message here for business leaders, and its that Millennials are eager to work hard, but they want to do it on their terms, she said. If employers want Millennial workers to be engaged and committed, they need to do their part too. That includes investing in Millennials learning and development needs, treating everyone fairly, and giving people autonomy to define their own work routines.Millennials on pay and sexual harassmentThe research found that 69% of respondents (65% of men, 73% of women) think sexual harassment is a serious problem in the workplace, but 31% dont think so (36% of men, 27% of women).But while 67% think that wage inequality between men and women exists (63% men, 72% women), 33% dont agree (38% men, 28% women).How Millennials feel about the future of workMillennials have different views on automation.Will deliver improvements 30% (3 2% men, 27% women)Little or no meaningful impact 23% (18% men, 29% women)Create jobs 21% (21% men, 20% women)Eliminate jobs but will take a while 17% (18% men, 15% women)Eliminate jobs within 5 years 10% (12% men, 8% women)

What Every Body Is Saying About What to Include in a Resume Is Dead Wrong and Why

What Every Body Is Saying About What to Include in a Resume Is Dead Wrong and Why The Awful Side of What to Include in a Resume Single-Document Submissions If you submit using work board, you might be unable to upload and submit a number of documents. Candidates are going to have pre-determined time frame to finish a cognitive ability test. Resume Examples Heres a good example of a full-size resume formatted resume skills section to have a look at. The Benefits of What to Include in a Resume Read your revamped resume with an important eye to make certain it reflects you. Discover everything you should know about what things to include in your resume. Maintaining brevity and pertinence in the information that you decide to include should guide your collection of appropriate resume items. Its true that you might accomplish a giggle from your prospective employer, but odds are you wind up making a poor impression on people that are evaluating you for a work position. By being a ware of what to include in your resume, you better the odds of getting work. Lots of people make the error of working with the incorrect format when putting together a resume. Youre attempting to convince people you really need the job. You have to describe a particular event or situation, not a generalized description of what youve done before. There are a number of ways it is possible to present the info about each job. Capturing an individu attention and making a terrific first impression in only six seconds is no simple feat. Should you need an instance of creativity in CV, have a look at Lukas Yla story told to AdFreak. Others can be gotten through experience learning at work. For instance, if youre interested in a job which revolves in the computer science industry its advised to have a better comprehension of how certain programming languages and software work. Soft skills are subjective interpersonal skills that are a lot more difficult to quantify. Use a crucial e ye when reviewing the skills you have listed to make certain theyre relevant. Totally free certifications arent the only way how to construct a resume to have a dream job. Resume writing experts can tell you what things to include in your resume anytime you desire. A resume template can help direct you toward selecting a design which works for you. If youre terrified your skills might be inadequate absolutely free certifications are there to assist you. Unfortunately, theres a tremendous misconception surrounding using career objectives. There are a few great alternatives to a traditional resume format that make it possible for you to focus more on your abilities and accomplishments, instead of the period of your career. If you own a lot of skills and experience and are asking for a job with a particular focus, remove certifications and abilities which dont apply to the position. You dont need to incorporate every job youve held, especially in case you have many years of exper tise or have worked in unrelated fields. What to Include in a Resume Features At the other times you should have a cover letter. The cover letter is an essential portion of your advertising package, she states. Your cover letter should demonstrate you know what the job involves and what the organisation is searching for. Fantastic attorney cover letters are able to make a difference. Finding out more about an organization is another superior means to work out the way to tailor your cover letter. Make certain its tailored to not merely the position, but the business also. Its difficult to do that if they know youre searching for different jobs too. At the onset of your cover letter you have to explain which job youre applying for. Finding the Best What to Include in a Resume One of the absolute most important features of your resume to a possible employer is your employment history. All resumes should contain everything the employer should make koranvers youre the very bes t selection for the vacancy position provided. If youre responding to an advertised position, indicate youre anticipating the chance to discuss the way you can add to the success of the organization. You are going to want to include things like the latest positions you have held, including your existing position.

Busting Tech Career Myths, Part 1 Tech Jobs Are All About Math and Science

Busting Tech Career Myths, Part 1 Tech Jobs Are All About Math and Science In a recent survey from CompTIA, one of the worlds largest technology associations, nearly half of the 600 IT and business executives polled said skills shortcomings within their organizations had grown during the past two years.While ansicht skills gaps widened in a variety of domains marketing, sales, business development, accounting and finance, etc. perhaps none of these deficits is as troubling as the one in the IT realm.In brief, some analysts sayat least half a million open IT positions are going unfilled. Meanwhile, theU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticspredicts IT occupations will grow 10 percent by 2026, when many existing tech professionals will begin retiring. In combination, these factors could create a national tech talent deficit with negative consequences for workers, employers, and ur entire economy.My organization, CompTIA, believes tweens and teens are a key pa rt of the solution to this looming crisis because they already make up a quarter of the US population and will account for mora than 20 percent of the workforce in the next five years. Plus, my organizations research indicates many in this group have the temperament to become more than technicians who write software and make hardware they will be technologistspeople working with technology of varied types in companies of all shapes and sizes across the country along a broad spectrum of industries.Workers with a technologists mind set, which optimally blends hardtechnical skills and relationship acumen (often called soft skills), are well-suited for todays fast-paced, continuously evolving digital business environment.However, there are issues at work that confound and complicate the task of raising the next generation of technologists. Seven myths about technology careers discourage potential technologists and their parents. In my position as leader of a philanthropic organization d edicated to creating on-ramps to tech careers, I consider busting those myths not only a duty, but a pleasure.In this series of articles, I will tackle these seven myths one by one. For the first installment, Ill start with the biggest misconception of them allMyth No. 1 Technology Is All About Coding, Math, and ScienceCoding Tech entrepreneur success stories always seem to revolve around software and coding. Plus, starting salaries for web and software developers are relatively high. While these facts might inspire many teens to consider tech careers, they can also discourage those kids for whom coding is neither easy, nor accessible, nor interesting.In reality,as more businesses and households connect more devices to the internet, more data will be gathered that will need to be protected and understood. We will need more technicians, network specialists, cybersecurity pros, and data analysts to handle these tasks. Plus, we will need sales and marketing pros to match these technolo gists with the consumers and businesses who need their services. Of course, we will also need project managers and other expert technologists to direct andmaintain these transactions and relationships. Coding is only one aspect of technology.Math and Science Resourcefulness and common sense are the realpredictors of success in a technology career, much more so than how someone does in math and science classes.Soft skills such as problem-solving, empathy, entrepreneurship, active listening, and clear communication are all critical tothe tech field.True, good grades are important for anyone working toward any future career because they demonstrate the ability to learn and develop. Yes, solid grades in math and science certainly wont hurt any aspiring students chances of finding a future position in technology.But for technologists, grades only tell part of the story. Curiosity and motivation are more important than an impressive report card.In short, the education of a technologist mu st include STEM classes without being limited to them. Access to tech classes in school at any level should not be dependent on how well a student scores in math or science. Every school should offer opportunities to learn and work with technology that are broader than traditional computer science curricula, and all tracks that involve working with technology should weave cybersecurity into their syllabi.In my next piece, we tackle the next-biggest myth about tech careers Working in technology requires a four-year college degree.Charles Eaton is executive vice president of social neuheit for CompTIA and CEO of Creating IT Futures.

Hire the Right Internal Auditor for Your Team

Hire the Right Internal Auditor for Your TeamHire the Right Internal Auditor for Your TeamEver-changing regulation and compliance laws have placed candidates for internal auditor jobs in high demand in all industries. Also, Robert Halfs latest Benchmarking the Accounting and Finance Function report shows that over the next three years, more than half of U.S. companies expect their compliance burden will increase.Finding the ideal 21st century internal auditor with the balance of technical acumen and communication skills is fundamental to your kollektivs success.You want to hire the right fiscal watchdog, but how do you go about building your dream team? Its a tough decision that will require you to step back and look at the broad picture How is this new internal auditor hire going to fit in your team to help advance the broader company mission? What skills should the applicant possess to perform these auditor jobs? And how will you go about the screening and interview process?First, what skills should you look for?First, gain a firm grasp on the specific skills youll need from your auditing team. Are there holes that need patching? How might this next hire help you achieve some of your strategic mid- and long-term goals? This will depend largely on your organizations programs and systems, but the fundamental requirements for the job are immutable a proven track record in accounting, data mining and analytics, knowledge of information technology, and Computer Assisted Audit Techniques using Excel.Its important to look for candidates who can go beyond identifying patterns and trends in data and make that data tangible by offering solutions and suggestions to help the company stay compliant and increase efficiency.The role of the internal auditor is evolving in many organizations. Its important to look for candidates who can go beyond identifying patterns and trends in data and make that data tangible by offering solutions and suggestions to help the company stay compliant and increase efficiency.Soft skills are increasingly important for finance and accounting professionals, including internal auditors. Look for candidates who have demonstrated abilities in public speaking, business communication, listening and observing, persuasion, negotiation, critical thinking, team building and time management.Second, what interview questions should you ask?Most candidates will claim standard auditing skills on their resume. Verifying these bedrock skills can trip up some managers, but its leise critical. Some abilities that a candidate may tout, such as identifying risk factors and solutions on deadline, require managers to ask follow-up questions and perhaps call one or two of the applicants references.Put together a set of behavioral interview questions that require the candidates to think on their feet and prompt them to cite specific examples of projects on which they worked that show an effect of hard and soft skills. One method might be to prepa re sample work assignments and ask the candidate to write a constructive review, to offer suggestions for improvements and how the department might implement those suggestions.To assess a candidates time-management skills, you might present a scenario such as this You return from lunch to find a new project requiring a one-day turnaround on top of your current workload. How do you handle it? For insight into the candidates interpersonal skills, you could ask Describe how you would deal with an employee in another department who is being deliberately unhelpful with regard to file access and documentation.Last, hiring the top talent for your teamWith the demand for qualified internal auditors outpacing the supply of talent, candidates can afford to be picky. Getting the top talent for your team means youll have to put together the most desirable offer. Check out the 2018 Robert Half Salary Guide to see internal auditor salary levels throughout the industry, and dont forget to consider employee perks to attract the best candidates to your organization. Hiring the right internal auditors is an art form. By recruiting candidates with the skills you need and by making a competitive offer, youll create an auditing team that helps your company perform head and shoulders above the competition.Find out more about this evolving roleThe Benchmarking report has answers to the following questionsWhat function, department or positions are responsible for internal controls?How does this responsibility vary by company size, country and type of key control (e.g. SOX)?What are the benchmarks for the number of key controls by company size and country?Which regulatory or compliance rules tend to be most challenging today?How are compliance burdens impacting accounting and finance processes and activities?GET THE BENCHMARKING REPORT

Lori Tripoli - The Balance

Lori Tripoli - The BalanceLori Tripoli - The Balance

4 ways leaders can self-evaluate their own performance

4 ways leaders can self-evaluate their own performance4 ways leaders can self-evaluate their own performanceGood managers should take the time to evaluate their own performance at the end of each workday. After all, theres always room for improvement, and even leaders should never stop learning.But youre not always able to carve out the time, so whenyou find yourself living on autopilot again, take a hard look at how youre doing in the grand scheme of things to stay on track.Think about how much you listened to your direct reports todayPart of being a good manager is hearing out your employees- you cant expect workers to truly be engaged or take your advice if youre literally acting like one of theirthe know-it-all coworkers.So think about it Would you want to work for someone who never took the time to meet with you, ornever even gave your ideas the chance to get the green light?If your answer is no, definitely evaluate how youre doing in this leadership area and come up with a str ategy to get better at listening actively.Identify the big stuff on your plate for tomorrowJulian Hayes II, an author, health and wellness consultant, nutrition coach, and sleep science coach, writes in Inc. about what leaders should ask themselves before heading to sleep each night.One of the featured questions is, What are my three biggest rocks to complete tomorrow?Without creating a plan of what to focus on for the next day, you run the risk of doing busy work instead of meaningful work. Identifying your three big rocks for the next day allows you to have direction, clarity, and diffuse any potential feelings of overwhelm. To identify your biggest rocks for tomorrow, ask yourself If I dont get anything else done tomorrow, what are three actions that could move me closer to my vision and goals? he writes.Be brutally honest How well do you manage conflict?When you manage projects and people, expect to have toput out metaphorical fires from time to time.Victor Lipman, author of The Type B Manager Leading Successfully in a Type A World, writes in Forbes about questions managers should pose to themselves.Do I deal with difficult situations directly? Or do I have the - entirely human - tendency to duck the hard stuff and focus on projects that are less problematic more enjoyable and less nettlesome to work on, but in the long run less important? Lipman writes.Figure out how you can berater talent in the near futureInstead of hogging your insights, share the wealth by giving back.Give your reports chances to learn from your industry knowledge by hosting one-on-one meetings and periodic workshops. Also think about the people that have helped you in your career, ask if theres anyone in their circles who could benefit from what you know.