Addictive Habits to Avoid If Youre Stressed at Work - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / Addictive Habits to Avoid If Youre Stressed at Work - Introvert Whisperer Addictive Habits to Avoid If Youre Stressed at Work Many introverts struggle with how to deal with excessive workplace stress. Events like staff meetings, work parties, or retreats can leave you dreading work way more than your extroverted colleagues. Add in normal stressors like inadequate staffing, lack of time to complete work, and tense coworker relationships, and you can find yourself feeling downright frazzled.     All of this tension can cause you to turn to habits that you know aren’t good for your overall well-being. Here are three habits you should avoid and ways to counteract the urge when things get stressful at work: Heading to a Smoke Break It’s no secret that smoking causes negative effects on the body. Tobacco, nicotine, and other chemicals like tar and acetone in cigarettes can cause long-term lung problems such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchitis. But did you know that smoking can damage more than just your lungs?     Smoking increases your risk of other serious health conditions such as heart disease, erectile dysfunction, and infertility. It has also been proven to increase the risk of some cancers of the blood. Smoking even a few cigarettes each day can cause dependency, which makes it harder to quit. Many people turn to cigarettes to help them cope with negative emotions like stress and anxiety.   Pouring a Cold One Opening a beer or pouring a glass of wine after a long, stressful day at the office is a common practice in many homes across the nation. Having a limited amount of alcohol can help you relax, but when drinking becomes excessive, there can be many adverse consequences. For men, five or more drinks at one time are considered a binge, but drinking 15 or more drinks in a week is known as heavy drinking. Since women’s bodies are a bit different, it only takes four or more drinks to be considered binge drinking and just eight or more in a week constitute heavy drinking.   Too much alcohol can increase your risk of long-term health effects such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and liver disease. Many people think that having a binge from time to time isn’t as dangerous as heavy drinking. However, even occasional binge drinking can lead to liver disease, alcohol poisoning, and unintentional accidents. Dozens of people die each year because of crashes that involved a driver impaired by too much alcohol. Turning to drink as a way to cope with stressors at work can leave you with dangerous side-effects that can damage your health, relationships, and even your ability to hold down a job.   Making Poor Food Choices Sometimes a greasy hamburger just sounds good, especially when you’re stressed. During the day, you might tell yourself that you deserve a candy bar or chips from the snack machine to deal with workplace tensions. While treating yourself from time to time is okay, you may start to suffer consequences if poor food choices become the norm.       It’s critical to know that eating poorly deprives your body of nutrients and vitamins it needs to be healthy and work properly. The consequences of poor eating habits include damaged hair, dental problems, change in your bowel habits, and feeling tired all or most of the time. Of course, too much food or making excessively poor choices combined with no exercise can also lead to weight problems, including obesity.   Try This Instead Workplace stress can be challenging. Many introverts keep to themselves, which can be useful for things like steering clear of workplace drama. However, when it comes to coping with stress, it can leave you feeling alone and struggling to find healthy habits. Here are three healthy habits you can try the next time you’re tempted to reach for a cigarette, alcohol, or bad food choices: Rest Up Dealing with workplace stress can make it difficult to rest at night. Some experts feel that there is a connection between insomnia and increased levels of stress. If you’re looking for healthy ways to combat workplace tensions, try going to bed at the same time every night. Spend a little “winding down” in which you stop all work, phone calls, or other stressful activities. If you have trouble falling asleep, try playing relaxing music or diffusing essential oils that can help you relax. Manage Anxiety If you live with overwhelming feelings of anxiety at work, it might be easy to turn unhealthy lifestyle choices. Controlling stress can be done by creating healthy habits that give your body time to rest and restore after stressful situations. Try a few strategies for managing anxiety like eating well, practicing yoga, or making an appointment with a mental health professional.   Give Your Time Feeling stressed out can cause you to forget about the most important things in life. Reconnect with family and friends and ask them to volunteer with you at a local homeless shelter or charity event. Reminding yourself of all the good things you have in life can help ease the tension and put things back into perspective. If you’re looking for a place to volunteer your time, look for events or organizations close to you.   Kicking Bad Habits High-stress levels can make bad habits look good. Don’t beat yourself up over a few bad choices that happened after workplace stress. Come up with a plan to change your bad habits to get yourself back on track and then use these three strategies to kick your addictive habits to the curb. By: Frankie Wallace Frankie Wallace  is a blogger from Boise, Idaho and a recent graduate from the University of Montana. Wallace contributes to a variety of different blogs online and focuses on writing about career advice. Image Source: Unsplash Go to top Bottom-line â€" I want to help you accelerate your career â€" to achieve what you want by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my 4 Building Blocks to Relationships eBookâ€" the backbone to your Networking success and fantastic work relationships.   Grab yours by visiting here right now! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

Build Your French Vocabulary What Do You Do For Fun

Build Your French Vocabulary What Do You Do For Fun Sign up successful Check out the list below for some common words and phrases used when describing what you do for fun: French Vocabulary for Activities We Enjoy Whether  relaxing at the beach, catching up on our favorite TV shows, or  going on a family vacation, we all have activities that we love and enjoy. Here are a few French vocabulary terms to describe common activities many of us enjoy. Regarder la télé ?  Watch television Parler au téléphone ? Talk on the phone Lire ? To read Faire de l’équitation ? Go horse riding Faire de la natation ?  Go swimming Faire du sport ? Do sports Voyager ? Travel French Vocabulary For Activities We Dont Enjoy However,  there are also things we hate doing or rarely do. While some of us may like faire les magasins (to go shopping), others of us  hate it. Some of us love  sortir avec les copains (to go out with friends), while others prefer to spend  time alone. Either way, we all have  activities that we just don’t like doing.  Check out some examples below: Faire le ménage ? Housework/chores Faire de devoirs ? Do homework Étudier  ?  Study Jouer au golf ? Play golf Faire du jogging ? Go jogging Using French Vocabulary in Context When it comes to the activities we enjoy or don’t enjoy, in French, we always put J’aime ou je n’aime pas (I like or I don’t like) before the activities that we either enjoy or don’t enjoy. For example, maybe tu aimes danser (you like to dance), but  tu n’aimes pas écouter de la musique (you don’t like to listen to music). Or, maybe tu aimes jouer au foot (you like to play soccer), but  tu n’aimes pas jouer aux cartes (you don’t like to play cards). Here are some more examples: J’aime sortir avec les copains. â€" I like to go out with my friends. Vous aimez voyager ou faire du sport? â€" Do you [formal] like to travel or do sports? Elles n’aiment pas étudier. â€" They [girls] don’t like to study. Il n’aime pas faire les magasins. â€" He doesn’t like to go shopping. Nous aimons chanter. â€" We like to sing. Elle n’aime pas tellement jouer au tennis. â€" She doesn’t really like to play tennis. J’aime surtout fair du ski nautique. â€" I especially love to water ski. Ils n’aime pas beaucoup faire de la photo. â€" They [boys or boys and girls] especially don’t like to take photos. Additionally, if you want to ask someone if they like to do something, you just say, Est-ce que vous/tu aimez/aimes…  (Do you like to…), and then add in the activity. For example: Est-ce que tu aimes jouer à des jeux video? (Do you [informal] like to play video games?) Est-ce que vous aimez faire de l’athlétisme? (Do you [formal] like to do athletics?) Describing How Often You Perform  an Activity If you want to mention how often you do any  activity, here are some French vocabulary words  to describe the frequency with  which  you perform a particular activity. Jamais ? Never De temps en temps ? From time to time/occasionally Souvent ? Often Rarement ? Rarely Tous les jours ?  Every day ____ fois par semaine  ? ____ times a week Une fois/deux fois/trois fois par semaine ? Once/twice/three times a week Quelquefois ? Sometimes For the most part, these frequency words and phrases come after the verb and before the activity itself. For example: Je ne fais jamais du sport (I never play sports) or Je fais souvent de la natation (I often go swimming) or Je joues quelquefois au foot (I sometimes like to play soccer). However, de temps en temps  and  ___ fois par semaine  go at the end of the sentence. For example: J’aime écouter de la musique de temps en temps (I like to listen to music occasionally) or J’aime faire du jogging deux fois par semaine (I like to go jogging twice a week). Now that you know how to talk about the activities you like and don’t like doing, time for some devoirs. If you want your French to improve, you have to practice. So, how about writing down what you like to do and how often you do it in French. Then, say what you don’t like to do and how often you do or don’t do those activities. Have fun, and a tout à l’heure! Post Author:  Emmanuel N. Emmanuel N. teaches online Spanish and singing lessons. He earned his B.A. in psychology from California State University, Fullerton and has been teaching lessons since January 2015.  Learn more about Emmanuel here! Photo by  Pepe Pont Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher

9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job - Introvert Whisperer 9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job Congrats! After all the hard work and effort on your job search, you landed a great job. You deserve to feel excited. The next step is to start your new job and move past the learning curve. As you’re starting to think through important things like when you have to get up in the morning and when you will do your workout, there’s one very big thing to plan. How to be a major success in this job? It’s ok to admit that’s what you’re shooting for. What you do in the first 90-120 days in your new job will “set the tone” for how your time in the job (and company) will go. When you were looking for a job one of the things you had to think about was the first impression you made on decision makers. Generally, you only have one chance to make a good first impression and that chance was maybe a minute long. Your first few months on a new job are when the first impression and a lasting impression on the people you work with are formed. It is the time you build your Personal Brand. It’s a much more critical time than anyone realizes and is often written off because you’re in a learning curve. And everyone is given a break during a learning curve, right? Yes and no. Yes because we all know what learning curves are like. No, because we’re humans and still expect you to deliver. Here is your “New Job Strategy” #1 â€" Learn your job by understanding the expectations. Spend time with your boss and key co-workers to not only show you the tasks and how to do them but what do they expect. This is your performance. We get too wrapped up in the task and fail to realize that those people do have expectations for how we do the work. Ask early and often. #2 â€" Learn people and process. All businesses hang together by various processes. You may be only 1 of many in the entire clockwork of a process. If you learn the entire process or business, your ability to think outside the box goes up significantly. It will also help you to better understand how your work interplays with others. #3 â€" Learn the boss. You need to learn many things about your boss. You need to understand what their work priorities are so you can support them with your work and communication. You need to discover how they learn and how they best take in information. To ignore this is to irritate the boss and create a poor impression. #4 â€" Figure out problems and solve them. Plan on an early win. Our work is all about solving problems if you think about it. As you are going through and learning the things outlined above, be looking for problems you can solve quickly. Try to contain your solutions to your own scope of work or minimally only a couple of others. Do not attempt to solve world hunger because you won’t have the clout built up to be given money and resources. You do want to solve problems that have visibility so when you are done; it becomes an affirmation that you were a good hire. #5 â€" Do not bad mouth how things are being done. One problem newbies have sometimes is making the mistake of unearthing business problems and make disparaging remarks about them. You do not know who may have implemented the very thing you are trying to improve. Take the approach that you can see opportunities for improvement. Your approach and attitude are critical. #6 â€" Don’t boast about your previous employers/job. It doesn’t matter if you worked directly for the Pope. No one wants to hear how great things were in your other job. Its not relevant to this job and may get people wishing you had stayed at the previous job. Do not compare and don’t put down people or companies. #7 â€" Ask for feedback Don’t make the assumption that “no news is good news” when it comes to your work. Ask for feedback on a routine basis and if you have things to improve take that as a sign that you better improve quickly. #8 â€" Learn the culture You can be doing all things right but if you fail to “read” the culture and learn to adapt to it, you will never fit in. A work culture is the way people interact, how decisions get made and even language. It can include things like informal leaders within the group that need your attention. Understanding a group’s culture is tricky because it can be very subtle. It can be done with observation and asking questions. #9 â€" Build relationships While you are hunkered down learning all these new things, don’t fail to ignore that a big part of your success will be with and through other people. Make a point to get to know your co-workers. Keep in mind that your first impression will last for a long time. By doing these things, you will position yourself for success and a strong Personal Brand. Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech. In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression. Get your copy now by clicking here. Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleash your professional potential. www.introvertwhisperer.com

36 Top Experts on the Best Career Resolutions for 2017 - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 36 Top Experts on the Best Career Resolutions for 2017 - Introvert Whisperer 36 Top Experts on the Best Career Resolutions for 2017 Every year we make New Year’s resolutions like “eat healthy” and “run five miles a week” and “volunteer,” things that are usually manageable until the middle of February. Wouldn’t it be great if they made it through the entire year!? This year, instead of trying to make it to the gym every day, consider adding manageable actions to your list that will further your career and better your professional development. We asked top career experts for their advice for making career resolutions you’ll want to keep, here’s what they had to say: “The one New Year’s resolution to make this year (and actually keep!) to benefit your professional development would be to become a better networker.  Nothing can advance your career faster than being a good networker.  So, in 2017, you should not only find and attend networking events that can further your career but you should also dedicate some time to hone your networking skills.  Being a great networker doesn’t just happen â€" it must be practiced! Make 2017 the year that your networking efforts pay off!” Jennifer Gefsky, Co-founder of Après “Update your photo on LinkedIn. How old or outdated or appropriate is it for your current career stage? Recruiters (and I am one) still look at photos and we will jump over a profile that is without one or lacking a professional photo. That picture from a wedding 10 years ago isn’t right for you now. Update using a true photographer or have a friend with a great camera take a bunch of shots and choose the best.” Lora B. Poepping, President, Plum Coaching Consulting “The best thing you can do to benefit your career and professional development â€" is to help others within your networking sphere. To position yourself as The Go-To Candidate Everyone Wants on Their Team… 1) Introduce your contacts to  key individuals you know who can help them, 2) Write a positive review about your contacts in social media, or 3) Offer to volunteer at your contacts’ next extracurricular project.” Grant Cooper, CARW, Founder President, Strategic Resumes Business Plans “Seek out a trusted ‘partner in action’ to help guide you in taking the first step towards your career goal, be it a career coach, professional mentor, etc. The one reason why people don’t keep their resolutions is because they don’t actually take the first step needed, or don’t know how to get started. A resolution is useless without action!” Vicki Aubin, Career Transition Personal Branding Consultant, The Rockin’ Career Coach “My professional development resolution is to have a coffee or a peppermint mocha with extra whip with an industry idolâ€"anyone I admire and want to emulateâ€"once a month. I believe you can learn a lot more about a person over a cup of coffee than 100 webinars.” Kayla Kozan, Director of Marketing, Ideal “Decide what you need to give yourself permission for this year to ensure you are not the barrier from meeting your goals. It may be you need to give yourself permission to try new things and fail. It may be to give yourself permission to put your needs first. It may be permission to speak up  or permission to quiet your inner critic/self-doubt.” Amy Wolfgang, Career/Leadership Coach Owner, Wolfgang Career Coaching “Focusâ€"Know what your professional (career) goal for the coming year is, pick one relevant professional development experience (education, training, etc.), and make sure it can be accomplished within the yearâ€"or, worst case, break it into components and schedule the bulk of it for completion during the year. Then DO IT!” Georgia Adamson, MRW / ACRW / CPRW / CJSS / CEIP, CEO, A Successful Career “Know thyself. The more you know about what you naturally do well (vs. acquired skills), what you do to get in your own way (e.g., limiting beliefs), and what you truly desire (vs. what others expect), the better you will be able to find satisfaction and excellence in your work. This is when a job is more than a job or even a career. It becomes a calling. Be willing to invest in this process (e.g., books, group programs, individual coaching).” Carol Ross, Career Integration Coach, Carol Ross and Associates LLC “Keep it simple. If you find the stories developing in your head, remind yourself you could be complicating things and look for a simple explanation. If you don’t have one, ask for it, and don’t overthink. Sometimes things are simpler than they seem.” Tanya Ezekiel, CEO and Executive Coach, CareerCoach.com “The career planning task that every individual should do ASAP is to assess the likelihood that their jobs will be automated out of existence. They can visit this site: Will Your Job Be Done By A Machine? input their field and job title, and look at the results. And if they conclude there’s an uncomfortable likelihood their job will be automated, then they need to: identify a “safe” career pivot, develop the skills they need to make the change via on-the-job, online education sources, and more formal training and start job hunting to make the change.” Donna Svei, Executive Resumes LinkedIn Profiles, Retained Search, AvidCareerist.com “Many professionals consider their professional development only in “crisis mode” instead of planning early (save costs, get good seats) and implementing sound career trajectory strategy. As much as possible, invest in development that leans toward your next career step with or without your boss’s blessing or buy-in.” Mark Anthony Dyson, Founder, The Voice of Job Seekers “Whether you are looking for a job or seeking more professional satisfaction I highly recommend that you become an active member of a professional association. My clients have had many successes after actively participating in their respective trade associations because it has been the most effective way to meet people in their  field, make friends that share similar interests  and stay abreast of current developments in their field.” Lynn Berger, Career Counselor and Coach “The one New Year’s resolution I personally keep and that I advise my clients to keep is to find thought leaders in your industry â€" those you admire and aspire to be and then follow them on social media, read their blog posts, enroll in their online training programs or webinars so you can learn from the best. This is the greatest benefit to your professional development and it’s easy to keep because you enjoy following their work and learning from them.” Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, President/CEO, Great Resumes Fast “Do one thing each day to further your professional developmentâ€"whether that’s reading an article or book chapter, having lunch with someone in your network, attending a professional event, or spending time to update your LinkedIn profile.” Mitchell Friedman, Ed.D., APR, Career Coach “Establish your short and long-term career goals, and proactively identify the experience, skills, and professional development you’ll need to achieve them.” Marty Weitzman, NCRW, IJCTC, RPBS, Managing Director, Gilbert Resumes “The best gift a person can give themselves is to increase their emotional intelligence.  At a professional level, your ability to connect to others effectively will be the difference between a career with very little traction and one that moves like a rocket.  There are books and classes to take on the broader topic of emotional intelligence or you can hone in on such things as increasing your ability to influence, reading body language or communications.” PERSONAL BRANDING Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU.  I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech.  In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression. Get your copy now! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

Just Starting Your GMAT Prep Build Your Study Plan Around Official GMAT Materials

Just Starting Your GMAT Prep Build Your Study Plan Around Official GMAT Materials GMAT MBA Admissions Blog One of the most common questions we receive from folks who are just getting started with GMAT prep is “what materials should I use?” The short answer is, you should build a study plan around the materials offered by GMAC.org via www.mba.com, as this is the company that designs and administers the GMAT. In the rest of this article, we’ll explain why this is the right approach, what those materials are, and how to begin to create a study plan using them. Why is using official GMAT materials the right approach? When you are studying for a test like the GMAT it is important to prepare using practice GMAT questions that are similar to what you’ll see on the actual exam. This is true for three reasons. First, the test is designed to pressure test your critical thinking abilities using math and reading comprehension concepts. In that sense, it’s a unique exam. It isn’t trying to directly test your “academic proficiency” as the ACT or SAT might. It requires you to have a certain amount of proficiency, and then tests your ability to think critically and creatively. So, the trick lies in getting comfortable with the GMAT’s unique question types and becoming a flexible thinker able to apply those concepts to answer questions correctly. For example, there is a quantitative section of the GMAT that looks very much like a math test. But if you study primarily using materials that treat the GMAT like a math test, you’ll make very slow progress. Sure, there will be math concepts you must know, and learning those concepts as you might during a math class is fine. But applying them is much different on the GMAT. If you practice using materials that tend to be more straight forward and just require that you recognize x, y, or z math concept, you won’t be building the right type of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Second, major well-known test prep companies (e.g., Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc.) with strong brands and an established content creation business model have an incentive to create “practice material” that they claim is uniquely able to build your skills. And each year, they need to have another batch of new content, and an overall amount of content that is very large such that they can meet the needs of stressed out GMAT students worried that they’ll somehow run out of practice material. In fact, the official material offered by GMAC.org is plentiful, and if you practice in the right way, slowly reviewing all missed questions and determining why and how you missed them, you won’t need thousands and thousands of questions. At the end of the day, it’s far more likely that the practice content offered by these firms is either not much better, or in fact worse. Unofficial GMAT content can be worse in a few different ways. The questions, as covered above, can be unlike the actual GMAT exam. Or, they can be too hard. Worst of all, they can be too easy, leaving students with an illusion of competence that can create some serious disappointment during the official GMAT exam. Finally, there’s more than enough official practice content available from the folks who create the official GMAT exam. If you are convinced of the importance of official materials and concerned about quality but simply want to be able to have enough to practice, rest assured. As you’ll see below, there’s quite a bit of free and low cost GMAT practice available from www.mba.com Here are the official GMAT materials offered by www.MBA.com. All the “official” GMAT prep materials offered by gmac.org are listed here. It’s a little confusing, because some of the materials listed are “bundles” of previous materials already listed on the page, but in sum, for something below $400, you’d have access to: A free “kick-starter” online study program with two official practice exams 6 official online fully adaptive practice exams, and 9 official previous GMAT exams, for a total of 15 full length practice GMAT exams. When I prepared for the GMAT, I took every one of these full-length practice exams. Between the online “GMAT Official Practice Questions” program (400+ questions), Official Guide Prep book (900), the Official Guide to Quant (300) and Official Guide to Verbal (300) prep books, you can find over 1,900 official practice problems, without including any of the full length practice tests www.mba.com also offers a unique tool for homing in on your weaknesses in the quant area through its GMAT focus tool, as well as an enhanced GMAT score report that gets very specific about what types of questions you missed Is there enough “official” GMAT content to build a complete study plan? An official GMAT exam takes 3 hours. So the above reflects 15 tests * 3 hours = 45 hours of official exams. For each full length GMAT exam you take, you should spend at least two hours reviewing the problems you miss. So, that’s a total of 45 + 30 = 75 hours of study time using all of those full-length exams. On the official GMAT, you get about two minutes per question. So that means the third bullet point above reflects over 3,800 minutes of practice, assuming you only take 2 minutes per question. That’s another 63 hours of direct practice, but then you’d probably want to spend another 50% of that time reviewing missed problems. So, call it 90 hours of practice problems. At this point, we’ve not yet accounted for integrated reasoning or AWA writing practice, OR any of the time it takes to read about the exam and its question types and the various concepts which would be covered in the official Guides to the GMAT mentioned above. But we have still identified 165 hours of practice, which means you could study for 10 hours a week for 4 four months. Once you include the tools provided for preparing for the Integrated Reasoning Section and the AWA Writing section (GMATWrite), you could conceivably use official GMAT practice materials for 10-15 hours a week for 5-6 months without needing to invest in any other types of practice. That is more practice than almost any student needs to be doing, particularly if they are following deliberate practice principles and reviewing missed problems carefully. I would say this is true even if you scored a 500 on an official practice GMAT exam and are looking for a 700+ score. Here’s how to build a study plan around the Official Guide materials. At a high level, the key to studying for the GMAT is to design a study plan upfront, stick with it, practice deliberately, and stay positive. Think about it as a five-step process: Spend just a bit of time learning about the exam and what’s on it Take some sort of diagnostic exam to identify strengths and weaknesses. The official Guide to the GMAT offers a 100-question diagnostic, or any of the full-length exams will also do the trick. Given your diagnostic exam performance, target score, timeframe, and availability, build a week by week plan for concepts to cover and homework to do. Take practice exams at regular intervals to track progress and refine your study plan Refine time management and build confidence in the weeks leading to test day by taking more full-length practice tests. If you are targeting a 700+ score, you’ll want to see consistent practice GMAT scores of 720 or higher, as it’s not uncommon to get a little stressed and see a slight decline on test day. Regarding point 3 above, which may seem like the most difficult of the five steps to execuate against, www.mba.com offers an example GMAT study plan here.

Freshman Year Checklist to Get Ready for College

Freshman Year Checklist to Get Ready for College High school is a brand-new experience for students, and it may take some time to adapt. One surprise for many students is the importance of getting off on the right foot and staying the course. Poor grades will haunt your teen later, as colleges look at the cumulative grade point average when considering applicants. In other words, your teen starts building that high school resume from day one of high school. Heres a freshman year checklist to keep you and your teen on track: Talk about college. If you havent yet done so, freshman year is the time to start talking about the future, what it takes to get into college and what your teen might want to study. Frame up college as a given and encourage your teen to start laying the groundwork early. Set goals. For some, the idea of college feels too far away. A tangible task that will help your child think about college and how to get there is setting specific, measurable goals for this year and beyond. Start researching college majors. Discuss the possibilities. What subjects did your teen enjoy in middle school? What careers sound intriguing? Start researching and visiting colleges. A little online research will help your teen start getting familiar with your states schools and any others. On breaks, visit those nearby if feasible. You can also check out the National Association for College Admission Counseling to learn about college fairs in your area. Here are this years to-dos that are your teens responsibility: Focus on school. Freshman year is a big change. Your teen should work hard, stay organized, do all homework and reach out for help early when problems arise. Visit the high school guidance counselor. Early in the year, have your teen pay a visit to the guidance counseling office. Those professionals can share information about college readiness tools used by their office (e.g. Naviance) and help your teen make a plan for high school. Get involved. High school is full of opportunities! Have your teen check out clubs, sports and activities to start building that extracurricular resume and making the most of high school. Become familiar with Advanced Placement (AP) classes and tests. Some high schools offer AP classes for freshmen. If this isnt on your teens radar and should be, its a good idea to reach out to the AP coordinator to learn more. Collect information about SAT Subject Tests. The guidance counselors office can give your teen information about SAT Subject Tests and which colleges typically recommend them. Ask for help. If your teen struggles in the first month or two of high school, its important that he reach out to teachers for help. Build up strengths. If your teen has big goals to go to a prestigious college or simply wants to advance in one or more subjects, it might be worthwhile to explore subject tutoring to help her capitalize on those strengths. Explore summer learning opportunities. Your teen could use summer after freshman year to do a pre-college program or internship program for high school students. Even activities like community service are great ways to build a resume and start exploring career possibilities. Freshman year is pivotal. Make sure your teen starts off strong. If your teen needs SAT or ACT prep or general guidance on how to be successful in high school, call Huntington at 1-800 CAN LEARN. Well share more about our tutoring and exam prep programs and how you can support your child best.

As Told by College Students Ways to Relax Before Your Job Interview

As Told by College Students Ways to Relax Before Your Job Interview Image credit: Pixabay.com Put it in perspective   Grace (Harvard University) said I just keep reminding myself that even if I dont get the job, its not the end of the world. Keeping things in perspective, and reminding yourself that youll have plenty of opportunities in the future, is a tried and trusted strategy that many students recommended to me. It will, of course, be a disappointment if you dont get the job you want, especially if it was your top choice. But reminding yourself that you can still succeed without it is going to relax you far more than stressing over every syllable you uttered in the interview for the next week. Write If you fancy yourself a writer, Mowafacs (German Jordanian University) strategy is to write down how Im feeling in my journal that I carry with me every day. Sometimes staring our worries in the face can help us remember that our jitters arent the biggest problem in the world and that were totally capable of beating them. You can write in a physical notebook like Mowafac, or you can type up your thoughts on a phone or laptop. Its important to do what works best for you! Study, study, study!   Abigail (Gettysburg College) has separate strategies for in-person and phone interviews. For in-person ones, Abigail said I always get there (or to the area) 15-20 minutes early. If its a phone interview, I spend the 20 minutes before the interview going over research I have done on the organization and looking over questions that I have written down to ask the interviewers. Studying up on the particulars of a company or organization is sure to get your recognition from your interviewer. Your knowledge will shine through, whether youre sitting across the desk from them or simply on the phone. Phone interviews are a unique kind of beast (which is why Abigail has a different strategy for tackling them). Theyre less intimidating for some people since you can conduct them from the safety of your home. For others, though, theyre terrifying, especially for people who dislike talking on the phone. If youre a member of the latter group, Abigails tips will be particularly helpful to you. Having everything you want to say written down in front of you will help keep your thoughts straight, and indeed might result in a better performance. For these kinds of interviews, make sure that you speak clearly and confidently, as it can sometimes be more difficult to understand a person on the phone than in person. If you miss something your interviewer says due to a bad connection, dont be afraid to let them know. Otherwise, a phone interview is no different than an in-person one. You just get the benefit of peeking at a cheat sheet when you need it! Strike a power pose While interviewing for a competitive fellowship program, Hera (University of Tennessee) stated that me and some of the other girls went to power pose in the restroom. Hands on the hips, chest out, and chin high, we ladies blew it out of the water. Reminding yourself just how incredible you are (and how great you look in that outfit you chose based on Wynters tip) is a great way to boost your confidence right before heading into your interview. Dont be worried about looking silly. No one is going to judge you, and frankly, plenty of them probably do the same sorts of pre-interview confidence boosters. But if youre self-conscious about the idea of doing power poses in a public bathroom, dont be afraid to do them at home first. As long as you step out the door with some renewed confidence, youll do just fine. Now get out there and rock that interview!

Why Secession Petitions are Good and the Death Star is Bad

Why Secession Petitions are Good and the Death Star is Bad starwars.wikia.com In the past weeks, petitions have sprung up for a variety of clearly ridiculous proposals. The most notably absurd of these is the request for the government to build a Death Star. I assume its safe to say that people dont actually want the government to begin planning for the construction of a fictional intergalactic warship, which means there must be some other motive behind this petition and others like it. The most likely reasoning is the belief that by signing a Death Star petition people are protesting the existence of secession petitions by highlighting the fact that using the White House website to advance a cause does not make it legitimate. But in fact, all this does is cheapen the relevance of White House petitions in the first place. There are people who would argue that the petition policy should be done away with, but for those who still believe in the First Amendments right to petition, this should not be satisfying. Ill be the first to tell you that secessionists, even in my home state of Texas where secession talk is nothing new, are being illogical, divisive, and un-American, but the existence of petitions which express seriously-held political views does not justify a backlash against this entirely beneficial White House policy. I may not like it and you may not like it, but some Americans feel that their state should leave the Union, and the great thing about that Union is that it offers them a way to make their voices heard by the highest authority in government himself. But now, due to political disagreement, people have taken to disrespecting and defiling the system which is meant to be used for petitioning the White House. You might get a chuckle out of the request to deport all secession petitioners, but signing something like this without genuinely being in favor of the cause is equivalent to voting for Bruce Wayne in a presidential election. You may not be doing anything inherently ba d, but you cheapen the legitimacy of our democratic system by doing so. President Obamas petition policy could be a great thing. Sure, well have to weather the occasional ludicrous request, but a simple no from the White House is as far as those petitions will get. In exchange for that small annoyance, as few as 25,000 people can now bring any issue they wish to the attention of the federal government. Serious pending petitions on the site right now range from a request to support Catalan independence from Spain (an issue where the president has no tangible power, but can exert influence by expressing an opinion) to support for finalizing standards for gluten-free labeling. These are issues that matter, brought by citizens who care about their causes, and by getting the required number of signatures they are at least able to secure a response from the White House, symbolizing a first step in the political process. For many Americans, secession petitions represent the worst kind of political action, but the real enemy are the ones who make a joke of the e ntire system.