Finding The Right Job

I recently finished reading Winning by Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO of GE. He was known for being one of the most successful CEOs for GE and in the business world during his time. In his book, he certainly had a lot of experiences to share about his work and values. What impacted me the most was his insight about finding the right job. Being a new graduate myself, finding the right job that fits my career goals, interests and values has always been my top priority and ambition in life. I believe that pursuing what you're passionate about in life will eventually lead to the perfect job that fits you. But it will take determination, perseverance, patience, hard work, and a bit of luck too. Sadly, due to the need for security, social pressure, lack of opportunities, or just mediocrity, people end up in jobs they don't like just to pay the bills. I'm not saying they're not hardworking, on the contrary, I'm sure they are, but the point I'm making is that people settle for something safe rather than taking the risk of doing something they would actually love.

I believe that life is about the journey of trying different things to realize what you want and don't want in life. This includes your job or profession as this will comprise a huge part of your life. Based on Winning, I've compiled a chart that I've used as a guide for finding the right job in my career. I believe that Jack Welch's principles can apply to everyone from new graduates to experienced professionals.

Finding the right job
Signal	Take it as a good sign if…	Be concerned if…
People	You like the people a lot. You can relate to them and genuinely enjoy their company. In fact, they even think and act like you do.	You feel like you need to put on a persona at work. After a visit to the company, you find yourself saying things like “I don’t need to be friends with the people I work with.”
Opportunity	The job gives you an opportunity to grow as a person and a professional, and you get the feeling you will learn things there that you didn’t even know you needed to learn.	You’re being hired as an expert, and upon arrival, you will most likely be the smartest person in the room.
Options	The job gives you a credential you can take with you and is in a business and industry with a future.	The industry has peaked or has awful economics, and the company itself, for any number of reasons, will do little to expand your career options.
Ownership	You are taking the job for yourself, of you know whom you are taking it for, and feel at peace with the bargain.	You are taking the job for any number of constituents, such as the spouse who wants you to travel less or the sixth grade teacher who said you would never amount to anything.
Work Context	The “stuff” of the job turns your crank – you love the work, it feels fun and meaningful to you, and even touches something primal in your soul.	The job feels like a job. In taking it, you say things like, “This is just until something better comes along,” or “You can’t beat the money.”
Source: Winning by Jack Welch

Having a blast playing Guns of Icarus Online!

I've recently been having a blast playing Guns of Icarus Online after coming across some YouTube gameplay videos last week. It's a team-based airship battle game where you work together in a crew of four and take down your opponents airships. You can play one of three roles: Pilot, Engineer or Gunner. In my opinion, the Pilot plays the most important role as it requires leadership, effective communication, tactical skills and most importantly, piloting skills. The challenge will be flying and maneuvering through maps full of rocky canyons, sandstorms, clouds, wreckages and of course the barrage of missiles, cannon fire and even flames from your opponents. The second role is the Engineer, and this role is in charge of repairing damage to the ships hull armor, balloon, engines, guns and cannons. It requires one to have exceptional sense of the ship's overall health, agility and quick-response with repairing, and the ability to prioritize which components to repair during battle. The third role is the Gunner and is pretty straightforward as you will be firing the flak cannons, gattling guns, Hwacha missles, flamethrower, mortar and a range of other weapons. This role requires accuracy, patience, and the ability to utilize the appropriate ammo type when attacking your opponent to ensure the most damage and/or harrass to ultimately take them down.

There are six different airships in the game varying in size, armor, speed, weapon loadout, and maneuverability. Smaller ships like the Goldfish have less armor and weapons but fly and maneuver faster compared to larger ships like the Galleon which is very slow but has the highest armor and largest weapons. Each ship has its own pros and cons, and it basically boils down to your preference, team strategy and weapon loadout selection.

If it wasn't for the sale on Steam, I wouldn't have come across this game. Sale of $9.99 ends May 22! It's totally worth! See you aboard!

Will Facebook be your new 'Home'?

Facebook has launched a new and intuitive interface called Home for Android phones. It integrates your Facebook experience as a seamless application in your Android phone. What this means for us? This launcher connects you instantly to the activities of your friends and social network without having to switch applications. It allows you to see your friend's new pictures or chat messages right away on your phone the moment it is posted. However, if you choose to download and use the Facebook Home launcher, this will disable all your Android notifications such as email, SMS/MMS, Google Play, events, and other app notifications. But if like being instantly connected, the perhaps you should give Facebook Home a try. Unfortunately, this is unavailable for iPhone users like myself, but I would probably give it a try in the future just for fun. Will you?

Android Launchers Are A Small Market, Can Facebook Home Change That? [Tech Crunch]

Facebook introduces Home, a launcher for Android devices that puts people ahead of apps [The Next Web]

Facebook Home launcher won’t show Android notifications

Using social media for education

It's been a while since my last blog post and it's good to be blogging again. I came across the latest Social Media Revolution video by Erik Qualman (@equalman), author of the best-selling book Socialnomics, and was once again amazed at the statistics and the huge impact that social media has on our everyday lives. Can you believe social media as a whole is probably less than five years old? Now think about what the future would be like for online engagement and communication five years from now? Isn't that just exciting!

Now how does it relate to our current (and future) education system? I believe that schools at all levels from primary to post-secondary should use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to better engage with students both inside and outside the classroom. Online group discussions on Facebook or Twitter should be the norm in order to encourage social and continuous learning among students anytime and anywhere. A recent study showed that using Twitter for educational purposes in the classroom doubled student engagement compared to traditional learning methods. Interestingly enough, it also increased students' GPAs. Although a small sample size was used, this study still shows that there is opportunity to use Twitter and even Facebook in class to teach and engage students in discussion since most students are on it anyway while their professor is lecturing in the background.

Do you agree or disagree about using social media in (and even outside) the classrooms to better engage students? I'd like to know your comments.

Meeting Guy Kawasaki

I met Guy Kawasaki at The Art of Marketing Conference on Monday! I also got his autograph for his new book Enchantment! I also got a chance to play around with the Blackberry Playbook!

Ignite Toronto 5 was a blast!

Went to Ignite Toronto last night at Drake Hotel. It was fantastic to listen to new ideas from different people. Best of all, they were only limited to five minutes each presentation! Given my short attention span, I actually paid attention for the whole hour or so event! Here's the event link: http://igniteto.com/

My favorite speakers would have to be:
Ramona Pringle - http://www.ramonapringle.com (@ramonapringle)
Mike Tissenbaum from U of T
Johanne Durocher - http://fashioninmotion.wordpress.com/ (@fashioninmotion)
Jason Sae Bento - http://www.nicebento.com/ (@jay21art)

Looking forward to the next Ignite TO! Join me!

Using Twitter to find a job

There are tons of job postings posted on Twitter daily. If you haven't tried using Twitter's search function and hashtag searches, then give it a try this new year! For example, using the hashtags #toronto #jobs to do a basic search in the Toronto area, here's just a few jobs that I've found today:

Best Buy is hiring a Mobile Specialist
Loblaw's is hiring Part-time Store Associates
Accenture is a hiring full time CRM Manager

If you're looking for more specific jobs, then try using more specific search words such as: insurance, marketing, bartending, web developer, etc. Here's a video from Mashable that explains more in detail. There's so many ways you can use Twitter and search for information! So give it a try if you haven't yet! Would you like me to help you search for a job on Twitter? Send me a tweet to @jreandino! Follow me on Twitter too!