What’s going to change in your career next year compared to this year? It depends on who you ask, and there are a lot of career trends stories out there. I’ve found a good one, though, and I thought I’d share it with you.
Written by career adviser Irene Kotov for Lifehacker Australia, the “Top 10 Career Trend Predictions for 2014” are realistic and inspiring (especially if you like team work and technology). Here are five of Kotov’s predictions, along with a quote by her, that I feel stand out.
Interviews Will Get More Real
“We’ll see more of ‘roll up your sleeves and show me how you’d solve my company’s problems’ types of interviews.”
Google Will Become A Key Part Of Your Resume
“Make sure your LinkedIn profile is polished and your personal blog is full of solutions to problems in your industry, or you’ll miss out on opportunities.”
Writing For Top-Tier Blogs Will Become A Necessity
“…writing as an expert in your field on big media/industry blogs will become critical for success.”
Social Media Hotshots Will Be In Demand
“People who can create an effective social media strategy and then implement it (and demonstrate to the CEO how it drives his business goals) will be the business rockstars of 2014.”
“We” Will Begin To Gain Traction, Next To “I”
“We will see fresh new faces and companies who embrace the ‘we’ mentality at their core to create amazing workplaces, necessary products and inspiring leaders.”
Check out the rest of the article for Kotov’s other five trends, and please let us know in the comments your own career predictions for 2014.
(photo credit: HikingArtist.com via photopin cc)
Whenever you agree to be a journalist, you have to sign a contract that says you’ll post a Top 10 list every December, every year, throughout your career. It’s just one of those small sacrifices we journalists have to make so that we can bring you news and entertainment the rest of the year. So, I’m fulfilling my contractible obligations when I offer the following Top 10 list. Plus, I really enjoy finding out what posts you liked the most.
Front Row News didn’t officially begin until May, so we don’t have a full year of posts. Still, readers page viewed a lot of stories, and these are the Top 10 blog posts, the ones you really liked clicking on and reading.
(photo credit: spatulated via photopin cc)
My first electronic dance music experience took place in a small, warehouse space called Club Industry. Located in Deep Ellum in Dallas, the venue was like a miniature version of the raves that would become popular in the mid-1990s. As my friends and I danced to the thump thump thump of industrial techno, laser lights shot across the room and dry ice bellowed between our legs. It was our great escape from the daily grind of high school life.
Looking at today’s electronic dance music festivals, it’s easy to see that the only change is one of size. Instead of 100 people dancing in a small room, there are 100,000 dancers in a large venue or under the open sky. And with that many people, safety and security has to take a front seat in the experience.
This weekend, December 27-28, the Kay Baily Hutchinson Convention Center Dallas will play host to Lights All Night, an electronic dance music festival featuring Deadmau5, Icona Pop, and Major Lazer, among others. The event is expected to draw 40,000 guests over the two days.
Planning for the event started in January, and life safety and security was one of the first items on the agenda. To better understand what took place in those meetings, we spoke with IAVM member, Al Rojas, assistant director for the Kay Baily Hutchinson Convention Center Dallas.
“The vetting process begins with an understanding of the event logistics and timeframe,” Rojas said. “It is the same for every event. The amount of life safety and security resources will be determined by the event history in the building and other locations. Law enforcement intelligence and event activity portrayed by the media also become factors to consider.”
Rojas said the event staff looks at previous show reports and interviews with venue staff. The 2012 event was held at Dallas Fair Park and Daniel Huerta (IAVM member) and his staff were very helpful in the planning process. They also interview the event’s promoters to determine estimated attendance, arrival pattern of attendees, and the flow of attendees in the event. In addition, meetings with Dallas Police, Dallas Fire & Rescue , and event security were conducted.
“There are basic building elements to consider, such as door coverage for ingress and egress, use of vertical transportation (elevators and escalators), public space, dock access for set-up, and other occurring events,” he said.
In fact, the action plan from the 2011 event and the “After Action Reports,” from 2011 and 2012 Rojas said, became the foundation for the 2013 plan.
“All parties were at common ground, and the process was one of evaluating previous results and factoring in new logistics and current lessons learned from the event industry,” he said.
We’ll be checking in more with Rojas about Lights All Night, so please stay tuned to this blog to learn best practices from venues hosting electronic dance music events.
One of this year’s favorite memes was the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters, with many people replacing the “carry on” part with their own twists on the statement, such as “Keep Calm and Eat Bacon.” It appears 2013 was the year of relaxation, or at least a reminder to chill out.
Keeping calm, though, doesn’t always work. In fact, getting excited may be more beneficial if you’re suffering from performance anxiety, like public speaking or taking tests.
“Anxiety is incredibly pervasive. People have a very strong intuition that trying to calm down is the best way to cope with their anxiety, but that can be very difficult and ineffective,” said Alison Wood Brooks, Ph.D., of Harvard Business School. “When people feel anxious and try to calm down, they are thinking about all the things that could go badly. When they are excited, they are thinking about how things could go well.”
Brooks and colleagues led several experiments at Harvard University to learn more about performance and anxiety. In one experiment, participants who said “I am excited” gave longer speeches and were more persuasive, competent and relaxed than those who said “I am calm” before a speech.
“The way we talk about our feelings has a strong influence on how we actually feel,” Brooks said.
Anxiety and excitement are cut from the same sheet (high arousal), so it may be easier and more beneficial to go along with the feeling than fight it by trying to be calm.
“When you feel anxious, you’re ruminating too much and focusing on potential threats,” Brooks said. “In those circumstances, people should try to focus on the potential opportunities. It really does pay to be positive, and people should say they are excited. Even if they don’t believe it at first, saying ‘I’m excited’ out loud increases authentic feelings of excitement.”
(Image: Created on Keep Calm Studio)
I understand why the weather always comes up in small talk. It’s something we all experience, and it’s easy to agree or disagree with the current conditions. But man oh man, I can’t stand talking about the weather with strangers. I shut down whenever it’s brought up, grunting a quick yep or yeah.
Small talk doesn’t have to suffer from the weather, though. There are ways you can make it better. In the December issue of IU Health & Vitality, Bernardo J. Carducci, the director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast, offers some helpful advice on improving your small-talk skills.
“Small talk is really, really important,” Carducci said. “It helps us connect with people, and not just at holiday gatherings. If you make connections with people, it makes it much more difficult for you to treat them in an uncivil way. If you think about being kind to and connecting with people, people you engage in conversation, you’re going to open a door for them, you’ll let them step in front of you in line. You’ll engage in more acts of kindness and fewer acts of rudeness.
“Small talk is important, particularly now when we have people retreating into their own electronic bubbles, their own worlds, where they can get whatever they want on their own terms,” he continued. “The people who are happiest and most influential have the strongest social network, social capital.”
Carducci suggests the following small-talk tips:
Start small. Begin with a simple greeting or a compliment. Over time, as people see one another, those will turn into conversations.
Aim for nice, not brilliant. You don’t have to be funny, just willing to talk.
Have something to say. Learn about local and current events so you have something to talk about.
Rehearse your introduction. Be prepared to offer two pieces of information—your name and something about you that helps continue the conversation.
You’re late? Big mistake. Arrive early or on time to a networking event so you can greet people and pace the conversation.
Extend the conversation. Be in the moment and consider how you can build on the last thing said.
Now, stop talking. Take a break and let others contribute to the conversation.
Help yourself and others with “quick talk.” Make your conversations brief, showing you can talk with a variety of people.
As with any skill, practice makes perfect.
“It’s like exercise,” Carducci said. “If you can build it into your daily routine, you’re healthier. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.”
(Image: Orange Photography)