The Workday Reading: March 21, 2016
Mar 21, 2016
***
1) The #MoreWomen campaign has compelling visual evidence of why we need more female civic leaders. (Daily Mail)
2) This BP Textured Satchel has the look of a $200 bag for $48. Sold!
3) How the chance of breaking up changes the longer your relationship lasts. (The Washington Post)
4) Need a strapless bra? This Felina Body Luxe bra is supportive and completely smooth. This Wacoal bra is one of the best-reviewed and runs from 32C to 42DDD.
5) Why paying student loans could become a job benefit. (Bloomberg)
6) Target has a fabulous selection of dresses for work. I love this peplum sheath from XOXO and this Merona sleeveless ponte dress. For casual Friday, check out this printed shirtdress. Plus-size? This inLuv sleeveless a-line is a versatile basic.
7) 19 Must-Have Makeup Dupes; I need to try these Sonia Kashuk lip pencils. (Buzzfeed)
8) I bought these Profoot gel toe-separators for at-home pedicures. They are like a vacation for your feet. So relaxing.
9) I’m not sure how I would respond if an employer started my job interview with this question. (Business Insider)
10) Statement earrings are a good way to lift an old dress or outfit. I love these gold and emerald drops from Max & Chloe. These delicate Nadri pearl ear crawlers also take the cake.
11) No time to exercise? Some tips for squeezing in a workout when you’re swamped. (Camille Styles)
12) This white dress from Chelsea28 and Olivia Palermo is a must own.
*image found here.
No. 9 – I’m not sure how I would react either, but I love the question, and I think an interviewer could get much more insight about the candidate by asking them this than, “Why *shouldn’t* we hire you?” which was something that made me cringe.
I’ve had great luck with a number of sonia kashuk items- the eyebrow pencils, tinted moisturizer/bb creams, and nail polishes have all been more deepy pigmented than other drugstore brands I’ve tried. I also have a brush set that’s lovely- I cant recommend enough!
#9 – If I were asked that question, I’d assume it was a variation on “tell me about yourself.”
Looking at it from the other side, I interview candidates fairly often, and I really appreciated the Slack CEO’s approach. Nothing is more toxic to a team than too much ego. I’ve actually turned down at least one candidate because it was obvious that while he was talented, he tended to look down on other people. When I’m interviewing, I look for someone who’s talented and hardworking AND doesn’t take themselves too seriously. I can coach someone in the technical know-how of the job, but it’s way harder (and sometimes impossible) to coach people on those deeper ego issues.
I also interview candidates regularly, and I had the same thought about it being similar to “tell me about yourself.”
I was similarly impressed with the reasoning and wisdom to his approach.
And I agree with the importance of the importance of attitude over skill.
So, basically, I just want to say ditto to your comment because it echoes the thoughts I had while I was reading the article.
I’m not yet in a role where I have to interview candidates, but it’s something about the wording, I think. “Tell me about yourself,” might put a candidate into a frenzied, “Oh god well what’s relevant? What do I think this interviewer needs to know and would be interested?”
In essence, they’re the same question – but it’s amazing how a little change of wording could put a candidate at ease in talking to you. Frankly, I’d be interested in a study acquire and evaluate a test group’s responses to both. I think the differences would be interesting.
Re: Finding time to work out. I work at an accounting firm, and we’re in the thick of tax season which means long days Monday-Saturday. But I didn’t want to spend another busy season exhausted, cranky and living on convenience food. So in addition to doing a short work out that doesn’t bore me to tears in my apartment each morning, I’m taking stairs instead of escalators/elevators, making multiple trips to the copier which is as far from my office as it can be and taking a walk each day during lunch. I’ve already lost a couple inches in my waist and my sugar cravings are gone. The best part is, nothing I’m doing feels all that hard. Small changes are the way to go!
I recently started working out pretty intensely again, and it all started by telling myself I just had to move for ten minutes. Next week it was 15, then twenty, and so on. After two years of trying to get back in the workout habit and inevitably trying to do too much too soon and just setting myself up for failure, this finally worked. I got back that desire to exercise where I feel like something’s missing if I don’t, and since I lost a few pounds before I was really pushing myself, working out felt a lot easier than it did when I was trying to do what I used to do but now several pounds heavier.
Yes, this! Like Camille, I’m also training for a big ride. If you really want to prioritize being active, put your training/workout schedule on the calendar at least a month out and plot the rest of your life around it. I need there to be no guesswork as to what I’m supposed to do today – if I have to wake up and think “hmmmm, I should workout this morning, what do I want to do?”….. well, obviously I WANT to stay in bed and/or eat a cupcake.
I have the Sonia Kashuk hairbrush (the Mason Pearson alternative) and I love it.
#2 is a pretty great low price alternative to the Givenchy Antigona bag.