How to Ace Your Remote Job Interview, According to a Hiring Manager

How to Ace Your Remote Job Interview, According to a Hiring ManagerHow to Ace Your Remote Job Interview, According to a Hiring ManagerLanding a remote job can be the opportunity of a lifetime. It can mean more flexibility in your work life, greater independence, and the highly sought-after luxury of being able to work from the comforts of your own home. But first, youve got to nail your remote job interview.To do that, its important to get inside the mind of your interviewer. Fortunately, as an experienced hiring manager, I can provide you with that insider insight.Heres what you need to know to set yourself up as the perfect candidate during your remote job interview1. Show that you understand the company and position.The relationship between an employer and a remote employee is one thats founded on trust and understanding. Employers want to know that youre someone who really gets their company- from what the firms overarching goals are to the exact details of how it conducts busine ss.By learning as much as you can about the company and job that youre interviewing for beforehand, you can present yourself as someone who truly understands what the position entails, as well as whats expected of you. This builds trust, and shows that you will be an independent and reliable employee who can be counted on.2. Create a home office and show it.Its important to present yourself as the true professional that you are. Having an area in your home dedicated to work will create the impression that youll be serious about your job, and that youre someone who wont be easily distracted by random temptations like watching TV. If your home office looks professional enough, I recommend giving the interviewer a quick tour with your webcam. Its a great way of making your interview a bit more memorable that most candidates wont think of doing.3. Make it abundantly clear why you want to work remotely.Is she just after this job so that she can slack off from home? Its easy for hiring ma nagers to assume the worst when they dont understand what draws you to a remote job. Instead of avoiding the elephant in the room like many do, you should tackle it head-on. Maybe its because you want to be able to drop off and pick up your kids from school, or perhaps its because youre the type of person who produces your best work when free from office distractions. These are both good reasons that your hiring manager will be able to relate to and sympathize with.4. Market yourself as the most accessible and responsive candidate there is.As an employer who offers resume writing services, the number one concern I have when hiring remote resume writers is whether I can count on them when duty calls. If the business suddenly gets an influx of customers, can I rely on my remote team of writers to handle the extra work? If the company website goes down, how easy will it be for me to reach my remote web technician?These are all scary scenarios that employers have to worry about when off ering flextime to their employees. As a candidate, the key is to market yourself as someone who understands, better than anyone else, that dependability and reliability are king. During business hours, show that youre someone whos available on Skype or someone whos readily available by phone and replies to text messages almost instantaneously.5. Show that youre self-motivated.If you arent motivated and inspired by what you do, it will be human nature to slack off- especially when you can get away with it working remotely. With that in mind, its crucial that you show employers that this isnt what youre all about. Give examples of some of the things youve accomplished that didnt require anyone elses support or supervision, and be sure to emphasize them on your resume as well.6. Use a high-quality webcam and microphone.This might have little to do with how qualified you are for the job, but these types of things matter more than you may think. Having a low-quality mic or webcam during a remote job interview immediately hurts your chances for the job. Just imagine how it would feel if you interviewed a candidate you could barely hear for the entire duration of the Skype call.Similarly, a lousy webcam gives the impression that youre just not on the top of your game. Interviewers want to see your face clearly, not choppy blurred-out frames that they can barely make out. If you have shoddy equipment, employers will also worry that theyll have to deal with these poor conditions on an ongoing basis if they hire you.Peter Yang is a human resources professional and has played an integral role in the recruiting process for many large firms. Hes also the cofounder of ResumeGo, a resume and cv writing service that employs professional resume writers who aid job seekers in their quest for a dream job.

Big Data Roles and Pay

Big Data Roles and PayBig Data Roles and PayMany IT professionals, including chief information officers (CIOs), are looking for ways to take greater and greater advantage of big data. Big data is also one of the fastest-growing tech areas, with companies racing to capitalize on its potential.As data-collection technology comes of age, costs have decreased and acceptance has become widespread. That means tech professionals skilled in this area are looking at a booming job market. Current demand for experienced data professionals far outstrips the supply of qualified candidates.As a result of these trends, many companies are increasing salaries of IT professionals with expertise in mining big data. Following are some of the most in-demand positions for IT employees working with big data, along with starting salary midpoints for the coming year, according to the 2019 Robert Half Technology Salary Guide.Business intelligence analyst. These analysts use collected data to compile reports a nd support business-oriented decision making. The salary midpoint for this position is $106,000.Data architect. In coordination with systems and database admins, data architects implement the companys individual data architecture. The salary midpoint is projected to be $133,500.Data security analyst. The responsibilities of a data security analyst focus simultaneously on big data and cybersecurity. They include data security auditing, risk assessments and developing company security policy. The salary midpoint for this job is projected to be $125,250 in the coming year.Getting hiredStay current on starting pay for jobs in your area by using a salary calculator. Knowing what a nearby competitor may offer makes salary negotiation a much simpler process - especially if you end up with multiple offers.In targeting a position, focus on your career preferences. For example, getting hired at an organization new to the big data arena means youll be coming in on the ground floor. So you can play a role in the development and implementation of a data-mining infrastructure. If helping set up companies is not your ideal area, aim for firms that are already established in the field.On your resume, dont forget to list your soft skills along with your technical ones. Creativity, for example, is a plus for any position (and sometimes a requirement), and interpersonal abilities are crucial for any IT job that involves multiple departments.If you want to work in a challenging, growth-oriented IT area, big data offers plenty of opportunity right now. So get clear on your goals, and start looking around for the right position.This post has been updated to reflect more current information. Tags

This is the unexpected power of sadness and melancholy

This is the unexpected power of sadness and melancholyThis is the unexpected power of sadness and melancholySadness is a fact of life for most people. Whether we like it or not, there will be circumstances and events in ur lives that cause sadness. We may view sadness as an unwelcome emotion, but it serves us in unexpected ways.An article in Changetools.co.uk notesSadness is a force of great depth and breadth. Too much sadness leads us to be passive, depressive, self-pitying and incapable of action. Too little leads us to be superficial, indifferent, repressing and lacking in sensitivity.Illustrations by John P. WeissTheres an Elton John popsong titled Sad Songs (Say So Much). The song speaks to the universality of emotional pain. Here are a few of the key lyrics in the songIf someone else is suffering enough to write it downWhen every single word makes senseThen its easier to have those songs aroundThe kick inside is in the line that finally gets to youand it feels so good to hurt s o badAnd suffer just enough to sing the bluesSad songs, they saySad songs, they saySad songs, they saySad songs, they say so muchI dont know if creative people are specially equipped to feel and channel deep emotions, but I suspect they are. I know that as an artistic person, I feel things deeply.I have often found melancholy and sadness stoke my creative expression. It seems counter-intuitive, but its true. More than happiness, moments of sadness seem to unearth poignant thoughts, words and ideas.An article by licensed marriage and family therapist Betty Tullius notesStudies have shown that, contrary to being a useless emotion, sadness is beneficial to us in ways that actually enhance ur well-being. Joseph Paul Forgas, Ph.D., has discovered that when we are sad, we can remember details more accurately, have better judgment, and have more motivation than when we are happy. This seems to be due in part to sadness functioning as a signal that something is not right, making us more att entive to detail, more alert to social cues, and/or more motivated to make changes.ur souls at nightA while back I read Kent Harufs devastating novel, Our Souls at Night. A Wall Street Journal review had this to sayThe book begins with a proposition A 70-year-old widow named Addie Moore knocks on the door of a longtime neighbor and asks if he would like to come to her house at night to lie in bed - not for sex, but to talk and fall asleep together.Im talking about getting through the night, she says. And lying warm in bed, companionably. Lying down in bed together and you staying the night. The nights are the worst. Dont you think?Yes. I think so, he says.In real life, Kent Haruf was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. He decided to write one last novel before he passed away. Normally, it took him six years to craft a novel. But, knowing time was short, he spent approximately 45 days in his writing cabin. He emerged with the first draft of Our Souls at Night.The Wall Street J ournal described Our Souls at Night this wayA short, spare and moving novel about a man and a woman who find love late in life, Our Souls at Night is already creating a stir. The novel has been selected by the American Booksellers Association as the ?1 Indie Next Pick for June. Discussions are underway for a film adaptation, according to Mr. Harufs agent, Nancy Stauffer.The book has since been adapted to film, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Heres the trailer.Kent Haruf rekindled an old friendship at a high school reunion with a woman named Cathy. When both their marriages ended later in life, they came together and married. His last novel Our Souls at Night captures much of what he and Cathy found together.Writing the novel was therapeutic for Haruf, as he states in the Wall Street Journal articleIn some ways it felt as if that was what was keeping me alive, he said. It was something significant for me to get up for every day.I think thats true of most artful people. Our ap petite for creative expression is immensely important. Its what keeps us going in many cases. Even when the inspiration comes from a sad heart.Kent Haruf finished Our Souls at Night not long before he passed away. Obviously, he had something left to say. The creative soul does not yield easily.Its not hard to feel the sadness in Kent Harufs writing. The unexpected power of sadness is that it can fuel some of our best, creative work. It certainly did for Kent Haruf.Clearly, even in the twilight of an artists life, there is room to channel sadness into creative expression. To share with readers and viewers a reflection of our human soul. The beauty and humanity that resides within us all.It was strangely therapeuticThere have been down times in my life when things were not going well. I remember sitting up late at night, sipping tea and watching country music videos. The videos were strangely therapeutic.Some of them dealt with loss, missed chances, regrets and more. They pulled at my heartstrings and drew to the surface repressed feelings and emotions. The tears that came purged a few demons, and lightened my emotional load.Whether youre a country music fan or not, you have to hand it to those cowboy musicians. They have a knack for capturing emotional pain.Consider Blake Sheltons moving song Goodbye Time, which portrays the difficult end of a relationship. The music and video illustrate the power of channeling sadness into great artistry.The joy and the curseThe joy and curse of being a creative soul is that you feel things deeply. Its what enables you to create moving artwork and poetic passages. But its also what can drag you down.Navigating sadness requires a fine calibration. You must allow yourself to feel the melancholy, in order to process it and find release. Then you have to brush yourself off and soldier on. Sometimes, you can completely purge the pain. Other times, it lessens, but you will always carry it.I guess thats the deal. If you want access t o the emotional, creative muse, then you have to accept the inevitable pain that deep feelings and experiences can bring. Maybe thats what Elton John meant in his song Sad Songs. That part about, and it feels so good to hurt so bad.Sometimes you just need to feel somethingWhether youre a writer, artist or musician, I encourage you to continue reading those heartfelt novels. Listen to those sad songs and allow your heart to be moved by the deeply felt, creative expression of others. Hug that sad, little Teddy bear of yours.Beyond the superficiality of social media and quotidian rhythms of life, there exists a deeper geschwindigkeit of living. Its a kind of music. Sort of like a slow, mournful cello that beats within our hearts. When we connect with it, we sense our humanity. Our common experiences.Sometimes, life gets to be a bit much. The endless march of work, responsibilities, commitments and obligations. We get lost in the day to day until something happens. A deep emotional chor d is struck. Its what causes some people to burst into tears, quit their jobs or do uncharacteristic things.Yet, such emotional events also spark great, creative insights and even breakthrough work.Sometimes, you just need to feel something. To awaken you from the blur of daily living. When it hits, dont fight it. Take the time for that sad song, late night movie, country music video or moving novel. Periodically, we need a good cry. We need to reconnect with our emotions. To deny them is to deplete a bit of our soul. And repressed feelings are unhealthy.Near the end of the Wall Street Journal article about Kent Haruf, this was writtenOn the night of Nov. 29, Kent and Cathy Haruf lay in bed - she in their queen bed and he in a hospital bed alongside it. They held hands, talking quietly, then fell asleep.When she woke in the morning, he was gone.Hopefully, we have many moons before life is done with us. Be sure to make time to feel things deeply. Sad songs. Touching music videos. Po ignant novels. Melancholy movies. Channel these things into your art, writing or music.In this way, we connect with the breadth of our humanity, touch others, and share the gift of living.(Originally published at JohnPWeiss.com)Before you goIm John P. Weiss. I draw cartoons, paint landscapes and write about life. Thank you for readingThis article first appeared on Medium.