Archive for the ‘Opinions’ Category

Well-Rounded a Bad Thing?

April 25th, 2009, posted in Opinions, Tips

Colorful 

I think I speak for many of the friends I had in high school and college by saying, “I was involved in a lot.” Many of the people I knew in high school and college were involved in countless clubs, organizations, majoring in twenty different things, and doing thousands of extracurricular activities. It wasn’t just the fact that we were under the impression that when people looked at us in college and job applications, they loved well-rounded applicants, but we simply had a wide array of talents and interests. Running from club to meeting to practice to family things, all just to stay alive.

Come to find out, years after I thought that being well-rounded was the best way to be, I wasn’t as right as I thought I was. While being well-rounded in academics, athletics, hobbies, and involvements might be a great thing, it isn’t always what employers and schools are looking for. Now, that’s not to say you should hone all of your efforts on one skill and only do that your entire life, but maintain a balance while you focus on recognizing your strengths in one area, as opposed to improving your weaknesses in your other well-rounded corners. That is to say, you’re a person who is really great in all of the academic areas in your high school curriculum, but you excel in your true passion: physics. Or, you’re pretty good academically and are on the football and track teams at school, but you’ve immersed yourself in leadership, both on and off the field.

In fact, in order to maximize your personal value to a company or a college, it may be ideal to look at leading design firm, IDEO’s take on an individual’s skillset: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/95/design-strategy.html

T 

Being T-Shaped is how IDEO describes the idea that an individual has a wide array of skills and knowledge bases, but really excels in one area of passion. This is harder to balance than you think. Some people (like myself from time to time) are scatter-brained and can’t focus enough on one passion to excel, while others have an area at which they are outstanding, yet they have nothing else to be supportive of that success. Now, while both of these scenarios may work, a clearly drawn out T-Shape diagram helps us to realize where our potential lies, and how we can best help the world around us.

So, take a good look at your skillset and ask yourself the questions, “What are all of my skills? and Which skill am I really passionate about and stands out above the rest?” Everything else will come naturally. Most of all, you have to enjoy doing that skill that stands out. Without the passion, it is so much harder to excel and be happy with what you do best.

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Earth: Home of the 24/7 Workweek

January 18th, 2009, posted in Inspiration, Opinions

Time

Going through the job  interview process within just over the last year, I have taken a little bit of time recently to reflect on where I have ended up from what I was thinking at that point in time last Nov/Dec when finally accepting a job offer with my current company.

One of the most common phrases I heard from companies when I was interviewing is that they are “not your typical 9 to 5 company.” This, of course, referring to the 9-5 workday that we are so used to hearing about, even in Dolly Parton’s old, “9-5.” Every company I talked to said they are not the typical 9-5. But, how typical is it, if no one is talking about it anymore and no companies are eager to boast their “old” ways at career fairs and through the interview process?

The new workplace is 24/7 accessible. This can be good and bad. Good because you’re able to work from anywhere whenever you want to in order to get your work in on time, without necessarily being near those you report to. Bad because it has become what a cell phone may have initially become to many of us, a virtual leash by which those in charge of us can access their workforce 24/7 to be able to get work done, no matter what hour of day/night it comes up. While “not your typical 9-5 job” sounds pretty great to many of us, because we think of the endless possibilities that come with such a phrase, it means that work no longer fits into the boundaries of 9am – 5pm. Now, our parents might say that we need to “get real” and understand what the work world is really like, but it is an entirely different work environment than we were even tought about in school.

It has become so difficult to mentally pull yourself away from work. When I’m at home during the weekend, I come closest to shutting out the work week, but when I come home after work at night, when I can’t achieve any of my errands for the day, I am bound to think about the next day and what needs to get done. Especially if I get a few emails later in the night, or a call to wake me up in the morning, describing what I need to do before work the next day. It’s work, with homework, that may not give us enough time off to actually finish the homework. It’s a tough gig.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I’m just trying to make an observation of the occupational shift within our country in comparison to many of the things we learned growing up about going into the real world. The “real world” as we remember being taught of, has shifted entirely, into the “new real world,” which many of us are seeing upon our departure from college. Many of my friends that graduated with me recently from undergraduate studies have yet to enter this “new real world.” They are prolonging the magic through either travel or more likely, graduate studies immediately out of school. While I don’t criticize either of these approaches, it seems so rare for me to find people my age, right out of undergraduate studies, going into the work force just as I did. Kids become comfortable with school, even when the loans ring in over $1million dollars. It’s a way to try and continually prepare for what the “new real world” will bring, yet it still never seems to prepare those enough. 

So many of us continue to hold on. To parents, to comfort, to many different things. I was one of these people too. However I’ve learned that it’s most important to take the dive into something that you want to make the best of, something you enjoy doing, and something that lets you fall flat on your face. Yes, not meeting a deadline at my work recently wasn’t the greatest, but I love the challenge of trying to do it again, and learning more from the “new real world” than from much of the schooling that tried to prepare me for it. I am fortunate enough to have a job in this current economy, but that doesn’t mean new graduates need to stop trying. I’m not a professional, by any means, so it’s hard to make too many recommendations, without bringing up questions about myself. But I wanted to point out some observations about the world around us, and the recent release of the class of 2008 into the “new real world.”

Let’s hope we’re just a world-changing as much of the world has put pressure on us to be. :)

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Living a Champagne Lifestyle on a Beer Budget

December 30th, 2008, posted in Opinions

Champagne

After reading Dan Ariely’s “Predictably Irrational“, it had me thinking a lot about the concept of people who don’t know anything about something that can be complex (ex. getting wine at dinner) buying the 2nd cheapest thing on the menu, because they don’t want to seem cheap (even though they are), to come off as knowing a little bit to the people observing them. I had a discussion this morning that involved the idea of college students coming fresh out of college, having no real idea (even with today’s technology and educational standards at private universities) how to handle their finances, and buying lavish objects to make it appear to their friends that they are living the ideal life (or at least for this age). However, since the finances to back such lavish items don’t actually exist, they are Living a Champagne Lifestyle on a Beer Budget. That puts things in the college perspective, doesn’t it.

A good majority of us, whether from private or public institutions nationwide, do not really understand the value of money, saving it, and spending it responsibly. Heck, I’d love to blame the government for the current financial crisis, but it is very much derived from the irresponsibility we manifested as a whole in handling our money over the past decade. Taking out excessive loans, getting in heaps of credit card debt, and compounding more and more interest onto the money we owe the companies at which we keep throwing our money. There is an apparent need for a more fundamental set of teachings in our public education system surrounding personal finance. Especially since our college education gives us the option to take whatever classes we want, we need something more mandated in our public schools. Sure, my mandatory classes in high school taught me how I can effectively create methamphetamine using simple medications I can pick up at Albertson’s, but I have no freakin’ clue as to what an IRA is.

Gas Pump

Another interesting observation can be made when looking at the price of gas in our current economy. Many times, when faced with the decision between the cheapest gas you could find (ex. $4.15/gal) and the second cheapest gas you could find (ex. $4.18/gal), we would go for the cheapest we could find in order to still fill our tank, but feel like we got the best bang for our buck. However, the circumstances change drastically when we have seen sudden gas prices tank (pun very intended). There are a few observations to be made. First, people start thinking, “Wow, $1.39/gal is so cheap for gas. I’m so happy!” Now that is with regards to the previous prices (ex. $4.15/gal) and also the anchor price we’ve been attached to for the past few years (~$2.75/gal-$3.75/gal). We think that $1.39 /gal is nearly dirt cheap, but that’s only in comparison to what we were most recently paying. It is cheaper than before, no doubt, but is it really what it is worth? When I started driving, it was $1.23/gal, which I still thought was a lot of money to pay for a gallon of gas. I never though by the time I was out of college, I’d be paying $4.15/gal. We are under the assumption that gas is just suddenly the price it should be, merely based on our recent purchasing price. The second observation is that, when gas is this cheap, we no longer necessarily go to get the cheapest gas (ex. $1.39/gal), but instead go for the 2nd cheapest (again, like the wine), because we can afford more than to skimp on the quality of the gas going into our car. Funny how that all works.

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Men, Women, and Age

December 25th, 2008, posted in Opinions

As I am nearing the eve of my 23rd birthday, I can’t help but think about how old I’m getting. In all honesty though, it’s not that old. However, that raises my curiosity. When will I finally consider myself to be old? And in terms of my appearance to others, I still want people to mistake me for 23, 24, or even 25. There is bound to be a point, however, that I would much rather have people mistake me for 20, 21, 22. I’m not sure if any of us know exactly when that point in time where we want to appear younger is actually reached, because we don’t notice it until someone mentions, “Can I see your ID?” or “You look underage,” or some other typical comment, and we think to ourselves, “Wow, that feels great for someone to think I look that good to be that young” (or something similar).

Another observation is that the “anchor age” as I’ll call it, is  very different for women than it is men. With the ongoing debate of maturity levels in men and women, women can feel older than they really are as well, looking forward to that “You look too young” compliment before their men friends. At what age do you honestly consider yourself old? What is that point in time where you feel that you’d rather someone think you’re younger than older?

While we are on the topic of age, I think about the friends that I have, and how many of them are actually my peers. While most of them are, some of them are indeed older and some younger than myself. Of those that are older than me, it is interesting to note that about 75% of them are women. This is more than my approximate 50% women friends who are peers. When I look at coworkers that I would consider friends that are older, almost 90% of them are women. This is not necessarily because I am reaching out to befriend them, but also vice versa. Why do I have so many 30-something women friends, but not as many guy friends? Is it the ‘cougar effect’ that women want to have a 20-something guy hanging around them, knowing that they are attractive and still in? Or is it more the idea of feeling younger merely by surrounding themselves with more energetic and up-and-coming guys (I know, I’m humble) ? There are so many questions I have when it comes to recognizing differences in age, maturity level, and sex, that I’ve become more and more intrigued with it the more diverse my group of friends becomes in the realm of age, where not everyone I work with is necessarily someone in “class” with me, etc.

I’d be interested to learn more about what others’ feelings on this topic are. What do you observe in your own lives in terms of both your aging and your friendships? Can there be a friendship between a man and a woman without either of the parties falling for the other at any single point in time?

Lastly, I’d like to wish everyone and their families a very Merry Christmas and a warm holiday season to all of those out there reading this! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and being a part of mine. Please invite others to partake in the conversation in this blog, and if you have any interesting items you’d like to teach me, please share them so I can publicize it in this blog. I am so thankful for all of you in my life and I hope that you are as equally blessed as I am. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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Community Chest

December 13th, 2008, posted in Inspiration, Opinions

It’s that time of year again, where the philanthropist in all of us comes out to give to those around us who are less fortunate than we are. In my recently acquired occupation, I have found countless ways to become involved in the community.

I love building parts of houses for those less fortunate and more deserving than myself. I like doing what I can to map out environmental growth in the mountains to document and send to state representatives to increase the national wilderness area. I enjoy giving hours of my time to pack boxes of food for the homeless, to donate my clothing to Goodwill and Salvation Army, and to simply be more caring around the holiday season. We should be more like this year round, which is something I have been working on the past few years of my life. Dictionary.com defines service as “an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service.” It seems so simple to give service to those who need it.

Helping Hands

But for those of us recent graduates, current college students, or even people affected in these economic  down-times, we have a strong desire to contribute our time, talent, and efforts, not funding, to a cause that we believe in. But, the more and more I look into a lot of the organizations I want to get involved with, the more that seem to come outright with the idea that there is going to need to be money given, prior to participation in the organization.

Now, in my opinion (and not just the fact that many consider me to be cheap), I’d love to give as much time as I have to helping work for a cause, but of course I understand that at some point I need to fund raise as well. It’s much easier for someone to contribute to you as a fund collector, if you have personally donated to the cause you believe in. I’m much more into giving my time and efforts towards a cause, than a defined amount of money. Pouring money into a service doesn’t always solve the problems. There needs to be more action, in my opinion.

This include a recent calling of me, along with many others in my company, to take up board positions in local community service organizations in the metro area.  Now, while it seems great that I could help use my passion for a cause to guide an organization that I contribute a lot of my time and effort to, many of the organizations require a minimum financial contribution each year, simply to be on their board (even for the typical 2-year tenure). While some of the 19,000 Denver metro community service organizations (in the metro area alone) simply require 100% participation of board members (I can pay $10, the next guy can pay $50, etc.), others require a far greater financial contribution (one example is $125,000/year).

If I want to make an impact in my community, or help those in need, I don’t have to necessarily contribute financially, but if I want to increase the impact I can have, I need to donate in order to partake. Now, I understand if I was a millionaire and wanted to spend all of my time traveling the world with my wife and kids, I would simply throw a hot $250,000 at an organization I liked and let them go with it. But, I am a recent college grad, with some remaining time on my hands, to contribute to an organization or two that I really care about.

I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but maybe there is still more looking involved. Or maybe there is a need for yet another community service organization that meets the needs of people like me. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

That all being said, this is a call to action to go out and give back to your community with just a little bit of time this holiday season. Chance are  you’ll feel really good about it, and desire the feeling of altruism further down the road. I encourage that.

In terms of what I’m doing this holiday season to give back, I’m planning on looking through all of my clothes, and donating everything that I haven’t worn in a year (which is a lot) to a worthy cause, or selling them at a garage sale or to a store and contributing the money to a good cause that wouldn’t usually accept my clothes (there we go with money again. ironic, no?)

Feel free to share your ideas for the upcoming season. I’m sure I’ll run into more, but it’s important to remember those around us who are less fortunate, equally as fortunate, and even more fortunate than us, at any point in time, not just “times like these”.

Happy Holiday Season!

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