Le blog

Oculus Rift and the Montreal Canadiens have a lot in common

2014-05-29T15:49:00.000-04:00

The other night I witnessed the Montreal Canadiens decimate the New York Rangers. It's been a long time since I've visited Montreal during the playoffs. Clad in Habs jerseys and swinging towels in the air with each goal scored, we stared at the TV screen envious of Montrealers who were around the corner at the Bell Centre experiencing these electrifying hockey moments in-person.

This experience made me think back to Facebook's acquisition of Oculus Rift. Oculus is one of the numerous companies making virtual reality headsets - the ones we’ve all seen since we were kids but have yet to hit the market in a mainstream way. Of course, the first application of these devices is for the gaming world. But soon enough products like Oculus will be part of other industries such as the sports world.

Not every sporting event is as exciting as the Montreal Canadiens during the playoffs, but for sports fans, watching one's favourite team in person can be a truly immersive experience. Interestingly, a recent article in Fast Company indicates that efforts are being made in the U.S. to re-design the stadium experience because attendance is on the decline in professional baseball, football, and basketball.

The article cites numerous reasons for poor stadium attendance including the fact that television offers views and instant replays that the in-person experience can never offer. No kidding! Efforts to enhance the stadium experience seem futile when virtual reality technologies for professional sports could allow fans to enjoy the best of both worlds. Ideally, spectators should have the best virtual seat in the house, access to replays and perhaps most importantly, the feeling of being part of the crowd. Now that's a game I would like to attend (and pay for).

Photo Credit: Canadiens de Montreal on Google+

Get horizontal: Amazing reads for the holidays

2013-12-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

It's the time of year when you're ready to loose your shit. The best way to ring in the new year is on your couch. A thought-provoking book pairs well with your horizontality. Here are three short and sweet Lindsay-approved recommendations:

Remote
Authors: Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
If Apple is the gold standard for design, then 37signals is the gold standard for progressive workplace policy. This may sound boring, but wait, the book reads like fiction because it describes a workplace utopia where people are super-productive and have amazing work-life balance. Much of the advice is from the authors' own company but and they also do a great job at highlighting other cool organizations. If you haven't read their other books, read them now.

Into Thin Air
John Krakauer
A journalist's personal account of a disastrous hike on Mount Everest. Reading this book stirs up your sense of adventure while eliminating those fleeting work-related thoughts that may pop into your mind during holiday time. From the very first page, you'll be drawn in by this book's intensity and raw emotion. Trust me, there's nothing on Netflix that even comes close.

The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
Did you read this book when you were in school? I don't care. Read it again. It's the best book to get inspired and recharged. Without being cheesy, it's an entertaining fable about achieving your potential. This book is perfect for those seeking refuge from family members over the holidays. Check it out on Audible; it's narrated by Jeremy Irons. British voices make everything sound magical and amazing.

Career advice inspired by Toronto's crack-smoking mayor

2013-11-10T16:53:00.001-05:00

Toronto is officially known for it's crack-smoking mayor. From being videotaped with local gangsters to uttering offensive remarks while in a "drunken stupor," Mayor Rob Ford has everybody talking, both nationally and internationally.

Yes, the whole story is absurd, but what are you known for?

I took this photo of the Toronto skyline while aboard the Toronto Island Ferry.

This hilarious scandal tells us a lot about people's mental associations or schemas about certain topics.

When people heard "Toronto" they used to think "Canada" or "polite."

Now, when they hear "Toronto" they think "crack."

When people hear your name or come across your online identity, what do they think?

It's worthwhile to think about how you want to be perceived and take steps to make it happen. This may seem link a daunting task. Don't worry, start with a few small (but impactful) steps. Here are some ideas:

1) Suss out your competition aka "Find Similar" on LinkedIn

For inspiration, input your own name in the search box on LinkedIn and then click on the tiny "Similar" hyperlink. Suss out your competition. These people are supposedly similar to you in terms of prior roles, education, or training. How do you match up? How can you showcase your accomplishments better than them?

2) Develop a tagline

The tagline Mayor Ford tries to convey is "saving the taxpayer money." He repeated this tagline multiple times during the press conference where he admitted smoking crack. Think about what your tagline should be and add it to your resume and your personal business card. Moo is the best site on earth for business cards if your company doesn't give you any. They also come in handy to present yourself as a gun for hire independent of the work you do for your current employer.

3) Live up to your tagline by creating content

The majority of online content about Mayor Ford is of him falling over or talking about getting high. It's 2013 yet many people do not create enough online content that favourably represents their professional identity. If you prefer to use your blog for a more personal audience, consider an About.me or Flavors.me landing page. They don't take long to make and you can add the link to your gmail signature. This will make you look more professional in email correspondence.

Say no to zombies and re-discover your inner creativity

2013-11-03T18:44:00.002-05:00

Why are people preparing for the zombie apocalypse? It has already happened. Have you been to the white-collar working world? It's like the Bermuda triangle of creativity and innovation. Thousands of employee-zombies plague the workforce with their lack of inspiration and constant vibe that they're just going through the motions of life, acting as though this is normal behaviour. I say no to that and no to Zombies.

I've been thinking a lot about creativity lately. I watched this depressing Ted Talk where this former professor bashes formal education arguing that school prevents kids from being creative. Ten minutes into the Ted Talk my mind stopped paying attention to the video and I realized that I used to consider myself a very creative person but I no longer feel that way anymore. Creativity is pretty important in the startup where I work so I sought to strengthen my creative muscles.

My creativity trainer is a tiny book called Steal Like An Artist. Buy this book right now and put it on your coffee table. (There's a Ted Talk by the book's author, but trust me, the book is better). With its 10 thought-provoking mantras, the book feels like a remixed artist version of Re-Work by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. (Re-Work is actually included in the Recommended Reading section of this book). Filled with inspiring quotes and illustrations, the author, Austin Kleon urges us to create two workspaces for ourselves. A digital one to turn our ideas into tangible work and an analog one complete with markers, flashcards, and notebooks to foster brainstorming and creativity. Kleon argues for these separate spaces because creativity doesn't occur on a computer screen. He writes:

"The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us - we start editing ideas before we have them."

So true! I thought back to my university days where I'd be on the floor of my room, writing incessantly with different colour highlighters on white sheets of printer paper. I'd put all my seemingly disconnected ideas on paper and Scotch-Tape them to the walls of my room. Then, in a fury, I'd somehow configure my seemingly disconnected ideas into something original, sensical, and whole. My housemates feared I was having a nervous breakdown. No, this was my creative analog process and I didn't even know it. I'm going to revisit that method and see what comes out of it! What do you do to stimulate your creativity?

Badass Business Books Written by Women

2013-05-07T21:47:00.002-04:00

I've decided to tell you about two of my favorite business books written by women; they're highly entertaining and read like fiction.

Normal Gets You Nowhere
Author: Kelly Cutrone
You may remember Kelly Cutrone from reality TV shows like The Hills where she is portrayed more as a nutcase then a genius. Her book is painfully honest, practical, and hilarious. You'll be inspired by Cutrone's wisdom and bravery. Read it now.

Women, Work, & the Art of Savoir Faire
Author: Mireille Guiliano
Mireille Guiliano draws on her experience as former CEO of Veuve Cliquot (now LVMH) to provide great career and life advice - but in a more refined manner as compared to Kelly Cutrone. Guiliano has mastered the art of writing about herself; after reading the book you'll feel like you know her personally.

Staying Relevant 101: How to Avoid Getting F*****d in the Working World

2013-03-03T16:27:00.000-05:00

The working world can be a rough place. Today's economy requires you to think about your career as though it's a startup and you're the CEO. Yet many people I talk to are completely delusional. There are a number of things you can do to stay ahead of the game or at the very least, stay afloat.

Help the Algorithms Creep You
A new wave of recruitment technology, such as Entelo and TalentBin, designed to determine if you're a rockstar of your profession and predict when you will leave your job so that employers can reach out to you with the right opportunity at the right time. To do so, these sites are creeping your social media streams and creating composite profiles of you right now. Check out this Forbes article that explains the idea of talent-scouting algorithms in greater depth.
Read more »

The Real Life Don Draper Tried to Hire Me

2013-02-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

An alternate name for this post is "How to Recruit like a 1960's Jackass."

It all started with LinkedIn.

I received a message from an executive and read it a few times because I thought it was intended for someone else.

To make this more fun, I took screenshots:

Screen Yourself In: 4 Ways To Make Your Application Interview-Worthy

2013-01-10T14:45:00.003-05:00

This article originally appeared on TalentEgg.ca, Canada’s leading job board and online career resource for students and recent graduates.

Navigating the world of resumes and cover letters is like trying to do an assignment without any guidelines from your professor. At school, expectations were always more clear cut. If you wrote an organized and well-researched paper, you’d get a decent – if not a great mark.
Job hunting is a different story. Nothing has prepared you for the game of resumes and cover letters. When you don’t hear back from employers after applying, it’s hard to know what needs improvement.

We recently completed a round of hiring at the company I work for and, based on my experience, I’d like to share some resume and cover letter tips that will help you land your next job interview.

1. Pretend you're on Twitter
If your cover letter was a tweet, what would it say? Get right to the point.

Lose the, “…I’m applying for the ABC position at EFG Corporation that was posted on the student careers website of University XYZ.”

Writing this sentence on Twitter would be a total waste of characters; instead, your cover letter should start with your pitch: “I’d be a great fit for the ABC position because XYZ.”

Stop saying that you have “strong analytical skills” and instead analyze the job description, and craft some very concise and compelling statements demonstrating why you should be interviewed.

2. Ditch the R2-D2 vibe
Write a cover letter the way you would write a blog post – using a human voice.

Read your cover letter out loud. Now read a post from your blog out loud. Notice a difference? Your cover letter is written in a robotic voice that you may think sounds professional. It’s not. You invite employers to check out your blog, yet they won’t click the link because they’ve already seen your writing via your cover letter and, let me tell you, they’re not impressed.

Remove the words “strong communication skills” and “strong writing skills” from your application and just write a persuasive cover letter. Walk the walk.

3. Lose your laundry lists
Why does your resume include laundry lists of each daily task you performed for all the jobs you’ve ever had? If you were a part-time receptionist while you were in university, anyone who looks at your resume will know that you answered the phone. What made you good at this job? How did you stand out?

Recruitment experts rant about this resume problem all the time, yet it came up so often in the round of hiring we just did. According Andy Porter, HR executive and prominent recruitment blogger, candidates should always pitch themselves as accomplishers as opposed to doers.

To land an interview, it’s important that employers see you as a the quarterback as opposed to the kid that gets picked last in schoolyard games. In other words, stop reducing yourself to a laundry list; you’re better than that!

Your achievements are always more compelling. Make achievements the focal point of your resume and cover letter, and cut out the rest.

4. Stop the resume firing squad
We all know the drill: modify a few resume buzzwords, change the company name and job title on your cover letter, and fire off multiple applications into cyberspace.

Instead, opt for a quality-over-quantity approach by applying to a few positions very well. Standing out requires more time than you may be spending right now. The applications we received shortly after we announced a job posting were inferior to the ones which were sent after a few days.

In the end, all of the applicants we interviewed took a bit more time to write something convincing.

Photo Credit: "Angry Businessman Throwing Documents" by NejroN on iStockphoto

Extreme Career Makeover: From Human Resources to the Tech Business in 8 months

2012-12-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

I recently gave a talk at a Power Hour Social put on by Girls in Tech Toronto. In sharing my story of career transition, I hoped to encourage others to challenge themselves and shake things up. I've been meaning to write a post about this topic for a very long time and I had a great time sharing my experiences with a live audience.

Part I

Part II

Preschoolers and corporate learning culture have a lot in common

2012-12-14T19:59:00.000-05:00

Adults can easily put their minds on autopilot, slipping into a Groundhog Day mindset, where each day is the same as the previous and there's nothing left to learn. Children, on the other hand, don't have this problem. It's easy for them garner a sense of enthusiasm and discovery because everything is so new. Needless to say, adults can learn a lot from preschoolers.
Read more »

I'll be speaking at the next Girls in Tech Event!

2012-11-14T12:31:00.001-05:00

The next Girls in Tech Toronto event will take place on Tuesday November 27th at the Wave Accounting office. I will be speaking about making a career transition from Human Resources to the technology business. Click here to register. I hope to see you there!

4 Bad-Ass Career Books to Read Right Now

2012-11-04T16:11:00.002-05:00

There are far too many lame career books out there. The most useful career books are the ones that don't have the word "career" in the title and are not marketed as career books at all. Instead of spoon-feeding the reader useless career to-do lists, the best books present intriguing information and leave it up to the reader to figure out how to put this new knowledge into action. If career books are not at the top of your list or if you don't feel like you've got the time, consider the audiobook version. Audiobooks facilitate multi-tasking by allowing you to "read" while doing other important tasks such as cleaning your apartment or painting your nails. If you're an auditory learner like me, audiobooks will work superbly as you will retain more information.

Rework

Authors: Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

This book will blow your mind. If you haven't read this book stop reading this post and read Rework instead; it's one of the most insightful pieces of writing I've ever encountered and is a very quick read. Although the book was written by the founders of the trailblazing software company 37Signals, their insights extend far beyond technology and are helpful to anyone in the working world.

Embrace your inner nerd: Tech jobs you never considered

2012-10-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Article originally posted on the Ladies Learning Code blog.

Perhaps a Ladies Learning Code workshop ignited your passion for technology. Maybe you want to take your new tech skills to the next level but aren’t sure how. While you may not consider yourself a techie per se, there are awesome jobs in the tech business that you’d be great at; they’re just off your radar. Given the positive job outlook for tech professionals, many people (myself included) have embraced their inner nerd by turning an interest in technology into a full-out career change.

A few confessions about my resignation

2012-05-15T23:38:00.000-04:00

This isn't the first time I've resigned from a job but it's certainly the first time I've been genuinely sad to leave.

Having recently resigned from my current job as a Team Lead & Business Analyst for a software development firm, I must confess that I could never have anticipated how I would feel until after the deed was done. Later, as I un-checked the "I currently work here" box on my LinkedIn profile, I immediately felt a stream of sadness. Perhaps I was being a tad melodramatic but it seemed depressing that over two and a half years of awesome memories were reduced to a few bullet points on my profile.
I didn't feel this way when I quit my first job out of university in early 2009. I was hired to work in the Human Resources department of a large engineering company and was responsible for employee training and development programs. I had a great time doing this job with amazing colleagues and a hilariously sarcastic and supportive boss. Things quickly changed when the cool boss that hired me resigned and my role changed. At the same time it was in this altered role where I first thought about working in technology instead of HR.
Read more »

Reflections on stress management from a first-time poker player

2012-05-02T16:08:00.000-04:00

I recently participated in a charity Texas Hold'em poker tournament to support a local hospital. Without knowing how to play, my friend and I eagerly purchased tickets to the event and devoted a month to learn as much as we could about the game. We hoped that our learning efforts would result in (a) not embarrassing ourselves at a table full of strangers and (b) not perpetuating stereotypes about women playing poker.

I ended up finishing the tournament in fifth place out of approximately 100 participants. I was ecstatic about my performance given that I was a total novice. The theme of the night was definitely "fake it 'till you make it." I acknowledge that winner's luck could have easily come into play here; but perhaps more importantly, this experience helped me learn things about myself and shed new light on how to tackle difficult, intimidating, and potentially stressful situations.
Read more »

Take an Art Class to Boost Your Non-Art Career (Bonus Points for Techies!)

2012-02-27T21:53:00.001-05:00

Article first published as Take an Art Class to Boost Your Non-Art Career (Bonus Points for Techies!) on Technorati.

‘Creative’ and ‘strong communication skills’ are among the most overused words on a LinkedIn profile. In fact, ‘creative’ was the number one overused LinkedIn buzzword of 2011. Instead of wasting time fiddling with your LinkedIn profile to get noticed in the job market, why not invest some time in actually developing your creativity? Doing so will also make you a better communicator. In other words, you'll get two important skills for the price of one!

Adding Star Power to Your Career - Guitar Hero Style

2012-01-02T12:42:00.003-05:00

This post was originally featured on Career Savvy, the blog for Vestiigo.com

Don’t you wish life was like Guitar Hero where you could just hit the star power button to shake things up in your career? A recent study found evidence for a segment of the workforce who manage their careers as if they were rock stars; they are called Proactive Career Managers.

Who are they?
Although most people still think about job seekers as “active” or “passive,” this study demonstrates that there’s more to it than that. Proactive Career Managers are those who are:

“not actively seeking a job
continuously cultivating relationships and resources to increase their career opportunities
building professional networks to surface new career opportunities
younger, more educated and earn higher salaries than other segments of the workforce
found their last job through a referral or social network.”

How to Get your Employer to Cough up more Dough

2011-12-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

This post was originally featured on Career Savvy, the blog for Vestiigo.com

Discussions about money in the workplace are inherently annoying and awkward for most people because of the uneven playing field between the employer and the employee. Let’s look at salary discussions and figure out how to get better at this charade.

Summer’s Over but Keep Wearing Sunscreen

2011-09-26T23:59:00.000-04:00

There are legitimate reasons to care about your face and its future. Although it’s the first official week of fall, it’s important to keep wearing sunscreen. This may sound fanatical to you; however, many people are misinformed (and slightly out to lunch) about the sun and its effects. Without sounding like Health Canada and their lame site on sun safety, I'll give you the well-researched truth about 4 sunscreen fallacies I’ve encountered in discussing this topic with others.

Reactions to the Brazen Careerist Facebook App: Do Employers Really Care?

2011-09-07T01:12:00.000-04:00

The folks at Brazen Careerist have a knack for being ahead of their time. Today, Brazen Co Founder and COO Ryan Healy unveiled a new Facebook app. Healy and his team have found an innovative way to bring social gaming principles into the career building and job-seeking landscape. It’s clear that Brazen has done it’s homework on its job-seeking gen-y user base. This new app demonstrates that Brazen understands what matters to gen-y and have created a very rad user experience. However, I’m not sure employers will be as excited about the data that this app showcases as compared to candidates.

I'm done with high-end foundation

2011-09-03T23:23:00.000-04:00

Your face is kind of a big deal in both your personal and professional lives. Makeup generally helps but it’s hard to know if spending more money will actually get you a superior product. I’d like to share with you a wonderfully low-priced, high-quality foundation that’s made in Canada.

Meet Powder FX: a powder foundation in a mirrored compact made by Cover FX.

Prior to making this discovery I was a big fan of L’ancôme’s Dual Finish Versatile Powder Makeup ($49 CAD). Powder FX is much better. Not only is it cheaper ($35 CAD), when applied with a sponge wedge, its ultra-lightweight formulation prevents you from looking or feeling like you’re wearing any makeup. Powder FX is the least ‘foundation-y’ foundation you will ever find.

Turning the Tables: Questions for your Potential Employer

2011-08-23T22:06:00.000-04:00

This post was originally featured on Career Savvy, the blog for Vestiigo.com

After some searching, you’ve landed a job interview and started your preparations for the big day. There’s a lot more to the interview process than jumping through multiple hoops set out by the employer. During the interview, Generation Y job seekers should take the time to ask their potential employer the right questions to determine if the opportunity is a good fit for them. After all, the right fit is mutually beneficial for both the employer and the employee. From the employee perspective, the right fit in a given job means that you have chosen an environment that will bring the best out of you and will help you succeed as a young professional. In developing your questions for your potential employer, you should ask ones that help zoom in on the following key areas:
The Boss
The team
The job

Years of Irrelevance: Screening out the ‘experience factor’ from the recruitment process

2011-02-09T22:26:00.000-05:00

This post was originally featured on Career Savvy, the blog for Vestiigo.com

We are all well accustomed to the following sentence in a job description: “...minimum [#] years of experience in [insert role, skill, job function here].” I encourage both employers and job seekers to assess this so-called requirement with a critical eye. Defining experience in terms of years often results in a disconnect between its intended purpose and effect on the recruitment process. In the bestselling book Re-Work, the authors from 37signals refer to the years of experience factor often found in job descriptions as years of irrelevance.