Return To Work Mums - Blog Articles

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Opportunities for Students - Internships, Fellowships and Scholarships at NASA

Mon, 8 Feb 2016 01:51:37 GMT

Don't miss out on internships, fellowship and scholarships available from NASA.

Check this page often for new additions.

Interest in flexible work more than doubles in Australia’s sluggish labour economy

Tue, 2 Feb 2016 23:40:26 GMT

Indeed, the world’s largest job site, has revealed today that job seekers in Australia are searching for flexible work two and a half times more often than they were two years ago.

Interest in flexible work (measured by online job searches that include terms such as “remote”, “work from home”, “weekend”, “part-time” and “telecommute”) has increased by 42.1% over the last two years in nine of the 12 countries studied, including Australia. Australia stands out significantly as undergoing an exponential increase, in comparison to the gradual rise in countries like the US, Japan, and Germany.

More than half of the top 50 keywords associated with searches for flexible work globally are related to high-skilled jobs, and many are in the tech and healthcare fields, where talent is scarce. In Australia, the occupations most likely to receive interest for remote work are computer and mathematical, healthcare support and management occupations.

Furthermore, Australia is in the top five countries globally for temporary work opportunities, behind only Italy, Luxembourg, France and Belgium. A third of Australian jobs posted on Indeed are temporary, and one in 10 Australian jobs are part-time. In addition, the local ‘Gig Economy’ is small but growing, adding more flexible roles to the labour market.

Indeed Chief Economist, Tara Sinclair, commented: “Employers are underestimating the interest from highly-skilled workers in flexible options. New technologies have given rise to new ways of working, and Australian job seekers now want to have a greater say in when and where they work.”

Australia’s job market mismatch

Against this trend of changing work patterns, Indeed data also reveals that more than one in 10 Australian jobs take longer than two months to fill. This delay in filling roles is affecting Australia’s economic outlook, as employers are becoming increasingly unable to properly manage their workforce to increase productivity.

Of the 12 biggest economies, only five countries find it more difficult to fill roles than Australian employers.

Percentage of jobs unfilled on Indeed after 60 days:
1. United States - 25.84%
2. Germany - 20.00%
3. Canada - 18.70%
4. France - 16.07%
5. United Kingdom - 13.09%
6. Australia - 11.66%
7. Japan - 11.12%
8. India - 10.22%
9. Italy - 9.28%
10. Brazil - 7.2%
11. Russia - 1.84%
12. China - 1.42%

In fact, Australia has a talent shortage in all of the sample job titles analysed by Indeed, with many sectors having double the amount of open roles compared to interest from job seekers.

Indeed Chief Economist, Tara Sinclair, commented: “The mismatch between what employers need, and what job seekers are looking for in Australia is hindering productivity growth. On one hand, the end of the mining boom has left workers with highly specialised skills such as engineering out of work. While in other areas, such as technology, employers are struggling to find enough workers with the right skills.

“Given the problem Australian businesses have filling vacant roles, and the huge interest from job seekers for more flexible work, employers need to consider how to attract the best talent by offering flexible options and being more open-minded about the exact skill-sets they’re looking for.”

You can read the full report on unfilled jobs and other labour market trends for 2016 in the latest Hiring Lab research report: indeed.com/hiringlab.

Forget quinoa and kale, these basic foods for your kids' lunch box will give them the nutrition they nee

Mon, 1 Feb 2016 00:16:50 GMT

Evelyn Volders, Monash University and Zoe Davidson, Monash University

With the start of another school year upon us, parents are preparing themselves for the constant task of making lunch boxes.

Many parents feel pressure to include superfoods in the lunch box, which can be costly and impractical, especially if their child doesn’t like them! Yet while superfoods are hyped everywhere as being essential items, nutritionally they are not that different to other fruit and vegetables.

For many families, just getting something into a lunch box is super enough.

Australian children are going hungry more frequently than you or I would like to believe. In 2013, 15% of Australian children went to school without breakfast. And almost one in 10 children will not eat for an entire day on a regular basis.

Hunger in children has numerous psychological and behavioural consequences, and can have a lifelong impact on learning. Children who skip meals are more likely to be overweight, have a lower intake of fruit and vegetables, and can be more inactive.

Lunch box stigma. PA/Chris Radburn

There is also a lot of social stigma attached to what does (or doesn’t) go in the lunch box.

Children can be embarrassed as they are seen as different; parents too are embarrassed when schools do not understand their situation, leading to children staying home from school.

Teachers must often negotiate the minefield of school lunches; it’s a tricky task when what is in the lunchbox may be the culmination of complex factors including food insecurity, socioeconomic and cultural factors and family dynamics.

Teachers are called on to inspire health in their students and implement policies that do not consider all of these complexities.

Super school lunches can be achieved not by the addition of a quinoa salad with blueberries and kale, but with simple core foods such as bread, fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat, fish or egg.

Lunch boxes don’t have to be fancy to be healthy. from www.shutterstock.com

A lunch box consisting of a Vegemite sandwich on brown bread, a banana, biscuits and cheese, and a carrot (in the context of some meat or fish at dinner), while not as glamorous or apparently super, can fulfil a child’s nutritional needs at school and keep them energetic and alert.

What super lunches do need is both preparation and planning.

The myriad of snack foods in supermarkets are confusing as many are labelled as healthy choices but in fact contain large amount of sugar, salt or fat and have minimal fibre.

Supposedly healthy choices can also result in inadvertent but significant boosts to daily calorie intake. For example, a large smoothie (while a better choice) can contain as many calories as a Big Mac.

Other considerations when packing a lunch box are ease and speed of eating. Young kids in particular are keen to get out to the playground and won’t appreciate the time it takes to eat large salads or chia seed puddings.

It’s worth planning ahead when making lunches. from www.shutterstock.com

Food safety

Food safety is also important as hot Australian summers will turn your beautiful chicken or green smoothie into something very unpalatable (and potentially dangerous) by lunchtime. An ice brick in the lunch box will help, but some foods just aren’t good to send in the lunch box over summer.

If you are struggling for ideas, lots of websites offer suggestions, including KidSpot, Better Health Channel and the Raising Children Network.

If you are able to provide a nutritious breakfast each morning, send a lunch box with mostly non-processed fresh foods to school. Provide a snack and an evening meal along similar lines, and you are doing a super job.

Evelyn Volders, Adv APD, Senior Lecturer/Course Convenor in Nutrition and Dietetics, Monash University and Zoe Davidson, Lecturer / Research Dietitian, Monash University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

How to stop the sexual harassment of women in science: reboot the system

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 22:52:28 GMT

Zuleyka Zevallos, Swinburne University of Technology

The culture in astronomy, and in science more broadly, needs a major reboot following revelations early this year of another case of harassment against women by a senior male academic.

The journal Science revealed earlier this month that the latest case involved Christian Ott, a professor of theoretical astrophysics at Caltech university, in the United States.

Frustrated that Ott was not fired and only placed on unpaid leave for a year, the two female students who raised the allegations took their story to the popular online news outlet Buzzfeed.

Also this month, US Congresswoman Jackie Speier raised the case of Professor Tim Slater, who had been investigated for various sexual harassment incidents that began after he was hired by the University of Arizona in August 2001. Slater went on to the University of Wyoming.

Slater spoke to the news website Mashable and said he had received sexual harassment training as an outcome of the investigation.

But Congresswoman Speier questioned why the investigation into Slater’s sexual harassment was sealed “while he went on with his career”, even though women who were victims lost years of study and career progress due to his conduct.

A familiar pattern

In these two cases, a pattern emerges: so-called rising stars in academic astronomy engage in routine harassment of students early in their careers, receiving tenure and accolades, all the while engaging in abuse of power.

Remember last year’s case of the Professor of Astronomy, Geoff Marcy, who in early October wrote an open letter of apology acknowledging his history of sexual harassment at University of California, Berkeley.

Two days later Buzzfeed broke the news of a six-month investigation into Marcy, which covered incidents from 2001 to 2010. A few days later Marcy’s resignation was announced by the university.

But later that month, Buzzfeed reported three more women shared their experiences of harassment by Marcy while he was at San Francisco State University. In December, the journal Nature reported more incidents in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

A few days ago, it was revealed that UC Berkley has granted Marcy an honorific Emeritus Professorship, despite these events.

How big is the problem?

The current incidents are not isolated. A recent survey by the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy included 426 astronomers, 82% of whom had heard sexist remarks from peers; 57% had experienced verbal sexual harassment; and 9% had been physically harassed.

These recent high-profile cases are notable because the victims of harassment have pursued alternative routes to raise awareness and chosen to speak out. Still, going to a politician or the media should be a last resort.

The pattern in these cases is clear: women attempt to manage the harassment directly with their abusers, who hold power over them. They are afraid to launch a formal report due to fear of retaliation.

After prolonged harassment, sometimes years later, they make a formal complaint. In all cases, harassers are not immediately suspended. They are given some one-off training and then allowed to move on with their careers.

The same is not true of victims, who struggle to put their progress back on track and who live with the anxiety of having their harassers back on campus.

Institutions appear reticent to take strong disciplinary action, focusing on mentoring rather than tackling sexual harassment as a systemic problem requiring an institutional solution.

The system is failing women

Science careers depend heavily on recommendations from supervisors, and this is in an environment where many senior researchers collaborate. This leaves victims vulnerable, fearful of the consequences of speaking up. This anxiety is not unfounded.

In mid-2015, prominent scientists jumped to the defence of Sir Tim Hunt after he made a sexist “joke” during the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea.

The women scientists who spoke out against this, and other incidents of sexism, are routinely faced with a torrent of abuse.

Senior leaders’ kneejerk reaction is to publicly defend sexual harassers, such as by emphasising a friendship with Marcy even after he was found guilty of sexual harassment, without adequate consideration for his victims.

But as of this week, more than 500 astronomers and physicists from across the world have signed a letter of support for both of Ott’s victims, which reads:

A career in astronomy is a joy and a privilege, and one that we firmly believe should be open to all. Harassment and bullying force talent out of our field, and as such have no place in it.

Too few institutions are proactive about sexual harassment. MIT took action in December 2014, but then again Dr Walter Lewin was already retired when he carried out online sexual harassment. The online course he ran was cancelled.

Administrator of NASA, Charles Bolden, recently issued a strong statement warning institutions to be compliant with civil rights laws against sexual harassment in order to remain qualified for grants.

The National Science Foundation similarly warned it may terminate funding to institutions found to be non-compliant with anti-sexual harassment regulation. Still, the onus largely remains on institutions to police compliance. Recent history shows this is not always effective.

The situation we are seeing within astronomy is perhaps more public than in other areas of science, but the machinations are by no means unique. A Survey of Academic Field Experiences by the University of Illinois' Professor Kate Clancy and colleagues included responses from almost 700 scientists from various disciplines.

Almost three-quarters of the sample (72%) had observed or been told about sexual harassment at their most recent research field site. Two-thirds (64%) of researchers had experienced sexual harassment, mostly at the hands of a senior researcher.

Women were 3.5 times more likely than men to report being subject to sexual harassment.

Beyond sexism

Beyond sexual harassment, science has problems with other forms of harassment, and it’s not confined to just the US.

Astronomer Dr Jessica Kirkpatrick founded the Equity and Inclusion in Physics and Astronomy group on Facebook, which she manages with fellow astronomer Adam Jacobs and me, a sociologist.

At its peak, late in 2015, we had more than 4,000 members from around the world. Our group was expressly formed to support underrepresented groups in astronomy and physics. This included white women; racial and ethnic minorities; people with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people; and others.

Our group was regularly inundated by astronomers and physicists who were angry at our group’s aims to improve inclusion of underrepresented groups.

During the “shirtstorm” incident, where a prominent scientist wore a shirt with naked women during an interview about an international space mission, our group was descended upon by astronomers trying to derail discussions of sexism.

In various other incidents, especially in discussions of racism, very senior researchers attacked junior scholars for their activism, both within our group and in other, more high-profile professional astronomy networks.

All of this harassment and abuse happens in front of a potential international audience of thousands astronomers and physicists.

But senior astronomers rarely speak up, simply watching from the sidelines as our most vulnerable members, women of different race or ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities and other minority students and early career researchers, are lambasted, sometimes by hundreds of disparaging comments and abuse over a weekly period.

After trying different approaches to reform the group, we took drastic measures. We decided to reboot the group. We ejected everyone and asked them to re-join after filling out a form where members explicitly vow to uphold our mission to create an inclusive culture in astronomy and physics.

Our group is currently close to 900 members who made this commitment, and the environment is much improved (though we occasionally experience individual issues). The culture has shifted because everyone who belongs to our community has signed on to take responsibility for their education on issues of inclusion and equity. We are striving towards proactive action.

In a similar way, astronomy at large needs a reboot. The culture of harassment, abuse and resistance to equity and diversity needs to be stamped out through direct intervention.

Rebooting the culture of harassment

At the individual level, we need more astronomers speaking out against sexual harassment and related forms of discrimination. The current system relies heavily on victims coming forward in a climate where this is professionally and personally costly.

It is therefore up to the rest of us to pick up the slack, so here are a few ideas on what to do.

We need to speak up

When you hear or see a colleague being made to feel uncomfortable due to gender and sexual issues, a few simple words calling out this behaviour can make a big difference.

Inappropriate sexual and gender-based jokes or sexual comments are not benign. They plant a seed for sexual harassment, making women uncomfortable and unwelcome, and setting the tone for future abuse.

Lead by example

Leaders who take an active approach to equity and diversity foster stronger, more productive teams. Be sure to find regular opportunities to discuss issues of sexual harassment (and racism and other forms of discrimination). Invite an expert on discrimination to give talks, or discuss useful anti-harassment resources.

Make it easier to report abuse and harassment

Equity and diversity officers are often an underutilised resource. Institutions that are serious about stamping out harassment should empower these officers to pursue action that is effective.

Information escrows can be one way to manage confidential sexual harassment claims, where a third-party agent holds onto anonymised reports until a second complaint is made. When two independent claims are made, an investigation can be launched.

Alternatively, host regular confidential discussions with students and staff that allow institutions to gather confidential feedback about incidents that individuals are otherwise too afraid to report. This is more about creating an environment where faculty, staff and students have an opportunity to tell you about departmental or managerial issues before they spiral out of control.

Make sure the policies work

Listing anti-harassment policies on your website and campus manual is not enough. Administrators might ask themselves these two questions:

Does my institution have evidence that the policies are working for the people they’re meant to protect? Absence of complaints does not necessarily mean your faculty, staff and students feel safe and supported.
How do you know if reporting mechanisms are working? Scientists who experience harassment don’t always know the options available to them, and those who do report are often unhappy with the outcome.

Make safety a day-to-day priority

Much of academia is a baptism of fire. We are not taught how to teach; we are not taught how to supervise students effectively; we are not taught how to manage sexual harassment and other issues of discrimination. (These guidelines can help you make a start.)

Relevant and ongoing anti-sexual harassment training should be part of managerial responsibilities. All staff should get the same basic training, but it should be tweaked at the individual level.

Managers and decision-makers (anyone who sits on a funding or recruitment panel, for example) should attend training on physical sexual harassment. They should also attend training on other forms of harassment that make workplace culture untenable for many women and underrepresented scientists.

Unconscious gender bias training can help managers see how the behaviour they take for granted may be a problem for those with less power.

Diversity training encourages managers to effectively manage different groups and be more aware of potential exclusion. It can show them the benefits of having a diverse team finding innovative solutions to research problems

Strategic planning

What would it take to overhaul and radically improve your institution so that women are not demotivated through a hostile work environment? How can you actively protect staff from harassment, bullying and discrimination?

University strategic plans nowadays often have equity and diversity statements, with anti-harassment and anti-bullying sometimes highlighted, but how will your university reach its goals if harassment underpins organisational culture?

Given that surveys find sexual harassment is a common experience, a strategic vision for a healthy, successful science organisation needs to formulate clear targets and key performance indicators that directly address the elimination of harassment, gender bias, racial discrimination, and other forms of abuse

A collective stand against harassment

National efforts in the UK and Australia as well as regional programs in Europe are working towards the elimination of gender bias. Sexual harassment is one important piece of the puzzle.

Joining the global movement to make gender equity and diversity policies and outcomes more explicit is the best way to commit to a more inclusive culture within science.

In order for institutions to make a clear commitment against harassment, discrimination and bias, they should publish data and analysis about their policies and practices. This makes institutions more publicly accountable.

Act now, before it’s too late

There is no denying that astronomy has a problem with sexual harassment, along with other forms of discrimination and abuse of power.

But we don’t need to wait for journalists and politicians to shine a spotlight on more individual cases of harassment. It’s time individual researchers, science managers, departments and institutions made the commitment to reboot science and wipe out harassment.

Science faces many complex problems that require the type of innovation that can only be fully realised with gender equity and diversity. Astronomy, like other sciences, simply cannot afford to miss out on the talents of different groups of women if they feel forced to leave the professions because of sexual harassment.

Similarly, science cannot reach its full potential without diversity, and diversity cannot flourish in a culture of racism, discrimination and fear. Research excellence cannot happen without rebooting science culture. The rest of us are ready for change. Are you?

Dr Zuleyka Zevallos will be online between 12.30pm and 1.30pm AEDT today, Friday January 29, 2016, to answer any questions or comments you may post (below) on how to deal with any harassment of women in science. Please be aware of our Community Standards on comments.

Zuleyka Zevallos, Adjunct Research Fellow, Sociology, Swinburne University of Technology

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Reignite Your Career with Booz Allen Return to Work Internship Program

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 22:31:30 GMT

PUT YOUR PASSION BACK TO WORK! AS PART OF BOOZ ALLEN’S TEAM YOU CAN BRING YOUR SKILLS TO BEAR HELPING TO SOLVE TODAY’S MOST COMPLEX CHALLENGES WITH BRILLIANT IDEAS AND INNOVATIVE EXPERTISE.

The Return to Work Internship Program re-engages professionals who are ready to transition back into the workforce after an extended absence. In partnership with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)—the world’s largest advocate for women in engineering and technology—and career re-entry firm iRelaunch, Booz Allen is one of 7 founding member companies providing specialized re-entry internships in 2016 for individuals with specialized skills and experience.

Return to Work is a paid employment program that runs for nine weeks starting June 6, 2016. You’ll work alongside exceptional colleagues providing innovative ideas and solutions that are changing and enabling modern services for government, businesses, and ultimately, citizens like yourself.

This unparalleled program is designed to provide participants with:

challenging projects that align to your skillsets
an engaging onboarding program that will bring you up to speed on the firm, your team, our leadership, and clients
critical skills training with additional technical training where needed
a mentor who will help you navigate Booz Allen during the Return to Work experience
a supportive environment throughout the program built to contribute to your success

The application process ends February 26, 2016.

Read the original article here

American Business Women’s Association Offers $2000 College Scholarship

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 05:08:15 GMT

The Coral Springs Charter Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) has announced its $2,000 Impact Scholarship through the Stephen Bufton Memorial Educational Fund (SBMEF). The scholarship will be awarded to one outstanding area applicant in May.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

Female, U. S. citizen, and resident of Broward or Palm Beach counties
Must have completed a minimum of 60 credit hours
Must have a GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale
Must be seeking a baccalaureate degree or higher
Are attending or have been accepted at Broward College, Keiser University, Nova Southeastern University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, American Intercontinental University, Barry University, Florida Atlantic University, Kaplan University, Lynn University, Everglades University, Phoenix University, Palm Beach State College
Must complete an online application, provide a biographical sketch, three professional letters of reference and an official college transcript

More Info Here

Teachers are leaving the profession – here’s how to make them stay

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:23:14 GMT

Merryn McKinnon, Australian National University

Australia as a nation is failing to retain the best people in the teaching profession. Attrition rates are worryingly high with researchers estimating around 30% to 50% of teachers leaving in the first five years.

It is difficult to get a clear idea of the precise number of teachers leaving over this period in Australia because each state and territory collects its own statistics, and there is no established mechanism for tracking movements between educational systems.

The latest data collected from all states and territories suggests an average of 5.7% (21,404) of teachers left the profession in 2014. It shows attrition rates vary across the country, and are higher in the Northern Territory at 15.94%.

Although the attrition rates of early-career teachers aren’t necessarily higher than rates in other professions, the implications of these losses are far reaching.

As outlined in a report, nationally this means:

A loss of expertise. The Australian schools workforce is ageing, and research shows that the teachers who leave are likely to be replaced by even less experienced teachers. In South Australia for example, about half of the teachers working in government schools are older than 50.
Partially lost investment in initial teacher training. Research estimates that about 20% of education graduates do not register as teachers on graduating, meaning attrition starts even before they enter the education system properly. Nearly all of these graduates had other employment, either in non-teaching roles in the education sector or were still seeking employment. Some had no intention of seeking an education position in the near future. Given the Commonwealth contributes around A$40,000 to train one future teacher in a four year undergraduate degree, this is a large investment to then lose from schools.
The ratio of students to teachers will continue to fall. As the population of school students is set to increase by 26% by 2022 – a growth rate of 32% in primary schools and 18% in secondary schools – more teachers will be needed to teach these students, or class sizes will need to get much larger again.

There are already teacher shortages in remote and regional areas, as well as for specialist teachers.

In Western Australia in 2007 and 2008 for example, 80% of teacher vacancies were for public school secondary teachers in science, English, maths, and design and technology. This has led to teachers increasingly being called upon to teach subjects out of their field.

All of these have implications for students’ educational outcomes.

One of the main reasons why new teachers don’t stay is because they do not get the support and mentoring they need. This lack of support isn’t because other teachers are lazy and bad, or that school principals don’t care.

It’s an old argument but still a valid one – teachers simply do not have time to take on any additional work, which includes mentoring. On average, teachers spend more than 47.5 hours per week on school-related activities.

We’ve made progress on improving the quality of teaching graduates. The national accreditation standards launched last month hold providers accountable for the quality of their courses and the performance of trainee teachers. What’s missing is a strategy to retain these graduates once they’re in the system.

Who wants to be a teacher anyway?

Heavy workload is one of the main reasons cited why teachers leave the profession. from www.shutterstock.com

That can be hard to do when many aspects of the job are unattractive. For decades researchers have cited heavy workloads, classroom management issues and a lack of collaboration and support as the main reasons for why teachers leave the profession.

We want to create a nation of critical thinking, creative, flexible and innovative people who understand the importance of collaboration. Yet teachers are not supported to be truly innovative and the system is far from flexible, creating barriers to desired practice and frustration.

Failing to recognise this will ensure we continue to lose the teachers we need most.

It can be done, with excellent outcomes. Take Finland for example.

Not only are their students performing near the top of international assessments like Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Finnish universities are turning away aspiring teachers.

In Helsinki alone, more than 1,400 applicants were turned down from enrolling in a masters of education.

In 2005 in Australia 111 people – nationally – applied to do a masters. This has grown significantly to 4,122 students in 2013. However over the same timeframe there has also been an increase in the number of applications from students with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) in the lower bands.

Despite the intentions to recruit our teachers from the top 30% of school leavers, less than half of the offers to study education are given to students with an ATAR above 70.

Entry to teaching is not competitive – the government no longer controls the numbers of students enrolling in teacher education programs.

But even though it may be “easier” to get in here, it still doesn’t explain why so many leave.

So what is the main difference between the Finland and Australia? The education system.

In the Finnish system, early-career teachers are trained well and then, crucially, supported to try new things in the classroom.

In Australian classrooms, the high level of administrative demands, teaching loads, pastoral care and extra curricula activities leaves too little time for collaboration and innovation.

Instead we should be supporting teachers to allow them space and opportunity to innovate and do good things. This requires a cultural shift in the way schools operate at a systemic level.

One of the simplest ways is to support teachers in schools though mentoring and more flexible working conditions to allow time for innovation and reflective practice. The OECD acknowledges the provision of support to teachers as a policy direction for school systems internationally.

Standards are part of the solution, but unless we also address the context these standards operate within, little will change.

This article was co-authored by Dr Lynn Walker. Walker has a PhD in plant physiology and has been teaching science for 15 years. She has been a curriculum leader in both middle school and senior school and is the lead mentor on an Australian Maths and Science Partnership Program project.

Merryn McKinnon, Lecturer, Australian National University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

366 Job Search Tips for Every Day of 2016

Sun, 10 Jan 2016 01:24:46 GMT

Your job search crash course this year from Jacob Share at JobMob. Thanks Jacob for allowing us to re-publish this fabulous article.

HOW TO USE THIS LIST

A job search tip a day keeps the recruiters ~~away~~ closer…

This isn’t a checklist.

Some of the tips only apply to job seekers of certain kinds, such as graduates, older job seekers and employed job seekers.

Put differently, no one should try to apply all the tips in one job search.

Instead, use it to create your own job search checklist:

read through the list completely
as you go, note the tips that inspire you most
where necessary, click the links for in-depth explanations from some of the best job search bloggers and experts in the world

SO MANY JOB SEARCH TIPS…

Don’t put off your job search
Better to job search while you have an income
Don’t get distracted
Be a giver before a taker, you never know where it can lead
The best networks really are built before needed
Start by auditing your situation
First decide what you’re looking for
Focus on the right things
Leaving options open makes you lazy
Internal moves are smarter than job hopping
Review which job search websites can help
Find 10 people who have the job you want and model your job search on theirs
Get career path inspiration by researching people on LinkedIn with your credentials
Get career ideas by taking personality tests
Get career ideas by job shadowing
Get career ideas by interning
Showing your skills grows self-confidence
If you don’t qualify, don’t apply
Note one thing you’re grateful for happening today
Gather career materials before leaving a job
Only approach recruiters when it’s relevant
Don’t refer to yourself in the 3rd person online
Have a daily routine
Prepare stories for your job interview
Ask 5 people who trust and know you about career path
If you attract the wrong recruiters, your resume has the wrong content
Bad Facebook and Twitter comments can haunt you
Know how to correctly pronounce your interviewer’s name in advance
Know when to talk salary first
Use fewer pronouns (I,my,me) in your cover letter
Make sure your resume is focused on your direction
Aim for companies who hire by audition, not resume
Don’t lie on your resume
It’s ok to omit resume information that doesn’t help you
React well to job rejection
Reject recruiters well too
Say the salary you’re seeking, not the one you’re making
Your resume should not be a PDF, unless it’s required to be
Before job interviews, practice walking into the room
List credentials (PhD, MBA, etc.) at resume top
Group barter hack to get a job with your friends
Know how to find a hiring manager’s contact info
Beware of suspicious companies
Use personal business cards
Relax more
Learn to negotiate
Older job seeker? Find a younger mentor
Don’t make yourself look older than you are
Pay attention to what you envy to discover work that you love
Have a job? Always be prepared to leave
Always be on time
Learn how to strike up a conversation
Use rejection-response letters
Don’t spam hiring managers
Highlight job duties instead of job titles
Remember names, not just faces
Call your alma mater’s career services
Get attention with a personal job search website
Search for recruiters before jobs
Use Wordle to focus your resume
Find leads via forum networking
Follow job listing instructions perfectly
Get a job search buddy
Follow-up with your own contacts
Know your competitive advantages
Learn to think like a recruiter
Aim for hidden jobs first
Job fairs aren’t a waste of time
Not every job fair is for you
Talk job search at parties
Avoid looking jobless
Research companies on LinkedIn
Leverage contacts’ contacts
Being flexible opens you to more jobs
Don’t print your resume at work
Online resumes are trusted more
Follow up post-rejection to learn from mistakes
Keep a plain-text version of your resume handy
Be a better listener
Learn how to be creative
Use guest posting to get exposure
Blog your expertise
Don’t look for a job, look for a company
Impress employers by demonstrating skills they need
Don’t make employers download your CV
Be authentic
Make eye contact often
Don’t wait for job ads to appear
Avoid job postings that look too good
Use LinkedIn events to find networking opportunities
Stand during phone interviews
Use external recommendations in cover letters
Add video to your LinkedIn profile
Know the right way to email people for requests
Address being overqualified before they ask
Being first runner-up can mean being next in line
Follow up later on recently-closed job openings
Use a resume benefit statement if you have too much to list
Talk to insiders before taking a job
Stay in touch with ex-bosses
Never say you’re perfect for the job
Interviews are for you to show you’re perfect for the job
If an interviewer tries to sell you on a job, let them
Use positive words when making salary objections
Prepare a cover story if you want to change careers
Avoid recruiters that won’t forward job descriptions
Prepare a “why hire me” story for interviews
Don’t use your work email address
Help other people find jobs too
Look for ways to increase your perceived value
Prepare a references list in advance
Choose references who are ok to be contacted
Prepare reference letters in advance
Arriving too early is as bad as arriving late for interviews
Use video to improve your interviewing
Always bring a good mood
Drive interviews to questions for which you have great answers
Scan your resume files for computer viruses
Show you have a proven success record
The older you are, the more you need to be up-to-date
In a recession, don’t read the newspaper
At interview end, ask for the next steps
Roles may take months to fill, so apply to older ads too
Fully understand the contract before you sign
Summer job search doesn’t end when summer starts
Get your resume as close as possible to the hiring decision maker
Only send updated resumes
Bring resume copies to job interviews
Bring resumes to job fairs
Bring resumes to networking events
Never badmouth anyone in interviews
Less popular job boards mean fewer competitors
Check resume links aren’t broken
Use popular job boards to gauge demand
Schedule interviews for time of day when you’re best
Quantify your achievements as much as you can
Be prepared to back up your resume claims
Never say you’re “willing to do any job”
Failing interviews doesn’t mean you’re a failure
Job search doesn’t end with your interview
Job search doesn’t end when you get an offer
Always give companies the impression you’re interviewing elsewhere too
If you blog about work, include it in your resume
Move where there’s the most demand
Put your LinkedIn url on your resume
Job listings specify salary to filter out candidates
Dress for success with colors you look good in
Spend half your day looking, half your day improving your skills
Choose references who have great things to say about you
Aim to be referred internally
Be gracious
Know your compensation priorities besides salary
Let companies bring up salary numbers first
Tell friends about your job search
Tell ex-colleagues about your job search
Tell ex-clients about your job search
Tell family about your job search
Stay in touch with updates until you stop looking
Volunteer your work skills to get experience
Don’t flirt in interviews
Keep your job search secret if you’re employed
Use a dedicated job search email address
Don’t use your personal email address for job search
Respond to job ads with point-by-point cover letters
Know your market value before talking salary
Aim for multiple job offers
Don’t send out more resumes than you can track
Connect with targeted companies on social media
Spellcheck your resume
Get someone else to proofread your resume
Get someone else to proofread your LinkedIn profile
Only apply to companies you’ve researched
Only apply to companies where you have the recruiter’s contact information
Email recruiters with attention-getting subject lines
Keep work jargon to a minimum for HR
Remember names by using them out loud repeatedly
Freelance consult on the side while looking
Be ready to justify resume gaps
Ignore spam titled “I would like to offer you a job!”
Date your resume in the footer
Treat job interviews like company consults
Check if past bosses want you back
Say you’ll follow up and do it
Make a work portfolio
Resumes should include language proficiency
Mention having other offers when it’s true
Ask for interviews in cover letters
If you’re not a good fit, give the job lead to someone who is
Ask recruiters for resume feedback
Prepare interview questions in advance
Practice with questions they’re likely to ask
Follow online job search forums where experts hang out
Include relevant keywords in resumes
Answer one work-related question online per day
Know your weaknesses
Know your strengths
Follow forums where industry recruiters hang out
Don’t blast resumes
Don’t use resume distribution services
Use a job search organizer
Don’t spam recruiters
Ask people how they found the job you want
One page resumes are best
Exercise regularly
Sleep well
Chase stress with a good laugh everyday
A cover letter’s goal is to get your resumes read
A resume’s goal is to get interview invites
The more targeted a message, the more likely to be heard
Every time of year is job search time of year
Job listing language is the one to communicate in
Newly-funded startups tend to hire
Venture capitalists can recommend you for their portfolio companies
Don’t do free work as part of the interview process
Job interviews are about how you can help the employer, not vice-versa
Be careful when copying other people’s resume templates
Do what you need to stay positive
Only apply to companies you’re passionate about joining
Keep track of your successes with numbers
Include your best LinkedIn recommendation on your resume
Know the signs of job search depression to avoid it
Resumes should have no more than 3 font sizes
The biggest text on your resume should be your name
Google yourself before companies do
How your name appears on your resume is how companies will google it
Create social media profiles to improve Google results
Use LinkedIn as your online CV
Use Twitter to network and share advice
Use Facebook to reach out to people after-hours
Use Reddit to answer work-related questions
Use Pinterest to pin images of your best work-related tips
Use Instagram to show pictures of yourself in action
Use YouTube to show yourself in action
Use SlideShare to post presentations given in action
Use Google+ if it’s popular in your industry
Always follow up after interviews
Always send thanks after interviews
Follow up again later, such as when you have an offer
Learn to recognize bad employers before applying
Never include ‘references available upon request’ in your resume
Sharing expertise online attracts jobs
Don’t only job search online
Don’t only job search offline
Your resume filename should be Firstname_Lastname_resume.docx
Store resumes online where they can be easily shared
Keep resume copies on your smartphone
Ask an ex-boss for a practice interview
Never assume it was discrimination
Use LinkedIn to prove if companies hire people like you
Only apply to companies that have hired people like you
Propose creation of a role by showing how much revenue you would generate
Propose creation of a role by showing how much money you would save employers
Be wary of signing anything that isn’t a contract
Get help if you’re depressed
Research companies by talking to ex-employees
Keep in mind industry resume standards
Talk with your partner before accepting anything
Unemployment is not a good time to start a company
Make your job search viral with a bounty
Get inspired by guerilla job search tactics
Free-to-post job boards are mostly worthless
Persistence does pay off
Don’t wait for recruiters to respond
Get recommendation letters before your last day of work
The best time to research companies is before applying
Track resume views with tools like Yesware
Interview dress should be one level above what employees wear in company photos online
The moment you feel comfortable in a job is the moment to start thinking about your next one
Mention your full-time availability in your email signature
Mention your full-time availability on your social media profiles
Never accept the first offer (really)
If a company rejects you, ask them if they can refer you to partners or clients
Resume testimonial > summary > objective
Check company news headlines before applying
Target no more than 5 companies at a time
Join a job search club
Your LinkedIn profile can include everything your resume couldn’t
Optimize your LinkedIn headline to get more views
Optimize your LinkedIn profile for referrals
Take advantage of free job search consults for second opinions
The more you target a company, the more likely you are to get their attention
Do as many information interviews as you can
Speak at industry meetups to gain exposure
Speak at startup conferences to position yourself as someone to hire
Treat recruiters as you’d like to be treated
Plan to be in a quiet place for phone interviews
Record phone interviews on your smartphone for analysis later
Test your computer setup before video interviews
Model your resume on a targeted company’s employees’
Learn at least one new work skill for which demand is growing
Volunteer your skills for organizations that might be able to hire you
Aim to apply to as few companies as possible
Use positive action verbs in resumes
Show promotions on resumes
Resumes should focus on achievements, not responsibilities
Use Facebook Ads to target people directly
Use Google AdWords to target people directly
Manage your job search like a marketing campaign
Look for ways to get around gatekeepers
Ask your alumni association for help
Ask chambers of commerce which companies are arriving and need to hire
Replacing employees on maternity or sick leave gets your foot in the door
Gauge skill trends with industry job boards
Be polite unless being rude will help more
Be someone people want to work with
A resume hobbies section makes you relatable
Prepare a 30-60 second elevator pitch
Fax machines are barely used anymore but still checked
Dumbing down your resume will make you bitter
Consider adjacent roles if they’re more in demand
Propose trial-by-freelance as an audition for both sides
Target employees at companies that reward them for referring candidates
Contribute content to a company blog or social profile
Keep in mind teleworking and remote jobs
Career changes are easier when employer-driven
Ask for leads in non-work settings
Ask recent hires what worked for them
Ask recent ex-employees why they left
Better to reschedule than be late
If you’re going to be late, call ahead asap
Keep video testimonials on your smartphone
Warn references when you think they’ll be contacted
Don’t answer when a recruiter calls unless prepared
Always give supporting examples in interviews
Only apply to companies you can legally work for
Rehearse your interview stories to make them as compelling as possible
Post videos of yourself in action
Volunteer online by joining an active open-source project
A good excuse to follow up is to confirm resume reception
A good excuse to call a company is to check if an ad is still open
Practice a winning handshake
Be polite when you can’t shake hands
Accept all interview invites so you can get practice
The more leads you have, the less nervous you’ll be
Quality of boss is most likely to determine quality of work life
It’s ok to walk into a company and ask point blank about openings
Look for ways to help a company before applying there directly
Attracting job offers leads to better results than searching for them
Do NOT vent online after a bad interview
Use a creative resume as a way to demonstrate relevant skills
Your personal website should showcase achievements while providing downloadable resumes and full contact information
Never pay to submit your resume
Managing an industry job board is a great way to hear of openings first
Use Google’s Advanced Search to find job listings that have been buried
Post a job wanted listing on Craigslist
LinkedIn job listings signal if you’re connected to anyone at the company
Stock screeners can tell which companies are growing
Reply asap to any inquiries about your resume and status
The interview starts when you arrive on site
Use social media to teach recruiters how to hire people like you
Network with industry recruiters online
Network with industry influencers online
Be someone that industry recruiters want to follow online
Get a smartphone with a data connection so you can react quickly
When asking for recommendations, provide a template to make responding easier
The more placeable a candidate, the more likely a placement agency will help you
Get a recruiter’s attention by helping them
Ask friends to bring along relevant contacts for coffee
Attend events to meet specific people
Always personalize messages when contacting strangers online
Send a recruiter a memorable gift
Know your industry’s biases
Ask random industry people out for drinks
When thanking, gift > phone call > handwritten letter > email > social media message
Learning to code is a hot skill in any industry
Don’t give up

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Female doctors in Australia are hitting glass ceilings – why?

Wed, 6 Jan 2016 00:04:32 GMT

Helen Dickinson, University of Melbourne and Marie Bismark, University of Melbourne

Over the past 30 years, there have been some great achievements in gender equity. The number of women enrolled in professional degrees, such as law and medicine, rose from less than 25% in the 1970s to more than 50% in 2015. Australia has introduced a number of equal opportunity policies in health care and in 2000 achieved gender parity in medical schools.

Today, women are typically the dominant group within medical schools and yet remain under-represented in formal leadership positions and particular speciality areas. Although today there is greater female participation in medical roles, it still appears that women are hitting the glass ceiling.

Similar sorts of trends in gender participation are found in other countries such as the UK, Canada and the US. Given these broader trends, we could infer that these patterns are the result of “natural” processes related to the relative merits of the sexes.

Yet studies in Sweden show remarkably similar preferences for speciality areas across male and female medical students. Like Australia, these preferences have not typically translated into representation across the health workforce. This suggests there are forces in place that mean women do not go into their preferred roles.

Women in leadership

Despite the significant representation of women within the medical workforce, today fewer than 12.5% of hospitals with more than 1000 employees have a female chief executive. 28% of medical schools have female deans. 33% of state and federal chief medical officers or chief health officers are female.

In 1986, fewer than 16% of specialists were women. This rose to 34% in 2011.

While this is a substantial increase, women are also woefully underrepresented in these figures. There are also distinct gender patterns across specialist roles. Women’s participation is skewed towards pathology (58%), paediatrics (53%), obstetrics and gynaecology (49%) and underrepresented in orthopaedic surgery (6%), vascular surgery (11%) and cardiothoracic surgery (12%).

A popular explanation for these patterns is that there is a lag phenomenon at play. Once current women advance through their career, figures will self-correct and result in more gender balance in the system.

A more pessimistic view (and one we would subscribe to) is that women are being channelled into particular areas of the profession that are lower status and attract lower pay, while more high-profile roles remain in the hands of men.

This is not to say that male doctors are (all) actively working to keep women excluded from these roles. There are a range of reasons for the barriers around perceptions of capability, capacity and credibility.

Capability, capacity, credibility

The evidence suggests that women are as (and possibly more in some cases) intellectually capable of the high-profile roles that they are poorly represented in.

Our research found that some women may lack self-confidence or doubt their ability to undertake certain roles. What this means is that women may be less willing to self-promote or to put themselves forward for positions traditionally held by men.

Women are more likely than men to have caring responsibilities, which can have implications for perceived capacity. Juggling leadership or the long hours associated with some speciality areas with motherhood can be a challenge.

Many of the areas where women are poorly represented in offer limited options for flexible ways of working and cultivating work-life balance. Some speciality areas have additional years of training which, again, can make them difficult to access for some women.

Perceived credibility is a further barrier, with women not being taken seriously as leaders or surgeons – roles typically associated with males. Sociology has a long tradition of scholarship arguing that organisations and professions are highly gendered and valorise masculine values.

Where work environments are heavily gendered, they can be alienating for some women. Some speciality areas are traditionally considered to be highly male (think surgery) in a way that paediatrics or palliative care may be less so.

These barriers are not simply externally imposed on women by men and may be internalised in women through the broader culture and values of organisations. Internalised beliefs about the traits and qualities required for particular roles can dissuade some women from actively seeking out these roles, unless they received mentoring and support from others.

At an interpersonal level, unconscious biases, sexist micro-aggressions, and a “club culture” contribute to a hostile environment for women within some health-care settings. At a structural level, conservative social norms and male-dominated career pathways can make it difficult for women to balance the pressures and demands of maternity leave, child-rearing, care-giving and running a household with leadership roles.

What is clear is that with such a broad range of barriers, there will be no easy or quick solutions. If we are to successfully smash these glass ceilings then solutions will need to be structural as well as cultural. Women will be unable to overcome these issues alone and solutions will need to be both multifaceted and supported through a broad base.

Helen Dickinson, Associate Professor, Public Governance, University of Melbourne and Marie Bismark, Senior Research Fellow, Public Health Law, University of Melbourne

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Keep Your Talent From Walking Out

Sun, 3 Jan 2016 06:19:02 GMT

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The Science of Happiness in Your Company

Sun, 3 Jan 2016 06:10:09 GMT

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3 Interview Tactics to Guarantee Your Perfect Job

Wed, 23 Dec 2015 00:22:26 GMT

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Wed, 23 Dec 2015 00:18:44 GMT

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Explainer: why daydreaming is good for you

Wed, 2 Dec 2015 10:53:37 GMT

Explainer: why daydreaming is good for you

Giulia Poerio, University of Sheffield and Felicity Callard, Durham University

Most people think of rest as the times when we stop work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength. But historians and anthropologists have discovered that what counts as rest has varied a lot over time and across cultures.

Rest is very difficult to understand, not least because it is experienced in so many different ways. To get a better understanding of what rest is, an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by Durham University, recently launched the world’s largest study on rest, called the Rest Test. The Rest Test is an online survey to investigate people’s resting habits and their attitudes towards relaxation and busyness.

We aim to uncover the differences in what people think rest is and the practices that they engage in to find it. Do people really think that rest is the opposite of work? What activities are the most restful? What are people’s inner experiences like when they are “at rest”, and does having more rest really make you feel better?

The default mode

If you mention rest, people tend to think of bodily rest. But, as anyone who has ever experienced his or her mind whirring before sleep knows, physical rest can sometimes be far from restful.

One curious finding shedding new light on the concept of “rest” that has emerged from cognitive neuroscience is the idea of the resting state of the brain; that when our bodies are still our minds remain active. Remarkably consistent patterns of brain activation have been found in a constellation of brain regions – collectively termed “the default mode network” – when people are supposedly “doing nothing” during brain imaging studies.

The default mode network has been closely linked to states of daydreaming and mindwandering leading to suggestions that daydreaming may be the default mode of thought. (Daydreams are thoughts that people have that aren’t tied to the external environment or whatever they’re currently doing.)

Thinking about an email you need to reply to when you’re reading this article, mentally planning your day on the work commute, or thinking about an argument with a loved one during a meeting are all examples of daydreaming, which often occur spontaneously as part of the stream of consciousness.

No time for daydreaming www.shutterstock.com

Consistent with the idea that daydreaming represents a mental baseline, several investigations have shown that people’s minds tend to wander from their current task at fairly consistent rates of between 30 and 50% of the time. Most convincingly, a large scale investigation sampling 2250 people’s daydreams with a mobile phone app as they went about their daily lives, revealed that people were daydreaming on 47% of occasions that they were polled. Daydreaming rates were a consistent 30% across a range of 22 daily activities, except having sex, where the rate of daydreaming was considerably lower.

The downside

Considering that we spend roughly a third of life asleep, this means that we might spend nearly as much time daydreaming as we do sleeping.

Daydreaming is clearly very common, yet people tend to have negative perceptions of it. Pejorative terms as “off with the fairies” and “zoning out” label daydreaming as futile, and daydreamers as lazy, inattentive and dissatisfied with life.

Some studies suggest that daydreaming’s bad reputation might be justified. A recent review of daydreaming research shows its negative effects on a variety of tasks such as reading, attention, and memory. Daydreaming behind the wheel might also represent a risk for road traffic accidents. Research published in the BMJ showed that 52% of drivers involved in road traffic accidents reported daydreaming immediately before crashing.

Other studies suggest that daydreaming has emotional, as well as cognitive, costs. Daydreaming has been associated with lower levels of happiness leading to the claim that a “wandering mind is an unhappy mind”.

The benefits

But daydreaming is not necessarily something to be avoided or discouraged. Emerging research has started to shine a spotlight on the benefits of daydreaming. For example, daydreaming has been linked to greater creativity, the ability to delay gratification, problem-solving, and future planning.

The idea that daydreaming is detrimental for personal happiness has also been challenged. Several studies show that a person’s mood following daydreaming depends on the content of their thoughts. For instance, daydreaming is only associated with negative mood when the content of thought is also negative, self-focused, and ruminative.

Other research points to the distinct benefits of daydreaming and imagination for well-being. Asking people to engage in “positive mental time travel”, where they imagine four positive events that will take place the following day, increases levels of happiness. Likewise, new research suggests that daydreaming of loved ones might be an antidote to loneliness, fostering feelings of social connection.

Daydreaming might even be restful – an escape from the external present. (Consider what life might be like if you couldn’t mentally escape your external world when you wanted!) In fact, daydreaming has been suggested as a way of taking mental breaks when we’re doing everyday tasks; a way of refreshing our attention (or “dishabituation”, to use the scientific term). People might also actively enjoy daydreaming and use it for entertainment, comfort, and relief from distress.

Don’t be here now

So, daydreaming isn’t all bad, despite its commonly held negative effects. We are frequently reminded of the benefits of “being in-the-moment” which has been reflected in the widespread interest and popularity of mindfulness and the need to “still the mind”. But what about the benefits of escaping the present and imagining things away from the here and now?

The benefits of daydreaming and its connection with rest are likely to depend on both the content of daydreaming and the context in which it occurs. For example, a busy mind full with thoughts of tomorrows tasks probably won’t be conducive to a restful night’s sleep. But conjuring nostalgic childhood memories to mentally transport you from a noisy commute might be just the ticket for rest and relaxation. Rather than representing a meaningless mental meandering, daydreaming potentially has the power to benefit our lives in many ways.

Giulia Poerio, Psychology PhD Student and Hubbub Collaborator , University of Sheffield and Felicity Callard, Director of Hubbub (The Hub at Wellcome Collection) and Reader, Durham University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Google spills its work secrets and gives lessons in boosting creativity

Wed, 2 Dec 2015 10:51:57 GMT

Google spills its work secrets and gives lessons in boosting creativity

Tamara Friedrich, University of Warwick

“How many golf balls could you fit in a school bus?” This is the kind of question Google and its big tech brethren were once known for asking would-be employees. The reasoning behind the technique seemed intuitive. Ask people odd questions, see how original and well analysed their thought process was, and you’ll end up hiring creative high-performers.

The trouble is, Google has discovered that the strategy doesn’t actually predict people’s ability to do the job. Instead, it found that it’s best to ask structured questions related to what prospective employees will actually be doing – something that had been studied for many years by HR scholars.

Having learned its lesson, Google has since become a champion of evidence-based management, utilising internal data through its People Analytics department (its version of HR) and built close relationships with academics. In an impressive move, Google is now paying it forward and trying to help other organisations through its new site re:Work, which aims to “make work better” by sharing management best practice.

The re:Work site, described as a repository of Google’s experience and case studies from other organisations, is still in its infancy. But there is already a wealth of information around four key areas – hiring, management, diversity, and analytics.

The information shared throughout the site also provides valuable insight into how Google maintains a high level of creativity and innovation in its workforce. Below are some of Google’s best practices from re:Work that are known to foster innovation.

1. Predicting performance

Google is not the only organisation that has used brainteasers to identify creative individuals, but it may be the first to publicly admit that they are ineffective.

The trouble with accurately identifying and managing creative talent often stems from misconceptions of what creativity is. Many believe that creativity is something magical – a burst of insight – that cannot be developed or managed. Many years of creativity research has shown this is not the case, however.

Not only can we identify individuals likely to perform creatively on the job, we can also train them to be more creative, as well as manage creative performance.

While it may be more difficult than less complex forms of performance, there is research that shows there are methods for identifying creative performers, and a clear pattern of characteristics that can be assessed when hiring, including knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics such as personality.

Do the math. Purolipan/flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

2. Developing managers

When it comes to managers, Google shares another mistake it’s made – thinking that managers don’t matter, and may even kill creativity. Instead it found that, without managers, employees were left overwhelmed with distracting tasks which can actually hurt creativity.

The research supports this. Management (and its close cousin, leadership) are actually quite important to fostering creativity.

Using its people analytics tools, Google identified eight characteristics in particular that made its managers effective, and several of these have been shown to be positively related to employee creativity.

They include empowering your team and not micromanaging, being attentive to employees' success and personal well-being, establishing a shared vision and strategy for the team, and having technical expertise that allow them to adequately advise the team and evaluate creative ideas.

3. Managing diversity

Many believe that diversity is a sure-fire way to increase innovation. You might expect that by assembling a diverse mix of people, you are automatically more likely to get creative ideas from their different perspectives. While there is some evidence to suggest that diverse perspectives do help foster creativity, it can also lead to increased conflict due to misunderstanding.

At the heart of this problem is the effect of bias on the way people interact with one another. Bias can hinder individuals’ and teams’ abilities to work together, and may also lead team members and leaders to dismiss ideas based on who they came from rather than their merit – ultimately hindering the organisation’s innovation.

Falling flat: diversity doesn’t automatically lead to creativity. shutterstock.com

To help employees understand and manage their unconscious biases, Google has developed a set of “unbiasing” programs that help employees understand and manage their biases, and even provide tools for other organisations to facilitate their own unbiasing workshops. Research has shown that perspective-taking, a technique discussed in the unbiasing workshop, can be used to capitalise on the benefits of diverse perspectives and promote creativity in teams.

4. Team dynamics

A new post to Google’s re:Work blog reveals findings from a new internal study on teamwork. It revealed that it wasn’t who was on the team that mattered so much as how who was on the team interacted.

Google identified five key predictors of successful teams: psychological safety, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning of work, and impact of work. It noticed that the team dynamic found to have the most significant influence on team success was psychological safety, which is how comfortable team members are in sharing ideas and being vulnerable with one another.

Given that psychological safety has been shown to facilitate knowledge sharing, vitality, as well as learning, it is no surprise that it is consistently found to be one of the key ways in which teams as well as organisations can foster creativity.

Not only does Google’s new re:Work site provide useful information and tools for fostering innovation, its willingness to share its best practices and build a hub of ideas for ways to “make work better” is a remarkable innovation in and of itself.

Tamara Friedrich, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Warwick

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Tackling hidden issues for older workers delivers wide-ranging return

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 01:00:45 GMT

Ruth Williams, University of Melbourne

The latest ABS labour force statistics show a steady trend developing. Both the unemployment rate at 6.1% and the participation rate at 65% have remained stable since March 2015. This smooth trend bodes well for Australia as a whole.

However, as an academic specialising in the ageing workforce, I am often more interested in the hidden issues that these statistics do not reveal. Often hidden is the discrimination mature-age workers experience in the workplace – particularly during the recruitment process. This includes anything from underemployment to intergenerational competition from younger workers who feel older workers are “blocking the way” to higher positions.

Other issues include incivility in the way they are spoken to, exclusion from conversations and events, and ideas being ignored.

Age discrimination has lasting impacts

ABS data consistently shows that, despite their wealth of knowledge and experience, older workers are over-represented in underemployment statistics. They experience countless problems, such as being denied additional work hours or experiencing unwanted cuts. Consequently, they are unwillingly locked in to part-time or casual work.

Mature-age workers often face limited training and promotional opportunities. As a result, they are left with outdated skills and minimal career progression. They are often denied flexible working conditions, with less of an opportunity to assume responsibility within the workplace.

With such obstacles, older workers are sometimes unable to have productive impacts in their workplace.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of age discrimination in the workplace.

Work-related age discrimination and mature-age unemployment and underemployment can have complex and far-reaching outcomes. It can impact an individual through their finances, physical and mental health and overall wellbeing.

Older job seekers can become severely stressed and discouraged when searching for work. These feelings of frustration sometimes lead to self-employment, or “self-selecting” out of the workforce through unemployment or involuntary early retirement.

Mature-age people who are not in the workforce, or are chronically under-employed, frequently experience lower savings and superannuation. This legacy can stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Since Peter Costello issued the first Intergenerational Report more than a decade ago, policy has aimed to extend working lives. AAP/Mark Graham

In a broader perspective, low mature-age labour force involvement is economically unsustainable. To deal with this, the government is pushing hard to encourage extended working lives.

Engaging an older work population

Many often overlook the wealth of knowledge, experience and skills that equips mature-age workers to apply leadership in workplace settings and projects. Most older workers have crucial business relationships and industry contacts. These cannot be recorded in a manual for others to read and easily implement.

Industries requiring specific skills and knowledge – such as the mining sector – are deeply concerned about losing this specialised knowledge as older workers retire.

Many organisations are responding in an attempt to capture this valuable knowledge. They are aiming to do so through knowledge transfer or succession planning, such as mentoring programs.

Mentoring programs positively and actively engage older workers, giving them a sense of value while retaining corporate knowledge within the organisation. But reverse mentoring is also an option. Here younger colleagues can share their specialised skills and knowledge with their older colleagues.

Such programs are useful as they often foster intergenerational relationships. More importantly, they help break down the stereotypes that contribute to age discrimination.

HR and line managers need to apply an understanding and positive approach to how the ageing workforce can improve business. Many retail and finance organisations, with an older clientele, have been hosting targeted recruitment drives for mature-age workers in attempt to reflect their growing customer base.

But organisations must be careful not to implement age-friendly workplace policies and practices with a “one size fits all” perspective. Older workers are not a homogenous group – they have varying and changing needs over their life course. Strong supervisor support based on a person-centred approach may prove far more beneficial.

As a society, we need to better understand and prepare for the impending issues facing ageing populations. Crucial to responding to these complex issues is an interdisciplinary, intergenerational and international approach. We need to move away from silos and towards synergistic ways of thinking.

Closer partnerships between education providers and industry are necessary to encourage innovation and strong leadership in this area. Collaborations between researchers, policymakers and industry will assist in the development of the skilled professionals who are needed in the rapidly expanding ageing sector. University programs are beginning to respond to the increasing demand for a more holistic set of workplace skills.

Such influences can shift the focus of ageing from catastrophe to opportunity – and remove barriers to older people leading healthy and productive lives.

This is part of a series of articles on ageing. Read the others here.

Ruth Williams, Research Fellow, Centre for Workplace Leadership, University of Melbourne

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Women get a much needed boost in research funding gender equity plan

Sat, 21 Nov 2015 05:10:38 GMT

Women get a much needed boost in research funding gender equity plan

Sarah Maddison, Swinburne University of Technology

Women make up 44% of Australian academics, but just 24% of professors. One of the contributing factors for this disparity is that there are fewer women applying for research grants than men, even though women are just as successful at winning grants as men.

Given that research grant success is a key promotion criterion at most institutes, this hampers the ability of women to reach senior positions. So if we can encourage more women to apply for grants, then this could help increase the number of women professors.

This week saw the Australian Research Council (ARC) announce its Gender Equality Action Plan. This includes a range of actions aimed to ensure equal opportunity for men and women to participate in its National Competitive Grants Programme.

The ARC has already included maternity and paternity leave for all grants, and part-time options for early and mid career researchers with children or other carer responsibilities. It has also extended the eligibility criteria of some grants to account for time out of research for maternity leave and carer responsibilities.

Previously, the ARC would rate research output relative to the number of years since PhD completion, which would disadvantage women who had taken time out to start a family. Now research performance is based on the opportunity the researcher has had to do research.

The ARC has also introduced two prestigious Australian Laureate Fellowships specifically targeted for outstanding women.

The ARC Gender Equality Action Plan collects all these initiatives into a single document, along with new initiatives such as improving the gender balance of ARC selection committee members, raising awareness of parental leave entitlements and part-time options, and monitoring the impact of recent changes to eligibility and leave provisions.

ARC Centres of Excellence will also be required to develop and implement an equity plan.

It will also consider unconscious bias training for grant assessors and the ARC College of Experts, who are the people who ultimately decide who gets funded and who does not.

Why change is needed

These initiatives are long overdue and whole-heartedly supported by the academic community.

While there is still debate over whether parenthood decreases productivity among academics, various studies show that the rate of research output drops for women returning from maternity leave and their research output is affected until their children are teenagers.

This effect is also far greater for mothers than fathers. A recent study of 10,000 economists found the research productivity of mothers dropped by 17% compared to 5% for fathers.

Targets and quotas make some people uncomfortable. But such actions are probably needed to create the disruptive change required to re-balance gender inequities. While differences in the grant success rates for men and women are relatively small, there are enormous differences in the numbers of men and women applying for ARC funding across almost all disciplines.

In the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) areas, between three and seven times more men than women are applying for grants. In the HASS (health, arts and social science) areas, this drops to one to three times more men than women applying. There are more women than men applying for ARC grants in only two fields of research: education; and language, communication and culture.

This is why the two targeted Laureate Fellowships (one in STEM and one in HASS) are accompanied by additional funds to support ambassadorial activities by the recipient to promote women in research and to mentor early career researchers.

Now that research output is judged relative to opportunity, career breaks and non-research tasks (like heavy teaching and administrative loads) can be taken into consideration.

Going forward

The ARC has no control over the employment conditions or workplace culture in universities, but it does control the research funding. Because ARC grants are generally paid to organisations rather than to researchers, they can put conditions on the funding. The ARC requires research institutes to comply with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 when signing funding agreements.

The ARC also expects institutes to have a gender equity policy in place. If the ARC wanted to push the issue, it could require institutes to hold a Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice for Gender Equality award, for example. Or it could require institutes to participate in programs like the Science Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) initiative.

The Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering recently launched this pilot of the Athena SWAN Charter, which aims to improve gender equity and increase participation of women in STEMM (the second “M” is for medicine). The SAGE pilot is strongly supported by the ARC.

The Athena SWAN initiative began in the United Kingdom with the aim of encouraging and supporting women in STEMM careers. Since 2011, UK medical research institutes have been required to have an Athena SWAN award to receive research funds.

Will the ARC head in that same direction? There is no doubt that funding drives behaviour. And if the ARC Gender Equality Action Plan can drive good behaviours, then it will be a great success.

Sarah Maddison, Dean of Science, Professor of Astrophysics, Swinburne University of Technology

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.