Blog Your Career Into Existence

Picture taken from http://www.kaushik.net/

I was very happy I had the opportunity to attend the career night the Information Systems department at Kogod held last Thursday. We had great panelists that shared their wonderful experiences with us on how to find our passion within a certain career path and excel at doing it. It was a great event that I benefited from so much. Lots of sweet food, too :-)

One of the things they all emphasized and repeated more than once was to watch what we put out to the cyber world of the internet. "What you publish online is who you are to your employer. If you won't share it publicly, don't upload it electronically." They also said that if you have anything you don't like your potential employer to find out about you, begin the cleaning process immediately because it's not a quick one neither is it easy to completely remove it from the nervous system of the net.

Furthermore, on the positive side, if you want more opportunities and greater career advantage, show your talent online. Display what you're good at on your blogs, your profile, or whatever. If you're a tech savvy and can answer tech questions professionally, use your online activities to show that. If you have an innovative idea or a creative solution, show the world your talent because no one is gonna hire you based on your resume. "The blog is your new resume!"

News Prosumers: Let's Make What We Take

Picture taken from http://www.textually.org/

I remember last year when the bridge in Minneapolis fell apart, my friend who lives in the same state, told me that a very interesting phenomenon took place there. It wasn't only newpapers and TV journalists. Everyone there was taking photos and videos to share with the world. The "citizen media" phenomenon was born (at least in my mind back then :-)).

I think what this means to media companies is that they have to rethink their tradional methods of top-down distribution becuase people who used to be at the consuming end of the channel are now shifting towards to production end. Smart newsmakers can use the eruption of this phenomenon to gain better communication with their customers and increase the shared circle of understanding with this "used-to-be" audience.

The tools are exploding! It's not just blogs and media sharing websites, there are the wikis (from which the most famous user-generated website, wikipedia, emerged) and mashups that take data or services from more than one place and combine them, and much more on its way to see the light. The key is to ride with the wave and understand what's in this inevitable transition.
"Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or a greater Benefit.” ~Napoleon Hill

Not Facing Each Other; An Advantage

I like the idea of looking at being virtually connected rather than being in physical proximity as a boost to the team productivity instead of an obstacle. I've always heard people complain and state "lack of face-to-face" on the disadvantages side, but now more people are recognizing how it can actually help.

What if I personally prefer my desk rather than a round table in a conference room? I'd join a virtual team. What if I hate frequent travelling, the tiresome jet lag effect and the awful airport delays? What if I believe in the "No-Place-Like-Home" philosophy? ... What If? What If? What If? ... All of these are valid reasons to prefer a virtual team over a physical one.

But it's always a matter of weighing pros and cons in a subjective judgement call. What about the time difference? What if the team finds a convenient meeting time to most members, but it's 3:00 am in the morning where I live? How can I -as the group manager- maintain trust between the members? What if I get more motivation from being in a group- physically in a group- rather than being alone with a laptop? ... What if? What if? What if? ... All of these are also valid reasons to prefer a physical team over a virtual one.

As I said, it's a subjective judgement call, I believe.

How Networking Changed My Life ....

picture from www.mysocialnetwork.net

"It's not what you know, it's who you know"

I like this saying very much. Looking back at major events in my life, I can't see any great thing that happened to me happening without knowing someone or being connected in a way or another to someone who helped me climb to a higher level of my life.

The way I got into college; It was the first year our embassy had cultural exchange seats in Kuwait University. I was planning on going home for college, until my dad's friend who works as an administrator in the embassy told my dad they have scholarships in Kuwait University.

The way I got to AU; It was my dear professors who recommended me to this scholarship. I salute these people from the bottom of my heart; these people without whom, I wouldn't be writing this blog post right now.

The way I'm spending my time in the summer break in Virginia; It's because of miss Dorothy; my mentor in KU who is an instructor in The Monroe Institute (a stress management and brainwave technology institute in Virginia). She suggested that I apply for their student scholarship, and I did. Thank you, miss Dorothy. Thank you very much.

I think all the luck I have and all the blessings in my life is totally because of the great people who surround me (physically or even virtually). I could go on for ever, but I think the point is clear.

My warmest gratitude to every person who entered my life. I love you all ...