Update Your Resume for the New Year
Update Your Resume for the New Year
One New Yearâs resolution to consider is to update your resume. Whether you are in job-search mode or have been with a job for a while, it is always good to be prepared. The job market is constantly changing and people sometimes lose jobs that they had considered solid.
I recommend checking out the Ragan article 10 Words or Phrases That Shouldnât be on Your RĂ©sumĂ©. I like that the author mentioned the importance of not simply listing the word experienced. âAlthough you may have many years working in a certain field, donât sell yourself short by using a word as vague and general as âexperienced.â Get specific. Make a note of how long youâve worked in a certain industry, how many clients youâve had, what your sales were, and how much you increased profitability. Employers want to see results, not fluff.â
I have had to review many resumes that were sloppy, complicated, and just difficult to decipher. Due to a wealth of information on the Internet, there is no excuse for having a poor resume.
I recommend checking out some of the following links:
It is also simple to create a resume within a Word document. To find templates, go to the file dropdown menu and pick new. In the search bar, type in the word: resume. This will bring up a list of free templates that can be easily modified.
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Einsteinâs Brain Reveals New Clues to Intelligence
In an attempt to understand intelligence, researchers have once again focused their attention on Albert Einstein’s brain. A study published in a recent issue in the Journal Brain disclosed some new insight as to what made Einstein so intelligent. In the Red Orbit article Photos of Einsteinâs Brain Reveal Areas That May Have Made Him A Genius, Anthropologist Dean Falk from the Florida State University explained, âThe overall size and asymmetrical shape of Einsteinâs brain were normal. [But] the prefrontal, somatosensory, primary motor, parietal, temporal and occipital cortices were extraordinary. These may have provided the neurological underpinnings for some of his visuospatial and mathematical abilities, for instance.â
There have been 14 new photos found of Einsteinâs brain that have been evaluated. The USA Today article Einsteinâs Brain: It Was Better Than Yours, explained, âAfter the photos were taken, the brain itself was cut into 240 separate blocks for analysis, most of which remain at the University Medical Center in Princeton, N.J., where Einstein’s brain was taken after he died.â
In 2009, Odyssey reported that the reason for Einsteinâs intelligence may be due to an increase in glia cells. âGlia help neurons by giving them nutrients and by cleaning up after the mess neurons make when they do their work. Neurons can make electrical signals because they are tiny batteries. Just as in a flashlight battery, the voltage in a neuron is generated by a special salt solution. When a neuron fires an electric pulse, sodium, which is the positively charged partner of the salt known as sodium chloride, flows into the neuron.â
Einstein died from a ruptured aneurism in 1955. He was 76. An autopsy was performed in Princeton Hospital. According to the Einstein Quarterly article A Brief History of Einsteinâs Brain, âEinsteinâs brain weighed 1230 grams, well within the range of 1200-1600 grams that is normal for a human male.â Einstein never gave approval to study his brain. Permission came from his family once they were made aware that his brain had been removed and preserved.
The brain is often described in sections, referred to as Brodmannâs areas. Einsteinâs Brodmann area 39 (part of the parietal lobe) showed a statistically significant difference from the average brain. The parietal lobe may be an important indicator of intelligence. The latest research has discovered some differences in Einstein’s frontal lobe as well. To find out more about the importance of this lobe, check out the Nova video at the end of this article.
Some interesting things about Einstein include: He had dyslexia as a child; he figured out the theory of relativity in his 20s, he played the violin, and Einstein had an IQ of 160.
To find out what happened to Einsteinâs brain, check out Novaâs video: Â How Smart Can We Get
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Marketing Based on Personality Type
QuantMethod is a site that offers ways to help companies market to customers based upon understanding their personality type. The Quant Method assessment puts people into 1 out of 4 categories. According to their site, these types include:
- Thinker â âThe Thinker likes facts, details, proven examples and is highly organized. Their approach to business is thoughtful, logical and analytical.â
- Mastermind â âMasterminds are characterized by a more assertive approach to business. They tend to be fast-paced, results-oriented and get right to the point. They are efficient, logical and task-oriented.â
- Olympian â âThe Olympian personality type is characterized by an expressive, aggressive approach to business, and aspires to great heights because âeverything is possible.â They are emotive and have an easy-goingâ love of lifeâ approach in her personal dealings.â
- Diplomat â âDiplomats are friendly, compassionate, “feeling” people that desire to contribute goodness to the lives of others. They are effective at doing this through their nurturing, insightful and encouraging nature.â
I took the test and I came out as a thinker. I assumed Iâd either be that or a mastermind.  The results donât tell you how close you are to another personality type. The site claims that my results puts me into the same category as George Washington, Michael Caine, Donald Duck, Eliot Ness, and Johnny Carson. Hmmm ⊠interesting group ⊠especially Donald Duck.  Apparently half of U.S. presidents are âthinkersâ.
In the results, it listed tactics about how to appeal to this type of personality in terms of suggested sales tactics.
This company surveys customers to find out their personality type. They claim their instrument is similar to Myers-Briggs MBTI but with 1/6 the size. The thought process behind this business is that people like to deal with others that are on their same level of thinking.
Time Magazine article Get Personal with Marketing and Net More Sales reported that this Quant Method may be helpful because, âKnowing more about personality types can help you optimize email messages and websites to include specific landing pages with information that the four different personality types like in order increase conversion rates.â
While I find this to be an interesting way to market, it may be difficult to get people to respond to these assessments. When marketing to a large database, it is not feasible.  I like the concept of targeting to the individualâs needs. The real trick would be to get people to actually take the assessment.
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IQ and the Flynn Affect
Professor James Flynn is a New Zealand researcher who is known for studying intelligence. The Flynn Affect refers to, âthe substantial and long-sustained increase in intelligence test scores measured in many parts of the world from roughly 1930 to the present day. When intelligence quotient (IQ) tests are initially standardized using a sample of test-takers, by convention the average of the test results is set to 100 and their standard deviation is set to 15 or 16 IQ points. When IQ tests are revised, they are again standardized using a new sample of test-takers, usually born more recently than the first. Again, the average result is set to 100. However, when the new test subjects take the older tests, in almost every case their average scores are significantly above 100.â
There is a debate about whether IQ scores are improving without a corresponding rise in intelligence. There is even conflicting reports that IQ scores are dropping. If they are actually rising, some speculate that there are a number of contributing factors including: education, technology, nutrition, and removal of toxins from the environment.
While countries have made gains of up to 25 points in intelligence, there may be difficulty making comparisons due to testing measures. Some tests are based on fluid intelligence, while others are based on crystalized intelligence. For explanations about these intelligence tests, check out: The Flynn Affect
David Shenk, author of the article The Truth About IQ explained, âIQ tests measure current academic abilities — not any sort of fixed, innate intelligence. More specifically, the best-known IQ battery, “Stanford-Binet 5,” measures Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory. Collectively, these skills are known as “symbolic logic.” Among other things, IQ tests do not measure creativity; they do not measure “practical intelligence” (otherwise known as “street smarts”); and they do not measure what some psychologists call “emotional intelligence.”
Flynnâs most recent research had some important findings for women. In the ABC News article Women Beat Men on IQ Tests for the First Time, author Carrie Gann explained, âJames Flynn, a New Zealand-based researcher known as an IQ testing expert, said that over the past century, women have lagged slightly behind men in IQ testing scores, at times by as much as five points. But now, Flynn said women have closed the gap and even inched ahead in this battle of the intelligent sexes.â
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- Harvard Study Finds Fluoride Lowers IQ
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Sheldon Cooper is in an EQ Stupor
The Big Bang Theoriesâ Sheldon Cooper is a classic example of why it is important to have a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ). In the TV sitcom, Sheldon demonstrates what it is like to have a high IQ without a corresponding high EQ. Daniel Goleman wrote about why this may be problematic in his book Emotional Intelligence: Why it can Matter More than IQ.
Sheldon is a very intelligent human being. This is something that he constantly points out to nearly everyone he meets. However, his high IQ is not tempered with interpersonal skills. Having strong intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are an important part of having a well-developed EQ.  Sheldon may be an over-exaggeration of someone that lacks these skills, but we have all met book-smart people who just do not seem to understand how to interact with others.
Some companies’ yearly performance reviews may consider how employees demonstrate âconcern for impactâ. In other words, the company want employees to be aware of how they came across to other people. Any employee that has to deal with other people on a daily basis must learn to see themselves as other see them. What may seem as perfectly acceptable behavior to an individual may come across as offensive to someone else. Companies are placing more importance on developing individualsâ EQ levels and hiring people that have already developed interpersonal skills.
Sheldon is almost robotic in his lack of people skills. He does things because he has been taught that âit is the social conventionâ to do so. For people who see any part of their personality in the Sheldon character, I recommend reading Golemanâs book. I also think that it is important to read books about how to improve EQ levels. There are some sites on the Internet that help people improve emotional intelligence. Check out the following links:
- Five Key Skills for Raising Emotional Intelligence
- 15 Ways to Improve EQ
- How to Improve Emotional Intelligence
- 5 Concepts to Improve EQ
- How to Improve EQ
- 6 Exercises to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
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