Raising Baby Engineers

Raising Baby Engineers Raising Baby Engineers Raising Baby EngineersIve read whole books about how environment shapes the minds of children. What they are exposed to in their formative years guides how they will grow up. A child listening to Mozart for several hours a day is not guaranteed to grow up to be Chopin. However, a child who never hears music will never grow up to replace Yanni. If you wish a certain outcome, you must lay the groundwork for that possibility to arise.With this in mind, my husband and I began debating long ago how to maximize the odds that our children will grow up to be engineers. Yes, we are digital in personality and might have trouble raising an analog child. Yes, we are both engineers. Hence, we hope our children follow in our beliefs and eventuallycareer paths. What on Earth will we do if one kid ends up a dancer instead of a circuit designer? Well still love them, but we might not understand them.We are not doing this for purely selfish reasons. Engine ering is a high-paying profession that will never go away. If we can direct them toward engineering, they will more likely prosper in life than, say, as a potter living in a Tennessee commune. Or, perhaps, as a failed rock star. The best-laid plans can be laid to rest with a single small disaster, but it helps to have a plan. Failure analysis and risk assessment are key skills of engineers.Fractal Pattern PosterForget Noahs Ark and Winnie the Pooh nursery decorations. Put up fractal pattern posters. No, you do not have to spend inordinate amounts of money to buy them off the Internet. Download the freeware. Enter variables until you get a pattern you like. Color code variables until the poster matches the drapes or the wall paint. We printed out ours on a high-quality printer and had them laminated at OfficeMax. You could have an office supply place blow them up to full poster size, if youre willing to maximize the mathematical pattern recognition in your newborn. Babies like bright colors and patterns. Our daughter stared at zu sich fractal pattern posters for minutes at a time by the time she was a month old.By six months of age, your child is almost crawling. They are certainly exploring the world by touch at this time. Old keyboards provide interesting stimulation. Press on a key, and it makes a clicking noise. Furthermore, it is textured and has many crevasses to explore. Old mice are also good toys. Better yet, if you have any old, worn mouse covers left over, your child may have a new snuggle toy.By a year old, your child has seen many toys with buttons. Hence, anything with buttons becomes a target. We kept our daughter from swiping and chewing on our real remote controls by getting old, big ones. Remote controls meant for the elderly are especially good, and are abundant at flea markets. Dollar store squeaky remote toys are a close second choice.Nonfunctional calculators with large keypads also work well as toys at about one year of age. Keep one on y our desk or table. Your child will want to play with what Mommy and Daddy are playing with. When that curious hand reaches up over the edge of the desk, put the expendable calculator at his or her fingertips. The expendable calculator goes down and will likely be taste-tested. We learned how useful nonessential calculators were. Wed had a good calculator succumb to water damagedrool, actually. I suppose it wasnt designed to tolerate that kind of abuse. We didnt even discover the damage until the function keys all came up as the numbers 5 and 8 when pressed. Perhaps the excessive vibration tests of our toddler were the cause of the circuit failure. We could never be certain of the cause.Around 2 years old, kids stop taste-testing every toy. At this point, old control panels are marvelous things to introduce to your child. Whether you scour a salvage yard for an old avionics control panel or check your IT departments throwaway stack, its easy to find one. Knobs, switches, and buttons are all there to manipulate. Better yet, theres no consequenceWhen you give your kid his or her own computer is up for debate. Do you give them a toddler computer that teaches numbers and letters, only to see them turn into sedentary geeks? Or do you wait until your childs preschool sends home a note that your child doesnt have his/her laptop like the rest of the class? The debate about children and computers is not a problem if you keep the junk heaps like Nintendo and PlayStation away from them. A lump on a log conquering alien worlds is less likely to send probes to alien worlds than is a child who has had graphics software and student version Mathematica to play with.Our daughter received her first computer at age 3. We included preschool educational programs, typing programs, and interactive story games. Then, she was taught how to use the Microsoft Paint. She was inserting and running her own game CDs by age 4. Computer literacy may come for her before the literary kind.Legos are wonderful toys to introduce at the same time other children begin showing an interest in blocks. Legos are superior in that they do not fall apart as easily when knocked over, they teach more hand-eye coordination while being snapped together, and they have programmable versions you can introduce by age 5. (Or, for the more mechanically minded, buy Capselas.) And your child has become familiar with the concepts of programming before they will have learned to spell the word.The greatest advantage of raising an engineer through environmental factors is that these toys are not gender-specific unless parents choose to view them as such. Our second child, a boy, has begun dismantling old remote controls his sister had played with a few years earlier. And the parents can have fun with these activities, whereas infantile toys will quickly wear out both parents and childrens interest.Engineering is not just the wave of the future. Engineering is how we will make that future. Children ar e our future, and they will be our future engineers. Dont we owe them an upbringing that maximizes the odds they will be designing the technology of tomorrow?My husband and I began debating long ago how to maximize the odds that our children will grow up to be engineers.

Hire a Veteran to Fight the Battle of Business Uncertainty

Hire a Veteran to Fight the Battle of Business UncertaintyHire a Veteran to Fight the Battle of Business UncertaintyHire a Veteran to Fight the Battle of Business Uncertainty Thompson, author of The Anywhere Leader How to Lead and Succeed in Any BusinessWe owe veterans a debt of gratitude for their service to America, but thats leid why we should hire a veteran. We should hire them because they have what it takes to lead in an ever-changing, ever-disruptive global economy.Frankly, its disturbing to feel the need to make that point. But the facts are even more disturbing.The unemployment rate for vets who served since 2001 is 2.6 percent higher than the general population, according to a report in September from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thats about 235,000 veterans who want a job but dont have a job.We say nice things when we pass military personnel in the airport Thanks for your service Sure do appreciate you but thenwe dismiss them when they drop a job application on our d esk Sorry, your skills dont translate Youre just not qualified. They are losing out on opportunities to feed their families, but its corporate America thats really losing out.In The Anywhere Leader, I make the case that the one thing we can count on in geschftsleben is uncertainty. fruchtwein of us, however, arent trained to lead through uncertainty. Thats just not a class you find in many business schools.But the military teaches it and it teaches it extremely well. Theres never been a greater need for leaders who are capable of leading through the unknown, and Ill argue that no group brings more experience or is more prepared to lead through uncertainty than veterans. They are amazing Anywhere Leaders.Anywhere Leaders are Driven for Progress, Sensationally Curious and Vastly Resourceful. Which of those traits do you not value in your employees? Todays veterans bring all these job skills to the workplace heres how.Veterans Driven for ProgressVeterans didnt join the military jus t to earn a paycheck theyve got an emotional commitment to a country that they love. They are dedicated to a purpose or mission thats greater than self. So they are daring (but discerning) in the name of progress. And they are determined, especially in the face of adversity. Thats what I call Driven for Progress.Veterans Sensationally CuriousYou might not think of veterans as Sensationally Curious. They are known for following orders, not asking questions. But my research and my own experience as a veteran taught me that its the behaviors associated with curiosity that make the difference.If you are curious, you are reflective, receptive and perceptive. Those behaviors allow you to relate well with others, even foreigners, so that you can build strong teams internally and with those who are very different from you.The veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, more than any veterans before them, have taken on the role of cultural bridge-builders. They fight the enemy while trying to win over communities. They know how to build trust in teams and communities that arent like them in any way, shape or form without sacrificing the mission.Veterans Vastly ResourcefulTheyre also Vastly Resourceful. Thats always been the case in the military. They are trained to make do with whatever resources are available. Todays veterans come from a pretty well-equipped military, but war is the great disrupter of shiny, new equipment.The enemy is literally trying to kill them, and they constantly and quickly have to counter that enemys tactics. So they figure out on their own how to reinforce the armor on the bottom of a Humvee or make a replacement engine pulley from a Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) box and some Duct tape.This resourcefulness, curiosity and drive for progress give veterans the traits needed to figure out the skills they might be missing for most jobs these traits make them great leaders regardless of the job.But dont assume they dont have skills. Veterans have played a numbe r of roles in a military thats trained them not just to fire weapons, but with specific, transferrable skills in technology, media, communications, medicine, logistics, management, leadership and countless other areas.Fighting the Battle of UncertaintyThe business case for hiring veterans is simple You battle uncertainty every day in your business and it will only get more intense and extreme. Theres nobody who has battled uncertainty more than these soldiers.Maybe you dont have bullets flying by your ear at your office, but dont you want somebody whos been under that kind of pressure and intensity and shown a resolve, commitment, aptitude and skill to succeed?The victories, small and huge, in Iraq and Afghanistan are amazing, and the sacrifices by the men and women fighting there are enormous. We can, and should, thank them when we see them with words and with jobs.Author BioMike Thompson is author of The Anywhere Leader How to Lead and Succeed in Any Business Environment (Wiley, 2011). He is founder and CEO of SVI, a leading organizational development company whose clients include Wal-Mart, Mercy Health, Sams Club, Dillards and Tyson. Previously he was founder and president of ThompsonMurray (now Saatchi Saatchi), the leader in in-store marketing. He is a regular contributor to industry trade publications.Learn More about Hiring a Veteran

The 1 painfully obvious reason nobody follows you on social media

The 1 painfully obvious reason nobody follows you on social mediaThe 1 painfully obvious reason nobody follows you on social mediaThe social media worldis in need of some serious tough love.I have been immersed in the world of digital marketing for a long time. Ive run social media accounts for both big brands and small brands, as well as individuals and thought leaders. I have guest blogged. I have been a ghostwriter. And I have built a company focused around building industry experts into thought leaders- specifically on the internet.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreI have been doing this since I was a teenager. Back before Facebook popped, I was one of the most-read gaming bloggers on the internet. More recently, I hit 25,000,000 views on Quora. I have over 50,000 followers on Instagram. I have had articles published in every major digital publication Time.com, Forbes.com, For tune.com, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, and more. And I have worked on the growth strategies of several established YouTubers andsocial-media influencers.Do you know what Ive learned through all of this?You either do social media the right way or dont do it at allIt is astounding to me how casually people say things likeGuys, we need more Instagram followers, orWe need to be on Snapchat. Everybody is on Snapchat.Why? Why do you need to be on Snapchat?Is that where yur customers are?Are you going to provide them any value?Do you have the resources to sustain that value for the long term?Let me explain, in plain language, how social media worksSocial media is like a fanthe thing you put in your room in the summer when its hot outside. The more you post, the more the fan whirs and spins and provides air. If you dont post, the fan stops. And when the fan stops, it is no longer worthwhile, and you throw it away and go find a new fan.This is issue No. 1. People think of social me dia as a campaign. They think, We will be really, really active for a while, and then we will eventually get to a point where we no longer need to do it so much.Wrong.You stop, and your followers leave. And actually, the bigger you get, the harder you have to work to continue raising the bar for yourself.Issue No. 2(and this is more important), is that what schrift of content you post determines whether your fan (were back to the fan metaphor now) fires out nice, cool, helpful airor stuffy, annoying air that smells like the inside of an airplane.Think about how much material there is out on the internet to look at. I could go look at sports cars, or I could look at attractive models, or I could go binnensee what Kanye West said on TV that caused some celebrity to freak out, or I could watch Justin Bieber fall on stage, or I could watch Donald Trump bloopers, or I could watch an amputee squat 200 pounds, or I could. The list goes on and on.Do you really think, then, that anyone cares about your two sales reps standing in front of a poorly designed step-and-repeat event banner, in a photo that is so darkly lit you cant tell if its a guy and a girl, or two girls, or whatalthoughit doesnt even matterwith copy that saysSo proud of our teamAnd internally, the company or brand (or agency working on its behalf) that posts this atrocious piece of contentis saying, This is great. People love to see the people behind the brand.Youre right, people do love to see the people behind the brand.Just notlage like that.I eagerlyawaitthe day the masses start to realize that creating really great content is not easy. And to say, We need to create great content and post on our social media, without allocating any budget or any talented resources to those efforts is pretty much the same as saying, We need to all start playing guitar without signing anyone up for lessons and expecting that the next day your Facebook page will ring out with high-quality videos of your entire team play ing Stairway to Heaven.Do you want to know why nobody follows you on social media? Even if you post every day, do you want to know why you arent growing at all?Because you are not providing enough value to your followers. Not even close.Lets take, for example, how to structure an amazing Instagram post1. PhotographyFirst and foremost, unless the photo is breathtaking, dont even bother. That needs to be your mentality. Now, will they all be breathtaking? Probably not. But thats the standard you should hold for yourself and your brand. Every photo mattersand contributes to the larger portrait you are trying to paint. With every photoyou are competing against all the other millions and millions of photos out there. Stage it right. Craft it right. Edit it right. Do it right.2. First ParagraphPeople think Instagrammeans short captions. Wrong.Provide. People. Value. Lets say youre a window manufacturer. Which is more helpful to a customer, a caption that says, Another beautiful day or a c aption that says, The difference between double-pane and triple-pane windows is the fact that double-pane windows and off you go. Teach them something. Show them how to do it on their own. Give them a reason to stop, look at the photo, and actually take away a valuable piece of information.3. Second ParagraphAdded ValueAre you done? No After youve already taught them something valuable, encourage them to go somewhere else to learn even more. Maybe you just posted an amazing blog about how to install your own double-pane windows. Put that link in your Instagram bioand let people know that if they need more help, they can click that link.4. PromotionAt the end of your post, in a very clean, professional, signature sort of way, give yourself and your business a little shameless promotion. Let people know about a sale that is going onor where they can sign up to receive discounts in the future, etc. Its best to do this every few posts, instead of every day.5. HashtagsAnd finally, includ e a handful of relevant hashtagsso that your page can gain a bit of visibility. But be classy about ittheres no need to go overboard. Just a few are all you need.Imagine this level of detail, every single day, twice a day, for one or two years straight.On one platform.Thats how you build an audience.The problem is that 99 percent of people dont want to put in this much effort, or they hire agencies that promise daily posting but do little more than fulfill that measurable requirement. And yet 100 percentof people want more followers, want more business, want more engagement, want more likes, want more blah blah blah.Facebook ads, in particular, have done a scary thing. They have led people to believe that all these things can be bought. And in a sense, they can.I am a firm believer that if you cant see growth organically, without an ad spend, then what youdoend up spending on ads is masking the real issue. Its not your ad spend thats the problemits your content. And content that per forms well without an ad spendis content that crushes it with an ad spend behind it.So, just like you wouldnt take a flyer designed in 12 minutes by your half-cousins high school senior,plop it in a magazine, then wonderwhy your revenue for the month hasnt skyrocketed, stop sitting there wondering why nobody is following you on social media without putting the necessary amount of effort into the equation.Social media is hard. I would knowIve been doing it for a long, long time.But in all honesty, social media is just a tool.The real challenge is understanding how to be heard in a noisy market.How do you do that?You provide more VALUE than anyone else.This article originally appeared in Inc Magazine and was republished by Minutes.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from nesthkchen Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mista kes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

ASME to Offer Special Nuclear Energy Workshop in Argentina

ASME to Offer Special Nuclear Energy Workshop in Argentina ASME to Offer Special Nuclear Energy Workshop in Argentina ASME to Offer Special Nuclear Energy Workshop in ArgentinaOct. 7, 2016 This November, ASME will hold a Spanish-language nuclear energy workshop in Argentina. The workshop is part of a planned series of nuclear workshops that the Society will schedule in Latin America, including events in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.The workshop, titled ASME Workshop Nuclear Energy, Quality and Conformity Assessment, will be held Nov. 29 and 30 in San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina. With a program that welches designed to provide attendees with the knowledge they will need for career advancement and the tools they can apply on the job right away, the workshop is intended for nuclear industry executives engineers attorneys with nuclear industry-related court cases technicians and specialists (non-destructive testing, repairs, etc.) regulators inspectors pressure vessel des igners and fabricators and welders.This ASME nuclear energy workshop is different from typical nuclear conferences since it is strictly technical in nature - without keynotes, plenaries or an exhibition floor. Attendees should be prepared to discuss their specific concerns and questions with top-level nuclear experts with a wealth of experience in the areas of design, risk, maintenance, conformity assessment, licensing and life extension of nuclear power plants, legislation, quality control, printing ASME, repairs, and more.The workshop will feature Rick Swayne, Richard Barnes and Pamela Nelson, Ph.D. - three top-level nuclear experts and longtime ASME codes and standards volunteers. Swayne, an active member of various ASME and ASTM committees since 1977, has more than 40 years of experience related to the design, manufacture and operation of nuclear plant components. He is vice chair of the Council on Standards Certification and the BPV Committee on Nuclear Inservi ce Inspection (XI), chair of the motherboard on Codes and Standards Operations, as well as member of several other groups including the Board on Strategic Initiatives, the Board on Nuclear Codes and Standards, and the Technical Oversight Management Committee.Barnes, an ASME Fellow, is a BPV Section III specialist with more than 30 years of nuclear experience throughout the world. A former chair of ASMEs BPV Section III Committee, he is currently a member of the Board on Nuclear Codes and Standards, the BPV Committee on Construction of Nuclear Facility Components, and the Committee on Board (NCS) Strategic Initiatives, among other committees. Dr. Nelson, professor of nuclear engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, has more than 30 years of experience in nuclear engineering related to analysis probabilistic safety, human reliability analysis, and emergency operating procedures and emergency action levels. She is vice chair of the ASME Joint Committee on Nuclear Risk Management, member of the Board on Nuclear Codes and Standards, as well as a member of several other codes and standards subcommittees and groups.To register for the ASME Workshop on Nuclear Energy, Quality and Conformity Assessment, visit www.siderurgia.org.ar/asme16. (Note The registration page is in Spanish.) Residents of Latin America who would like more information on the workshop should contact Diego Bermdez, Instituto Argentino de Siderurgia (IAS), at +54 11 4328 3365/67 ext. 23, or by e-mail at asmesiderurgia.org.ar. Outside Latin America, contact James Ramirez, Global Development, at (212) 591 8033 or by e-mail at ramirezjasme.org.

The Most Disregarded Fact Regarding Summary on a Resume Uncovered

The Most Disregarded Fact Regarding Summary on a Resume Uncovered Resume objectives are occasionally thought to be the old schooltype of resume. Discover what youd feature in the summary. The resume summary will function as their sales pitch. The absolute most efficient summaries target one career objective. Now you are in need of a cover letter. If youre a first-time applicant, dont worry. As you move forward with additional information it then becomes tough to break from the format youve started. You can watch the complete list at JillJacinto.com. If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on Summary on a Resume Our resume builder will provide you with tips and examples on the best way to compose your resume summary. The most importing thing to bear in mind when writing a resume summary statement is that it must be relevant to the position youre applying for, it should tailor to the particular job listing. A resume summary is a short description near the top of you r resume that describes your prior experience and that which you have done previously that could benefit your preferred employer. 1 A resume summary is a brief, snappy introduction paragraph that delivers a summary of your very best work. Start with a transparent description of the kind of role youre landseeking. Because most managers spend under a minute scanning your resume, enkoranvers that the very first thing they read ties straight to the work description. Then once you put in an application for a job, pick the ones which best match the work description. Telling someone you managed a huge project is fantastic. You may want to think about a qualifications summary which we outlined in last weeks postbut if only you need to have a summaryhere are a couple examples to help you begin. If you do decide to move forward with a resume summary statement, be sure to take care of it as your own private highlight reel. A resume summary or career prole is a short statement at the peak o f your resume. Once your resume reaches a true human, youve approximately six seconds to produce an impression. Summary on a Resume Ideas For example, if youre asking for an IT position and you run an on-line software discussion group in your free time, mention that. Then write a list of your matching credentials in addition to two or three additional reasons which you would be a superb employee. The startup business is grueling and demands an individual with a particular set of skills. You came to the correct place to compose your server resume. If you arent a member of this kind of association, look at becoming one. If its possible to sell yourself, you may sell a firms product. Focus on how youre an advantage to the companynot the way the corporation can help you. When youre asking for a customer service position, examine the work description to find out what sorts of skills and go through the provider wants. Its very good in order to demonstrate the Hiring Managers which you were working hard during university and higher school years. On the flip side, once the work applicant has strong experience, there isnt any need to depend on the academic training any longer and it doesnt need to get mentioned. When you determine the skills you wish to concentrate on, do some research and see whether they line up with job requirements listed for the positions youre seeking. In addition, dont be discouraged if you cant locate a job your very first time out. On the 1 hand, since the possible employer or HR manager will appear at your resume only for 6-7 seconds, he wont be in a position to read more. Managers and executives should concentrate on business skills in addition to technical expertise even should they fall into a technical industry. To put it simply, the objective on no account addresses the company issue or pain that the hiring manager has. There is an assortment of jobs within a warehouse, but most warehouse workers take on many different tasks t o achieve the job.

The Debate Over Resume Writing New England Conservatory

The Debate Over Resume Writing New England Conservatory In case you have any questions throughout the procedure, please dont hesitate tocontact us. In various ways, your resume will be much more straightforward and easy to write. Were delighted that youre applying to NEC Dont forget that a resume is the very first portion of dialogue involving you and your prospective employers. Our resume examples offer inspiration, but more importantly guidance on the best way to structure and compose the elements. Bear in mind you should only include your high school if you didnt attend college. If youve completed some adequate gigs and some undesirable gigs, leave the undesirable ones off. Made for exceptional musicians interested in a diverse assortment of artistic careers together with an elite liberal arts education, the dual degree will make it possible for the 2 institutions to provide the best of their unique strengths. For orchestra playing thats orchestra experience. List all your work experience linked to performance. Pick a font that will represent your own personal style. Beyond this, you can add an assortment of information that may demonstrate your experience and abilities, and cause you to stick out from the pack. If youre clear about your motivation, skills, and individual qualities, you will gradually be in a position to describe these in an intriguing way. This is simple if you stick to relevant expert experience, ensure it remains uncluttered and steer clear of embellishment. Add a distinctive skills section where it is possible to elaborate on other wisdom and training leid directly linked to your principal performance specialty. Use words that are specific with regard to skill. Little by little, you will observe a gorgeous bit of communication come into being, and become considerably more mindful of your abilities and capabilities in the procedure. Designed and produced newsletter to aid in marketing campaign for a little social servic e agency.