The daily standup is probably the most common team meeting in the world. What started as a strange practice for software developers using something called 'AGILE' has morphed it's way in to everyday usage across most industries. I’ve combined lessons learned from my 20+ years experience in the software industry to share tips for how to fix your daily standup
Read MoreWhen it comes to progressing your career through new jobs, the STAR technique is your best friend. You can use it when crafting your CV, writing a job application, and especially when preparing for your interviews.
The STAR technique ensures you tell your story properly, providing all the relevant information that a hiring manager and interviewer wants to know.
Do not leave it up to chance or hope the hiring manager will ask follow up questions. Use the STAR technique to tell a well structured and engaging story that shows how you exceed their expectations and have the relevant experience they are looking for.
Read MoreI remember the surge of fear I would feel when asked this in the early years of my career. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing and selling myself short.
What if I told them my current salary and then they only offer me that when I think I am worth so much more? What if I ask for 5k more but they would have been happy to pay me 10 or 20k more? What if…what if….what if?!
But, for the majority of situations, that's not how that question works. Let me tell you why.
Read MoreIn the last 3 months I have seen my pet project - Dream Career Project - gain a following of nearly 200 people who want to hear from me about job applications, CVs, interviews tips, and advice on how to build a fun and exciting career.
Buoyed by this interest in my content I have decided to try my hand at videos. I've created a personal YouTube channel and I’m having a lot of fun…
Read MoreThe phone screen interview is an essential step in the recruitment process because it helps the hiring manager weed out unsuitable people and focus on the higher quality candidates. But it can work in candidate's favour too. If you nail the phone screen interview it can set you up for great success in the remaining interviews.
Read MoreReference checks are a funny beast.
Most hiring managers I have met tend to view them as a waste of time. In larger bureaucratic organisations they end up becoming merely a box-ticking exercise in arse-covering and in smaller organisations they just seem like an unnecessary overheard.
Read MoreIt was two minutes in to my first 1-to-1 meeting with one of my team members at my new job. As one of the first management hires outside of the existing founders I had given an explanation of what my role is when I was met with a comment-masquerading-as-a-question: So you're just kinda like HR for Engineering?
Read MoreI have just recently started a new job that I am excited about but it only took me three days to forget a cardinal rule of working in a team, especially when you are new: communicate early and often to build trust.
Read MoreIdeas are wafts of imaginations, flights of fancy, and daydreams of insight. There is never complete certainty about an idea. If an idea were certain then it wouldn't be just an idea. Except we tend to treat ideas as if they are certain. At least for our own ideas, we look upon them as if they are fact rather than mere possibilities...
Read MoreRecently that there seems to be an increasing culture in the world that promotes verbally and emotionally attacking people who change their mind. But changing your mind means you have learned something new. You have some new facts, data, experiences, or opinion that challenges your previous view so strongly that you are willing to change it...
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