Quite a lovely place to roam around...It's a good idea to have a trip from the busy world out there...But I guess before that I have to prepare my car for a long trip ahead, got to check first my car's condition especially my triumph oxygen sensor, don't want to have problems with it along the way...For sure looking forward on this trip will bring so much excitement for all adventure seekers...=)
We are getting so addicted to getting rid of stuff, we are having to start watching ourselves so we don't throw out a needed item.
I think you are right on about not having enough money factoring in to how much we value stuff. I seem to remember commenting on a similar post recently, but I'm not sure where. . . basically though, I think having an opportunity to live life a bit more extravagently for a while gave me a viewpoint that it was worth giving up other things temporarily while I got my financial act together. And while I used to like the look of "lots", I now am looking forward to walls of nearly 100 percent glass on the outside to enjoy the artful look of nature, and some sliding wall options on the interior to rotate the remaining pieces of art we find of value to us. The more space I have empty in my home, the happier I seem to be now. Maybe because I spent years lugging and shipping all kinds of crap back and forth across the globe . . .
I still have things that are important to me, don't get me wrong. But that list is getting smaller and smaller.
Isn't it relaxing to have less in the house? I get a much stronger creative flow that way.
I'm not against direct questions as a rule. I've just found that during an interview when you've first walked through the door is when many less than "team oriented" people may be on the look out for any reason to position themselves in front of anyone they feel may be a fast mover and may misrepresent your questions to others for less than honorable reasons.
I agree with what you said, Andrea, about building trust and a relationship with the the more direct, no nonsense questions. I guess for me though (and this is just a personal preference from various situations over the years), I like to save those conversations for a bit later after I've felt people out a little bit.
Although, since the initial point was to see if you even wanted to work for a particular company to begin with, you may not want to have to accept the job to find out those kinds of details. As for the bullshit meter, I guess mine fluctuates with accuracy depending on how much is going on in my life.
Maybe it all just boils down to going with your gut and your own preference. Either way,it's still fair to ask questions of the company so you can make an informed decision.
Also, it's probably fair to point out that the types of employment I've had in the past may color the way I feel I like to ask the types of questions Phillip suggested and when I am comfortable getting more down to basics with the direct types of questions.
Congratulations on another great discussion topic, Phillip.
Yes, personality might be the difference, eh? I tend to be more direct in general. Sometmes it rubs people the wrong way, but I try to temper it so as not to really tick people off. Can't please everyone, right?
My experience is that when I asked really subtle questions, I get subtle answers. :) And I'm so bad at sussing out what is meant. That's why I did so badly on the LSATs.
Remember, free or almost free stuff is only a great deal if you (a) use it, or (b) have the time, space, and energy to restore it and sell it for profit.
As to the fat comment, please take what I'm saying into context. I didn't say that all fat people are poor. What I said, and what is well supported by evidence, is that poor people are disproportionately overweight. The article that I linked to in that comment explains why. Please don't put words in my mouth.
It's taken me years and years to begin to understand what I really want. And, as Andrea points out, it's not as simple as the opposite of whatever you hate about your current workplace.
Still, figuring out what you want is crucial, if you want a new job to be an improvement. Only once you know that, are you in a position to at least try to figure out if a workplace is going to be a good fit for you. Whether you go with direct questions or subtle questions to figure that out is a judgement call based on your own personality, your reading of the people you're interviewing with, and your own situation with your current job.
I like the subtle question approach because it's a good fit for the way I talk to people anyway. Also, though, I don't think I have any particular skill at spotting a bald-faced lie, but I think I'm pretty good at spotting the inconsistencies that turn up when someone is trying to give a misleading impression while answering multiple answers to multiple questions.
I bought a Miracle grow sprayer, it is about quart sized I think and comes with fertilizer packet, its by all the other fertilizer, it is just a container that you can attach to your hose, that has a sprayer.
I just keep looking at it and when the stuff becomes clear, and I cant smell it anymore, then I know i am done or need to change it.
I don't know if there is an exact science to this, I have been doing this for about 10 years now. My original recipe was different, one bottle beer, and then using the beer bottle, add one bottle dishsoap, one bottle mouthwash and one bottle of ammonia, this gave you quite a bit so I stored it in a milk jug, it was also minus the soda, but I will definately have to try it with.
just yesterday i had installed a program that showed up on the startup task bar and i was searching forever before i finally found the option to get rid of it. usually it's something like "run program at startup" but this one was a totally non-relevant option like "allow queue." anyway, that was a long way of saying: Dammit if only I'd seen this earlier.
I'm going to back Justin. I establish rapport with new potential coworkers during the interview, and I ask very direct questions. Sometimes I'll frame them in a humorous way, and other times, I'll be very straight-forward. It depends on the demographics and attitude of the person that is interviewing me.
And remember, you're better off having a question or two about how the company works during an interview.
Regarding the article, which by the way, is quite good, I have to say that I had to learn what I REALLY wanted from a company. I once worked for a company that never disclosed anything to its employees, so we'd get big announcements through the NEWS. That's a bad feeling. I honestly thought that I wanted to work for a company that disclosed everything to its employees, so I made a point of working for a company that did just that.
Turns out, I didn't want to hear every single stupid detail about every single meetings. Bored me stiff. I just wanted a nice summary of what's going down.
I've yet to find a happy medium, but I've learned that both extremes of the information disclosure scale are not to my liking.
I read on some de-cluttering blog once that the secret to packing light was to take only what you knew you would need, and buy anything that you might need there, rather than bringing it 'in case'.
It's something of an extreme example of simplicity being hard to afford, and I don't think that packing sunglasses and umbrellas is the same level of clutter as saving piles of semi-functional furniture, but I see where the impulse is similar. I'm not surprised that poor have more clutter.
I tried this with Bank of America, and the "APR specialist" said (after putting me on hold for a few minutes) that my revolving balances were too high so he couldn't do better than the 24.99% I am currently paying. This was after I told him that I pay 14% with Capital One. Help!
I'm with you, Philip. Anybody clued in to what you're really asking is going to know what type of information you are looking for, and appreciate your professionalism in asking. Phrasing things in a way which clearly promotes your own agenda is a short road to nowhereville. You want information to help you make an informed decision, not to stir up trouble among the ranks, particularly if you're looking for any type of advancement in that company. That's only my opinion, though. Others may have different approaches and mindsets.
I hadn't really thought about trying to probe the a prospective company in such a way. The subtle questions are great, and I look forward to using them when I look for a new job next year.
It's certainly true that some people will lie to make themselves or their company look good, but I think even those answers will be revealing. To tell a good, consistent, and yet false story about something as complex as a workplace requires skills that most people don't have. Good questions can give you a lot of insight into what they're lying about, even if you can't get to the truth. And knowing what they're lying about is often enough for you to make a wise decision.
Good questions need to be both specific and open-ended. So, don't ask "What's your policy on scheduling vacation time?" but rather "How have you handled it in the past when two people both wanted to take vacation at the same time?"
I tend to like Philip's subtle approach. How someone answers asking open-ended questions can be very revealing whether it's potential employers/colleagues or even vendors. You quickly find out what they value and, even more interesting, what they think you value.
I looked at the link provided, but that is just the main page of the frugal living section and I cannot find the larger list of 254 uses. Is it still available?
Interesting article, but I beg to differ on several accounts.
Garbage picking is not an inherent evil. We do it as a family. We are not teaching our kids to scavenge thru others refuse to eke out a miserable existence- we are teaching them to rethink how stuff is used or wasted.
We live in a college neighborhood- and college students are the biggest wasters imaginable. Every spring, we can gather enough furniture, housewares, office supplies- you name it- to fill several homes. We garbage pick this and save it in our garage over the summer. When the end of summer comes around and the kids come back to school, we hold the biggest garage sale and basically sell the garbage. One year, we made $2000. Would anyone turn up their nose at $2000 in the garbage? Thought not.
As for clutter, we are a family of six in a 3 bedroom ranch home. Our living spaces need to be kept as such- for the living. "Collections" of any kind need to be well thought out and routinely culled. We encourage our kids to weed out their toys or pass them on if they don't feel the need anymore. That being said, we do have a big storage system for kids clothing. We circulate or rotate clothes around with several friends and family members to clothe our kids at a very low cost. Back to school shopping usually just means a new pair of sneaks and a new pair of shoes for each kid- and maybe one or two other clothing items.
Since I'm fat- you'd probably see me as some sort of poor American- but I am not. I am the only working parent and we make do on my one income. Our home might be considered "messy" or cluttered by your standards, but we are by no means poor. We are rich in what we bring to each other and how we are a family together.
It's very important to know what it is about your workplace that bugs you and look for an employer that doesn't exhibit them.
I wonder, however, how likely the questions are to work. I'm inclined to think you're more likely to get a positive response regardless of whether the situation is truly positive or not, because companies are so worried about positive image. The last company I worked for would have said just about anything to make themselves look good, while the whole company was really the fifth circle of Hell.
I think having the chance to talk to potential coworkers would be great, and you're much more likley to get a straight answer out of them, as long as they don't think management is going to find out what they say. I think I'd go for a bit more of the direct approach, so they know what you're asking; they may not necessarily associate "psycho boss" with "process improvement." Perhaps asking "What is the relationship between managers and employees like?" would be a bit more direct and likely to get a straight answer.
Oh, I still buy books. But I rarely pick up books on impulse at the bookstore. I identify books that I'm interested in from many sources and then think about them. I might decide to buy it new, wait until I can buy it used, or borrow it from someone. Whether or not there's a copy at the library is one factor in the decision.
Whether or not a town has a really good library is one factor I use in deciding if it's a place I want to live, too.
Not buying books and getting them from the library instead only works in countries with a library system that actually acquires new books, rather than just dusting off the ones they've had for decades and decades. By the time you're 20, you've read them all at least once, then what? Thank the gods for internet book companies that enable one to enrich your mind through books even in the back parts of the world.
Hi, Umer. The class was a voice-over course taught by a talented actor named Pat French. She lives in the Seattle area and gives voice-over lessons out of her home. The class that I signed up for was offered through a community college. I'm sure her info is Google-able. :)
Quite a lovely place to roam around...It's a good idea to have a trip from the busy world out there...But I guess before that I have to prepare my car for a long trip ahead, got to check first my car's condition especially my triumph oxygen sensor, don't want to have problems with it along the way...For sure looking forward on this trip will bring so much excitement for all adventure seekers...=)
We are getting so addicted to getting rid of stuff, we are having to start watching ourselves so we don't throw out a needed item.
I think you are right on about not having enough money factoring in to how much we value stuff. I seem to remember commenting on a similar post recently, but I'm not sure where. . . basically though, I think having an opportunity to live life a bit more extravagently for a while gave me a viewpoint that it was worth giving up other things temporarily while I got my financial act together. And while I used to like the look of "lots", I now am looking forward to walls of nearly 100 percent glass on the outside to enjoy the artful look of nature, and some sliding wall options on the interior to rotate the remaining pieces of art we find of value to us. The more space I have empty in my home, the happier I seem to be now. Maybe because I spent years lugging and shipping all kinds of crap back and forth across the globe . . .
I still have things that are important to me, don't get me wrong. But that list is getting smaller and smaller.
Isn't it relaxing to have less in the house? I get a much stronger creative flow that way.
Good post, girl!
Wow. This is turning into a great discussion.
I'm not against direct questions as a rule. I've just found that during an interview when you've first walked through the door is when many less than "team oriented" people may be on the look out for any reason to position themselves in front of anyone they feel may be a fast mover and may misrepresent your questions to others for less than honorable reasons.
I agree with what you said, Andrea, about building trust and a relationship with the the more direct, no nonsense questions. I guess for me though (and this is just a personal preference from various situations over the years), I like to save those conversations for a bit later after I've felt people out a little bit.
Although, since the initial point was to see if you even wanted to work for a particular company to begin with, you may not want to have to accept the job to find out those kinds of details. As for the bullshit meter, I guess mine fluctuates with accuracy depending on how much is going on in my life.
Maybe it all just boils down to going with your gut and your own preference. Either way,it's still fair to ask questions of the company so you can make an informed decision.
Also, it's probably fair to point out that the types of employment I've had in the past may color the way I feel I like to ask the types of questions Phillip suggested and when I am comfortable getting more down to basics with the direct types of questions.
Congratulations on another great discussion topic, Phillip.
Yes, personality might be the difference, eh? I tend to be more direct in general. Sometmes it rubs people the wrong way, but I try to temper it so as not to really tick people off. Can't please everyone, right?
My experience is that when I asked really subtle questions, I get subtle answers. :) And I'm so bad at sussing out what is meant. That's why I did so badly on the LSATs.
That's why I said the following:
Remember, free or almost free stuff is only a great deal if you (a) use it, or (b) have the time, space, and energy to restore it and sell it for profit.
As to the fat comment, please take what I'm saying into context. I didn't say that all fat people are poor. What I said, and what is well supported by evidence, is that poor people are disproportionately overweight. The article that I linked to in that comment explains why. Please don't put words in my mouth.
It's taken me years and years to begin to understand what I really want. And, as Andrea points out, it's not as simple as the opposite of whatever you hate about your current workplace.
Still, figuring out what you want is crucial, if you want a new job to be an improvement. Only once you know that, are you in a position to at least try to figure out if a workplace is going to be a good fit for you. Whether you go with direct questions or subtle questions to figure that out is a judgement call based on your own personality, your reading of the people you're interviewing with, and your own situation with your current job.
I like the subtle question approach because it's a good fit for the way I talk to people anyway. Also, though, I don't think I have any particular skill at spotting a bald-faced lie, but I think I'm pretty good at spotting the inconsistencies that turn up when someone is trying to give a misleading impression while answering multiple answers to multiple questions.
I bought a Miracle grow sprayer, it is about quart sized I think and comes with fertilizer packet, its by all the other fertilizer, it is just a container that you can attach to your hose, that has a sprayer.
I just keep looking at it and when the stuff becomes clear, and I cant smell it anymore, then I know i am done or need to change it.
I don't know if there is an exact science to this, I have been doing this for about 10 years now. My original recipe was different, one bottle beer, and then using the beer bottle, add one bottle dishsoap, one bottle mouthwash and one bottle of ammonia, this gave you quite a bit so I stored it in a milk jug, it was also minus the soda, but I will definately have to try it with.
just yesterday i had installed a program that showed up on the startup task bar and i was searching forever before i finally found the option to get rid of it. usually it's something like "run program at startup" but this one was a totally non-relevant option like "allow queue." anyway, that was a long way of saying: Dammit if only I'd seen this earlier.
I'm going to back Justin. I establish rapport with new potential coworkers during the interview, and I ask very direct questions. Sometimes I'll frame them in a humorous way, and other times, I'll be very straight-forward. It depends on the demographics and attitude of the person that is interviewing me.
And remember, you're better off having a question or two about how the company works during an interview.
Regarding the article, which by the way, is quite good, I have to say that I had to learn what I REALLY wanted from a company. I once worked for a company that never disclosed anything to its employees, so we'd get big announcements through the NEWS. That's a bad feeling. I honestly thought that I wanted to work for a company that disclosed everything to its employees, so I made a point of working for a company that did just that.
Turns out, I didn't want to hear every single stupid detail about every single meetings. Bored me stiff. I just wanted a nice summary of what's going down.
I've yet to find a happy medium, but I've learned that both extremes of the information disclosure scale are not to my liking.
I read on some de-cluttering blog once that the secret to packing light was to take only what you knew you would need, and buy anything that you might need there, rather than bringing it 'in case'.
It's something of an extreme example of simplicity being hard to afford, and I don't think that packing sunglasses and umbrellas is the same level of clutter as saving piles of semi-functional furniture, but I see where the impulse is similar. I'm not surprised that poor have more clutter.
-C
I tried this with Bank of America, and the "APR specialist" said (after putting me on hold for a few minutes) that my revolving balances were too high so he couldn't do better than the 24.99% I am currently paying. This was after I told him that I pay 14% with Capital One. Help!
I'm with you, Philip. Anybody clued in to what you're really asking is going to know what type of information you are looking for, and appreciate your professionalism in asking. Phrasing things in a way which clearly promotes your own agenda is a short road to nowhereville. You want information to help you make an informed decision, not to stir up trouble among the ranks, particularly if you're looking for any type of advancement in that company. That's only my opinion, though. Others may have different approaches and mindsets.
Great post.
I hadn't really thought about trying to probe the a prospective company in such a way. The subtle questions are great, and I look forward to using them when I look for a new job next year.
It's certainly true that some people will lie to make themselves or their company look good, but I think even those answers will be revealing. To tell a good, consistent, and yet false story about something as complex as a workplace requires skills that most people don't have. Good questions can give you a lot of insight into what they're lying about, even if you can't get to the truth. And knowing what they're lying about is often enough for you to make a wise decision.
Good questions need to be both specific and open-ended. So, don't ask "What's your policy on scheduling vacation time?" but rather "How have you handled it in the past when two people both wanted to take vacation at the same time?"
I tend to like Philip's subtle approach. How someone answers asking open-ended questions can be very revealing whether it's potential employers/colleagues or even vendors. You quickly find out what they value and, even more interesting, what they think you value.
I looked at the link provided, but that is just the main page of the frugal living section and I cannot find the larger list of 254 uses. Is it still available?
Brad
Here! Hear!
It's just a job.
Interesting article, but I beg to differ on several accounts.
Garbage picking is not an inherent evil. We do it as a family. We are not teaching our kids to scavenge thru others refuse to eke out a miserable existence- we are teaching them to rethink how stuff is used or wasted.
We live in a college neighborhood- and college students are the biggest wasters imaginable. Every spring, we can gather enough furniture, housewares, office supplies- you name it- to fill several homes. We garbage pick this and save it in our garage over the summer. When the end of summer comes around and the kids come back to school, we hold the biggest garage sale and basically sell the garbage. One year, we made $2000. Would anyone turn up their nose at $2000 in the garbage? Thought not.
As for clutter, we are a family of six in a 3 bedroom ranch home. Our living spaces need to be kept as such- for the living. "Collections" of any kind need to be well thought out and routinely culled. We encourage our kids to weed out their toys or pass them on if they don't feel the need anymore. That being said, we do have a big storage system for kids clothing. We circulate or rotate clothes around with several friends and family members to clothe our kids at a very low cost. Back to school shopping usually just means a new pair of sneaks and a new pair of shoes for each kid- and maybe one or two other clothing items.
Since I'm fat- you'd probably see me as some sort of poor American- but I am not. I am the only working parent and we make do on my one income. Our home might be considered "messy" or cluttered by your standards, but we are by no means poor. We are rich in what we bring to each other and how we are a family together.
It's very important to know what it is about your workplace that bugs you and look for an employer that doesn't exhibit them.
I wonder, however, how likely the questions are to work. I'm inclined to think you're more likely to get a positive response regardless of whether the situation is truly positive or not, because companies are so worried about positive image. The last company I worked for would have said just about anything to make themselves look good, while the whole company was really the fifth circle of Hell.
I think having the chance to talk to potential coworkers would be great, and you're much more likley to get a straight answer out of them, as long as they don't think management is going to find out what they say. I think I'd go for a bit more of the direct approach, so they know what you're asking; they may not necessarily associate "psycho boss" with "process improvement." Perhaps asking "What is the relationship between managers and employees like?" would be a bit more direct and likely to get a straight answer.
Oh, I still buy books. But I rarely pick up books on impulse at the bookstore. I identify books that I'm interested in from many sources and then think about them. I might decide to buy it new, wait until I can buy it used, or borrow it from someone. Whether or not there's a copy at the library is one factor in the decision.
Whether or not a town has a really good library is one factor I use in deciding if it's a place I want to live, too.
Not buying books and getting them from the library instead only works in countries with a library system that actually acquires new books, rather than just dusting off the ones they've had for decades and decades. By the time you're 20, you've read them all at least once, then what? Thank the gods for internet book companies that enable one to enrich your mind through books even in the back parts of the world.
Yes you can have liquid wood and when it dries you can have paper!
Yes you can have liquid wood and when it dries you can have paper!
Hi, Umer. The class was a voice-over course taught by a talented actor named Pat French. She lives in the Seattle area and gives voice-over lessons out of her home. The class that I signed up for was offered through a community college. I'm sure her info is Google-able. :)
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for sharing a great tip. I was wondering if you could share which class this was - company and instructor. Thanks.