Most people don’t give their choices the seriousness they deserve.
When it comes to your job search, the universal truth that your life is the sum of your choices is especially true. If your job search isn’t going as you’d like, chances are you’re making the wrong choices.
When it comes to job search success and career advancement your choices are determining factors. Do you apply for the project manager job at Lomax Industries, even though you only have four years of experience and the job posting asks for “at least six”? If a job offer is $15K below what you want, do you accept it? Throughout your job search, you’ll make choices (aka, decisions) that either positively or negatively impact your job search and career.
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll, evangelical Christian pastor, author, and educator.
The 90% is entirely your choice. Ultimately, your choices influence your outcomes, thus why you should take them seriously. You have no control over the job market, how employers decide to hire, or a hiring manager’s biases, but you do get to choose…
whether or not you network.
what appears on your LinkedIn profile/resume.
how you physically present yourself.
You have more choices that directly influence your job search than you probably realize. If you want a better job search—a better life—then start making better choices. Yes, it’s that simple.
Two mental states influence our choices:
Emotions at the time (g., anger, happy, in love, frustrated, offended)
Logical (g., financial situation, physical pain, available resources)
The following two data points provide some context for human decision-making:
Every day, you make over 30,000 decisions.
95% of your decision-making is subconscious. (read: on autopilot)
When thrown into a job search, as 1,000s are these days due to layoffs, especially in the tech sector (Layoffs. fyireports that so far in 2024, more than 42,000 employees have been laid off from 140 tech companies.) and media, most newly minted job seekers merely update their resume, browse job boards, and seek out job search advice looking for a magic bullet to landing a job fast. Job seekers who are more nuanced will strategically consider who their references will be and whether the navy suit in the back of their closet still fits. Job seekers rarely formulate a decision-making strategy for their job search, which begins with answering the straightforward question: What do I want?
Admittedly, when looking for a job, what do I want? isn’t a simple question, unlike choosing whether to have a cheeseburger, Greek salad, or turkey chili for lunch, which, since your diet directly affects your health, you should be taking your food choices seriously.
What you want requires knowing…
your values
your non-negotiables
Your Values:
“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” – Roy Disney, Walt Disney Company’s former vice chairman.
Your values should always be clear to you. For example, if you value autonomy, you’ll want to ask pointed questions during your interviews to ensure you don’t accept (read: choose) a job where your manager will micromanage you. If you value flexibility, you’d be wise to choose an employer with a result-oriented work environment (ROWE) where results are valued over clocked hours. If growth opportunity is something you value, then start-ups and companies in growth mode would be your best choices.
You’ll make better choices throughout your job search and life when you make choices that align with and support your values.
Take some time and list what you value in a job and employer, such as simplicity, acceptance, openness, diversity, and accountability. Then, define what choices you’ll make and, more importantly, won’t. For instance, because you value integrity, you choose not to apply to companies with a history of unethical behaviour.
Your Non-negotiables:
Most job seekers I talk to don’t have non-negotiables and, therefore, compromise their needs and wants when accepting a job offer. Inevitably, usually in a short time, they’re unhappy in their new job.
(If happiness is one of your values, then stop making choices that compromise your happiness.)
Accepting a job that pays $25K less than you’d like will only lead to you becoming another employee who complains they’re not paid enough. Is that the kind of employee you want to be?
As you made a list of your values, list your non-negotiables, such as minimum annual compensation, free parking, maximum commuting distance, number of paid vacation days, number of paid sick days, remote, hybrid, hours, benefits, etc. List everything you need and want from your next job that’ll motivate you to stay long-term. Commit to accepting a job only if it meets at least 80% of your non-negotiables. (100% is unrealistic.)
Once you’ve created both lists, which should be as comprehensive as possible, you’re ready to ask yourself the ultimate question every time you’re about to act on your job search, such as choosing whether to apply to a job posting, choosing the questions you’ll ask your interviewer, choosing whether to accept an offer, “Am I making the best choice for me?”
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
