#4 - Zero-Bullshit Ideas
4 Zero-Bullshit Ideas and Your St. Valentine’s Gift
Hello,
Here is your weekly dose of ideas for a better career. This week I got excited about zero bullshit: how we can interview, write, work and hire without BS. Are you sceptical? Check out the new articles and book recommendations below. And because it has been St. Valentine’s week, if you read this email to the end, I promise your a St. Valentine’s gift full of LOVE.
New Article: Things Not to Say in a Job Interview
When we are preparing for an interview, we tend to focus on what to say. Yet what not to say is equally important. The Internet is full of lists of things-not-to-say-during-a-job-interview. Do we really need one more? Yes. The lists I came across were interesting yet random, like a minestrone soup with 20 vegetables mixed in one bowl. However, the damage of different things-not-to-say to the outcome of an interview varies: from an “instant death” to mild nuisance. This article distinguishes between the following four groups, ranked from the most serious to the mildest “offence”:
deal-breakers
self-made beta traps
meaning polluters (a.k.a. bullshit)
overused clichés
Book Recommendation: Writing Without Bullshit
The biggest problem of business communication is lack of clarity. If there is just one thing that enables action and change more than anything else, it is bold, clear and powerful communication. But how often do we communicate boldly, clearly and powerfully? My personal answer is well below 100%. “Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean” has been a revolution to me. First, it left me speechless with the realization how much bullshit I encounter (and generate) in my daily work. And then, it gave me hope that it was possible to transcend the bullshit with the help of simple yet powerful solutions. This book gives us the courage to say what we mean.
Book Recommendation: It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work
A mighty book on working without bullshit.
New Article: Hiring Without Bullshit - Zero-BS Job Ads
Hiring without bullshit starts with zero-BS job ads. Job ads written so clearly that you do not need to second-guess where the company is going, what is the company culture, what is the job-to-be-done, who are the people you will be working with and reporting to, what is the work the company expects you to deliver and how the company will pay you for it. Have you seen a lot of zero-BS job ads? I have found for you one 100% effective and 100% transparent and break it down to show how it works. Another ad came close second. Check them out and get inspired.
Your St. Valentine Gifts
Thank you for having read this email to the end. If you have enjoyed it and have a good friend who can also benefit from better career ideas, please share this email with the link below to subscribe.
I promised you a St. Valentine’s gift. Well, I have two. Both are Academy Award Winners and both are short animated stories full of LOVE. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.
Stay Healthy, Spread Love, Not Virus,
Arina.