Education

For 13 summers, I worked in the Grand Canyon as a whitewater guide to pay for my college education. Running the river was the highlight of my young life to that point in time. I loved the beauty of the canyon and river, as well as the excitement and changing nature of our experiences. In order to keep my passengers and me safe, I learned very quickly to be focused not only on what was happening right then, but to look ahead, have a plan, consider what could happen, and have a plan for managing those contingencies.

Often people will work and work, then see others being promoted over them. They ask themselves: what have they got that I haven't? Their typical solution - obviously I have to work harder! As a result, they buy into a dangerous narrative in which work dominates at the expense of everything else in life. The paradox, of course, is that the leaders who made the decision about your promotion have probably picked up on that.

Many online job listings state that a cover letter is optional. Meanwhile, some employment writers have suggested that cover letters are obsolete. Neither is true. A well-written cover letter is still an essential job-seeking tool.

Are the stories being told within your organization today the kind of stories that clarify your desired culture? Storytelling is one of the most effective and impactful methods for communicating the desired culture of your organization to its members. For centuries, tribes of all kinds have utilized storytelling to support their desired culture. In man’s early history, those stories were told around the campfire each evening, with tribe members going to sleep with a clear image of preferred tribe behaviors, values, and norms in their minds.

What’s that line, “change is inevitable,” right? Well that change has come to the recruiting world in a big way, and as recruiters, it’s up to you to work with these changes and keep the talent pipeline into your company open and flowing.

The world of work is constantly changing. Not least because of the impact of technology, which is constantly progressing and evolving in order to help organizations succeed. This is no different when it comes to the government. It needs to deliver information and services to people anywhere and anytime, on any device or platform. As such, there’s been a huge focus in improving digital services in order for the government to thrive.

I spend a lot of time listening to job seekers discuss their skills and accomplishments and expressing their concerns as to how those skills can help or hinder their job search and their careers. Unfortunately, not enough emphasis is put on soft skills, which are the most important ones. Soft skills are the non-measurable, subjective skills that are not specific to one’s role, industry, or their career. They typically speak to how well one interacts with others. They are essentially personality traits that help define one’s character, however, they do offer less proof of their experience.

Should you ever visit Australia, a trip to Australia’s island state of Tasmania is a must. On the Tasman Peninsula, near the township of Eaglehawk Nest, is a rare geological formation known as the ‘Tessellated Pavement’. This is a compressed rock formation that over millions of years has been eroded into what seems like tiles that have been laid by the sea. You can read more about this at Tasmania National Parks.

The federal government is the country’s largest employer, with more than 2.7 million nonmilitary employees and as many as 90,000 new hires each year. On any given day, the government has as many as 10,000 job openings in areas as diverse as health care, law enforcement, engineering, tech support, and landscaping.

“I think the problem is that these millennials just don’t care,” Sara shared with us candidly in a moment of total frustration. We both looked at each other and then at her, “Uh…you do realize YOU are a millennial, right?” “Yeah, yeah,” she acknowledged, “but I’m a DIFFERENT kind of millennial.” Of course she is, and so were the people who were frustrating her. No matter what generation you’re in, we’d bet money you don’t feel like you fit the stereotype.