Facebook and friends and relatives..Oh my!

I was on Facebook earlier today, and suddenly realized just how much our world has changed with all this social media that we have nowadays. For example, when I logged into my account, it "suggested" a friend that I haven't connected with in years..amazing! However, what has happened is that social media has effectively redefined certain words to fit this new "social" context, but the perception of those words, at least for us that are over 30, still remains. Want an example? Lets take the Facebook term "friends". In Facebook world, this means "anyone, real or imagined, that you may or may not have met and have an actual relationship with". Even with this definition, I can't get over the "weirdness" of being told electronically "You are now friends with this person", when I've known them all my life! And the way it is represented, it almost makes you sound like some kind of social outcast-"Hooray! You have made a friend! We didn't think you could!". And nobody in the "webpage development" part of Facebook has apparently realized the incongruous suggestion of "people you also might know" to request as "friends". Umm..If you already know someone, doesn't that make them a..friend?
 Another peculiarity of social media is that it has become so inclusive, that Facebook has started "suggesting" friends for increasingly bizarre reasons. I know that there is a probability that if you know person x, then you might know person y. Or if you went to some college, you might know other people that went to that same college, I get all that. But have you noticed that Facebook never suggests you be friends with anyone really cool, like an astronaut, professional athlete,Supreme Court justice, people like that. No, you just get an unending stream of people based upon the fact that they are the second-cousin of  someone that has a job similar to mine in East Elbonia.  Now, admit it, have you ever looked at any of the profiles of the suggested, possible "friends" and rejected them purely on profile picture? I found myself doing that just the other day: looking at these profile pictures and making uninformed (and probably quite cynical) judgements of people I don't know. "This one looks like one of those "update-status-every-15-seconds" type because she has a picture of her feet, that one is one of those "all-I-can-talk-about-is-skiing" because it just shows his nose and half of his ski goggles, that one is obsessed with her "perfect" children because of the Olan Mills style picture of them, here's one of those "hipster" types because their profile is an old camera (or a picture of food, if you want to change it up). Speaking of pictures, another big thing on Instagram and twitter is for you to ask people to "follow" you. I'm sorry, but to me, "following" someone is something that can get you arrested for harassment in all 50 states. And I'm not going to intentionally ask someone to follow me, that would just be weird, or creepy, or both, I don't care how many cute cat videos I post! So, if you're reading this, and are struck by an insane desire to "follow" me, do so. I'll try to remember that you mean it in the most harmless, "social media definition" kind of way.

Survey Says...

I'm amazed at how a job search can change in just a few years. The last time I was looking for  job, very few businesses had an "online application" process, and it was a pretty big deal when you applied. Now, everyone has their own online application, some good, some not-so-good. A neat wrinkle for these is the "personality survey" that requires you to rate whether you agree or disagree with a particular statement. ("I think falling asleep and snoring in the  middle of a meeting is a bad thing"-Agree.."I think that tying someone's shoelaces together that has fallen asleep and is snoring in a meeting is morally acceptable"-Agree..) While these surveys can seem silly, they can also be profound..but more on that later. When I was working on a couple of these surveys for a couple companies (You know who you are!) I noticed that a time limit was enforced, which would have been alright, except for the "essay questions" at the end of the survey. These questions weren't the simple kind, either. "Please explain all of your strengths and weaknesses in detail as they would pertain to this job" read one. (And hurry! You only have 6 min to complete the other 10 questions!) And, when the time limit expired, the website would conveniently dump you out to a page informing you that you needed to login and input ALL your personal information again. After a few tries, I felt like I was on the "Survey" edition of that show Wipeout, and could almost hear the announcers: "Ooh..he's making good time through the multiple choice, Bob..But  now he's up against the essay section and it looks like he misspelled 'exponentiation', that's gonna cost him..Ooh! he got resume'd!"
 Now for the profound.. As I was reading the agree/disagree questions, I had an odd epiphany.  I knew that these questions were so that the company could tell if they could use someone of my personality, but after reading my responses, I suddenly saw myself as someone else would! This caused me to be able to say "Wow! I could do this job, even though I wouldn't have immediately thought of doing this!" Now, it seems that a whole spectrum of jobs I never even looked at is suddenly open to me! wow! Imagine the possibilities! (It doesn't make searching on Monster any easier, but I can live with that)     

The "Perfect" Job

As you may have noticed on my header, it says I am looking for the "perfect" job. "Duh, Matt" you might say, 'That's what we're all trying to do", and indeed that is true. We search tirelessly for the job with the "perfect" location or the "perfect" salary or the "perfect" coworkers...sound familiar? But that's not the "perfect" job that I mean. You see, perfection is not a job that is found, the perfect job is created. Now I'm not recommending that everyone who reads this go out and become self-employed (although some might, and good for them!) I'm saying that the "perfect" job might just be where you are right now, and if it isn't, you can make it perfect! I can hear you saying "What!!?" "THIS is my perfect job!!!? Matt you don't know my boss!!" True, but as the old saying goes "Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you deal with it." The way to the perfect job depends on you. How? One word: Attitude. We've all heard the saying "Garbage in-garbage out", right? Well, think of that in terms of attitude. If your attitude is less than perfect, alright I'll just come out and say it, if your attitude sucks, then it stands to reason that your job is going to suck, too. Now not all jobs are going to be pleasant, (and I know this as well, or better than anyone!) but that doesn't give you the permission to be "Oscar the Grouch". Why? Because every job has it's nasty sides (Just ask Mike Rowe-how many seasons has that show been on?), and even the "perfect" job is not always going to be fun and easy! "But Matt", you'll say; "I get all the crummy assignments!" Let me ask this: Are you ready for an assignment change? Try having a good attitude, it will make your supervisors notice, and if they don't-the assignment won't seem so terrible.  To have a good attitude, focus on positive things, usually the things that you actually like about your job. It may take some digging, but find those, and then concentrate on them. Now a word of caution: DON'T FOCUS ON THE MONEY. Working for just the money it provides is akin to selling a Lexus for just a few pennies. YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN THAT! Don't settle for the dull, boring humdrum life, when the life you always wanted is right in front of you! The choice is yours: Bad Attitude=status quo/subsistence living or Good Attitude=exciting, rewarding and challenging.

First Time For Everything..?

As I was laboriously making my way through the  mountain of "customizations", I was struck by the question "Who takes all these background pictures?" They certainly do a good job!