Career development

Anonymous member

23h

Hi, you’re going to laugh, but my situation is a total mess. My direct manager is now my ex-girlfriend. It’s crazy, we broke up a year ago because she drove me nuts with all her nitpicking and control issues. I was the one who ended it.
Now I feel like I might have to quit. She clearly hates me and is constantly finding fault with everything I do.
What should I do?

Keisha Guilford
2h
Is there anyway you could transfer to another department? Maybe that's an option.
kahiga kararu
2h
vumilia tu.. mazuri yako mbele.. sorry though

Career development

5h

ATS-Friendly Functional Resume Design -- 2

I'm looking for a writer-designer who can craft a functional-style résumé that will sail through modern ATS screens and appeal to hiring managers for mid- to senior-level management roles. The document must: * Follow a true functional layout, foregrounding transferable leadership competencies while still presenting concise Work Experience, Education, and Skills sections. * Be saturated with... current, role-appropriate keywords so major hiring platforms (Workday, Taleo, Greenhouse, etc.) read it without errors or misclassification. * Arrive polished, proofread, and formatted for easy editing in Microsoft Word; a matching PDF export would be appreciated for direct applications. I'll share my existing career history and target job descriptions once we start so you can isolate the strongest metrics, achievements, and buzzwords. What I need back is a clean, visually balanced file that I can start sending out immediately. more

Career development

7h

Maintenance Engineer

The Maintenance Engineer vacancy is working with a market leading manufacturing firm based in the Knottingley area. You will be joining a well established engineering team working both reactively responding to break downs and on PPMs. The position offers excellent opportunities for both training and career development.

What's in it for your as a Maintenance Engineer:

Monday - Friday 40-48 hours... per week - based on a rotational 3 shift pattern of 8-hour days, afternoons and nights.

Salary - up to £55,000 per annum for 48 hours.

Overtime at x1.5

Service Bonus

KPI Bonus

Excellent pension company contribution, plus employee benefits package

Training and career development opportunities

30 days holiday (Increasing by 1 each year up to finishing at 36 days holiday) Inclusive of Bank Holidays

Main Duties & Responsibilities of Maintenance Engineer include:

Providing plant-wide maintenance service, departmental support and repairs ensuring that all production targets are maintained - maintaining factory manufacturing machinery

Monitor & supply Engineering support of machine set-up & changeovers to ensure that the product conforms to any quality assurance standards and ensuring changeovers are as efficient as possible.

Experience and Qualifications Required for Maintenance Engineer:

Recognised Engineering Apprenticeship & Qualification or equivalent, e.g. NVQ, City and Guilds, ONC, BTEC or above - Mechanical or Electrical

High degree of Health & Safety awareness

Ability to fault find, repair and provide solutions to problems

Maintenance Engineer experience or qualifications of a Maintenance Engineer.This position would suit a Multi Skilled Maintenance Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer more

Career development

11h

'You dodged a bullet': Job seeker praised online for walking out after 'one' interview question

A job interview took an unexpected turn after a candidate walked out upon being asked how she would handle unpaid overtime, sparking a viral debate on workplace boundaries. The Reddit post has drawn widespread support online, with many calling the question a major interview red flag and praising the job seeker for setting clear limits on work culture expectations.

A routine job interview took an... unexpected turn when a single question, which was also the first one from the hiring manager, exposed a workplace dealbreaker and invited praise from social media. The candidate, posting on Reddit, said the interview began normally, with firm handshakes, positive vibes, and a role they were genuinely excited about. Then came the first question: "How do you handle working unpaid overtime?"

At first, they laughed, assuming it was a joke. It wasn't. When they asked whether overtime was mandatory and paid, the interviewer replied, "We expect employees to stay as long as needed to get the job done. Everyone here is passionate about the work, and we don't track extra hours."

Also Read: Rejected for not matching belt and shoes: HR reveals 5 absurd reasons managers reject great candidates nowadays

The response didn't sit well. The candidate stood up, thanked the interviewer, and left. Later, doubt crept in. Should I have stayed and heard more? Or was walking out the right move? they asked the community.

Commenters overwhelmingly backed the decision. One user wrote, "You made the right move... some people are incredibly cheap. They view others as tools to be used and abused." Another added, "I'd say you dodged a bullet."

Others acknowledged nuance, suggesting the candidate could have probed further, but still emphasized intuition. "Your gut is wise," one commenter noted. "If something doesn't feel right your intuition is on to something."

The thread also surfaced cautionary tales about passion in private workplaces. One commenter shared a detailed account of being pulled into excessive unpaid work under the promise of "passion" and future rewards before quitting. "You will never see me do a single bit of work without being paid," they concluded. As this Reddit post shows, for some, trusting your instincts may be the most professional move of all. more

Career development

13h

Beyond Policies, Projections: How Leadership Is Redefining Nigeria's Revenue System - Adedeji

Institutional reform is often discussed in the language of policy, systems, and technology. But at the 2026 Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Leadership Retreat, Executive Chairman Zacch Adedeji shifted the conversation decisively. His opening address was not about structures or strategy documents.

It was about leadership mindset, and why Nigeria's revenue transformation will succeed or fail based on... the beliefs leaders carry into this new era. Adedeji began with an unusual challenge to senior management: to suspend the comfort of familiarity.

Titles, tenure, and inherited ways of working, he argued, could no longer be relied upon as anchors in a rapidly changing institutional landscape.

The creation of the NRS, he stressed, represents a clean break from the past, a new era that demands new leadership postures. This transition, he warned, will not be secured by résumés, hierarchies, or institutional memory.

It will be secured by the capacity of leaders to adapt, to stretch, and to lead at a level of excellence that Nigeria's economic realities now require. What worked in the past, no matter how successful, will not be sufficient for the future being built.

Drawing insight from leadership research, including ideas popularised in Harvard Business Review, Adedeji pointed to a truth often ignored in public-sector reform: leaders rarely fail because they lack intelligence, experience, or strategy.

More often, they are constrained by invisible beliefs, deeply embedded assumptions about control, authority, perfection, and responsibility that quietly shape how institutions function.

In large public organisations like the NRS, these beliefs rarely appear as outright resistance to reform. Instead, they present subtly, often cloaked as good intentions.

They surface when leadership is equated with always having the answers, resulting in directive management rather than empowerment. They emerge when tight control is mistaken for accountability, creating decision bottlenecks and slowing institutional responsiveness.

They take root when excellence is narrowly defined as uniformity, leaving little room for alternative paths to strong outcomes.

Adedeji was particularly candid in acknowledging how such beliefs can undermine even well-designed reform agendas. Leaders, he noted, may unconsciously expect others to work at their speed, in their style, and according to their personal definitions of quality.

When outcomes differ from expectations, the instinctive response is often to tighten control rather than ask better questions. Over time, this approach erodes trust, stifles initiative, and limits organisational learning.

In a rare moment of public-sector leadership vulnerability, Adedeji reflected on his own evolution. He spoke about how a background shaped by high achievement and perfectionism influenced how he delegated, reviewed performance, and managed accountability. What initially appeared as a commitment to excellence, he explained, often masked a deeper fear of being held responsible for failure. That fear quietly drove rigidity, pressure, and unnecessary mistrust.

His turning point came with the realisation that efficiency does not require uniformity, that excellence does not require replication of one individual's style, and that leadership is fundamentally about enabling others to rise.

Trust, he argued, is not the absence of oversight; it is the deliberate choice to focus on outcomes rather than policing every step of the journey.

This message carries significance beyond the walls of the retreat venue. Nigeria's fiscal future depends not only on sound revenue policies but on leadership cultures capable of sustaining reform. Systems and technologies can be acquired, but culture is shaped daily by how leaders behave, delegate, and respond under pressure.

For the NRS, the stakes are especially high. The credibility of Nigeria's revenue architecture, and by extension, confidence in the Nigerian economy, rests on the institution's ability to function with integrity, agility, and public trust. These qualities cannot be legislated into existence. They must be led into being.

Adedeji's central argument was clear: before strategies are rolled out and structures redesigned, leaders must engage in deliberate self-examination. Without confronting internal barriers, leaders cannot credibly guide thousands of staff through institutional change. Reform, he insisted, is not first a technical exercise; it is a human one.

As Nigeria stands at the edge of one of its most significant institutional transformations, the lesson from the NRS Leadership Retreat is timely and instructive.

If leaders cling to rigid beliefs and legacy habits, they will unintentionally recreate the very constraints reform seeks to dismantle. But if they lead with humility, courage, and openness, they can build an institution worthy of national trust.

In centring leadership mindset as the foundation of reform, Zacch Adedeji offered more than an opening address. He issued a challenge to rethink leadership itself, and to recognise that the future of Nigeria's revenue system will be shaped not only by what leaders design, but by who they choose to become.

Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi is the Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service. more

Career development

17h

Remote Job Application Assistant

I want to hand off the time-consuming routine of finding and applying to roles so I can focus on interviewing. You'll receive my current résumé, a cover-letter template, and clear criteria on industries, titles, salary range, and locations. Using that information, you will search Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter, identify suitable openings, tailor each cover letter fully to the specific... posting, and submit the complete application on my behalf. I expect a brief update at the end of every day that shows what was applied to and why it matched. A simple shared spreadsheet is fine; each row should carry the job title, company, link, date applied, and any next-step notes. Deliverables * 100 % customized cover letters for every submission * Daily spreadsheet log of all applications with live links * Prompt notice if a posting requires additional material (portfolio, questionnaires, etc.) To keep things smooth, reliability and sharp written English are essential, as is prior hands-on experience submitting applications through job boards. When you reply, let me know: * Your relevant background with online job submissions * How many quality applications you can realistically file per day * Your proposed rate (hourly or fixed) I'm ready to move quickly once we agree on scope and price. more

Career development

18h

Remote Job Application Assistant

I'm ready to ramp up my job search and need a dependable assistant who can take the day-to-day application work off my plate. You'll receive my current résumé, a flexible cover-letter template, and clear criteria outlining the roles I'm targeting. From there, your focus is to locate suitable openings on sites such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter, tailor the cover letters just enough to fit... each posting, submit the complete application, and log everything in a simple spreadsheet so we can monitor progress. Key deliverables * 40-60 quality applications per week (or your proposed volume) * Lightly customized cover letters aligned with each role's requirements * Up-to-date tracking sheet listing links, submission dates, and next steps * Brief status updates at the end of each day or a single weekly summary -- whichever we agree on What I'm looking for * Strong written English and keen attention to detail * Demonstrated experience applying for roles online (bonus points if you've navigated ATS systems before) * An organized, self-directed approach that keeps the pipeline moving smoothly When you reply, please let me know: 1. A quick overview of similar work you've done 2. Your preferred rate (hourly or fixed) 3. The average number of applications you can realistically complete per day I'm flexible on schedule and pricing for the right person and eager to get started soon. more

Jimmie Opakovsky

Career development

6d

I’ve been working at a karaoke bar for a couple of weeks, and honestly, drunk people are driving me nuts. They can’t sing or carry a tune, but they still scream through songs and ruin them. Every day it’s getting worse. Do you think I’ll ever get used to it, or should I just quit and find something else?

4

La La Witherspoon
20h
Take a drink to loosen up and join the fun after all you are there to make sure that they have a great time.
Monty Mertes
3d
Jimmie, first things first, if you are not enjoying it don't stay. If it's a part job, sometimes you have to deal with the crowd and if the money is... good that will make it tough to leave. Find a place you enjoy to save you. more
1

Career development

20h

Mastering Job Application Emails for Career Success

Communicating effectively can make all the difference in advancing your career, and crafting a professional email for job application is a skill worth mastering. An email for job application not only serves as a first impression but is also your opportunity to highlight your suitability for the role. In a competitive job market, understanding the intricacies of a well-crafted application email is... crucial. This article will guide you on how to compose an email that catches potential employers' attention and increases your chances of getting noticed.

Understanding the Email for Job Application

An email for job application serves to outline your interest in a position, introduce yourself to potential employers, and provide a concise summary of your qualifications. This is the initial step in your application process and oftentimes an employer's first interaction with you. The email should be professionally structured and free from typos or grammatical errors.

Subject Line: Capturing Attention

Your subject line is critical as it determines whether your email will be opened. Be clear and concise, mentioning your name and the job title. For instance, "Application for Marketing Specialist Position - John Doe." Keep it professional to ensure it doesn't get lost or ignored in an employer's inbox.

Email Body: Structuring Your Message

The body of your email should begin with a formal greeting. Address the recipient by name if possible to personalize the note. A good starting point can be: "Dear [Hiring Manager's Name]." In the opening paragraph, state your purpose: mention the job title you're applying for and how you learned about the position.

Next, provide a brief overview of your professional background, crucial skills, and relevant experience. Tailor this section to highlight how your qualifications align with the job requirements. It is important to engage the reader without overwhelming them with unnecessary details. Emphasize any achievements or unique skills that set you apart from other candidates.

In the closing paragraph, thank the employer for considering your application and express enthusiasm about the opportunity to discuss your application further. Conclude with a strong closing statement, such as "I look forward to the possibility of discussing this exciting opportunity with you. Thank you for your time and consideration." End with a professional sign-off, like "Sincerely," followed by your full name and contact information.

Attachments: Presenting Your Résumé and Cover Letter

Always attach your résumé and cover letter in PDF format unless specified otherwise. Ensure that your documents are named appropriately, for example, "John_Doe_Resume.pdf" or "John_Doe_Cover_Letter.pdf." This not only looks professional but also makes it easy for the employer to locate specific files.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even with a strong email for job applications, certain oversights can negatively impact your chances. Here are a few mistakes to avoid:

Using Informal Language

An informal tone can make you appear unprofessional. Stick to formal language and avoid using slang or emojis. Your email should reflect the seriousness of the job application process.

Forgetting to Proofread

Errors in your application email can be a deal-breaker. Take the time to proofread for grammatical errors, typos, and proper formatting. Reading your email aloud can often help catch mistakes.

Failing to Customize the Email

A generic email that isn't customized to the specific job or company shows a lack of effort. Tailor your message to the role and demonstrate your knowledge about the company's mission or recent achievements. This shows that you've done your homework and are genuinely interested in the employer.

Not Following Up

Following up can be crucial in standing out from other candidates. If you haven't heard back after a week or two, a polite follow-up email can reaffirm your interest in the position and let the employer know you are proactive in your approach.

Enhancing Your Application with Additional Resources

For those who may have employment gaps or unique circumstances, composing an explanatory note alongside your application can be beneficial. Check out our other resources on writing an employment gap explanation letter for more guidance.

Furthermore, enhancing your job application email with added information about continuous learning can bolster your credentials. Learning about different career paths through resources like Wikipedia's comprehensive guide on education can provide valuable context to showcase your commitment to professional development.

Conclusion

Crafting a compelling email for job application can significantly impact your job search outcomes. By fine-tuning your subject lines, customizing your email body, and avoiding common mistakes, you leverage your chances of making a favorable first impression. By utilizing these strategies, you can create polished emails that make your applications stand out in the eyes of potential employers.

* Start with a clear, professional subject line.

* Personalize your greeting and tailor the content to each job.

* Highlight the key skills and experiences that align with the job requirements.

* Ensure that your attachments are properly named and formatted.

* Proofread your email to maintain a professional appearance.

What should I include in an email for job application?

Include a professional greeting, a reference to the job you are applying for, a brief summary of your qualifications, and a thank you note, accompanied by your attachments.

How important is the subject line in an application email?

The subject line is crucial as it encourages the recipient to open your email. A clear and professional subject line should include your name and the job title.

Can I use a template for my application email?

While templates can be helpful, it is important to customize each email according to the specific job and company you are applying to, to show genuine interest and effort.

Should I follow up after sending a job application email?

Yes, if you have not heard back within a couple of weeks, a polite follow-up email can reiterate your interest and remind the employer of your application.

Why is proofreading significant in my job application?

Proofreading is essential to maintain professionalism by avoiding grammar mistakes and typos, which could otherwise distract from your qualifications and suitability for the role. more

Bexley Higgins

Career development

1d

My coworker who sits next to me really annoys me, she’s always stealing my ideas.
If I talk about something or mention an idea, she later presents it to the boss like it was hers. She also keeps looking at my screen and taking my project ideas.
I’ve honestly felt like flipping the table, but that’s obviously not an option.
What should I do? I’m tired of her constantly taking credit for my... ideas.

more

2

James Anderson
4h
Not understanding why you just simply change your seat?? Tell the decision maker responsible for seating that your not able to see the screen/board.... C'mon, this isn't junior high. more
Weldon Williams Abbey
6h
This is too bad, but u have to be careful abt her

Finch Vane

Career development

2d

I had a strange interview at a big real estate company. The HR lady first asked me what settings I changed on my phone. I just made something up so I could answer. Then she asked when was the last time I lied. It felt like a trick question.
They said they would call me in a few days to tell me if I got the job, but I’m shocked and don’t think I passed. What would you say if they asked you about... lying?
Thanks

more

2

Sheila Milburn
1d
As a 30 year licensed MD Realtor, I can attest that nationally we have surprisingly high standards for integrity and ethics. The lawsuits are caused... by those that ignore them. So I can see this being a question to test integrity. more
Ashaba Princess
2d
And some HRs sometimes they ask funny questions for u to fail,

Career development

1d

Read This Before You Waste Another Month Chasing the Wrong Goals -- 3 Signs You Need a Hard Reset

Investment in the process and personal well-being is crucial for maintaining momentum and ensuring the sustainability of your professional aspirations.

It happens to all entrepreneurs at some point. You've put in the work, you've hit the right milestones and your résumé has professional success written all over it. Yet one question keeps popping up: Is this what I want?

At the height of my... success as a realtor in Washington, there was a moment when I was being offered incredibly high-valued listings. People were calling me and offering me opportunities that I had worked so hard to get, and in that moment where one might expect me to feel victorious or excited, I felt nothing. I received a call and was offered an amazing listing, in one of the best locations in Washington and my first thought was, no. Pointblank. I do not want to do this. And I ended up outsourcing that opportunity.

I had put in so much effort to build a portfolio of listings exactly like what I was being offered and I had never felt such a strong negative reaction. I was a listing agent, and this was how I made my living -- but at that moment, all I felt was burnout and stress. A moment that could've been seen as the completion of one of my all-time career goals wasn't.

If that tension feels familiar, it may be a sign that you need to reassess what it is you are pursuing.

Sign up for How Success Happens and learn from well-known business leaders and celebrities, uncovering the shifts, strategies and lessons that powered their rise. Get it in your inbox.

It's not an easy task, admitting when you need to drop a goal from your list. But if you keep putting effort into projects you're ready to move on from, or keep a goal somewhere on the back burner indefinitely, that energy either goes to waste or perpetuates a problem.

During a time when I was auditing my goals, I was working with a coach who called me out on a long-term goal by asking me a powerful question. Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve this goal? I had to decide if I wanted to pretend I didn't know the answer, or if I was ready to tell the truth. And my answer was no. I wasn't ready to put in the effort. I had to admit, that goal wasn't on my action list and I wouldn't be putting effort in there.

Sometimes, in order to get what we need to get done, we have to be honest about what we can't do. Audit your goals and be blunt.

On paper, the shiny "yes" looks like progress on the road to achieving your goals, and it often is the path to new opportunities. Yes to new titles, yes to reaching new milestones, yes to recognition from the right people.

For entrepreneurs in hustle mode, it feels counterproductive to say no. That "yes" makes so much more sense and, in theory, brings you further down the path you're on. When my son was young, I wanted to be involved in his school life. I loved being a classroom mom and being involved in his field trips and helping make those decisions. So, I said yes to becoming co-president of the PTA.

It looked great on paper and made sense in many different ways, but what actually started to happen was that I spent my evenings mediating politics and my days stressed about situations I didn't have control over. Eventually, it became something that stole energy from me.

"No" has the same power that "yes" does in keeping you on the path to success, and under-utilizing it as a tool often leads to loss of energy or frustration.

A sure sign that you may need to pause and reflect on your current goals is when every day starts to feel strained. From the outside, everything reads like momentum, but on the inside, the tells stack up. Calendar dread before the day begins, shallow wins, rework, missed workouts and a shorter fuse than you want to admit.

When you're trying to build professional status, your resources are limited. You might not have anyone to delegate to, and you might be pulled in 12 different directions in a time where it feels impossible to say no. This is a sign it's time to change that.

When I was trying to build my reputation as the go-to realtor in my area, my resources were limited and I was struggling to balance it all. I started saying "no" and in doing so realized my goals had changed.

Once you audit your goals, reinvest in what is working and where you are committed.

All of these signs might feel like an attack at first, but what's happening is that these signs point to you being ready for more. If you're being prompted to cut goals that aren't moving forward, it means you're preparing for other goals to move to the next level. You're ready to start saying "no" to what holds you back and "yes" to what matters. Your goals are evolving not because you've failed in some way, but because you are ready for more. more

Career development

1d

Your next favorite show to binge may be just 60 seconds long

The premise of "Bound by Honor" makes it sound like a typical soap opera.

On her 18th birthday, Aria's Chicago mobster father tells her that she's expected to marry Luca, the vicious heir to a rival New York City gang. She agrees only so she can spare her younger sister from the same fate. Crime, chaos and romance ensue.

But unlike made-for-television series, "Bound by Honor" isn't on air or on... streaming services. The actors aren't household names, nor do they have traditional Hollywood résumés. Each episode is one to three minutes long. And over 334 million people and counting have tuned in to the show -- from their phones.

The series is among the hundreds within a growing genre known as microdramas. The format, which originated in China and has spawned a multibillion-dollar industry overseas, is now booming in the U.S., as everyone from tech brands like TikTok to footwear companies like Crocs rushes to cash in on their popularity.

Microdramas are "sort of the 'Triple Crown' of the modern entertainment industry," said Tomm Polos, director of creator arts at the University of Southern California. "Because they're social-friendly, they're cost-effective and they're data-driven. That is what everyone wants."

The rush to get in on the microdrama boom comes when some traditional film and TV productions are scaling back, or leaving Los Angeles altogether, because of rising costs. Consumers also continue to shift their viewing habits, opting for phone-first experiences and bite-size content on social media platforms.

Some companies have tried -- and failed -- to find the same massive audiences with similar formulas. Notably, Jeffrey Katzenberg's short-form video streaming service, Quibi, launched and quickly shuttered in 2020 after it was unable to draw in a large subscriber base. Twitter shut down Vine, the hugely popular social video app, in 2017.

Now, platforms like ReelShort and DramaBox are testing out a similar strategy but leaning into low-budget, soapy series, instead. Some, like the U.K. microdrama app Tattle TV, have even repurposed Hollywood classics, like Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 feature "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog," in microdrama format.

Thus far, their efforts appear to be working: Short dramas made $1.4 billion in revenue in the U.S. last year, according to data from Owl & Co., a consulting firm that focuses on media and technology.

Last month, the Los Angeles City Council voted to explore creating a $5 million subsidy for microdramas to help support their continued growth.

"The microdrama space is an incredible opportunity for ... not just those who are new and trying to get their foot in the door, but established people who know how to work with format and structure," Polos said. "There are a lot of empty sound stages in Hollywood. There are a lot of empty studio spaces in Hollywood. It should not surprise anyone if, in the coming quarters or years, those studio spaces get converted to be laboratories for microdramas, and that's going to really help the economy of Los Angeles."

For actors, the appeal of microdramas is the visibility they offer.

"At the beginning of last year, I finally took a chance, and I think I completed about seven or eight [microdramas] last year ... which is insane," said Savannah Coffee, one of the stars of "Bound by Honor."

She likened microdramas to soap operas but said there's one key difference: accessibility.

"Everyone can open an app and there it is," she said.

Coffee's co-star Rhett Wellington, who has worked in Hollywood for nearly 20 years, said he hasn't seen anything "with as much reach" as the microdramas he has been in. He attributed their success to the up-close and personal nature of the way audiences consume the content.

"They're seeing our faces constantly," he said. "Because of how many verticals we're able to do in a year, we start to build this very engaged, very intense fan base that wants to see more from us."

Some who work in film and production say the genre, which is staffed mostly with non-union workers, gives people in the industry more opportunities to do what they love.

"This is sort of a different beast, because you're just moving so fast," said Chris Baker, a North Carolina-based assistant director who has worked on several microdramas. "You're essentially shooting a movie in seven days, so you don't have time to do more than, like, two takes with your actors before you have to move on and set up the next shot."

The scripts often resemble feature-length projects in page count, but everything gets squeezed.

"We're going to film 12 pages a day, and a regular movie or TV show might do, like, four pages a day, but because the budget is smaller and tighter," Baker said. "And these projects are more nimble than movies, everything gets compressed, and so you just move much faster."

Whether the genre will continue to surge in popularity is unclear. Baker thinks it could go "in one or two ways."

"It's either this is a flash in the pan ... or this will be a new form of media that's here to stay," he said, adding that maybe "movies can be, like, the steak dinners, and these [microdramas] are, like, the snacks you have on the plane." more

Career development

1d

Bikes, beds and bookings: Classified Moto revs up new garage-venue-hotel hybrid - Richmond BizSense

Facebook 0 X (Twitter) LinkedIn

(Slideshow photos by Adam Ewing)

In a career path that's taken him from writing ads to building motorbikes, John Ryland can now add another title to his resumé: hotelier.

The owner of local custom bike shop Classified Moto has relocated the company's garage from its previously secret spot in Manchester to a renovated building a few blocks away that moonlights as... a boutique hotel and events space.

The move was prompted by the construction of The Navigator Apartments, a 5-story building at 103 E. Second St. that replaced the 1800s-era mule barn that Ryland had used as Classified Moto's underground HQ.

At the same time, after 15 years in business, the move prompted Ryland to make the shop less secret and bring Classified Moto out in the open, while also opening up new business opportunities with the bigger building at 1000 E. Fourth St.

Having previously hosted karaoke parties and other gatherings at the old garage, Ryland said he'd been considering adding a retail or social component to the new shop. With the 10,000-square-foot Fourth Street building providing more room to work with, Ryland had the idea of renting out the excess space for lodging and events.

John Ryland in the lobby of Classified Moto's new digs. (Jonathan Spiers photo)

"I'd always thought maybe I'd have a coffee shop or retail thing one day, but I don't drink coffee, so it didn't really enthuse me," Ryland said.

"We've got 130,000 followers on Instagram, so I'm like, a lot of people will come to see (the shop). But maybe 2% of the people that come actually know anything about the bikes," he said. "That's kind of good and bad. I wished I was getting more from the people who know us, but the people who don't really like it."

Originally an office for the neighboring industrial complex now used by Kinsley and Hanover Iron Works, the 57-year-old Fourth Street building was previously owned by Estes Express Lines, which bought it in 1996, renovated it and later rented it to a local drug enforcement task force, Ryland said.

Working with Fultz & Singh Architects and UrbanCore Construction, Ryland set out to renovate the building with a mid-century modern aesthetic and motorcycle accents and references throughout. Motorbike pictures and props fill the five guest rooms, one of which is named The Minibike Room. The hotel rooms also feature lamps that Ryland made from motorcycle parts.

He manages the property with his wife, Alex Scheer, whom he met during his time as a copywriter and art director at The Martin Agency. Ryland launched Classified Moto in 2009 and, after getting laid off from Martin the following year, made it his primary gig.

Ryland is leasing the building through a rent-to-own arrangement with Boris Besler, a Classified Moto customer in Germany whom Ryland befriended and became a financial backer when the shop was forced to move.

"I told him we're getting kicked out of our space so we're looking for a new space. He said, 'Why don't we just buy one?' 'Because I don't have money,'" Ryland recalled, laughing.

"We just liked each other and never had any idea that something like this would come from it. That's why I'm so interested in the community part of it now, because that's when cool stuff starts to happen."

A balcony was added to the building, which is across the railroad tracks from the Kinsley steel plant. (Adam Ewing photo)

Besler purchased the 2-story building in 2022 for $850,000, and Ryland is paying that down monthly over 10 years, after which he said he could either buy Besler out or they could sell the building and split the profit.

"I'm 56 now, so I feel like by the time I'm 66, I'll be ready to hopefully make some money," Ryland said. Noting spillover expected from the development boom in Manchester, he added, "Everything's moving this way, so it's kind of like a real estate deal."

The building's hotel rooms are rented through Airbnb, though Ryland noted that he and his wife have a hotel license and the rooms are classified as tourist dwelling units. Nightly rates range from $180 to $250.

The upstairs events space features a stage for karaoke and bands, a bar and commercial kitchen, and a 40-foot balcony with views of the city skyline. Ryland said the space is ideal for weddings - he and Scheer had their wedding there - as well as family reunions, retreats and other events.

Rates for the events space start at $225 per hour with a four-hour minimum. The building's lobby and other common areas are also available to rent.

Parking around the building is enclosed by a security fence that Ryland added after the building was tagged with graffiti. Guests access the site with codes that open the gate and the front door.

Ryland said the renovation took two and a half years to complete and cost over $3 million.

"Which is way more than what we thought it was going to be," he said. "The original estimate to do what we wanted to do was $750,000. Everybody was like, 'Yeah, I think we can do this,' and then everything just snowballed."

He said the project required installing a new fire hydrant on the property and extending water lines out to the street. Other higher dollar costs included the balcony, sprinkler systems, and an elevator-like vertical platform lift that was needed to bring the building to code.

Ryland and Scheer opened the hotel and events space quietly about a year ago and said bookings have been pretty steady since then.

"The weekends have been really good pretty much ever since we opened, but we've got more people staying on weekdays, which is what I was hoping for," Ryland said. "If I can get the weekdays full all the time, then I can hire a manager."

The new garage in the building where Ryland makes his creations. (Jonathan Spiers photo)

The building marks a new chapter for Classified Moto, which upped its profile a decade ago when one of its bikes was featured on "The Walking Dead" TV show. Its client roster has included actor Norman Reedus, actress Katee Sackhoff and others. Last year, its bikes were featured in a five-week exhibition at Richmond's Branch Museum of Design.

While his bike-building was largely put on hold during the renovation, Ryland said he was able to fit in a few builds, including one for a customer in Dubai.

"I had a couple builds that were in the middle of happening when we got kicked out of our spot, so I just had to try to put my customers' minds at ease, and they were luckily really patient," he said. "I haven't been taking on builds until recently. This has just been all-consuming for three years now."

With the building open, Ryland said he's been focusing on getting the word out and has received enthusiastic responses from folks once they see it.

"Everybody I've shown so far is like, 'I had no idea this was over there.' Which is embarrassing," he said, "because I was in advertising so long."

Print Article Facebook 0 X (Twitter) LinkedIn more

Career development

1d

Why "Critical Thinking" Became a Buzzword Instead of a Skill

"Strong critical thinker."

You've seen the phrase everywhere.

On résumés.

In job descriptions.

In school mission statements.

In policy documents.

In performance reviews.

It's one of those terms that signals seriousness. Maturity. Intelligence.

To say you value critical thinking is to place yourself on the "reasonable" side of things.

And yet.

The more often the phrase appears, the less... clear it becomes what anyone actually means by it.

That's not an accident.

And it's not because people stopped caring about thinking well.

Something more subtle happened.

We didn't lose the skill. We changed how we talked about it.

Most conversations about critical thinking start in the wrong place.

They assume the problem is educational.

Or generational.

Or personal.

That people aren't trained enough.

Or aren't trying hard enough.

Or are too distracted.

That framing feels intuitive. It's also misleading.

Critical thinking didn't disappear.

It didn't suddenly become rare.

It got outsourced to language.

When a skill becomes a slogan, institutions stop cultivating it and start assuming it.

That's the shift worth paying attention to.

Familiarity can hide decay

The phrase "critical thinking" feels stable because it's familiar.

It's been around for decades.

It sounds academic.

It feels neutral and virtuous.

But familiarity has a strange side effect: it lowers curiosity.

When something is mentioned often enough, we stop asking what it actually refers to. We nod. We move on. We assume alignment.

In workplaces, "critical thinking" often means:

- You can question things -- as long as the conclusion aligns with leadership.

- You can analyze data -- as long as it supports the existing direction.

- You can raise concerns -- as long as they don't slow momentum.

In education, it often becomes:

- A line in a syllabus.

- A checkbox in an outcomes list.

- A word that floats above assignments without shaping how they're evaluated.

The term survives.

The practice thins.

And because everyone agrees the skill is important, no one notices the gap forming.

A pattern that shows up in interviews

This gap becomes especially visible in hiring.

Over the years, working as a Solutions Architect in the IT industry, I've interviewed candidates for multiple companies. Different roles. Different seniority levels. Different tech stacks.

One pattern repeats almost every time.

"Critical thinking" appears on a large number of résumés.

Sometimes prominently.

Sometimes grouped with communication and problem-solving.

Sometimes framed as a defining strength.

After technical discussions, I would often ask a simple, open-ended question about it. Not to test or trap -- just to understand how the candidate thought about the skill they had claimed.

What came back was rarely clarity.

Not because the candidates lacked intelligence.

Not because they were unprepared.

And not because they didn't care about thinking well.

But because the term itself had become detached from practice.

It was a signal they had learned to use, not a process they had been asked to describe.

That moment isn't a failure of individuals.

It's a symptom of how the language now functions.

The quiet shift: from practice to trait

There was a time when critical thinking was treated as something you developed.

It showed up in:

- How arguments were challenged.

- How assumptions were surfaced.

- How tradeoffs were discussed.

- How uncertainty was handled.

It was visible in behavior.

Then something changed.

Critical thinking slowly became a trait instead of a practice.

You either "had it" or you didn't.

You claimed it, or you were assumed to lack it.

It moved from verbs to labels.

Once that happens, environments stop doing the hard work.

Why design systems that reward careful dissent if everyone is already a critical thinker?

Why slow decisions down if rigor is assumed by default?

Why create space for doubt if confidence is easier to measure?

Language became cheaper than structure.

And cheaper things tend to win.

What breaks when everyone claims the skill

When a skill is widely claimed but rarely reinforced, predictable things start to happen.

Decision-making becomes performative.

People learn how to sound analytical without actually challenging underlying assumptions.

Disagreement becomes shallow.

Surface-level objections replace deeper questioning, because deeper questioning carries social risk.

Overconfidence rises.

If you're surrounded by people who all identify as critical thinkers, it becomes harder to admit uncertainty without feeling incompetent.

Conformity gets disguised as independent thought.

Shared conclusions feel earned, even when the process that led to them was narrow.

None of this requires bad intentions.

It emerges naturally when environments reward speed, alignment, and confidence more than depth, friction, and reflection.

The tragedy is that the word "critical thinking" remains present the entire time -- giving everyone plausible deniability.

This isn't about intelligence or effort

At this point, it's tempting to turn the critique inward.

To say people are lazy.

Or incurious.

Or insufficiently trained.

That move feels satisfying. It's also incomplete.

Thinking quality is not just an individual property.

It's an environmental outcome.

People think better when:

- Disagreement isn't punished.

- Slowing down doesn't signal incompetence.

- Admitting uncertainty doesn't reduce status.

- Changing your mind doesn't look like weakness.

Remove those conditions, and even very capable people will default to safer, shallower forms of reasoning.

Not because they don't know how to think critically -- but because the environment quietly teaches them not to.

If this framing resonates with you, following the thread here may be worth your time.

Why the buzzword persists anyway

If the term causes so much confusion, why does it stick around?

Because it's useful.

It allows institutions to signal values without changing incentives.

It allows leaders to demand rigor without tolerating friction.

It allows individuals to claim intellectual seriousness without risking social cost.

Buzzwords thrive when they create agreement without accountability.

"Critical thinking" is especially good at this because everyone wants to be associated with it -- and no one wants to be the person accused of lacking it.

So the word stays.

The practice becomes optional.

A different way to see the problem

The issue isn't that we need better definitions of critical thinking.

Definitions don't change behavior.

Environments do.

The more useful question isn't "How do we teach people to think critically?"

It's "What kinds of systems make critical thinking unavoidable?"

Systems where:

- Questioning alters outcomes.

- Dissent has consequences -- but not penalties.

- Depth is visible and valued.

- Silence isn't mistaken for agreement.

When those conditions exist, the skill shows up naturally.

When they don't, no amount of language can compensate.

Ending with clarity, not advice

It's worth noticing how often we reach for "critical thinking" as a comforting phrase.

We use it to reassure ourselves that rigor exists.

That someone, somewhere, is thinking carefully.

That complexity is being handled.

But words can only carry so much weight.

When a skill becomes a slogan, it stops doing the work we assign to it.

And the longer we rely on the label, the harder it becomes to notice what's missing underneath.

Seeing that shift clearly doesn't fix the problem.

But it does change how you hear the phrase the next time it appears.

And sometimes, that quiet reframing is where real thinking begins.

If this helped you see a familiar phrase differently, you'll likely enjoy what comes next. more

Career development

1d

Men's Bubble Watch: Virginia Tech gets biggest victory yet with Clemson upset

Career development

1d

Resume Writing and Optimization Service

I'm ready to transform my professional story into a clear, concise résumé that opens doors. My goal is a document that highlights my achievements, strengths, and value in a way that feels focused and modern, whether I pursue corporate, creative, or technical roles. I will share my career history, dates, and any relevant metrics you need; from there, I'd like you to shape this information into a... polished résumé with compelling language, strategic formatting, and keyword alignment for today's applicant-tracking systems. Please bring industry-standard design sensibility -- clean layout, balanced white space, and consistent typography -- while ensuring the content stays the star. I'm open to your guidance on what to emphasize once you learn more about my background. Deliverables * Editable résumé in Word (or Google Docs) * Final, print-ready PDF version I'll consider the project complete when the résumé is concise (ideally no longer than two pages), visually professional, and tailored enough that I can tweak a section quickly for different opportunities. more

Career development

1d

Happily Handicapped Nation: Almost 4 in 10 Stanford Students Claim "Disability"

"I'm disturbed, I'm depressed, I'm inadequate -- I got it all!" So exclaimed Seinfeld sitcom character George Costanza, trying to woo a woman he believed had a psychologically oriented Florence Nightingale syndrome. It was a funny scene in 1993, and entirely fictional. But today, a generation-plus later, life has sort of imitated art.

For unlike with George, whose appeal fell flat, having a... disability has now become a way to leverage advantage.

It's so bad that at Stanford University nearly four in 10 undergraduates are registered as disabled. What's more, this merely reflects a trend sweeping pseudo-elite universities in general. The issue?

While having a disability once brought stigma, it's now akin to a résumé enhancer. Moreover, a "keeping up with the handicapped Joneses" phenomenon is operative: If you don't game the system, you lose out to those who do.

The Daily Caller reported on the story last week, writing:

"One of the most prestigious universities in the US offers perks to those who say they have ADHD, night terrors, even gluten intolerance. You'd be stupid not to game the system," writes Elsa Johnson, an undergraduate at Stanford University, for The Times.

That system is Stanford's "disability accommodation" apparatus, which doles out privileges to the on-paper disabled: The "best housing on campus," extra time on tests, extra absences from class, tardiness allowances.

To put this in perspective, realize that it's akin to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Only, it's being applied on a wider scale -- to anyone willing to claim "disabled" status. We're training people to not be competent but confidence-man-like.

Even the über-liberal Atlantic recently warned of this phenomenon. As the magazine wrote in December:

Professors now struggle to accommodate the many students with an official disability designation, which may entitle them to extra time, a distraction-free environment, or the use of otherwise-prohibited technology. The University of Michigan has two centers where students with disabilities can take exams, but they frequently fill to capacity, leaving professors scrambling to find more desks and proctors. Juan Collar, a physicist at the University of Chicago, told me that so many students now take their exams in the school's low-distraction testing outposts that they have become more distracting than the main classrooms.

Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. ... Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations -- often, extra time on tests -- has grown at a breathtaking pace. At the University of Chicago, the number has more than tripled over the past eight years; at UC Berkeley, it has nearly quintupled over the past 15 years.

This just reflects a wider problem, too. When I was a child, being "handicapped" really meant something in virtually every case. People thus labeled were in wheelchairs, and needed them, or were blind and perhaps negotiated terrain with "white canes."

But then we "evolved," and this was reflected in language. The handicapped went from being "crippled" to "handicapped" to "disabled" to "physically/mentally challenged" to "differently abled," as the euphemisms metastasized. (And, yes, I'm missing a number. Where does "special needs" fits in, for example?)

Corresponding to this, handicaps transitioned from being liabilities to social-arena reputation enhancers (and those résumé enhancers). Claiming them has, too, become a good way to enforce your own ridiculous will on others. Just consider the service-animal phenomenon.

It used to be that almost every such case involved seeing-eye dogs, which are godsends for the blind. Now we've witnessed the following:

Daffy does describe, however, what the above tells us America is becoming. After all, can we really call ourselves a serious country if we're entertaining such lunacy?

As for this disability-metastasis phenomenon's deeper effects, they didn't escape the more astute MSN commenters on the Daily Caller article.

One noted that part of the problem is the extreme over-diagnosis of various purported psychological "conditions." And a handful warned that we were training people to "cheat." Consequently, a respondent lamented, "later in life you may think that anything is OK to get your target."

Another opined that this diminution of meritocracy "will lead to a USA that no longer innovates [and] no longer creates...."

Even more significantly, it will deliver a people so morally degraded that they will be, as philosopher Edmund Burke put it, those "men of intemperate minds [who] cannot be free."

So what is the remedy? First, a simple rule must be accepted:

Certain things disqualify you from doing certain things.

A corollary: This even applies to the most sympathetic of people, to those limited through no fault of their own.

(Of course, this includes us all since only God is without limitation.)

Let's illustrate this with a couple of examples.

A good accommodation: Virtually all of us would help a wheelchair-bound student attend intellect-oriented classes. A given immobile person, after all, may turn out to be a brilliant physicist (think Stephen Hawking).

A bad accommodation: If, however, someone can't complete a legitimate test in the allotted time, it reflects lack of merit. Perhaps his talents lie in a different field, and it's a service to him to channel him toward that.

Another bad one: If you can't take a plane without an emotional support pig, maybe you should drive cross country.

Sometimes, too, a handicap is an advantage in certain contexts. Consider wrestler Adonis Lattimore. He won a Virginia state championship some years ago -- despite having no legs.

When a realm's normal rules must be altered for a handicapped person, however, it's a red flag. An example is blind wrestlers in U.S. schools. Competitors normally begin a match separated. When the rare blind wrestler competes, though, his sighted opponent must maintain contact with him at all times. This changes the sport's dynamics notably.

Stating that this is an unjust accommodation may be unpopular. But that doesn't make it untrue -- just unemotional (as in objective). But today feelings trump all. This is why we're acting like turkeys, are graduating them, and have them on our airplanes. more

Ian Montgomery

Career development

3mo

Hey! I had an interview yesterday and realized that if I lied and said I fit all the job requirements, they would hired me. But I don’t have all the skills, so how would I do the job?
I decided to be honest and they didn’t take me. Now I’m thinking, maybe I should just lied and dealt with it later?

8

Last First
2mo
This might sound crazy but jobs train you once your hired. Fake it til you make it is a real strategy. There is no morality to job applications but 8f... you dont know how to answer the questions they can provide figure out youre not qualified, but maybe they dont and then you get training. more
Montrell Hammond
2mo
Proud of you
-1

Career development

2d

Penn State Mont Alto students 'Rock the Mock' and gain interview confidence

MONT ALTO, Pa. - Students at Penn State Mont Alto are now better prepared for internship and post-grad job interviews, thanks to the "Rock the Mock" career preparation event held on Feb. 5.

More than a dozen representatives from local employers met with students at the Allied Health Building on the Mont Alto campus. The employers engaged students in mock interviews, asking questions as they would... during an actual job interview. In addition to the skills students learned, both students and employers made valuable professional connections.

"Some of the employers walked away stating 'I think I got a solid internship contact' and 'this student will get an interview offer to be considered for a full time job,'" said Patty Gochenauer, senior manager for student life and career services at Penn State Mont Alto.

Acing the interview

The lessons students learned will go far beyond the event; the mock interviews helped participants gain confidence in acing a job interview with any company.

"I learned the importance of knowing not just you and your strengths, but researching and knowing the company to show that you're putting in the effort and would like that job. Things like that can really elevate you as a candidate," Miana Kaufman, a second-year student studying occupational therapy, reflected after going through multiple mock interviews.

Preparing for a job search

In addition to interview preparation, students learned how to set up and use a LinkedIn account, with a student photographer at the event to take a professional headshot that participants can use as a profile picture on the networking website.

Students also had the chance to perfect their elevator pitch, learning how to confidently and succinctly summarize their job experience and career goals.

"It's daunting to walk up to a perfect stranger, stick out your hand, and proceed to have a conversation about yourself. No one is organically comfortable doing that. The only way to prepare yourself for the awkward, but very necessary job interview, is to practice. And 'Rock the Mock' gives students that opportunity in a safe environment," Liz Denlea, program coordinator for the Information Technology program at Penn State Mont Alto and one of the main drivers behind "Rock the Mock," said. more

Career development

Anonymous member

Keisha Guilford

kahiga kararu

Career development

ATS-Friendly Functional Resume Design -- 2

Career development

Maintenance Engineer

Career development

'You dodged a bullet': Job seeker praised online for walking out after 'one' interview question

Career development

Beyond Policies, Projections: How Leadership Is Redefining Nigeria's Revenue System - Adedeji

Career development

Remote Job Application Assistant

Career development

Remote Job Application Assistant

Jimmie Opakovsky

La La Witherspoon

Monty Mertes

Career development

Mastering Job Application Emails for Career Success

Bexley Higgins

James Anderson

Weldon Williams Abbey

Finch Vane

Sheila Milburn

Ashaba Princess

Career development

Read This Before You Waste Another Month Chasing the Wrong Goals -- 3 Signs You Need a Hard Reset

Career development

Your next favorite show to binge may be just 60 seconds long

Career development

Bikes, beds and bookings: Classified Moto revs up new garage-venue-hotel hybrid - Richmond BizSense

Career development

Why "Critical Thinking" Became a Buzzword Instead of a Skill

Career development

Men's Bubble Watch: Virginia Tech gets biggest victory yet with Clemson upset

Career development

Resume Writing and Optimization Service

Career development

Happily Handicapped Nation: Almost 4 in 10 Stanford Students Claim "Disability"

Ian Montgomery

Last First

Montrell Hammond

Career development

Penn State Mont Alto students 'Rock the Mock' and gain interview confidence