Julian Prandy


Career development 10mo

Hello
My father runs a small business where only the two of us work. There’s a lot to do, and I don’t get any days off or vacation.
I’ve tried to convince him that we need to hire at least one more person, but he refuses. He’s afraid of training someone who might become a competitor.
If this continues, I’m afraid I’ll burn out completely.
How can I convince my father to hire someone?

11   

  • SAUDAH N

    7m

    sorry about that situation but please talk to your dad and let him understand how stressful it is and pray about it

  • William Petersen

    10mo

    Great insight.... :D

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Gina Sloan


Career development 1w
Hello! I love baking and often bring cakes or cookies to share with my coworkers. At my last job everyone liked it. But at my new job some women in my department are upset. They say I’m trying to impress the boss and make them gain weight.
I just enjoy taking a break and having tea with something sweet. And I don’t want to eat it alone, so I share with everyone.
Now I’m wondering is it really a... bad thing to share baking with coworkers?

 more
5   

  • Uma Aggarwal

    19m

    You have a new job and a new environment. You just found out that old traditions do not work here. You do not have to go through baking for people... that do not appreciate it. You can still eat your cookies and, if someone joins you, ask them to help themselves. more

  • Walter Mwiti

    6h

    it's realy bad

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AJ Rosso


Career development 3d
Did I do something wrong by asking my boss for a raise? I’ve been doing the whole project alone for two months since my coworker left. But instead of answering, my boss said I should just be grateful to work in such a nice team. He even said my questions could hurt trust in the company. Should I tell him I might quit so he’ll think about raising my salary?

3   

  • Yorkson Bourne Okoth

    3h

    The best way would be patience pain but at last pays, quitting wouldn't be the solution, However where you are heading, Things may backfire and you... loose it all.  more

  • Randall Giancaterino

    20h

    I would not threaten to leave. Just put your head down and do the job, while looking for a new position. You usually do not get an automatic raise... (only a cost-of-living-raise), unless you ask, so you should not have second thoughts, there. more

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Gloria Turbo
Career development 2d
Hello
So i have been applying for jobs rigorously for a year nie and have not got anything
I had applied for graduate studies in Sweden in Jan. Results are back and i got the admission
problem is, no funding is provided. Would appreciate any recommendations for funding please

  • David Kay

    4h

    Hard to work when you keep tooting

  • David Kay

    4h

    I'm really sorry I was not feeling well today but I'm not sure if this gas will end soon

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Career development

 1d

How employers actually evaluate candidates today


For many pro­fes­sion­als across the Caribbean, the hir­ing process can feel con­fus­ing and un­pre­dictable. Can­di­dates up­date their ré­sumés, high­light their ex­pe­ri­ence, and ap­ply for mul­ti­ple op­por­tu­ni­ties, yet many still strug­gle to move for­ward in re­cruit­ment process­es.

Part of the chal­lenge is that the way em­ploy­ers eval­u­ate can­di­dates has changed sig­nif­i­cant­ly... in re­cent years. While many pro­fes­sion­als still ap­proach job ap­pli­ca­tions us­ing tra­di­tion­al meth­ods, hir­ing teams to­day are in­creas­ing­ly look­ing for very dif­fer­ent sig­nals when de­cid­ing who ad­vances in the process.

To bet­ter un­der­stand how or­gan­i­sa­tions ac­tu­al­ly as­sess can­di­dates to­day, I spoke with Khadi­ja Moore, re­gion­al di­rec­tor of hu­man cap­i­tal at the Uni­com­er Group, a multi­na­tion­al re­tail and con­sumer fi­nance com­pa­ny op­er­at­ing across more than 20 coun­tries. Moore is al­so a con­trib­u­tor to the Forbes Busi­ness Coun­cil, where she writes about lead­er­ship, tal­ent strat­e­gy, and the fu­ture of work.

From her per­spec­tive lead­ing tal­ent strat­e­gy across mul­ti­ple mar­kets, Moore out­lined four key prin­ci­ples that in­creas­ing­ly shape how em­ploy­ers eval­u­ate can­di­dates to­day.

Fo­cus on out­comes, not just re­spon­si­bil­i­ties

One of the most com­mon mis­takes job ap­pli­cants make, Moore says, is de­scrib­ing what they were re­spon­si­ble for rather than what they ac­tu­al­ly achieved.

"In to­day's hir­ing en­vi­ron­ment, or­gan­i­sa­tions are look­ing for sig­nals of im­pact and ex­e­cu­tion," she ex­plained. Re­cruiters and hir­ing man­agers want to un­der­stand how a can­di­date's work "moved the nee­dle."

Many ré­sumés still read like job de­scrip­tions. Can­di­dates of­ten list du­ties and re­spon­si­bil­i­ties with­out ex­plain­ing the re­sults those ac­tiv­i­ties pro­duced.

Moore en­cour­ages pro­fes­sion­als to present their ex­pe­ri­ence in terms of mea­sur­able im­pact.

In­stead of writ­ing:

"Re­spon­si­ble for man­ag­ing cus­tomer ser­vice op­er­a­tions."

Can­di­dates should show re­sults, for ex­am­ple:

"Led a cus­tomer ser­vice team that im­proved sat­is­fac­tion scores by 18 per cent and re­duced com­plaint res­o­lu­tion time by 30 per cent."

"Em­ploy­ers in­creas­ing­ly eval­u­ate can­di­dates based on ev­i­dence of per­for­mance, not just tenure or job ti­tles," Moore said. "The most com­pelling can­di­dates show how their work cre­at­ed mea­sur­able val­ue."

She be­lieves pro­fes­sion­als should re­think the pur­pose of a ré­sumé en­tire­ly.

"Your re­sume is nei­ther a bi­og­ra­phy nor a brochure - it is a da­ta set and per­for­mance record."

Write for both hu­mans and tech­nol­o­gy

An­oth­er ma­jor shift in hir­ing is the grow­ing role tech­nol­o­gy plays in screen­ing ap­pli­ca­tions.

Or­gan­i­sa­tions to­day of­ten re­ceive large vol­umes of ap­pli­cants for a sin­gle role, which has led many com­pa­nies to adopt au­to­mat­ed sys­tems to help man­age the process.

"Or­gan­i­sa­tions in the re­gion are in­creas­ing the use of tech­nol­o­gy like Ap­pli­cant Track­ing Sys­tems to process ap­pli­ca­tions be­fore a hu­man ever sees them," Moore said.

Be­cause of this, can­di­dates must en­sure their ap­pli­ca­tions can be in­ter­pret­ed clear­ly by both tech­nol­o­gy and hir­ing man­agers.

Moore rec­om­mends sev­er­al prac­ti­cal strate­gies. These in­clude us­ing clear sec­tion head­ings such as ex­pe­ri­ence, skills and ed­u­ca­tion, avoid­ing com­plex graph­ics or lay­outs that may con­fuse screen­ing sys­tems, and in­clud­ing key­words rel­e­vant to the role such as tools, cer­ti­fi­ca­tions and soft­ware.

How­ev­er, op­ti­mis­ing for tech­nol­o­gy alone is not enough.

"At the same time, the nar­ra­tive still needs to res­onate with the hir­ing man­ag­er," Moore said.

"The goal is a re­sume that pass­es the al­go­rithm and per­suades the hu­man."

For job seek­ers, this means struc­tur­ing their ré­sumé so that their val­ue is im­me­di­ate­ly clear to both au­to­mat­ed sys­tems and the peo­ple mak­ing hir­ing de­ci­sions.

Demon­strate adapt­abil­i­ty and con­tin­u­ous learn­ing

Moore al­so em­pha­sised how rapid­ly evolv­ing in­dus­tries are chang­ing what em­ploy­ers look for in can­di­dates.

"The na­ture of work is evolv­ing quick­ly due to dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion and AI adop­tion," she said.

Be­cause of this shift, em­ploy­ers are in­creas­ing­ly eval­u­at­ing can­di­dates not on­ly on their cur­rent knowl­edge but al­so on their abil­i­ty to learn and adapt.

"What em­ploy­ers in­creas­ing­ly look for is not just what some­one knows to­day, but how quick­ly they can learn and adapt," Moore ex­plained.

Strong can­di­dates demon­strate this through tan­gi­ble ev­i­dence of growth. This may in­clude earn­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tions or mi­cro-cre­den­tials, par­tic­i­pat­ing in cross-func­tion­al projects, adopt­ing new tools or sys­tems, or en­gag­ing in self-di­rect­ed learn­ing.

"In to­day's labour mar­ket, learn­ing agili­ty is be­com­ing one of the most valu­able pro­fes­sion­al as­sets," Moore said.

"Or­gan­i­sa­tions want peo­ple who can grow as the busi­ness evolves."

This shift re­flects broad­er glob­al work­force trends. Ac­cord­ing to the World Eco­nom­ic Fo­rum's Fu­ture of Jobs Re­port, tech­no­log­i­cal change will con­tin­ue re­shap­ing in­dus­tries and job roles over the com­ing decade, re­quir­ing work­ers to con­tin­u­al­ly up­date their skills.

The grow­ing val­ue of con­tin­u­ous learn­ing is al­so re­flect­ed in com­pen­sa­tion trends. Re­search from Cours­era's Glob­al Skills Re­port shows that pro­fes­sion­als who earn mi­cro-cre­den­tials and in­dus­try cer­ti­fi­ca­tions can com­mand salary pre­mi­ums of up to 20 per cent com­pared with peers with­out those cre­den­tials, par­tic­u­lar­ly in tech­nol­o­gy-dri­ven roles.

Shape your ca­reer port­fo­lio and pro­fes­sion­al nar­ra­tive

Fi­nal­ly, Moore em­pha­sised that can­di­dates to­day must think be­yond sim­ply pre­sent­ing a list of pre­vi­ous jobs.

"The strongest can­di­dates don't just present a list of roles - they present a port­fo­lio of con­tri­bu­tions, skills and projects," she said.

One use­ful strat­e­gy is to analyse how sim­i­lar roles are de­scribed at lead­ing or­gan­sa­tions. Plat­forms such as LinkedIn al­low pro­fes­sion­als to study job de­scrip­tions across com­pa­nies and iden­ti­fy the ca­pa­bil­i­ties em­ploy­ers con­sis­tent­ly pri­or­i­tize.

Can­di­dates can then eval­u­ate their own ex­pe­ri­ence against those ex­pec­ta­tions.

"If there are gaps, pur­sue ways to close them," Moore ad­vised.

This might in­volve lead­ing projects or process im­prove­ments with­in one's or­ga­ni­za­tion, de­liv­er­ing pre­sen­ta­tions or thought lead­er­ship with­in a field, earn­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tions or spe­cialised train­ing, or tak­ing on vol­un­teer lead­er­ship or com­mu­ni­ty ini­tia­tives.

These ex­pe­ri­ences help build a port­fo­lio that demon­strates both ini­tia­tive and ca­pa­bil­i­ty.

"The goal," Moore said, "is to lever­age and shape your ca­reer port­fo­lio in­to a clear pro­fes­sion­al nar­ra­tive - one that clear­ly ar­tic­u­lates the prob­lems you solve, the strengths that de­fine you, and the di­rec­tion your ca­reer is mov­ing."

Keron Rose is a Caribbean dig­i­tal strate­gist and dig­i­tal no­mad based in Thai­land. He helps en­tre­pre­neurs build, mon­e­tise, and scale their dig­i­tal pres­ence while ac­cess­ing glob­al op­por­tu­ni­ties. Vis­it keron­rose.com to learn more about the dig­i­tal world. more
3   

  • John Mulanda

    6h

    indeed this is an eye opener, very enriching too. well done Kefon.

  • Abdi Hassanow

    22h

    Very insightful, concise and clear mindful points to consider in this competitive market trends.

Career development

 14h

Tool For Turbulent Times: The Talent Marketplace


Everyone is talking about talent marketplaces: new AI platforms that match people with opportunities based on skills. Talent marketplaces are GPS for careers, the labor market digital infrastructure we've lacked until now. Job seekers upload or build résumés, complete skills assessments, and are matched to open jobs where they're an immediate fit as well as provided with an employment roadmap and... corresponding upskilling programs for opportunities along the way. More important, talent marketplaces have the potential to become the navigation layer atop our fragmented education and workforce systems.

The U.S. Department of Education is so pumped about talent marketplaces that, last fall, it went out of its way to note that talent marketplaces are an allowable use for $167M in FIPSE (postsecondary education improvement) grants. For another grant program, Trio, which historically had supported college for low-income and first-generation students, ED just announced $175M in new funding and directed applicants to "explore talent marketplaces... as equally viable and often faster routes to economic mobility as traditional college programs." Finally, a new a $15M talent marketplace challenge completes ED's talent marketplace trifecta. Grant proposals are due at the end of this month. Up to 10 states will divide the funds and willing states will need to convince ED that their action plan is likely to lead to statewide adoption.

But it's not as if Linda McMahon came up with the idea. Without any federal support, states have gotten to work. Under the leadership of Nick Moore - not coincidentally now Acting Assistant Secretary at ED - Alabama launched its Talent Triad. Both Triad and Arkansas' marketplace Launch welcome all job seekers and students. The problem, as Alabama learned when, in year three of Triad, only 1,000 jobs were listed on the platform, is chicken-and-egg: why would companies bother listing jobs on a platform unless there are lots of job seekers? Likewise, why would job seekers use a talent marketplace with relatively few jobs? "Build it and they will come" won't work for talent marketplaces.

So the most exciting progress has been at workforce agencies which have a built-in audience of job seekers i.e., unemployment insurance claimants required to participate in the workforce system. They also have established connections with companies. Workforce systems already have chickens and eggs.

Equally important, talent marketplaces are a solution for what ails workforce development. If you thought colleges and universities were bureaucratic, allow me to introduce you to America's workforce system. Workforce agencies aren't principally set up to place people in good jobs or launch careers, they're designed to follow the Byzantine rules that accompany workforce dollars. The results for job seekers, companies, and sometimes training providers, can be bewildering.

Brace yourself for one example. When a worker in Fresno, CA, is laid off and searches for job training, he'll land on the California Employment Development Department (EDD) site which reads: "Looking for New Skills or Training? Check out our no-cost job and training services available across the state!" But there's no obvious link on the page to training programs. Instead, EDD suggests that the worker:

Below this lies the header Where to Get Training. Sounds promising except the link brings him to the California Eligible Training Provider List, which leads a description of ETPL. One more click reveals a link to the CalJobs site which has a section for job seekers and a link for education and training. This brings up a search page. Searching on nursing yields a list of programs. Clicking on a program provides the following:

But no link to the actual program. Speaking of grievance...

Beyond the unfathomable lack of assistance for those who need it most, workforce UI/UX makes the Fresno DMV look like a paragon of design; each page looks different, often belonging to a different agency or organization. Everything is text-heavy, opaque, and exceptionally hard to navigate. So one primary reason workers aren't taking advantage of the workforce system to reskill is because current digital resources are workforce word salad. Talent marketplaces are the tonic: an urgently needed navigation layer that allows all constituents - job seekers, companies, and training providers - to get what they need by cutting through stifling bureaucracy and legacy bad design decisions (assuming there were affirmative decisions).

State leaders are beginning to realize they're not getting what they need. If their workforce systems are accomplishing anything, it's speed-to-fill into low-skill, high-turnover positions for low-income, unemployed workers. Upskilling and economic mobility aren't occurring in any measurable way. Talent marketplaces have the potential to break workforce development out of this vicious circle.

Leading the talent marketplace revolution at workforce agencies is FutureFit AI, which - as the name suggests - leverages AI for job and training matching as well as for scraping and platforming all posted jobs in the geography (updated daily, thereby addressing the weaker side of the equation for workforce agencies). The FutureFit experience for a dislocated worker couldn't be more different. Within minutes of answering a few questions or uploading a résumé, he'll have a skills profile and a set of realistic career pathways, not just job listings. Clicking into a pathway provides a step-by-step plan with working links to training options and live jobs.

FutureFit's platform is already powering statewide marketplaces in South Carolina, Connecticut, and Colorado, as well as regional marketplaces in San Bernadino and Washington State. It's also big in Canada where it runs talent marketplaces at federal, provincial, and local levels. The outcomes are impressive: high percentages of participants hired into relevant, higher wage jobs. In Connecticut, 7,000 job seekers have been trained for jobs in high-growth sectors and over 85% have been placed. I'm not surprised because talent marketplaces do a better job of helping companies ascertain candidate fit and interest than a typical hiring process.

Although federal and state departments of labor haven't reached U.S. Department of Education-level enthusiasm for talent marketplaces, the problem and solution are so obvious that it won't be long before state and local workforce agencies are required to leverage technology and implement solutions like FutureFit before receiving workforce dollar one.

While workforce agencies are the beachhead, talent marketplaces are needed more broadly. With significant AI-driven labor market dislocation around the bend, we need to keep the population requiring workforce assistance from increasing by an order of magnitude. How will talent marketplaces reach college graduates and other career launchers before it's too late?

Again, the action isn't at the Department of Education, wherever it might be located. Recognizing that education and workforce navigation is first and foremost a data problem, states have moved quickly to build unified systems that connect education, workforce, and earnings outcomes. California has connected K-12, higher education, financial aid, workforce, and social services data in its Cradle-to-Career data system. Virginia has built the Virginia Longitudinal Data System linking K-12, postsecondary, and wage records. Michigan has integrated education and labor market data through the Michigan Longitudinal Data System. And Arizona has developed its Education Progress Meter to track attainment and workforce alignment, tying educational pathways directly to labor market demand. Other states making progress on data integration include Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, Washington, Florida, Colorado, Ohio, Maryland, and Minnesota. The Education Commission of the States has identified 32 states with active longitudinal systems connecting data across at least two sectors.

This may be the most consequential development in workforce development. Because unified education and workforce data make it much easier for job seekers and career launchers to say yes to talent marketplaces. By opting in, it will be possible to populate their education and work data, match to jobs, and identify new education and training opportunities to advance within and expand their zones of proximal development. Through unified state-level data systems, most Americans (i.e., the 75% of us who've never moved to another state) can benefit from a GPS for education and employment decisions. And in so doing, talent marketplaces will evolve from serving workforce agencies to dynamic career navigation systems for everyone.

My first book College Disrupted discussed the prospect of talent marketplaces. Although the term I chose was workforce-wonky - competency management platforms - and the technology took a decade to catch up, the idea was right: "Allow job seekers to... upload their resume and transcript... point to a goal job or career... measure the competency gap between where they are and where they want to go... recommend educational options for filling that gap based on available time-to-job... then... map the most efficient path from here to there." Talent marketplaces were bound to happen because "while digital marketplaces have revolutionized sectors such as consumer goods, real estate and personal relationships... there has not yet been a marketplace for human capital."

With the emergence of talent marketplaces, it no longer makes sense to make important education and career decisions without technology. As I wrote a decade ago, "students won't have to be completely in charge of their own education. They'll be following a path. Granted, that path will be dynamically created by machines rather than handcrafted on an Ivy-covered quad. But it will be different and better than the current DIY path."

In turbulent times, this is the navigation assistance every young American desperately needs. more

Career development

 14h

Bulk Job Application Assistant


I need support submitting 100 job applications on my behalf. I will give you my up-to-date résumé, a clear list of roles and companies, plus any screening answers I want used. Your job is simply to drop the information into each portal -- no cover-letter tailoring or extra writing is required. Payment terms are straightforward: $0.10 for every application that matches my instructions and can be... verified by confirmation email or tracking link, for a total of 100 submissions. What you'll do * Log in with the credentials or guest options I provide. * Complete each form accurately, attach the résumé, and hit submit. * Record every submission in a shared spreadsheet (company, role, date, confirmation link or screenshot). Accuracy is critical here; I'm paying per correctly filed application, so attention to detail and basic familiarity with portals like LinkedIn, Indeed, Lever, Workday, and Greenhouse will make this quick work. If these terms fit and you can finish all 100 applications within a week of receiving the materials, let's get started. more

Career development

 15h

The Mirage of Big Tech: How Perpetual Bluffers, Not Hard Workers, Game the System


The Mirage of Big Tech: How Perpetual Bluffers, Not Hard Workers, Game the System

In the current tech landscape, a disturbing pattern has emerged. Many product designers, UX designers, and UX researchers -- especially those who have managed to secure roles at a few major tech companies -- are often overpaid, underqualified, and largely unproductive. Their success has little to do with skill,... knowledge, or hard work, and everything to do with political maneuvering, résumé inflation, and the art of appearing busy while doing nothing.

Here's how the cycle works:

Once you kiss the right rings and charm your way into your first big tech role -- regardless of your actual ability -- you're set. You don't need to know math, design fundamentals, coding principles. You don't need a portfolio. You don't even need to understand responsive grids, micro-interactions, or basic UI logic. All you need is the ability to boast loudly in meetings, take credit for others' work, and position yourself as indispensable through words, not deeds.

At big tech companies, slacking off is not only possible -- it's easy. The bureaucracy is so thick, and the teams so fragmented, that an empty suit can coast for years. You learn to schedule meetings about meetings, produce shallow slide decks, and speak in corporate buzzwords. You become "high profile, hollow inside." And because your résumé now carries a prestigious logo, other big tech companies assume you must be competent. So you jump from one firm to the next, each time bringing the same empty toolbox, each time retiring early on the clock.

The tragic irony is that the real talent -- the interns and junior designers who actually understand responsive design, micro-interactions, accessibility, and polished UI -- cannot get a foot in the door. They have strong portfolios, real coding-adjacent skills, and genuine curiosity. But they are hard workers, not loud talkers. They are honest, not boastful. And in a system that rewards performance over substance, they are locked out.

What is left is a bloated class of high-salaried bluffers, drifting through their careers like ghosts in the machine -- doing nothing, knowing nothing, and yet constantly rewarded for the illusion of expertise. The industry has confused confidence with competence, tenure with talent, and loudness with leadership. Until that changes, the hardest-working designers will remain on the outside, while the emptiest insiders live a retired life at Big Tech. more

Career development

 18h

Terrance Noel, Brayden Burns lead Albany Herald's All-Albany team - Albany Herald


Some years, the choices fall into place.

This wasn't one of them.

This was a season of arguments -- the good kind. The kind that start in gyms and carry into text messages, barbershops and late-night conversations. The kind that force you to look twice at résumés that, in most years, would stand alone.

Start with the sideline.

Westover's Dallis Smith -- the standard-bearer, the constant -- did... what he has always done. He built another winner. The Patriots ran the table in region play, climbed to No. 1 in the state rankings at one point, and finished No. 5 in the final poll. Dominance, sustained and expected.

At Deerfield-Windsor, Rundy Foster orchestrated something just as impressive. The Knights flirted with perfection, their only real resistance coming from Brookwood. They had positioned themselves for a serious postseason push before circumstances -- illness to one player, suspension to another -- changed everything at the worst possible time.

Both were worthy.

In most years, either would have been the choice.

But this year wasn't most years.

This year belonged to Dougherty's Terrance Noel.

First year on the job. Eight seniors gone from an Elite Eight team. A roster leaning heavily on freshmen. The kind of setup that usually signals a step back -- a reset.

Instead, Noel pushed forward.

He trusted youth. He accelerated growth. And by season's end, the Trojans were right back where they started -- in the Elite Eight.

Not rebuilding. Reloading.

That's why Terrance Noel is the Albany Herald's Coach of the Year.

If Noel reshaped expectations from the bench, Monroe's Brayden Burns controlled them on the court.

Burns, the Albany Herald Player of the Year, was relentless. His 20.7 points per game only tell part of the story. He was the shot-maker when possessions broke down, the scorer when Monroe needed a run, the player opponents built entire game plans around -- and still couldn't contain.

Westover's Gregory Williams earned Offensive Player of the Year honors by doing what great offensive players do: produce, consistently and efficiently. His 14.3 points per game came within the rhythm of a balanced attack, but when the moment called for more, Williams delivered.

Lee County's TJ Williams anchored the defensive end with a different kind of impact -- the kind that doesn't always show up in the box score but changes everything. He guarded the best, disrupted the rest, and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors with effort that never dipped.

And at Dougherty, the future is already arriving.

Jherel Gibson, the Freshman of the Year, wasn't just promising -- he was productive. A key piece of Noel's rotation, Gibson helped fuel a run that few saw coming this quickly.

What emerges from this year's All-Albany team is a picture of depth -- across programs, across styles, across experience levels.

From established contenders to rising groups, the talent ran deep.

First Team

* Josiah Franklin, Lee County

* Marcus Heath Jr., Dougherty

* Jalen Holmes, Westover

* David Hutchins, Deerfield-Windsor

* TK Johnson, Westover

* Tristan Terry, Monroe

* Jaxon Reese, Westover

* Elijah Rivers, Monroe more

Career development

 22h

42 North Dental Cuts Employee Turnover By Training 1600 Learners On One Platform


Summary: See how this dental support organization used TalentLMS to train 1600 people, cut turnover from 40% to 25%, and save over 10,000 work hours.

Plagued by high turnover, compliance commitments, and siloed training hubs, 42 North Dental found operations increasingly difficult. But in healthcare, your number one priority is your patients. So, how could the organization overcome these... challenges while still providing quality care?

Randy Schumacher, Director of Learning & Development, found training success with TalentLMS because he could:

With a comprehensive training hub, Schumacher cut turnover, complied with industry regulations, and prioritized 42 North Dental's integral patient-provider relationship.

Running a dental practice comes with a lot of spinning plates for dentists. Especially when you're trained in healthcare, not business management. This is where 42 North Dental comes in. The organization has over 40 years of experience supporting dentists to do what they love: providing quality patient care without the admin overload.

42 North Dental is there to allow dentists to do what they do best: provide quality care to patients. And the organization takes care of all the support functions: recruiting, training and development, payroll, and facilities. That's a lot of moving parts for a staff of 1600.

Before TalentLMS, training lived in silos. Each department had its own training material, if it had any material at all. None of it was very scalable or shareable. New hires had limited structured learning, compliance requirements were hard to track across practices, and career development was an afterthought. The result? A turnover rate hovering around 40%.

In a healthcare setting, that kind of turnover doesn't just mean recruitment costs. It affects the quality of patient care and the stability of every practice. 42 North Dental needed a way to bring training together, make it consistent, and give people a clear path forward.

Before I got to 42 North Dental, training happened in little pockets. Each department had its own training material; if they had any material at all, none of it was very scalable or shareable. Through TalentLMS, we created a repository of all that training, and as we brought all of our training content together, we created a massive library of quality material to give to everyone in our organization. -- Randy Schumacher, Director of Learning & Development at 42 North Dental

Schumacher went with TalentLMS to pull training out of the dark ages. With a modern training platform on their side, he created a one-stop learning hub for all, encouraged career development, and drastically cut employee turnover.

The three areas where TalentLMS made the biggest difference? Compliance, onboarding, and career development.

In a regulated industry like healthcare, compliance training isn't optional. The medical and dental industry are filled with compliance-related training that doctors and hygienists need to take. With TalentLMS, Schumacher set up courses that providers could complete on their own schedule without disrupting patient care.

Onboarding was next. Instead of relying on individual practices to train every new hire from scratch, 42 North Dental built a consistent onboarding program on TalentLMS. The result: each practice now saves 35 hours per new employee because the foundational training is already built and ready to go.

But the biggest shift was in career development. Schumacher created learning paths that encouraged employees to grow within the organization. One of the first programs they developed was a front desk training program. Staff could work through structured courses on 42U, their branded TalentLMS portal, and move into management roles. And that's exactly what happened. Over the course of the last three years, three people who started as front desk staff became regional managers.

The three areas where TalentLMS has really helped us. Number one, compliance. The medical and dental industry are filled with compliance related training that doctors and hygienists need to take. Number two, just learning and development. We've created a lot of programs to help people with their career development. And finally, onboarding every new hire, because our industry has a fairly high turnover and we are constantly training new hires. -- Randy Schumacher, Director of Learning & Development at 42 North Dental

Using TalentLMS is really straightforward and easy. The format is really visual, and I can almost use it to build an outline as I'm going and fill in the blanks and supplement and build on top of what I have. So it helps me from that brainstorming all the way to the final build. -- Lauren Gillis, Learning & Development Specialist, 42 North Dental

42 North Dental started by solving a practical problem: training was scattered, compliance was hard to manage, and turnover was high. What they built with TalentLMS goes well beyond fixing those problems.

Today, 1600 learners across the organization have access to 322 courses covering compliance, onboarding, and professional development. New hires get up to speed faster. Providers stay focused on patient care. And employees who want to grow their careers have a clear path to do it.

The numbers tell the story. Over 10,500 work hours saved, 35 hours back per practice on every new hire. Turnover cut from 40% to 25%. And recognition from the industry to back it up: 42 North Dental won both the Training Trailblazer and Great Results awards.

What TalentLMS has done for the organization has allowed doctors and hygienists to focus on quality care. For Schumacher, that's what a training program should look like. Not a side project or a compliance checkbox, but a core part of how the organization supports its people and its patients. more

Career development

 1d

BrighterMonday brings employability drive to Muni University


Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | BrighterMonday Uganda took its youth employability campaign to Muni University over the weekend, bringing together more than 1,000 students and job seekers for a skills and career development programme aimed at improving workplace readiness in Uganda's West Nile region.

The engagement, held under the theme "Matching Ambition with Opportunity," focused on practical... job-market skills at a time when employers continue to raise concerns over the gap between academic qualifications and workplace competence among graduates.

Government officials, private sector representatives and career trainers used the event to urge young people to think beyond academic credentials and focus on abilities that respond directly to labour market needs.

Among those attending was Alfred Okunozi, who told participants that degrees alone are no longer enough in a changing economy and encouraged them to assess the practical skills they can offer employers.

The keynote address was delivered by Judith Lenia Latifah, who challenged participants to focus on their ability to create solutions in a competitive labour market.

"In a competitive market, the only thing that matters is your ability to solve real-world problems," Lenia said.

She also challenged students to reflect on their own preparedness before entering the job market, asking: "Will you be ready for work when you walk out of this room?"

As part of the programme, BrighterMonday introduced its AI Career Assistant, a digital platform that helps users prepare CVs, cover letters and interview responses aligned with current recruitment systems.

Organisers said the tool is designed to help job seekers navigate Applicant Tracking Systems increasingly used by employers to screen applications before human review.

The intervention is being implemented in partnership with Mastercard Foundation as part of a wider youth employment initiative targeting access to dignified work through digital career tools and practical training.

Imma Audrey, BrighterMonday's Head of Learning and Development, urged participants to take initiative and use available tools to shape their own opportunities.

The event also introduced students to workplace soft skills, including communication, emotional intelligence and adaptability, areas employers increasingly identify as essential for entry-level workers.

Uganda continues to see large numbers of young people entering the labour market each year, while employers report persistent concerns over workplace readiness. Organisers said taking such programmes beyond Kampala is intended to ensure regional talent is not left behind as competition for jobs intensifies more

Jarmila O’Neal


Career development 4d
I’m really confused about how to answer the salary question in interviews. After reading a bunch of “tips” online, I said that “a comfortable range for me is from … to ….”. But they told me I wasn’t a good fit because I’m not a straightforward person and give vague answers instead of being clear.
So what’s the right way, should I state an expected salary?

1   

  • Apreal 28

    1d

    I have been in Dubai 7months now with hospitality and sales experience and I'm currently looking for a job. I need someone to assist me get a job as... we are all family here in Gainrep. It's a month now without a job and accommodation. more

  • Cyndy Robinson

    1d

    I turn it back on them and ask them what is the position budgeted for if it’s an in-person interview. If they ask during the application process, I... write negotiable. If the application requires a number, I put my current salary or no more than 10% less than my current hourly rate.  more

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Career development

 1d

Software, in a Time of Fear


The following article originally appeared on Medium and is being reproduced here with the author's permission.

This 2,800-word essay (a 12-minute read) is about how to survive inside the AI revolution in software development, without succumbing to the fear that swirls around all of us. It explains some lessons I learned hiking up difficult mountain trails that are useful for wrestling with the... coding agents. They apply to all knowledge workers, I think.

The photo above was taken high up on a mountain. It's a very long drop down to the right. If you fell off the path in a few places, you'd almost certainly die.

But what if I told you that while this photo is quite real, it is misleading. It isn't some deserted place. It is in America's busiest national park. The railings and bars on that trail are incredibly strong, even when they are strangely bent around corners. Thousands of people walk along that path every year, including children and older folks. The fatality rate is approximately one death every 30 years.

In fact, my 13-year-old son and I did that climb -- which is called Precipice Trail -- last summer. We saw other people up there, including a family with kids. It was an incredible adventure. And the views are stunning.

Yes, it was a strenuous climb, and was certainly scary in some places. Even though I had done a lot of other hard trails, I was extremely nervous. If my fearless son wasn't with me, I'd never have done it.

When we got to the top, out of habit, I told my son, "I am proud of you for accomplishing this." He rolled his eyes and said, "I am proud of you." He was right. I was the one at risk. (That did hurt a little bit.)

Yet I learned some things about fear from hiking the hardest trails in Acadia, which I'd never have imagined myself doing a few years ago.

As a lifelong software developer confronted by these extraordinary coding agents, I believe the future of our profession is atop an intimidating mountain whose summit is engulfed in clouds. Nobody knows how long the ascent is, or what lies at the top, though many people are confidently proclaiming we will not make it there. We are told only the agents will be at the summit, and we should therefore be afraid for our livelihoods.

I have far less confidence that the agents will put us all out of work. Though I don't see all of us making it up that mountain, I intend to be one of them.

Still, there is so very much fear in our field. It is so...unfamiliar! It swirls around every gathering of technologists. I was at a conference last year where the slogan was the very-comforting "human in the loop." Yet a coworker of mine noticed, "A lot of the talks seem to be about taking the human out of the loop." Indeed. And I know for a fact that some great developers are quietly yet diligently working on new tools to make their peers a thing of the past. I hear they are paid handsomely. (Perhaps in pieces of silver?) Don't worry, they haven't succeeded yet.

This revolution -- whatever this is -- isn't like the other technological revolutions which barged into our professional lives, such as the arrival of the web or smartphone apps. There was unbridled optimism alongside those changes, and they didn't directly threaten the livelihoods of those who didn't want to do that kind of work.

This is quite different. There is tremendous optimism to be found. Though I find it is almost entirely among the financially secure, as well as those with résumés decorated with elite appointments, who are confident they will merit one of the few seats in the lifeboats as the ocean liner slips into the deep carrying most of the people they knew on LinkedIn. (They're probably right.) Alas, we can't all be folks like Steve Yegge, can we?

For the rest of us who need to pay bills and take care of our children, there is fear. Some are panicked they will lose their jobs, or are concerned about the grim environmental, political, and social consequences AI is already inflicting on our planet. Others are climbing up the misty mountain steadily, yet they are still distressed that they will miss some crucial new development that they must know to survive and watch videos designed to make them more afraid. Still others refuse to start climbing and are silently haunted by the belief that their reservations are no longer valid.

Though we were so for my entire life, we can no longer be seen as a profession looking to the future. Instead, most of us are looking over our shoulders and listening for movement in the tall grass around us.

I too have been visited by a fear of the agents on many occasions over the past few years, but I keep it at bay...most nights.

One of the best ways I learned to manage it is pretty simple:

Stop listening to people who are afraid.

It's odd to decide not to listen to so many people in your field, including nearly everyone in social media. I've never done this before.

Yet I learned this unexpected lesson when I was confronted by another difficult mountain in Acadia National Park a few years ago: Beehive.

Beehive is a well-known Acadia trail that has some sheer cliffs and is not for anyone truly afraid of heights. (The photo above is of three of my children climbing it a few years ago. Over the right shoulder of my 12-year-old daughter in the center is quite a drop.)

It was Beehive, and not Precipice, that taught me an unexpected lesson about popularity and fear that applies to AI.

So Beehive has an interesting name, is open most of the year, is close to the main tourist area and parking lots, and is often featured on signs and sweatshirts in souvenir stores. I even bought a sign for my attic.

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My older kids and I had done a lot of tough trails in Acadia over a few wonderful summers, and I wondered if we could handle Beehive. I started checking the online reviews. It sure sounded scary. I went to many websites and scanned hundreds of reviews over several days. The more I read, the less I wanted to try it.

Worse, the park rangers in Acadia are trained to not give anyone advice about what trail they can handle. (I get it.) No one else I spoke to wanted to tell a family they should try something dangerous. Everyone shrugged. It added to the fear.

Yet I saw conflicting evidence.

My research showed that only one person fell to their death decades ago, and the trail was modified after that. Also, many thousands of people of all types, including children and senior citizens, have done it without injury. On top of that, the mountain was not that high, and the difficult features it had, which I could see from detailed online photos, seemed quite similar to things we had done on a few other difficult trails. It didn't seem like a big deal.

How could both things be true? Were they?

The truth was much closer to the second version, vindicated after we climbed it. It was a little scary at times, but wasn't that physically challenging. It was fun, and something you could brag about among people who had heard it was scary, but who had not actually climbed it.

I do have a slight fear of heights, so I kept climbing and never turned to look down behind me. This brings me to another lesson:

You really never have to look down.

It's amazing how people feel an obligation to once in a while look down to see what they've accomplished or to notice how high up they were or judge how dangerous the thing they just climbed looks from above. It often causes fear. I decided getting to the top was all that mattered, and I could look down only from up there. This is a question of focus.

I can think of many moments in learning to use and orchestrate coding agents where I unwisely stopped to "look down." This takes the form of pausing and asking yourself things like:

None of those ruminations will help you get better with the agents. They just drain your energy when you should either rest or keep climbing.

I now see Beehive as an "attention vortex." Because a lot of people talk about it, and because dramatic statements from the fearful and those boasting about their accomplishments dominate the reviews. The talk about Beehive is not tethered to the reality of climbing it.

Strangely, the cachet of having climbed it depends on the attention and fear. It made those who climbed it feel better about what they had done, and they had little interest in diminishing their accomplishment by tamping down the fear. ("Well, yes, it was scary up there!") Nobody is invested in saying it was less than advertised. This insight is precisely why the loud coding agent YouTubers act the way they do.

AI is a planetary attention vortex. It has seemed like the only thing anyone in software development has talked about for over a year. People who quietly use the agents to improve their velocity -- and aren't particularly troubled by that -- are not being heard. You aren't seeing calm instructional videos from them on YouTube. We are instead seeing 30-year-olds pushing coding agent pornography on us every day, while telling us that their multiple-agent, infinite-token, unrestricted-permissions-YOLO workflow means we are doomed. (But you might survive if you hit the subscribe button on their channel, OK?) These confident hucksters are still peddling fear to keep you coming back to them.

Above all else, stop listening to anyone projecting fear. (Yes, you cannot avoid them entirely as they are everywhere and often tell you their worries unprompted.)

You must find useful information and shut out the rest. This is another lesson I learned:

When in an attention vortex, seek firsthand testimony, not opinions.

So the way I finally figured out Beehive wasn't that bad was from some guy who took pictures of every part of the trail. I compared them to what I'd done on similar trails, such as the unpopular but delightful Beech Cliff trail, which nobody thought was truly dangerous and gets almost zero online attention.

When it comes to AI, I have abandoned opinions, predictions, and demos. I listen to senior people who are using agents on real project work, who are humble, who aren't trying to sell me something, and who are not primarily afraid. (Examples are: Simon Willison, Martin Fowler, Jesse Vincent, and yes, quickly hand $15 each month to the indispensable Pragmatic Engineer.)

When it came to Precipice, widely acknowledged as the hardest hiking trail in Acadia, I took a different approach. (It's actually not a hiking trail but a mountain climb without ropes.) Using the same investigative techniques I'd learned from Beehive, I found out it was three times longer and had scarier moments.

I don't know how, but my athletic 13-year-old son is a daredevil. He's up for any scary experience. I do not usually accompany him on the scary roller coasters.

He was totally up for Precipice, of course. Dad was very nervous.

But I knew that if anyone could drag me up that mountain, it was him. I also didn't want to let him down. In fact, I almost decided to abort the mission at the bottom of the trail. I just sighed and thought, "I will just do the beginning part. We can duck out and take another route down until about one-third of the way up."

So if you're not sure how to use AI, or are not yet enthusiastic, find people who are and keep talking to them! You don't have to abandon your friends or coworkers who aren't as interested. Instead, become the enthusiast in their world. (That is what happened to me more than a year ago.)

Another reason I decided not to give up is that I bought different shoes.

You can hike most trails in regular sneakers in almost any condition. But since Precipice is a climb and not a hike, I realized my usual worn-out running shoes might not be up for that, as I had slid on them during a lesser climb elsewhere that week.

So while in nearby Bar Harbor, my family ducked into a sporting goods store and looked at hiking shoes for me and my son. I told the sales guy we were going to do Precipice. He raised an eyebrow and said I would of course need something good for that.

When I held the strange shoes in my hand, I looked at the price tag and then looked at my wife, who gave a knowing look back at me that surely meant, "OK, but you do realize that you actually have to climb it if we buy those." I just nodded.

And we needed those new shoes! My son and I had a few tense moments scrambling where we agreed it was quite good we had them. But all along the way, they felt different, which was what I needed.

This reminds me of when I decided to use Claude Code a few weeks after it came out last March. The tokens cost 10 times what I could get elsewhere. But suddenly I was invested.

It also mattered that Claude Code, as a terminal, was a very different development experience. People back then thought it was strange that I was using a CLI to manage code. It was really different for me too, and all the better: I was no longer screwing around with code suggestions in GitHub Copilot.

You should be regularly experimenting with new tools that make you uncomfortable. Just using the new AI features in your existing tool is not enough for continuous growth or paradigm shifts, like the recent one from the CLI to multiple simultaneous agent management.

The last idea I have is to stop thinking about where all of us will end up one day.

Put the summit out of your mind.

While climbing Precipice, I decided to only think of what was in front of me. I knew it was a lot higher than Beehive. I just kept doing one more tough piece of it.

The advantage of doing this was near the top. Because the scariest piece was something I didn't notice from online trail photos.

However, you can get an idea from this photo from Watson's World, which I had not seen before I got up there. It shows a long cliff with a very short ledge (much shorter than it looks at this angle). Even the picture doesn't make it clear just how exposed you are and that there is nothing behind you but a long, deadly fall. The bottom bars are to prevent your feet from slipping off.

When I came to it, I thought, "No...way."

But there was no turning back by then. I had come so far! I looked up and saw the summit was just above this last traverse. So I just held onto the bars, held onto my breath, and moved carefully along the cliff right behind my son, who was suddenly more cautious.

Had I known that was up there, I might not have climbed the mountain. Good thing I didn't know.

As for the future of software, I don't know what lies further up the mountain we are on. There are probably some very strenuous and scary moments ahead. But we shouldn't be worrying about them now. more

Career development

 1d

7 Career Advancement Strategies for Employees: How To Implement Them


Effective career advancement strategies lower churn, strengthen engagement, and help develop the vital skills needed to deliver on business objectives. However, 46% of employees say their managers don't know how to support their career advancement. Additionally, 47% of Gen Z workers say AI gives them better career advice than their managers do.

These stats highlight a dire need for organizations... to rethink their approach to employee career growth, in order to minimize turnover and boost the employee experience. This article explores what career advancement means in today's workplace and why it matters for both employee and employer, as well as seven career advancement strategies you can implement.

Contents

What is career advancement?

Types of career growth

Career ladder, career lattice, and career path: What's the difference?

Why is career advancement important?

7 useful career advancement strategies for employees

Career advancement frameworks: The 5 Ps, 4 Cs, and 3 Cs explained

How to develop a career advancement program: Checklist

Career advancement is the process where an employee progresses in their working life, moving into roles with greater responsibility, higher pay, broader influence, or deeper expertise. It has evolved to include vertical promotion, lateral moves, stretch assignments, and skill-based development, and can happen within a single organization or across multiple employers.

It's worth distinguishing career advancement from career development. Advancement is movement, such as a change in role, level, scope, or status. Development, on the other hand, is the capability-building that makes advancement possible. Development without advancement often causes frustration, while advancement without development can lead to performance gaps.

In fact, 41% of employees cite a lack of career development and advancement as the top reason they quit their previous jobs. Investment in a solid employee career progression framework lowers turnover and hiring costs, strengthens your internal talent pipeline, and supports more strategic workforce planning.

Career growth opportunities don't all look the same. Helping employees, as well as their managers, understand the available options sets the foundation for a strong career growth strategy.

These three terms are often used interchangeably, but they describe different things. Here's how to differentiate among them:

Career advancement matters, since employees who lack clear growth paths are more likely to seek better prospects elsewhere. Clear growth pathways help retain talent, reduce hiring costs, and improve performance.

But that's only half the story. Disengaged employees who don't leave simply stay and underperform. This widens skills gaps, while competitors poach high performers who deliver clearer growth trajectories.

Below are seven career advancement strategies that can benefit your workforce, help you build a practical playbook, and change the way your company grows.

Broad ambitions like 'more responsibility' or 'a better role' aren't enough. Employees need specific career advancement goals linked to target roles, skills, and realistic timelines. HR can build the tools that help to make goal-setting concrete.

Employees may focus on what they're good at today rather than what they'll need tomorrow. However, career advancement skills (i.e., technical capabilities, leadership competencies, and interpersonal strengths) are often what they need to open pathways to new roles.

Training is one of the most direct investments your company can make in employee advancement. However, some organizations may design training around their business requirements without linking it to their employees' individual career goals. The result is compliance courses, instead of development that employees actually value.

Career pathing defines possible routes an employee can take to reach their goals. Career mapping plots the skills, experiences, and milestones they need to get there. Both give employees something concrete to work toward, and provide managers with structured frameworks that drive career conversations.

Employees with access to mentors, coaches, or sponsors advance faster and more confidently. Good mentors share their experience, and effective coaches build self-awareness to benefit employees. Sponsors advocate for employees, which can transform potential into progress and promotion.

Internal mobility moves employees into new roles or projects within your organization, and stretch assignments push them beyond their current capability level. A combination of the two can drive career advancement more consistently than either on its own.

Even companies that say they support internal mobility may make it harder in practice than external hiring, with slower and more rigorous internal hiring processes. Managers who hoard their talent also compound the situation. This is why it's important to fix the system, not just the messaging.

Career advancement doesn't happen after a single annual review. It requires consistent, constant dialogue about what employees want professionally and how they're working toward their goals. 54% of employees report feeling completely isolated at work in terms of career development, and it's within your power to prevent the same at your company.

While these frameworks can't replace a solid advancement plan, they're useful conversation structures HR professionals and managers can use to support a wider career advancement plan for employees.

The 5 Ps structure career development around five dimensions, and provide HR with a ready-made structure for career coaching sessions. They are:

Employees may start feeling stuck in their career path, or uncertain about their next move. Drawn from career construction theory, the 4 Cs can help them navigate career transitions:

When an employee isn't advancing, the gap is usually in one of the following three areas. Identifying which one it is makes it much easier to design focused employee support:

A career advancement program gives your company a structured, repeatable approach to employee growth. Without one, advancement becomes ad hoc, dependent on individual manager effort, and uneven across the business. The checklist below can help get you started:

Career advancement strategies only work if you have the skills to execute them. This means knowing how to design clear career paths, align employee and business needs, use data to spot gaps, and build succession pipelines early. Employees are often already thinking about their professional futures. The question is whether you can show them a credible path forward within the business.

This is why you should build career frameworks managers can use, strengthen coaching and internal mobility practices, and track relevant metrics. AIHR's can teach you how to create talent pipelines, develop future leaders, and use talent data to improve career decisions. more

Anonymous member


Career development 6d
I’m in a difficult situation at work. We broke up with a guy from another department, we dated and even lived together for a year. Now it feels uncomfortable to see him at the office and in the kitchen. It’s also hard to deal with coworkers asking questions and showing sympathy about our breakup. I don’t want to change jobs, and I don’t have anywhere else to go.
How can I get coworkers to ask... fewer questions and make work feel more comfortable? Thank you

 more
4   

  • Nacita Moore

    1d

    Sorry to hear about your breakup. Just ask for privacy during this time. This is why a lot of employers discourage dating between employees. For this... very reason and many others aside from this. In all honesty it might be best to change jobs at this point. more

  • Phire Shines

    5d

    Let them know it’s a difficult or uncomfortable situation that you would like privacy to deal with.

Load more...

Career development

 1d

How Stay-at-Home Parents Can Confidently Go Back to School and Work by Michelle Hartman


Stay-at-home parents and other adult learners often reach a moment when returning to education and work feels necessary but also intimidating. Career re-entry challenges can bring real doubts: outdated skills, résumé gaps, fear of not belonging alongside younger classmates, and worries about how workforce reintegration will affect the family routine. For nontraditional students, the hardest part... is often figuring out where to start and what "ready" even means. With the right expectations and a clear direction, returning to education can feel manageable again.

Quick Summary: Returning to School and Work

● Clarify your goals so school and work choices fit your family and long-term plans.

● Choose affordable degree programs that build career-relevant skills you can use quickly.

● Balance education and entrepreneurship by aligning coursework with the business you want to start.

● Use simple time management routines to protect study time and keep daily responsibilities steady.

● Take practical steps toward a business startup while progressing through school with confidence.

Understanding a Career-Aligned, Flexible Program

To make school fit real life, start by matching your goal to a program that builds clear, marketable skills. A business administration path can strengthen budgeting, operations, and people skills, while tech-leaning options add data and digital fluency that many roles now expect. For faster momentum, look for competency-based education, an outcomes-based approach that focuses on what you can do, not just time spent in class.

Think of it like packing for a trip: you choose items for the weather and schedule, not random extras. You can also stack shorter credentials first, then build toward an information technology bachelor's degree without starting over. With your target skills clear, comparing affordable options becomes much simpler.

Affordable Education Options Side by Side

This quick comparison helps you weigh common, budget-aware ways to return to school while parenting. Focus on the tradeoffs that shape your day-to-day life: scheduling flexibility, total cost, and how easily each way connects to a job search.

Cost expectations matter, and many families feel online learning should be priced below in-person options. Pick the way that fits your childcare reality first, then confirm it supports your target role. Knowing which path fits best makes your next move clear.

Habits That Keep School, Work, and Home Steady.

Confidence grows when your plan survives real life: meals, naps, sick days, and surprise errands. These small habits reduce decision fatigue, protect your energy, and help you keep moving toward school and paid work without burning out.

Two-List Weekly Focus

● What it is: Pick three priorities, then list everything else as "later" using knowledge of what's important.

● How often: Weekly, plus a quick midweek refresh.

● Why it helps: It keeps your effort aimed at what moves you forward.

Minimum-Viable Study Session

● What it is: Do a 20-minute study sprint with one clear outcome.

● How often: Daily on weekdays, or four times weekly.

● Why it helps: Small wins build momentum even on chaotic parenting days.

Household Time-Block Swap

● What it is: Trade one protected block with a partner, friend, or sitter.

● How often: Weekly.

● Why it helps: Reliable time reduces last-minute stress and missed deadlines.

Weekly Career Micro-Step

● What it is: Complete one job action: resume bullet, application, or networking message.

● How often: Weekly.

● Why it helps: You connect learning to income and keep opportunities warm.

Non-Negotiable Recovery Ritual

● What it is: Schedule sleep, movement, or quiet time because self-care is necessary.

● How often: Daily.

● Why it helps: Recovery protects focus and patience for studying and parenting.

Turn School Plans Into a Clear Return-to-Work Path

Balancing caregiving with the pull to earn, learn, and stay present at home can make going back to school feel risky and overwhelming. A steady, community-first approach, grounded in motivational strategies, realistic goal setting for returners, and simple career planning for parents, keeps the decision practical instead of pressured. With that mindset, education becomes a career investment that fits real life, and progress starts to feel measurable, not mysterious. Small steps, taken consistently, build a confident return. This month, you can pick your next three moves: name one goal, do a brief career-and-schedule review, and take one concrete enrollment action. That send motion matters because it builds stability, resilience, and more choices for your family over time. 🔅 more

Career development

 1d

The Résumé Is Dead: What AI Startup CEOs Actually Want When They Hire


Forget your Ivy League diploma. Forget your perfectly formatted LinkedIn profile. And definitely forget the cover letter you had ChatGPT write for you -- they can tell.

A new generation of AI startup founders is rewriting the rules of hiring, and the criteria they care about would make a traditional HR department uncomfortable. Degrees? Optional. Years of experience? Largely irrelevant. The... ability to build something from nothing on a Saturday afternoon because you were curious? Now we're talking.

Business Insider recently surveyed a group of AI startup CEOs about what they actually look for when bringing someone onto their teams, and the answers reveal a hiring philosophy that has drifted far from the corporate mainstream. The consensus among these founders isn't just that traditional credentials are overrated -- it's that they can be actively misleading.

The shift is structural, not cosmetic. These companies are small, fast, and capital-constrained. A bad hire at a 15-person startup doesn't just cost money; it can derail a product cycle or poison a team's culture in weeks. So the founders have gotten ruthless about identifying what actually predicts performance. And what predicts performance, according to them, has almost nothing to do with where someone went to school.

Curiosity tops nearly every list. Not the polite, interview-answer version of curiosity -- the obsessive, borderline-annoying kind. The kind that leads someone to reverse-engineer a competitor's API on a weekend or teach themselves a new programming language because a problem they encountered demanded it. Several CEOs told Business Insider they specifically look for candidates who've built projects outside of work or school, things nobody asked them to build. Side projects. Open-source contributions. A weird app that solves a problem only twelve people have. These artifacts of genuine interest tell founders more than any résumé bullet point ever could.

Speed matters enormously. Not recklessness -- velocity with direction. One CEO described it as the ability to "ship things that work, fast, and then make them better." In AI, where the underlying models and capabilities shift every few months, the candidate who spends six weeks perfecting an architecture may find the ground has moved beneath them. The founders want people who can produce a working version quickly, gather feedback, and iterate. This bias toward speed over perfection is a philosophical stance, not just a practical one. It signals a belief that in the current moment, learning by doing beats learning by planning.

But raw technical skill, while necessary, isn't sufficient. Multiple founders emphasized what might be called taste -- an intuitive sense of what matters and what doesn't. In a field flooded with new tools, frameworks, and model releases every week, the ability to filter signal from noise is itself a core competency. One CEO compared it to being a great editor: knowing what to cut is as valuable as knowing what to write.

Communication keeps coming up, too. Not the polished presentation-skills kind. The clear-thinking kind. Founders want people who can explain a complex technical tradeoff in two sentences, who can write a concise Slack message that moves a decision forward, who don't hide behind jargon. At a small company, everyone is essentially selling -- to investors, to customers, to each other. The engineer who can't articulate why a particular approach is better than the alternatives becomes a bottleneck, no matter how talented they are at writing code.

Adaptability. That word surfaces constantly. The AI field's rate of change is genuinely unprecedented in recent tech history. A technique that was state-of-the-art eighteen months ago can be obsolete today. Founders are looking for people who don't just tolerate that instability but thrive in it. Candidates who've worked across multiple domains, picked up new stacks quickly, or pivoted careers entirely tend to score well here. The signal isn't expertise in any single technology -- it's a demonstrated pattern of learning fast and applying what you've learned.

There's also a pronounced bias toward builders over theorists. Several founders drew a sharp line between people who talk about AI and people who make things with it. The former group is large and growing; conference circuits are packed with them. The latter group is smaller and far more valuable. One telling hiring tactic: some startups now ask candidates to show them something they've built in the last 90 days. Not a portfolio piece from two years ago. Something recent. The request filters ruthlessly for people who are actively engaged with the technology as it exists right now, not as it existed when they last updated their résumé.

This hiring philosophy creates obvious tensions. It favors the young, the unencumbered, and the obsessive. Someone with family obligations and a stable job may not have weekends free to build side projects. Someone from a non-traditional background may not have the network to even learn that these startups exist, let alone apply. The meritocratic framing -- "we just want the best people" -- can obscure real structural advantages that accrue to those who already have time, money, and proximity to the tech industry's inner circles.

Some founders are aware of this. A few mentioned deliberately recruiting from non-obvious talent pools: bootcamp graduates, self-taught developers, career changers from fields like biology or finance who bring domain expertise that pure computer science graduates lack. The argument is pragmatic, not just ethical. Diverse cognitive backgrounds produce better products, especially in AI, where the applications span nearly every industry.

The interview process itself has changed at many of these companies. Traditional whiteboard coding exercises are falling out of favor. So are brain teasers and hypothetical system design questions. Instead, founders are gravitating toward paid trial projects -- short engagements, typically a few days to a week, where the candidate works on a real problem alongside the existing team. The trial reveals things no interview can: how someone communicates under ambiguity, how they handle feedback, whether they ask good questions, whether they actually enjoy the work or just enjoy talking about it.

Not everyone can afford to do a multi-day trial, of course. Candidates with other job offers or financial constraints may balk. But the founders who use this approach swear by it. One described traditional interviews as "theater" and trial projects as "reality." The hit rate, they claim, is dramatically higher.

Compensation structures at these startups reflect the same unconventional thinking. Equity-heavy packages are common, with the implicit message: we're betting on you, and we want you to bet on us. Base salaries at early-stage companies often trail what a candidate could earn at Google or Meta. The pitch is upside -- the chance that the equity will be worth multiples of the salary differential if the company succeeds. It's a self-selecting mechanism. Candidates who optimize for guaranteed cash tend to go to big tech. Candidates who optimize for ownership and impact tend to stay.

The broader labor market context matters here. Despite waves of layoffs at large tech companies over the past two years, demand for AI talent remains fierce. The supply of people who can genuinely build production-grade AI systems -- not just fine-tune a model in a Jupyter notebook but architect, deploy, and maintain something at scale -- is still small relative to the demand. This scarcity gives candidates leverage and forces startups to compete on dimensions beyond salary: mission, team quality, speed of learning, autonomy.

Autonomy is a big one. Multiple founders described their organizations as places where new hires are given real responsibility from day one. No six-month onboarding. No shadow period. You're shipping code to production in your first week, sometimes your first day. For the right kind of person, this is intoxicating. For the wrong kind, it's terrifying. And that's precisely the point -- the structure itself acts as a filter.

There's an irony embedded in all of this. AI companies, whose products are increasingly used to screen and evaluate job candidates at other organizations, are themselves rejecting the algorithmic, credential-based approach to hiring. They don't want to see your keyword-optimized résumé. They want to see your GitHub. They don't care about your GPA. They care about your taste, your speed, and your obsession.

Whether this hiring philosophy scales is an open question. What works at a 10-person startup may not work at a 500-person company. The trial-project approach becomes logistically complex at volume. The emphasis on side projects and weekend hacking can calcify into its own form of credentialism, just as exclusionary as the Ivy League pipeline it claims to replace. And the cult-of-the-builder mentality can undervalue essential functions -- sales, operations, legal -- that don't produce a demo-able artifact.

But for now, in the companies building the most consequential technology of this decade, the old playbook is being tossed. The founders running these teams have a clear, almost uniform message for candidates: show us what you've made. Tell us what you're obsessed with. Prove you can learn faster than the field is moving. Everything else is noise. more

Career development

 1d

The Quiet Death of the Résumé: Why Hiring Managers Are Drowning in AI-Generated Applications They Can't Trust


Something broke in hiring. Not gradually, not with warning -- it just stopped working. The traditional job application process, built on the assumption that a human being sat down and wrote a cover letter, tailored a résumé, and clicked submit, has been overwhelmed by a flood of AI-generated applications so vast and so polished that recruiters can no longer tell who's real.

The problem surfaced... in a Hacker News discussion this week that quickly drew hundreds of comments from hiring managers, recruiters, and job seekers alike. The thread centered on a growing crisis: applicants are using large language models to mass-produce tailored applications, and the people on the receiving end are buckling under the volume. One commenter described receiving over 900 applications for a single mid-level engineering role, with the vast majority appearing to be AI-generated. Another reported that candidates who submitted eloquent, technically detailed cover letters couldn't string together a coherent sentence in a phone screen.

This isn't a fringe complaint. It's an industry-wide reckoning.

The mechanics are straightforward. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and a growing number of purpose-built job application bots can take a job listing, parse its requirements, and generate a customized résumé and cover letter in seconds. Some applicants are going further, using browser automation tools to apply to hundreds of positions per day without reading a single job description. The cost of applying has dropped to nearly zero. And when the cost of applying drops to zero, the number of applications explodes -- a textbook economic externality that's now crushing the people responsible for sorting through the pile.

Hiring managers in the Hacker News thread described a new daily reality that feels almost adversarial. "I used to read every cover letter," one wrote. "Now I skim for tells that a human wrote it, and I'm wrong half the time." Several commenters noted that they've started ignoring cover letters entirely, which perversely punishes the applicants who actually took the time to write one. The signal-to-noise ratio has collapsed.

The downstream effects are significant. Companies are responding with more screening layers -- take-home assignments, timed coding challenges, video introductions, even requests for handwritten application components. Each additional hurdle is designed to filter out low-effort AI-generated submissions. But each one also raises the cost for legitimate applicants, particularly those who are employed full-time while searching for new roles. The arms race is making the process worse for everyone.

And it's not just tech. Recruiters across industries -- finance, marketing, consulting, healthcare administration -- are reporting the same pattern. A Reuters report on AI's impact on labor markets noted earlier this year that HR departments are investing in AI detection tools, only to find them unreliable. The detectors produce false positives on genuine human writing and miss sophisticated AI output that's been lightly edited. It's a cat-and-mouse game with no clear winner.

Some companies have tried radical solutions. A few startups mentioned in the Hacker News thread have abandoned résumés altogether, replacing them with structured application forms that ask specific, hard-to-fake questions about past work. Others are leaning heavily on referrals, effectively closing the front door to anyone who doesn't already know someone inside. That approach works for well-connected candidates. For everyone else, it's a wall.

The referral-heavy model has obvious equity implications. Candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, career changers, immigrants, and people without elite professional networks are disproportionately harmed when companies retreat behind closed doors. The open application -- for all its current dysfunction -- was at least theoretically meritocratic. Replacing it with a who-you-know system doesn't solve the problem. It relocates it.

There's a philosophical tension here that the tech industry hasn't fully confronted. The same companies building and promoting large language models are the ones struggling to hire because of them. OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta -- they've created tools that are now being used to game the very processes they rely on to find talent. Several Hacker News commenters pointed out the irony with varying degrees of bitterness.

One particularly sharp observation in the thread came from a commenter who noted that the hiring process was already broken before AI. "We had keyword-matching ATS systems that rejected qualified candidates for years," they wrote. "AI applicants are just the mirror image of AI screeners. The whole thing was dehumanized long ago." There's truth in that. Applicant tracking systems have been filtering out résumés based on keyword density and formatting for over a decade. Candidates learned to game those systems by stuffing keywords into white text. Now they're gaming them with generative AI. The tools changed. The incentives didn't.

So where does this go?

Some observers believe the résumé is effectively dead as a useful hiring document. If anyone can generate a perfect one in seconds, it conveys no information about the candidate's actual abilities, communication skills, or work ethic. It becomes a formality -- a ticket to the next round, nothing more. The real evaluation shifts entirely to interviews, work samples, and trial periods. That's not necessarily bad, but it's expensive. Small companies and startups, which already struggle to compete for talent against large employers, may find the increased cost of thorough screening prohibitive.

Others think the answer lies in verified credentials and portable reputation systems. Platforms like LinkedIn have experimented with skill assessments and endorsements, but these have been widely gamed as well. GitHub profiles offer some signal for software engineers, but they favor those with time for open-source contributions -- again, a biased proxy. A few blockchain-based credential verification startups have emerged, but none has achieved meaningful adoption.

The most pragmatic voices in the Hacker News discussion suggested that companies simply need to accept the new reality and redesign their processes from scratch. Stop asking for cover letters. Stop pretending résumés are meaningful differentiators. Instead, invest in structured interviews with standardized scoring rubrics. Use paid trial projects. Ask candidates to walk through real work they've done, in real time, with follow-up questions that can't be pre-scripted. These methods are harder to fake and more predictive of job performance. They're also more expensive and time-consuming, which is why most companies haven't adopted them.

There's a labor market asymmetry at play too. In a tight market where employers are desperate for talent, they'll tolerate the noise. In a soft market -- like the one many tech workers are experiencing right now -- the power shifts to employers, and candidates bear the full cost of a broken system. The current moment is particularly brutal for job seekers. Layoffs across the tech sector have flooded the market with experienced professionals competing for fewer openings. Add AI-generated application spam to the mix, and individual candidates feel invisible.

"I spent three hours on a custom application for a role I was genuinely excited about," one Hacker News commenter wrote. "I didn't even get an automated rejection. Just silence. Meanwhile, someone probably submitted 200 AI-generated apps that day and got five callbacks." The frustration is palpable. And rational. If the system rewards volume over quality, quality applicants will either adopt the same tactics or drop out.

That's the real danger. Not that AI makes applications easier to write, but that it destroys the information content of the application itself. When every candidate looks perfect on paper, paper stops mattering. The question is what replaces it.

Right now, nobody has a good answer. The tools are ahead of the institutions. Companies are improvising, candidates are adapting, and the whole apparatus of matching people to jobs -- one of the most consequential functions in any economy -- is operating on assumptions that no longer hold. The résumé, that sturdy artifact of 20th-century professionalism, may have finally outlived its usefulness. What comes next will be messier, more expensive, and possibly more honest. But the transition is going to hurt. more

Career development

 1d

AI Placement Readiness Platform


I need an AI developer to build a full-stack platform that helps college students, job seekers gauge and improve their placement readiness in the software industry. The engine has to ingest a student's résumé, skills inventory, and mock-interview recordings, then surface clear, actionable feedback. Core feature set * Résumé quality analysis that benchmarks ATS ranking, highlights formatting... issues, pinpoints weak content or grammar, and suggests exact wording or structure changes to lift the score. * Skill-alignment module that runs gap analysis against chosen job roles, generates personalized learning paths, blends in expert recommendations, and overlays current industry outlook so students know which competencies to prioritize. * Interview-performance evaluation -- video or audio -- using NLP, sentiment, and facial-cue detection to score confidence, clarity, and technical depth, followed by improvement tips. Tech expectations I am open to your preferred stack, but you should be comfortable with modern LLMs (OpenAI or similar), résumé-parsing libraries, standard ATS keyword taxonomies, and basic computer-vision / audio-analysis frameworks. A modular microservice design with clean APIs will make future expansion easier. Deliverables 1. Working web application (responsive) with student and admin dashboards 2. Model pipelines for résumé, skills, and interview analysis, each exposed via REST or GraphQL 3. Clear documentation and a hand-off session Acceptance criteria * Résumé module returns an ATS-style score and at least three concrete fixes per upload * Skill module maps current profile to target role within 10 seconds and outputs a learning path * Interview module processes a five-minute video in under two minutes and produces a scored report If you have shipped ed-tech or HR-tech AI products before, please share a link or brief description. I am ready to start as soon as we finalize milestones and timeline. more

Career development

 2d

Revamp My LinkedIn Experience


I'm refreshing my LinkedIn presence and want the Experience section to read like an engaging story -- not a dry résumé. My background spans several corporate roles; the raw facts are there, but the copy needs tightening, reorganising and infusing with a conversational, approachable voice while still sounding credible to senior‐level audiences. Here's what I need from you: * A rewritten Experience... section for each role (currently five positions, 100-150 words per role) that highlights key achievements, impact, and metrics where I provide them. * Concise, keyword-aware phrasing that aligns with LinkedIn's search algorithm yet feels natural to human readers. * A short headline sentence for every position to hook visitors immediately. * Two rounds of revisions after the first draft so we can fine-tune tone and clarity. I'll supply my current profile text, dates, responsibilities, and any measurable results. You transform that information into compelling, on-brand copy ready to paste straight into LinkedIn. If you've crafted standout corporate profiles before, especially using a friendly storytelling style, I'd love to see samples when you respond. more