Catch 22

What does one do when career wise you are not going anywhere? What if you are exactly where you were a year ago and nothing has changed?
Nowadays it is really hard to find a job that is actually what you want, what you studied for, what you are passionate about. Instead you are either stuck in a mediocre job that you hate or you are unemployed.

It is catch 22! They want you to have on the job experience but how do you get experience if no one gives you a job?
According to recent data 881,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed in December 2013 to February 2014.

Apparently the reasons for this are four:
Financial Crisis: Graduate recruiters have recruited less because of the financial crisis of 2007–2010.
Public sector cuts: The cuts to the public sector have also affected young people.
Lack of qualifications: A report by Centre links youth unemployment and poor results in GCSE English and Maths.
Lack of experience: Recruiters becoming more risk averse and looking to recruit more experienced older staff.

Regardless of the cause how do you tackle this problem?
Clearly by creating more job opportunities for young people and NOT I repeat NOT offering them internships which they do for free or apprenticeships which they do for coins. 

What annoys me personally when applying for jobs is the fact that employers don’t provide you with any feedback on your job application instead they send you a generic e-mail in which they don’t even bother to address you by name. And yet you are expected to have done your research on the company and tailor your CV and cover letter to fit the job description.


Let’s brainstorm here for a second, if a candidate is applying for a job that they really want and have been rejected what is the thing to do here? Probably continue looking for jobs, but what if this keeps happening and you don’t know what you are doing wrong? Well, I am sorry but you would never know because “Due to the high volume of applicants we cannot provide individual feedback”. 
How come employers don’t understand that feedback from them is much more valuable and useful to job seekers than a review by the JobCentre?

If you are looking to excel within a certain sphere and you keep being rejected but you don’t know what you are doing wrong, what do you do? I am seriously asking here, what do you do?

How long does a New Year’s resolution last?

It’s a New Year, the time for new beginnings, changes and maybe resolutions. Every year we tend to promise something to ourselves that we don’t usually keep. We say things like “Next year I am going to exercise more or eat healthily or will open that pastry shop that I have been dreaming about”. Newsflash it won’t happen. Most people have broken their promises by now due to different reasons.
The sooner we accept that the faster we can move to the things that we will actually accomplish this year such as spending less time with our families and more on the laptop. More time on Facebook, Twitter, etc. than having real live conversations with the people next to us.

What saddens me is that people prefer virtual contact more and more instead of face to face one. Like it wasn't happening a lot before but now with technology developing everyday it feels like we are going to lose sense of reality. The predictions for 2014 are that the Internet will have a greater reach than the television and most telephone calls will be made via the Internet.

With these tech advancements what can we expect? I would like to focus on the positive side such as having access to the greatest tool on Earth- Information. It is everywhere, you can access it from your pocket,  it’s amazing. Now, calm down. Yes, indeed having access to information everywhere you go is fantastic but as I mentioned in my previous post it makes you use your brain less and less.
However, let’s hope that with the new education reform at least the future generations will have the chance to survive this tech chaos and will speak to their parents not only via Facebook but also in person.

Happy New Year folks!

Is tech making us dumb?

According to a recent research  young people today have worst memory than their parents. Additionally we also have very high levels of forgetfulness which is caused by our high reliance on the Internet.
Nowadays many people see Google as their primary source for information and an addition to their intelligence. This comes as no surprise as we are constantly using our smartphones, tablets etc. more and more on the go as a source of knowledge which prevents us from using our brains.
Imagine the scenario you are on a date and you have a debate over Labour’s position on the education reform. Even if you don’t have a clue who is the education secretary this is nothing to worry about. Google is here to save the day.

Step 1: Excuse yourself to the bathroom. Step 2: Take your smartphone out and run a very quick check on Labour’s position on the education reform. Step 3: Return to the table and show how much smarter you are once your bladder is empty.  Step 4: Change the topic and hope there won’t be any more ‘inappropriate’ questions as your date may end up thinking you have a urinary tract infection and attempt to take you to the hospital. Which will probaly ruin the date.
There is no doubt about our dependence on the Internet. It is a massive part of our generation and for the future ones. What is unfortunate is that the new era of information technology is making us less creative and more muddled.  It has put into place a permanent change in the way our brain maps information, how it retains it, which parts are used how and even the size of the brain is going through a metamorphosis.

Life has become more complex but we hardly ever notice it because technology has made complexity simpler than ever. According to a Harvard researcher “Using Google gives people the sense that the internet has become part of their own cognitive tool set”.
What exactly is going on here? Wasn’t technology, the Net, Google and all other tools supposed to make us smarter?
We are not becoming more stupid. Technology isn’t the villain here. Innovation and creativity won’t die a brutal death. We are just evolving as human beings, we always have. For years, the human brain and the way it functions has remained almost the same. The human brain today is very different from the time man was a hunter-gatherer, but for many years since civilisation it has stagnated.
The truth of the matter is that technology and the information highway is the greatest gift to mankind, nonetheless we should not rely on the internet for everything and must try and use our brains every once in a while.

The Grinch did not steal Christmas, the smartphone did

It’s that time of the year when everybody starts shopping for Christmas gifts for their loved ones. In an attempt to buy the best and beat whatever we bought last year, we forget what is actually important. However, Christmas shopping has become increasingly difficult in the past few years.

If before you were able to get away with buying an alarm clock, a voice recorder, or even a camera, well you can’t do that anymore. The smartphone combines all these functions and even more.

The smartphone in its essence is a general-purpose computer. It can be used to switch lights on and off, to turn on your oven and even to open your garage.  It is pretty obvious that very soon the smartphone will take over any sort of function that can be digitised or computerised.

The classic Christmas gift, books are becoming out of date as well; you can read everything on your phone now. App stores are constantly launching new apps, which makes the smartphone take more and more time of our lives whether for something creative or just to kill time.

Therefore if you are looking to buy a gadget for your loved ones you really need to think well outside the box.  Not to worry there are still loads of sites that would offer you useless gadgets at reasonable prices.

Having said all that, it is not all about giving flashy gifts, Christmas is about being with your family and letting them know how much you appreciate and care about them. Hopefully you don’t do this only once a year but all the time.

More Lady Geeks Please

Women in technology, is it an oxymoron?

The answer should be a big, loud  ‘No’. However, there are still very small numbers of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In the UK, women make up 49% of labour force and just 17% work in technology.
Considering girls do better than boys in science subjects, for the academic year 2011/2012 only 18% females undertook a technology related course.

The question remains: why don’t women pursue careers in these fields?
According to Paul Breslin, web developer at Dhalco Web Solutions, there are not enough female role models in technology. “There is Dana Wollman, Managing Editor of Engadget and Marissa Mayer, President and CEO of Yahoo but there aren’t many others. It is important that there are more female role models in STEM, so that girls see it as a fitting career. Another thing is the stereotype that IT and web development is a masculine field.”

From a female point of view, Jo Johal, Operations Manager at Dhalco, a web solutions company, thinks: “Women believe that working in tech will mean being in a predominantly male environment. Which will on the other hand make them feel uncomfortable. Another reason is the stereotype that ‘men are better in IT’ which makes females believe that they don’t match the criteria. The third reason, doesn’t come as much of a surprise, women don’t find IT interesting.”

Having more women in STEM is essential. They are often great communicators and life without the dynamic of having a mixture of men and women in the workforce will be boring. Diversity in the workplace is essential for generating great ideas and drive innovation.

The Harvard Business Review has calculated that technology companies with more women on their management teams have 34% higher return of investment. The explanation is simple- diversity. Variety in the work place is important for every industry but it is especially relevant when it comes to technology. Tech is the way people communicate with each other thus tech products must appeal to as many people as possible of both genders. For that, women and men must be in the same room.

All this being said, in Helen Cczerski’s article for The Guardian The view that computers are technology but sewing isn't is a sexist stitch-up, becomes clear that women are more technologically advanced than they think or care to take pride for.

Women and gadgets, must be true love

Gadgets have always been considered to be a male dominated space. Males are assumed to be the ones more interested in the latest smartphone and tablet trends whereas stereotypically women care more about clothes and accessories. The confusion probably comes from the fact that men’s magazines are filled with advertisements about the latest tech, whereas women’s magazines tend to be more focused on shoes. But what is evident is that women buy and use more gadgets than men.

According to a study entitled “Women + Mobile: The Unbreakable Bond” conducted by Time Inc. and Nuance Digital Marketing, 60 per cent of women indicated that the smartphone is the most important device in a woman’s life. It also found out that 87 per cent of the 1200 female participants couldn’t imagine life without their smartphones.

Gadgets are defined by their originality, indulgences and simplicity. Their function can be done manually or by a less flashy and cheaper item but the ultimate reason we use gadgets is the convenience. They can free up time or be fun to use.

Contrary to the popular belief women are more technology advanced and form a huge part of the market. they also have more money to spend on gadgets as they are earning and spending more than ever before. Females account for around 85 per cent of all consumer purchases and they also dominate online shopping.

 

Having said that, why is it that electronics are mainly promoted towards men?

In the rare occasion when tech is actually targeted at women manufacturers tend to overcompensate. For whatever reason they believe that putting some glitter and making it pink will make it a must-have for every female gadget shopper. Women like nice things as much as men do, they don’t go for items that are purported to be “for women”.

Gadgets take up a huge part of both men and women’s life. This tendency will continue to grow in the future. What we could hope for is for less glittery, hello kitty keyboards and tablets and more smart and convenient oriented gadgetry.

Remember

Dear Child,

Remember in life it is hard to determine your future and what will happen to you. You will fall but make sure that there will always be someone who will pick you up. This is your responsibility you need to make sure that you have people that will always watch your back.
One of the hardest things that you will have to do is to find out what you want to do and to do everything in your power to accomplish it. It will be hard, sometimes you will think it is impossible but it is not, you just have to try really hard and to keep trying until you succeed. They say the end justifies the means but not always child. You shouldn't do immoral things to accomplish your dreams and try not to hurt anyone on your way to the top. 
And last but not least remember never to loose the kid inside you. Try to keep a piece of Peter Pan in you even when you are really you old and have kids of your own.