You're Only 5 Degrees of Separation Away From Kevin Bacon

Last Friday I wrote a post that included the topic "Six Degrees of Separation." I went back through the archives and found a post I had written on the subject. With the use of Social Media we now have more clarity into the whole "Small World" concept. After reading the article ask yourself, how far removed from your next employer are you?

Connect Marlon Brando with Kevin Bacon, ok.... go! So Brando was in Apocalypse Now which starred Martin Sheen who played Queenan in The Departed which also starred Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo played Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can beside of Tom Hanks who once co-starred with Kevin Bacon in Apollo 13. 

So maybe I could do better at this game. Facebook and the University of Milan has announced that on average we are only 5 (4.74 actually) degrees away from anybody in the world. It was Stanley Milgram who first introduced the concept that we were 5.2, or  six "hops" away from anybody in the world. 

Milgram's 1967 "small world experiment" drew on 296 while Facebook was able to utilize it's 721 million active user database, which is more than 10 percent of the world's population. Facebook found that 99.6% of all users are connected by paths with 5 degrees (6 hops) and 92% are connected by only 4 degrees. These percentages were based on global users but when focusing on a single country the average falls to 3.

The internet has created a more connected world but Facebook took credit for helping us get more connected.

"And as Facebook has grown over the years, representing an ever larger fraction of the global population, it has become steadily more connected," the network said in a blog announcing its finding. "The average distance in 2008 was 5.28 hops, while now it is 4.74."

Facebook was willing to point out that there are differences in its study and the on Milgram conducted.

 It is important to note that while Milgram was motivated by the same question (how many individuals separate any two people), these numbers are not directly comparable; his subjects only had limited knowledge of the social network, while we have a nearly complete representation of the entire thing. Our measurements essentially describe the shortest possible routes that his subjects could have found.

Have any interesting stories on the "Six degrees of separation" game or being connected to any celebrities? Let us know!

Get To Know People

I don't agree a hundred percent it's not what you know but who you know. When you hear that phrase thrown around, sometimes it's used as an excuse. People think that they're not lucky enough to know the right people. Or maybe their parents weren't in the right social circles. Plenty of people have used who their daddy knew, the southern way of saying it, but who YOU know can be significantly more effective.

Now the complaint may be that you haven't been building your network of influential people during the past 10 years. That's not an issue since you likely know someone today who can introduce you to someone who is more influential.

Below is an article written by Adam Gotesfeld describing the results of Timothy Ferriss' challenge to Princeton students to contact the most hard to reach people.

Most Princeton students love to procrastinate in writing their dean’s date [term] papers. Ryan Marrinan ’07, from Los Angeles, was no exception. But while the majority of undergraduates fill their time by updating their Facebook profiles or watching videos on YouTube, Marrinan was discussing Soto Zen Buddhism via e-mail with Randy Komisar, a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and asking Google CEO Eric Schmidt ’76 via e-mail when he had been happiest in his life. (Schmidt’s answer: “Tomorrow.”)

Prior to his e-mail, Marrinan had never contacted Komisar. He had met Schmidt, at Princeton University trustee, only briefly at an academic affairs meeting of the trustees in November. A self-described “naturally shy kind,” Marrinan said he would never have dared to randomly e-mail two of the most powerful men in Silicon Valley if it weren’t for Tim Ferriss ’00, who offered a guest lecture in Professor Ed Zschau ’61’s ELE 491 “High-Tech Entrepreneurship” class. Ferriss challenged Marrinan and his fellow seniors in the class to contact high-profile celebrities and CEOs and get their answers to questions they have always wanted to ask.

For extra incentive, Ferriss promised the student who could contact the most hard-to-reach name and ask the most intriguing question a round-trip plane ticket anywhere in the world.

“I believe that success can be measured in the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have. I felt that if I could help students overcome the fear rejection with cold-calling and cold e-mail, it would serve them forever,” Ferriss said. “It’s easy to sell yourself short, but when you see classmates getting responses from people like [former president] George Bush, the CEOs of Disney, Comcast, Google, and HP, and dozens of other impossible-to-reach people, it forces you to reconsider your self-set limitations.”… Ferriss lectures to the students of “High-Tech Entrepreneurship” each semester about creating a startup and designing the ideal lifestyle.

“I participate in this contest every day,” said Ferriss. “I do what I always do: find a personal e-mail if possible, often through their little-known personal blogs, send a two- to three-paragraph e-mail which explains that you are familiar with their work, and ask one simple-to-answer but thought-provoking question in that e-mail related to their work or life philosophies. The goal is to start a dialogue so they take the time to answer future e-mails – not to ask for help. That can only come after at least three or four genuine e-mail exchanges.”

With “textbook execution of the Tim Ferriss Technique,” as he put it, Marrinan was able to strike up a bond with Komisar. In his initial e-mail, he talked about reading one of Komisar’s Harvard Business Review articles and feeling inspired to ask him, “When were you happiest in your life?” After Komisar replied with references to Tibetan Buddhism, Marrinan responded, “Just as words are inadequate to explain true happiness, so too are words inadequate to express my thanks.” His e-mail included his personal translation of a French poem by Taisen Deshimaru, the former European head of Soto Zen. An e-mail relationship was formed, and Komisar even e-mailed Marrinan a few days later with a link to a New York Times article on happiness.

Contacting Schmidt proved more challenging. For Marrinan, the toughest part was getting Schmidt’s personal e-mail address. He e-mailed a Princeton dean asking for it. No response. Two weeks later, he e-mailed the same dean again, defending his request by reminding her that he had previously met Schmidt. The dean said no, but Marrinan refused to give up. He e-mailed her a third time. “Have you ever made an exception?” he asked. The dean finally gave in, he said, and provided him with Schmidt’s e-mail.

“I know some of my classmates pursued the alternative scattershot technique with some success, but that’s not my bag,” Marrinan said, explaining his perseverance. “I deal with rejection by persisting, not by taking my business elsewhere. My maxim comes from Samuel Beckett, a personal hero of mine: ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ You won’t believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better.”

Nathan Kaplan ’07, another participant in the contest. was most proud of the way that he was able to contact former Newark mayor Sharpe James. Because James had made a campaign contribution to Al Sharpton, the website www.fundrace.org listed James’ homes address. Kaplan then input James’ address into an online search-by-address phone directory, through which he received the former mayor’s phone number. Kaplan left a message for James, and a few days later finally got to ask him about childhood education.

Ferriss is proud of the effort students have put into his contest. “Most people can do absolutely awe-inspiring things,” he said. “Sometimes they just need a little nudge.”

Adam Gottesfeld ’07, a Woodrow Wilson School major, is from Los Angeles.

After reading this article personally, I was encouraged in contacting those on my list. We don't have be hampered by what doesn't exist. If you don't have those special connections then make them.

A great way of connecting with people fast is to attend networking events. It may take a visit or two but your face will become familiar and you will start learning who has similar interests as you. Just don't create excuses out of things that can be fixed.

12 Things Killer Employees (or achievers) Do Before Noon

This article originally appeared at www.businessinsider.com | Authored by Jada A. Graves

A recent study published in an American Psychological Association journal, Emotion, suggests that early birds are generally happier than night owls.

More than 700 respondents, ranging from ages 17 to 79, were surveyed and asked about their emotional state, health, and preferred time of day.

Self-professed "morning people" reported feeling happier and healthier than night owls. Researchers hypothesize that one of the reasons could be because society caters to a morning person's schedule.

It's certainly true that the working world does. Working "9-to-5" is more than an expression, but a standard shift for many Americans. It also stands to reason that those who like rising with the sun are also the most productive employees in the office.

Do you want to be more like them? Then take note of the tasks these high-functioning, productive, and more awake employees have completed before lunch:

1. They make a work to-do list the day before. Many swear by having a written to-do list, but not everyone agrees on when you need to compose it. According to Andrew Jensen, a business efficiency consultant with Sozo Firm in Shrewsbury, Pa., the opportune time to plan a day's tasks is the night before. "Some people like to do the to-do schedule in the morning, but then they might have already lost office time writing it out," he says. "It helps to do that to-do schedule the night before. It also will help you sleep better.

[In Pictures: 10 Ways to Boost Work Productivity.]

2. They get a full night's rest. Speaking of sleeping better ... lack of sleep affects your concentration level, and therefore, your productivity. Whatever your gold standard is for a "good night's rest," strive to meet it every work night. Most health experts advise getting a minimum eight hours of shut-eye each night.

3. They avoid hitting snooze. Petitioning for nine more minutes, then nine more, then another nine is a slippery slope that leads to falling back asleep and falling behind on your morning prep. Ultimately it also leads to lateness. "Anyone can be made into a morning person," Jensen says. "Anyone can make morning their most productive time. It could be that for the entire week, you set your alarm clock a little bit earlier, and you get out of bed on the first alarm. It may be a pain at first, but eventually you'll get to the point where you're getting your seven to eight hours of sleep at night, you're waking up with all your energy, and accomplishing the things around the house you need to before going to the office."

4. They exercise. Schedule your Pilates class for the a.m. instead of after work. "Exercise improves mood and energy levels," Jensen says. Not only that, but "there have been studies done on employees who've exercised before work or during the work day. Those employees have been found to have better time-management skills, and an improved mental sharpness. ... Those same studies found these workers are more patient with their peers."

5. They practice a morning ritual. Jensen also recommends instituting a morning routine aside from your exercise routine. Whether you opt to meditate, read the newspaper, or surf the Web, Jensen says "it's important to have that quiet time with just you."

6. They eat breakfast. Food provides the fuel you'll need to concentrate, and breakfast is particularly important since it recharges you after you've fasted all night. Try munching on something light and healthy in the morning, and avoid processed carbs that could zap your energy.

7. They arrive at the office on time. This one is obvious, right? Getting a full night's rest and keeping your sticky fingers off the snooze button should make No. 7 a cakewalk. If you're not a new employee, then you've already figured out the length of your average commute. Allot a safe amount of time to make it to work on schedule.

8. They check in with their boss and/or employees. We all know the cliche about the whole only being as good as the sum of its parts. In other words, if your closest work associates aren't productive, then neither are you. Good workers set priorities that align with their company's goals, and they're transparent about their progress.

9. They tackle the big projects first. You can dive right into work upon arriving in the office, since you made your to-do list the night before. And Jensen suggests starting with the hardest tasks. "Don't jump into meaningless projects when you're at your mental peak for the day," he says.

10. They avoid morning meetings. If you have any say on meeting times, schedule them in the afternoon. "You should use your prime skills during the prime time of the day. I believe that mornings are the most productive time," Jensen says, also noting that an employer who schedules morning meetings could rob his or her employees of their peak performance, and ultimately cost the company.

The exception to this, he adds, is if your meeting is the most important task of the day. "Sometimes you have to schedule a crucial meeting, or a client meeting, in which case you'd want to plan for a time when employees are at their peak."

11. They allot time for following up on messages. Discern between mindless email/voicemail checking and conducting important business. Jensen's company, Sozo Firm, advises clients that checking their inbox every couple of minutes takes time away from important tasks. Instead, set a schedule to check and respond to email in increments. Consider doing so at the top of each hour, to ensure that clients and colleagues receive prompt responses from you.

[See How to Use Your Work Email Efficiently.]

12. They take a mid-morning break. Get up and stretch your legs. Or stay seated and indulge in a little Internet surfing. According to Jensen, it's actually good to zone out on Facebook and Twitter or send a personal text message or two. "You should take 10-minute breaks occasionally," he says. "Companies that ban any kind of Facebook [use], texting, or personal calls can find it will be detrimental. Those practices increase employee satisfaction."

Just be sure not to abuse the privilege. "The best employees will respect their employer's time, and the worst-performing employees will find a way to waste time even if the company forbids personal Internet use," Jensen explains.

Read more: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/08/08/12-things-killer-employees-do-before-noon#ixzz23k5rdwy5

Maintaining Success In Your Job Search

Searching for a new job can be a difficult and exhausting process. Just as an athlete plans, practice, and strives, so must you to maintain a path to success. Continuing the athletic theme, plan, practice, and persevere.

Plan

Regardless of whether you have a job or not, finding either the time or the motivation will be a persistent challenge. During the course of the day you will be bombarded by numerous interruptions and before you know it, it will be tomorrow. Make sure that you plan your work and work your plan.

Planning will not only protect you from procrastination but it will also drown out feelings of fear and doubt. When you have a plan you can focus on what's truly important, actions. Most people will focus on results and when those results don't come they will likely give up.

Practice

To steer a car, you have to press the accelerator and move forward. Have a plan and a strategy but don't let creating a plan as a way to procrastinate. Quickly develop your game plan and then go through with it. You will likely stumble which is ok. Just make sure that when you stumble, you understand why and then make adjustments accordingly. Then you do it again, again, and again.

Persevere

It's a tough market and it may take a little while to get the job you want. But don't give up! Think positively and feed your mind with motivational reading (make sure it's quality). I recommend that you read two books. The first is "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Vincent Norman Peale and the second is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill. They're a little dated but timeless material none the less.

Just a disclaimer: I do get rewarded by Amazon if click the links above. However if you like the site and enjoy the content then what better way to support us! Also, don't let money be a hindrance to your edification. Don't forget that your local library can be a great resource that doesn't cost a dime. Unless you're late on returning your books.

You will be amazed if you focus just one week on improving your mental outlook. Surround yourself with people that build you up and don't tear you down. And if you ever need  a quick word of encouragement then please email me! After all, we all need some encouragement sometime.

Don't Let Fear Derail Your Job Search

Fear comes in all shapes and forms and it can happen to even the best of us. Some may have the fear of being so exposed during an interview or it could be that fear having to "sell" themselves. For most however, the fear of failure leads the way.

Why is this so pervasive among so many people? Frankly, failing is uncomfortable. We don't want others to see us fail. We avoid situations where we may fail so that nay-sayers don't have an opportunity to say "told ya so." But when we avoid failure, we avoid the opportunity to learn.

Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times before the light bulb worked. Mark Cuban, Internet mogul and current owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was fired from computer software sales job. Even George Washington had failure after failure during his professional and military career. Don't fear failure, just make sure you learn from it when it happens.

There are a couple of ways to reduce the fear of failure. Always make sure that you are as prepared as you can be. When you prepare you will feel more confidant about the course of action you're taking. Although, make sure that you don't use preparing as a way to procrastinate. Many people fall victim to analysis paralysis.

Practice is another great weapon to fight against the fear of failure. It's just like working a muscle, the more you do it the easier it will get. Novice sales reps are sometimes encouraged to call on incompatible customers. The object isn't to make a sale but to become comfortable with presenting their sales presentation.

If you want further encouragement, check out the video below. It's about 8 minutes long and talks very candidly about success being born from failure. Enjoy!

What Resume Items Can Kill My Chances at Getting a New Job?

This article first appeared on Lifehacker and was written by Alan Henry.

When it comes to your resume, less is often more—but if you ask a dozen career counselors what they think you should include and what you should leave off, you'll get a dozen long-winded answers. Let's tackle some things we think you should definitely omit if you want to get your foot in the door.

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Long, Unnecessary Objective Statements

The objective statement is dead. Seriously—if you're tweaking every copy of your resume for each job you're applying for, then your objective should be "To get this job," not some generic, vague statement about the general type of job or opportunity you want. Pull this off of your resume and use that space for more relevant details about your work experience or accomplishments that'll help you land the job you're actually applying for. Photo by marshillonline.

Unwanted Personal Details

Be careful including things like your marital or familial status, religion, or other personal details on your resume that the potential employer could get in trouble for asking you—they may shy away from your resume for fear that someone will assume they've asked for this information. However, if you worked for years at your local church or a charity doing relevant work for the job you're applying to, by all means you should keep it on your resume. Even if you volunteered and it's applicable, put it on there—the fact that it's applicable is more important than anything else.

Every Single Job You've Ever Had

If you're applying to be a systems analyst at a technology startup, they probably don't care that you were a delivery guy for Domino's when you were in college, unless that's somehow relevant to the work you'll be doing at the startup. Keep irrelevant details and jobs off of your resume—especially if they have no relevance to your entire field, much less the job at hand. To that point, while there's no hard and fast rule on how long your resume should be, try to keep your resume as compact as it needs to be. I know, you may be tired of hearing that line, but a good rule of thumb is to only include details that are important for your field, then do another pass and make sure your details are critical to the job you're applying to. If your resume is three or four pages long (or more—I saw a resume that was 18 pages once) you need to trim it.

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Long Lists of Irrelevant "Special Skills"

While most employers definitely want to know you as a person and the things you enjoy in your off time, pull off all of those "special skills" that everyone has and just aren't important for your job. Things like "Microsoft Office (all ver.)" or "Windows and Mac Operating Systems" are not only implied for any job that requires use of a computer, they take up space you could use to make a real impact—or better yet, keep your resume trim and to the point. Granted, if you're applying to be an office assistant or typist, you may want to include your MS Office prowess—so it's not universally a bad idea. Just think in terms of what the hiring manager for your specific job wants to see.Photo by kafka4prez.

"References Available Upon Request"

Taking up a line on your resume with "references available upon request" is a waste of space. It started off as a way to imply that you had references who were willing to talk about you, but at this point it's so ubiquitous that everyone knows you have references, and that they're available if needed. Your hiring manager will ask for them if needed, or even ask for them up-front along with your resume. Again, don't waste space.

Lies

We shouldn't have to tell you this, but don't lie or grossly embellish on your resume. Everyone likes to put their best foot forward, but don't—especially if you're depending on references from one of those old jobs—put your references in the uncomfortable position of having to lie for you. Alternatively, you never know who's working behind the scenes at your potential employer—if you're applying to a company in the same field as your last job, it's fair to think someone there may have worked at one of your past employers, and may be familiar with your old job. Even worse, you really don't want to be called out on a skill your resume says you have but that you can't demonstrate.

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Optional: Jobs You've Been Fired (Not Laid Off) From

This is a tricky one. Some people say you should always pull jobs where you were dismissed for some infraction or disciplinary action off of your resume, especially if you're worried you'll have to explain it in an interview, or hand over your old manager's name and risk the potential employer calling that past one. At the same time, you run the risk of leaving a huge gap in your employment history on your resume, and you'll have to explain that away too. You'll have to decide which option is best in your particular case, but whichever route you choose, make sure you have a rock-solid explanation ready. Normally we would suggest leaving the job on, and then if they want to know why you left, you can just point to differences with the management or something else relatively innocuous. You won't have to raise suspicion unless you specifically tell them not to contact that company. Photo by Charlotte West.

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There are plenty of other, arguable things you should probably leave off of your resume as well, like fancy, unreadable designs and formatting (there's a line between form and function—stray too far to the former and you may get attention, but for all of the wrong reasons), super-old high school accomplishments that can't possibly be relevant anymore, and more, but they're more case-merit judgement calls than anything else.

Remember, when looking at your resume, think like the person hiring for the job and trim off anything that would be useless to them. Write them like a reader, and try not to use the same resume for every single job you apply for—consider your resume a template you should tweak for each job you really want. It's tempting to shovel the same resume into the furnace of huge job sites like Monster or Careerbuilder, but you'll get better results for your time spent if you take the time to customize it each time. If that sounds like a lot of work, you'd better start now. Good luck! 

When to walk away [Video]

This video is geared towards sales professionals but it has a good point, sometimes you should walk away. Don't be thrown off by the fact that it's a sales based video. After all, you're in sales. You are going to be selling potential employers on why they should hire you. You may come across a job offer that in the end won't make sense for you or the employer. Pay attention to some of the things that Jill turned down.