The Globe and Mail
What business leaders should be doing now to prepare their organizations to be healthy, efficient and growing by 2020.
Corporate committees, brainstorming sessions, suggestion boxes: These rarely produce free-thinking innovation. All too often, they’re the places where good ideas go to die.Read more at tgam.ca/agenda2020.
Innovation: If you can’t make yourself obsolete, someone else will – The Globe and Mail.
-Disability Scoop
A computer-based program offers individuals on the Autism spectrum the opportunity to conduct a simulated job interview with a virtual human resources representative named Molly Porter. Equipped with voice recognition technology, this software is designed to assess the appropriateness of responses and provide feedback via an on-screen job coach.
Those with autism who practiced their job interviewing skills with the software — which ispublicly available — were able to apply what they learned when interviewing with a real person, substantially improving both the responses they provided and their self-confidence, according tofindings published online this week in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
“Adults with an autism spectrum disorder tend to have difficulties with social communication, which may interfere with them having a successful job interview,” said Matthew J. Smith of Northwestern University who led the study. “Our program helps trainees learn to talk about their ability to work as a team member so they sound easy to work with. They also learn how to sound interested and enthusiastic about a potential job, as well as convey that they are a hard worker.”
Job Training Goes High-Tech For People With Autism – Disability Scoop.
SmarterLifestyles
Believe it or not, but studies have shown that around 85% of people applying for a job eliminate themselves in a basic way. They apply for the wrong job, have typos in their resume, use generic cover letters, show up late for the interview, and more. This fact is actually good news for you! You’d only be competing against the 15% that do things right. It takes nothing more than a little time and effort to get things right, but it makes all the difference when landing a job.
| Mail Online
Theories abound as to why there are few female CEOs and why women consistently earn less than their male counterparts.
Sexism in the workplace is one of the most common reasons given, along with the pressures of juggling work and childcare.
However, a new survey suggests that it may be women themselves who are, at least in part, responsible for the glass ceiling.
Research shows a significant 92 per cent of British women harbor hang ups that are holding them back in their lives – and the workplace is where British women feel they would most benefit from an injection of confidence.
Almost half of those surveyed (48 per cent) believe they would have progressed further in their careers if they had more confidence.
This lack of self-confidence seems to both hold women back in their current jobs and prevent them from applying for more senior roles.
That’s the takeaway from the Conference Board of Canada’s latest survey and report on the gender gap that bedevils our corporate culture. Dinosaurs still roam the tall towers, it appears.
Message to corporate dinosaurs: Promote women: Editorial | Toronto Star.
Can thinking about what’s important to you improve your problem-solving powers?
Have a look at the following list of values and personal characteristics. If you had to pick just one, which most defines who you are and what matters to you?
Perhaps what matters most to you isn’t there (this isn’t a comprehensive list!), in that case think about what does matter to you most.
Perform Better Under Stress Using Self-Affirmation — PsyBlog.
The Globe and Mail
After graduating from the University of Toronto’s co-op management course, earning her chartered accountant designation, and working in finance for five years, Christine Lee was hungry for a new challenge.
“I was looking for a creative outlet,” she said.
After taking some online coding courses in her spare time, she decided to enroll in the first course offered by Bitmaker Labs Inc., a Toronto-based startup that hopes to turn students with no prior coding experience into career-ready Web programmers in just nine weeks.When she completes the program on May 3, Ms. Lee hopes to find a job as a junior Web developer, but given the Canadian tech industry’s highly competitive talent pool, some might question whether she and her 23 classmates will be able to compete with college- and university-trained programmers.
“Absolutely,” says Duncan McCall, chief executive officer of Bitmaker Labs. “What we’re doing is giving these people a very solid foundation, where they can enter the Web development community or get a job as a junior developer, and they can start developing their skills that way.”
Read the complete story: From zero to Web programmer in nine weeks – The Globe and Mail.
Based on http://www.thestar.com reports
Highlights of Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget on March 2 include reduced auto insurance rates and a youth employment strategy.
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