What's the point in university?

So I just watched a documentary which investigated whether or not University is really worth it. It means different things to all people. Some people see it as a way to advance in their careers, some people do it because everyone else is going and others go for the love of a subject and a respect for learning.

In the past in the British education system university was free and only the chosen few were able to enjoy the highs and lows of higher education. Contrastingly, university has in the last 15-20 years something lots of people aspire to and can experience.

With the proposed massive hikes in tuition fees to nearly three times what they are currently will this discourage people from poorer backgrounds? The new coalition government in the UK has also scrapped maintenance grants for those who come from poorer backgrounds. With the series of student protests the government members of parliament still chose to potentially charge people thousands of pounds a year for higher education, which 25 years ago was free.

Therefore it is increasingly important that people chose their degrees carefully, how will it help you? University is not just about what you study, its about life skills, relationship building, networking and learning about yourself. Could you do an apprenticeship instead? Could you seek a scholarship to pay you're university fees. So look at alternative funding sources, make sure that the choice is right for you and make sure that your course is a return in your investment both literally and metaphorically.

Serial Podcast!

If you haven’t heard about this podcast called Serial, where have you been? Probably living your normal life, not overly investing in or obsessing over a random radio, non-fiction story. Serial is a 12-episode podcast about a murder case that occurred in 1999 in Baltimore. 


I’m not one to jump on the bandwagon of popular culture fads. I only just bought a Macbook, didn’t get a Netflix subscription till a couple of months ago and refused to read Twilight. I prefer to wait till I am good and ready to sample such things, when the hype dies down. Serial Podcast was no exception, I was told about it by my friend a couple of months ago, didn’t really understand the premise and it slipped my mind.

It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago when another friend talked about it that I downloaded an episode on my phone using her home WIFI (I don’t have unlimited data ok) before heading home on the tube. I was instantly hooked and had a great four days of getting to work being enthralled by the real life story. I listened to 11 episodes in four days of binging. The last episode was released last week.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is a downloadable broadcast that can be listened to on the go. This medium has been around for a while but since October 2014 This American Life (a weekly non fiction podcast) launched its spin off podcast show called Serial. This show has become the most popular podcast ever with over five million iTunes downloads.

What’s the story with serial?

Serial is based on a 1999 murder case of an 18-year-old High School Student, Hae Min Lee who was strangled allegedly by her ex boyfriend Adnan Syed. Syed now facing life imprisonment has always professed his innocence, with scanty to no forensic evidence linking him to the crime Sarah Koenig sets out to talk to as many people involved in the case as she can to find answers.

Koenig works with a team but is the narrator, reporter and producer to the 12-part series.  She tries to tell the tale from a variety of perspectives, has regular recorded telephone meetings with Syed, the star and only witness on the prosecution side - Jay, and other students who attended the Baltimore High school. Every episode focuses on a different aspect, the trial, Syed’s Lawyer, his alibi etc. Koenig and her team read reports and pore through evidence. This results in well researched, thoughtful and enlightening episodes. Listeners get the chance to be completely taken in, absorbed by the true life story and are invited try and find out who did it.

Newspaper Cutting

Similar to Orange is the New Black

Serial reminds me of Orange is the New Black, tenuous but stick with me.  Both are true stories about crime, both a very popular, both investigate the harsh realities system, possible injustices and the wide ranging consequences of it. OITNB released in the UK in May 2013 is based on the memoirs of Piper Kerman who spent a year in prison after being convicted of drug smuggling charges. However, the hit Netflix show is controlled in some part by the creator of the memoirs, Kerman herself. She wrote her story, was guilty of the crime and admitted it and is now well known for it. Kerman is in control of how the story is told and how she is portrayed. In contrast, those involved in the Baltimore murder case are not in control neither is the accused, Syed and his family and friends.

Criticisms of the show

While many have hailed Serial as a pioneering series, original reporting, a great narrative; many also have been critical of the show for various reasons.

1. The victim, Hae Lee is never really focused on. Not really Koening’s fault, she contacted her family several times to try and get their input into the show but to no avail. But I can understand why this is a sticking point.
2.  It’s a real, true life event that occurred. It is because this is real, things get a bit tricky, the friends and family of Hae and Adnan are exposed. This awful thing is being dragged up all over again and it must be frightening and upsetting. Some people may think it’s an example of some sort of misery porn, obsessing over a ‘who dunnit’.
3. It has racial stereotyping in it. Some people have criticised Koening’s musings saying that it has a lot of racial stereotyping. The good immigrants being Syed being described as too innocent looking to be a killer and Hae of Korean descent described as popular and intelligent. Jay – an African American Adnan’s acquaintance was described with a surprise, he liked alternative music, not hip-hop and even played Lacrosse! I think there is some evidence of this, but I don’t think this is an overall indictment of the show.
4.  Crazy fans. The fans of the show have gone crazy over it, flocking to the Best Buy shop which is where Syed allegedly called his friend Jay after the murder occurred. 

Conclusion

I think the series is incredible, instantly engaging and thoughtfully reported. Koening and her team have spent  over a year researching this case mainly because she believes that the accused is a nice guy. Having been approached by a family friend of Syed’s to investigate the case she tries her best to be impartial, fair and transparent. She openly is unapologetic for expressing her voice in her reporting, evidence of reflexivity is clear. The show encourages people to think about memories, friends, family and death. With the end of this series, goodness knows what I’m going to do with my time- I’ll probably get over it and reluctantly move on to the next fad.

Job review sites, useful or useless

The eggs are no longer just in the employers basket

Despite the recession of 2008 and a very high ratio of applicants to job roles,  employees still have a lot of power. Employer review sites such as glassdoor.com and jobcrowd.co.uk have become extremely popular among savvy graduates and curious job searchers who need advice in choosing an organisation to work for.

Employer review sites give people the ability to look at employee reviews of popular organisations,  giving them the ability to gain a unique insight into the organisation they may be working for. The ability to check this in the past was extremely limited. Often the only chance someone had to check the credibility of a potential employer was by finding a friend or a friend of a friend who had worked at said organisation before. Assuming that that person hasn't scared you half to death with tales of axe wielding line managers individuals were given a very limited view of the organisations'. Employer review sites give information on salaries, benefits, interviews and company backgrounds.

Individuals can vote with their feet and view a summary of company reviews. These sites give people  the chance to have more of an objective view companies. It gives people the opportunity to go into organisations a with their eyes a little more open.

Companies need to be aware of the importance of the candidate experience in attraction, selection, assessment and development of staff. These opinions and experiences with the advent of employee review sites can travel very far and have the potential to be damaging for organisations.

Stepping on top of people just for a bargain? Black Friday is here to stay

Black Friday is a long standing American tradition. But what is it and how did it get to the UK shores?

What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is a day of mass sales and consumerism in America, often charted as the start of the holiday shopping season. The event occurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving (which falls on the last Thursday of November). Bargain hunters go forth and seek out deals after stuffing their gobs with turkey. Retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and online shops all slash their prices in the hope of cashing in and making large profits.

What is  behind it?
Black Friday has its roots in 1950s Philadelphia. Apparently local police officers started to use the term to describe the busy streets and the smog created by traffic of people flocking to watch a local Army vs Navy American Football game. In the 1980s television stations and advertisers used the day to attract shoppers out on this holiday and spend their cash.

Contrary to what has been circulating though social media recently the tradition has nothing to do with slavery and has nothing to do with slave traders selling slaves at discounted prices. Some believe the term has come from the time in the year that shops make profit and move from the red (loss making) to the black (profit making).

Why is it here?
Black Friday is characterised by long queues, early starts and sometimes scenes of hysteria and violence. Black Friday was brought to the UK by Amazon and Asda in 2010, since then more and more retailers have adopted the practice. The main reason why this has been absorbed by retailers across the pond is that businesses can smell the pound signs. 2013 saw the day come into its own in the UK, charting big sales for many retailers.

A downside to all of this bargain hunting is that it sometimes causes crazy scenes of not very British like queueing and madness. Some shops opened at 12 midnight with flocks of people lining up, literally stepping on and over each other to get that marked down plasma screen TV.

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These scenes are not what people are used to in this country.  With reports of retailers like ASOS inflating their costs in the run up to the day and then offering 30% discounts, leaving prices sometimes higher than the original ones, some people are less than happy.

Who cares?
Some people feel that the day promotes mass consumerism and greed. I'm a lover of bargains myself however, queueing, fighting and loosing sleep over some apparent lower priced goods is not really how I like to spend my time. Jumping on the discount bandwagon doesn't really make sense to me especially when it hasn't been made relevant to this audience. As Brits don't celebrate Thanksgiving, having the day after it as some kind of sales paradise is slightly strange.

What's more, if retailers are seeing this as an excuse to hoodwink and trick consumers into thinking they are getting a bargain when they are not, then i'm definitely not a fan.  Unfortunately Black Friday does look like it's here to stay so lets hope next years affair is a bit more civilised? I doubt it.

Psychometric testing over kill?

Psychometric assessments are a common trend in the selection of new candidates and are said to be used by up to 70% of employers. Psychometrics are said to help select the best candidates for the job, individuals who fit into those organisations with ease. However. is there ever a time to reduce the use of psychometric assessments altogether?

The word psychometric is derived from the Greek word for mind (psycho) and the Latin for measure (metric). Combined the term conjures up images of a world of numerical tests and pages full of symbols. Personality assessments and ability tests make up the most common forms of assessment in organisations. Over the last twenty years there has been a large increase in the use of these work tests, but are they being over used?

Organisations use psychometrics as they are reported to have good levels of predictive validity (choosing the individual who will perform the best in the job). If an individual scores highly on a test, it is argued that they will perform the best out of all candidates if given the role.  With high levels of scientific validity and reliability psychometrics tend to add a more objective element to the selection and development process.  With an increased amount of individuals applying to roles, assessments can whittle down large numbers of applicants to a more manageable number to shortlist from. 

The use of psychometrics in organisations is not wrong; however their overuse can be damaging.  I once went to an assessment day and yes it was an assessment day in every sense of the word. After emerging a few minutes late (interview no no) and getting lost in Watford relying on my google maps, I burst into a room of very unimpressed group of HR professionals. Six or seven candidates were then read the riot act, a role play and no less than three separate psychometric tests! THREE- for what was an essentially an entry level consultant role. I sat through a general personality assessment, a numerical test and some sort of test which measures your attention to detail.

This was an example of psychometric test overkill! Not only did I as a candidate feel exhausted, fed up and BORED, I left feeling confused at the sheer volume of testing that I had to endure. This feeling was not made any better by the fact that I have a qualification and training in psychometric  testing.

To alleviate candidate stress, confusion and disaffection selection phases need to be transparent. HR professionals and hiring managers should communicate the reasons behind the use of tests and not just throw them in as a “nice to have”.  To evaluate their use organisations should:

• Read the job description carefully, or if you are writing the description, make sure you have what you want in a candidate there on the paper. Highlight the aspects of the job where the candidates need to be tested and consult with psychometrically trained individuals and a layman to see if it passes the common sense test.
• Will the use of psychometric assessments enhance the selection process? Will it allow you to hire the best candidate?
•  Make sure the tests compliment other selection techniques, e.g. if you are using a competency based interview in a technical role, complimenting this with a non verbal reasoning test or any other technical test would be a good pairing.
• Relying too much on these methods can reduce candidate experience turn it into a long winded rigmarole. To reduce the anxiety faced by candidates communicate the purpose of the use of the assessments; give them feedback regardless of whether it is requested in a non judgemental environment. Encourage them to apply to other roles; you never know when they can be useful.

In summary psychometric tests should assist the selection process, not overshadow or complicate it. Using these powerful tools in combination with other selection methods is best practice as they should never be used alone. As the HR professional or hiring manager, try and manage the candidate experience and work out if you are getting the best out of the individual in order to find the best individual for the job. 

How to handle job rejections

You have found a job you like,  you have read the description, perfect! You spend a few hours writing your covering letter and your CV. With a high level of anticipation you press send. A few days later you open the email, it begins:

“Thank you for applying to the [insert role]. Due to a large number of applications which closely fit the job description and experience required, we regret to inform you that you haven’t been successful for the current role. Due to the number of applications we cannot offer you individual feedback. We wish you every success in your future job search”.

WE WISH YOU VERY SUCCESS IN YOUR JOB SEARCH?! – when you refuse to give me feedback, how can I improve my job search?

Being a veteran job searcher, I am tired, tired of automated rejection emails, tired of the circus of job applications, tired of what seems like a 'waste of time' applications with rejections within mere hours.

How did things turn into this? Churning applications out like a machine, not an individual but just a jumble of key words and a list of qualifications. Forget the nuances and an individuals personality, it seems that all the employer is concerned about is the potential candidates ability to tick a myriad of dull boxes, or jump through awkwardly positioned hoops. I say, enough!- I'm through with the whole darn thing.

Employers, HR professionals and recruiters it doesn't have to be like this. I understand that you do get a vast amount of applications for each role (sometimes hundreds or thousands). However try and make the application process as easy and informative as possible. It doesn't have to be cheap, free and easy, it can be a meaningful encounter for all if managed correctly.

So HR departments:

•  Try and reach as many candidates as possible, go through agencies (if you have the budget), Tweet and Facebook your search, the wider your search, the bigger the potential pool of excellent candidates
• Be realistic in job descriptions make sure you include the actual day to day aspects of the job. Don't try and make the job sound more appealing to others by fabricating or exaggerating elements of the role
• Try and give feedback- even if its one line- I'm sure that there's software that exists that can do that for you? If not someone invent one!
• Ditch the automated email which sounds highly patronising and insulting, it usually translates to the candidate as, "we found better people than you so don't bother us by asking for feedback because we don't have time to hear your whining".

Candidates

• Tailor your CV as much as you can, so for each role. Edit your personal statement to mirror what's on the job description. If this means having several versions of your CV on your computer than so be it.
• Be as realistic as possible, get as many people as you can to view your CV/ just someone that you trust. In most cases each person will say completely different things, if you cannot deal with criticism or rejection than possible stay away from this step but it is very important
• Do not mispell company or individauls names, your CV will go straight in the bin
• Try and remain as positive as possible- this can be done with a support system of people who are familiar with the job climat when looking for a job. They will offer you the best support and guidance
• Most importantly- keep going- something will happen eventually!

Benefits Street: excellent documentary or poverty porn?

Channel 4 has another reality TV show, expose, documentary.  Move over My big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Benefits Street is the new kid on the block. The documentary makers from Channel 4 spent over a year filming on a street in Winson Green, Birmingham UK where it claims the majority of over 99 inhabitants on James Turner Street are claiming government benefits.  

Many people have criticised the show as 'poverty porn', a way for us "have somes" can stare and jeer at the Dickensian style baddies, draining the state of all of our hard working money. The episodes focus on different themes, episode 1 introduced some main characters of the street, including white Dee, a matriarch of the street whipping everyone into shape and black Dee a woman on the verge of eviction and frustrated at the lack of employment opportunities. 

The episode was also extremely controversial as it depicted a just released from Jail Danny and his junkie friend Fungi on an expedition to find loot to sell for drugs. It showed Danny creating an alarm proof bag and depicted him breaking the security tag for the stolen goods on a bus. Episode 2 showed the cultural mix on the street by featuring a group of Romanians entrepreneurially trying to make ends meet by selling scrap metal much to the dismay of other residents annoyed at the mess this caused.

The show is an interesting depiction of a modern street with problems, but these issues are not so different from those in wealthier, middle class neighborhoods such as: unemployment, absent fathers, immigration, integration, drug abuse and crime. These issues are not just social ills of the less fortunate, they occur in normal people too, just behind closed doors. The show shows a street where people can group together, help each other out. Struggling heroin addict Fungi could always call on white Dee to help him with his benefits claims and hold money for him.  

                                 

Episode 1 showed a gentleman Smoggy who offered basic amenities such as soap, milk and hot chocolate all for 50p. He noticed that many people including himself were struggling and took advantage of a gap on the market. Since the show aired he has been offered three jobs. Some people have said the show portrays a negative image of people on benefits. I know people who live on benefits and they don't live like this. I also spent 3 years living in Birmingham and didn't see evidence "scroungers". People who claim benefits are everywhere, in every city and town in the UK. What the show does do is shows its perspective of what some people on benefits go through and what they face.  

The show has had some major criticism, incensing conservative MPs to use the show as political fodder, cries of child exploitation, claims of poverty porn. I think I understand what the show is trying to do, show people on benefits and how day to day life is for them warts and all, but does it go too far? One thing that is portrayed is the community spirit people helping each other out like an episode of Eastenders, but maybe they should all go and just get a job.