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Stupid Questions: The Triumphant Return


Datepalm

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These questions don't seem all that stupid, to me, at least.

 

This thread needs more actual stupid questions.  (I guess this is more a request than a question.  I'll leave it to you good folk to determine whether it's stupid or not.) 

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On May 10, 2016 at 4:18 PM, Datepalm said:

Question - maybe for the career thread really, but feels stupid. If not in the knowing, then in the essence - is Linkedin important? Should I fill that thing out? Really?

I use Linked-In, the only social network site/platform I use.  It's not going to dramatically change your career options in the short term but it is a good way to maintain a connection to people you encounter professionally over a long period. Over the long term, your professional network should be of large and growing value to your career (or else you are missing one of the major tools available).

I have ~800 connections.  Probably ~200 are people I've never met but who were too plausibly related to me professionally to reject their invite.  I've ignored at least 200 invites from people that were obviously aspirational or just sales people from the industry who I don't need to hear from.  I occasionally accept invites from junior people in the industry but I dislike "reach"/aspirational invites; a connection should have some mutual benefit.  And I hate when I accept an invite from a stranger who then asks me to advocate for them in a job application or a sales pitch -- I ask them politely why the fuck I would use my reputation for a complete stranger and then drop them from my connections.  I ignore the stream of updates and news postings, which are just noise like any other social media platform.

But that's just the negatives.  ~600 of my connections are people I know, respect and enjoyed working with and but for Linked-In would struggle to stay current on their contact details and situation.  It's basically a digital Rolodex that never gets stale as people move job.  I use it almost every day to exchange a message or two, and it allows me to informally approach candidates as I'm hiring. 

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Mmm, I feel like I'm a ways away from that kind of effective networking or whatever. I randomly endorse people for things that seem reasonable when it encourages me to ("Oh, I worked with that guy for a month at that thing. I think I asked him to send something to the printer for me once. I don't recall anything catching fire. All right, endorse for Javascript,") say yes to everyone (I think I have about 100 people,) sometimes trawl through its suggestions and send invites to people I know when procrastinating, and am careful to avoid ever accidentally sending anything to a professor (cringe!) I have never actually used it for anything ever.

What I've been told is that profile contents are more or less meaningless, but that it does need to exist and not look juvenile, as some kind of mark of modern professionalism. I've got most of the more respectable places i've been involved in penciled in, but no details, and I'm pretty happy to leave it at that. But I've got a nagging sense I should fill it out if I'm job-hunting again. Hence feeling like this is a stupid question.

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If your field has active recruiters, then maintain a profile with appropriate key words in a short description so you'll show up in their searches.  But your profile should mainly be about the positions you've had, and should speak for itself to anyone who knows your industry.

I automatically ignore anyone whose professional role description is "transformative business leader" or "dynamic and results-oriented professional".   Both are empty evasions to hide unemployment or a job at Starbucks. I want to see "SVP of Institutional Investment Solutions".  That might look similarly meaningless to an outsider but to someone in the industry it speaks volumes about what kind of skills, education, experience and personality that person must have. 

This isn't the right forum to teach you how to develop and use a network but you're basically doing it all wrong.

- invest in your network in advance; don't suddenly look for one to magically materialize when you need it.

- connect with people you actually respect and have a high opinion; 

- pay special attention to people who seem to know other interesting and possibly very different people outside of your immediate circle -- these are the best people to help you make good connections and expand your network.

- spend time with people and try to help others; if your only contact is to ask for something then you won't get much response.

- 10 real connections are worth far more than 100 token connections. 

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Hey guys, sorry for going dark on this thread. I've been slammed with work and i also spend a lot more time on my hiking message boards nowadays. I wanted to let people know I ended up ordering a high frequency anti bark device.

I hate to do it but this issue is driving me nuts. My kids are outside on the trampoline and the barking goes on for hours non stop. I'd prefer to talk to the neighbors but they are nutjobs and it will just make things worse. Its suppose to arrive tomorrow so I'm going to test it out on Fido while I'm doing yard work. It does not seem like these devices get good reviews on amazon so I dont have high hopes. My plan is to set it up along my fence line. Supposedly the device senses the barking and blasts out an ultrasonic noise only the dogs can hear. Very curious to see if this thing works.

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The problem, as others have pointed out, is that it isn't set off by barking, but by loud noises. So even when the dogs are being quiet, and for example a car door slams, they'll be blasted, taking away any pretense of "training tool".

 

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4 hours ago, lacuna said:

The problem, as others have pointed out, is that it isn't set off by barking, but by loud noises. So even when the dogs are being quiet, and for example a car door slams, they'll be blasted, taking away any pretense of "training tool".

 

I don't think that will be an issue. Its pretty quiet back there. I'll test it out to see if the trampoline triggers it before hanging it up. I was out there this morning checking out where i can hang it and it looks like the dogs have bit through the bottom of the wooden fence again. I've patched it a few times already but when they get really mad they bite the bottom of the fence to pull back the wood. They are digging through the ground as well. I feel like Rick from the walking dead trying to keep my fence up :)

I'm dreading it but i may actually need to just go talk to the wife. Not sure why but i feel more comfortable using the fence as an excuse than i do the barking.

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16 hours ago, zelticgar said:

Hey guys, sorry for going dark on this thread. I've been slammed with work and i also spend a lot more time on my hiking message boards nowadays. I wanted to let people know I ended up ordering a high frequency anti bark device.

I hate to do it but this issue is driving me nuts. My kids are outside on the trampoline and the barking goes on for hours non stop. I'd prefer to talk to the neighbors but they are nutjobs and it will just make things worse. Its suppose to arrive tomorrow so I'm going to test it out on Fido while I'm doing yard work. It does not seem like these devices get good reviews on amazon so I dont have high hopes. My plan is to set it up along my fence line. Supposedly the device senses the barking and blasts out an ultrasonic noise only the dogs can hear. Very curious to see if this thing works.

The solution is to simply invite the dogs over to play on the trampoline. It sounds like they are simply envious of the fun you and the fam are having.

 

11 hours ago, Sis Who Swears said:

Poor dogs, it's not their fault that their owners are fucked. :(

Or this

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3 hours ago, Astromech said:

The solution is to simply invite the dogs over to play on the trampoline. It sounds like they are simply envious of the fun you and the fam are having.

 

That's a great idea. Some days I really do wish i could lock my kids into the trampoline with two angry pitbulls

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