Don’t say “got a better idea of” or “was exposed to” when describing experiences; be specific and detailed – it’s obvious when you’re fluffing. “Mastered the fundamentals of Object-oriented PHP” is much stronger than “was exposed to scripting languages” and gives you a bit of wiggle room if your interpretation of “mastery” and “fundamentals” are different from the person interviewing you 🙂
In the spring of 2006 while still a student in the FSU College of Information‘s Information Technology program, my class was tasked with creating what they called an Interactive Resume (IR). An IR is essentially a website that showcases a student’s skills and experiences. It was also my first exposure to something that would make me fabulously wealthy web design. A gifted communicator and opportunist to boot, I immediately “got it” and set out to build my first real website.
My first one wasn’t too exciting, but it got the job done (smile). I build it using a free template from solucija.com. My site has seen quite a number of revisions since then, and here are a few things I’ve learned since then that might be of interest to you.
This guest post is by Audrey K. Chisholm, J.D. Audrey is the President and CEO of Revolution Leadership, Inc. (RL) in Orlando, FL.
God has placed a desire within all of us to pursue an extraordinary destiny (e.g., start a business, buy a house, go back to school, invent something, run for public office, go to seminary, or write a book). What stops us from pursuing it? Many of us think we need more money, more education or a better background in order to pursue our destiny. Or we have tried pursuing it only to run into setbacks, failure and disappointment instead of the victory we envisioned.
I know that feeling all too well. When I was 17 years old, the Lord spoke to me plainly and gave me the business plan for my non-profit organization – Revolution Leadership, Inc. (RL) God showed me that I would start a nonprofit that would teach high school students about leadership, entrepreneurship, and investing and would award college scholarships to students that completed the program. I saw the program growing to become an internationally acclaimed nonprofit organization that would change the lives of young people from across the world.
However, the excitement of my destiny did not prepare me for the process. I spoke at almost every community group in my City and did not receive a single donation. Serious donors were not willing to contribute to a 17 year old with an unincorporated business. I could not afford an expensive venue and many parents would not bring their children to the small church that was willing to host the retreat for free. I could not afford a fancy website, glossy flyers, or major publicity. Finally, the students I wanted to reach simply were not interested in learning about leadership, investing, business, or attending college. Consequently, the day of my first retreat, I found myself alone at the church without any registered students and without any contributions toward our scholarship fund other than my own.
God already knows that the vision He has given you is bigger than your means, intellect, education, resources and experience. That’s why He gave it to you. He wants to prove Himself to you by supernaturally opening the doors for you. That way, you can give Him the glory for your success as opposed to crediting it to the trust fund your parents left you or your own ingenuity.
Instead of leaving the church that day, I stayed at the request of my father. In that moment, I remembered that God does not make mistakes. I knew that He was the one that told me to host the conference and I refused to doubt. Resolute as before, I remained in the empty church. That’s when I witnessed God work a miracle right before my eyes. I saw a minivan pull up with a group of 12 students. God’s plan for my destiny came to fruition! Plus, the church that hosted my first retreat agreed to match my donation to the scholarship giving us sufficient funds for a scholarship. Thus, marked my first ever “Revolution Leadership RetreatTM.”
Eight years later, Revolution Leadership, Inc. is now a thriving nonprofit organization. Every summer, we host a leadership conference and expose high school students to young entrepreneurs and business leaders that share their success secrets. Over 100 students have successfully completed our program. We have been featured on television on Central Florida News Channel 13, covered in countless newspapers and magazines. We have fundraised over $6,000 to award in college scholarships. We have an active board of directors as well as a dedicated team of volunteers and interns. We received our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the I.R.S. Students that have attended our leadership conference have gone on to become: business owners, financial investors, motivational speakers, youth leaders, political activists, and more!
This success did not come over night. Here are 8 essential principles that God has taught me along the way that will also guide you in your pursuit of your destiny:
Contact Audrey via email and visit Revolution Leadership or her website for more information. Channel 14 News in Orlando interviewed Audrey in this YouTube video – check it out!
http://www.howstuffworks.com
HowStuffWorks is a website that was founded by Marshall Brain and is dedicated to explaining the way many things work. The site uses photos, diagrams, video and animation to explain complex terminology and mechanisms in easy-to-understand language.
http://youtube.com
YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.
http://www.ehow.com
eHow is an online knowledge resource with more than 337,000 articles and videos offering step-by-step instructions on “how to do just about everything”. eHow content is created by both professional experts and amateur members and covers a wide variety of topics organized into a hierarchy of categories.
http://www.wikihow.com
wikiHow is a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. With your contributions, we can create a free resource that helps millions of people by offering solutions to the problems of everyday life.
http://www.instructables.com
Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others.
http://www.videojug.com
The video content on the site takes a variety of formats that include informative “How To” and “Ask The Expert” films that guide you, step-by-step, through everything and anything in life. The “How To” format delivers easy-to-follow, bite-size tutorials on a wide range of topics from cleaning tips and sport, to relationship advice and recipes.
http://nettuts.com
Nettuts+ is a site aimed at web developers and designers offering tutorials and articles on technologies, skills and techniques to improve how you design and build websites. [They] cover HTML, CSS, Javascript, CMS’s, PHP and Ruby on Rails.
http://www.tutorial9.net
We’ve been in the Tutorial business for quite some time now. Many authors here have been teaching online since 2004, while others have taught in classroom environments and seminars. [Their] goal at Tutorial9 is to offer the most blissful learning experience possible – at no cost whatsoever.
http://www.5min.com
5min is the leading syndication platform for broadband instructional, knowledge and lifestyle videos. [Their] library includes tens of thousands of videos across 20 categories and 140 subcategories, which are professionally produced and brand-safe.
W3Schools is a web developer’s portal, with tutorials and references relating to web development subjects, including HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript. W3Schools is free of charge, and is funded through text and display advertising. The tutorials and references on the website and the related code are proprietary.
Stressful economic conditions are bad for (almost) everyone – why make it worse? Wake up every morning in a posture of gratefulness that you’re employed, and make every effort to radiate that positivity to others. Choose not to add to the chatter at the waterhole (or break room, as it were) about who got fired, who might be next, and what so-and-so in HR said. Until you’re actually fired (God forbid), the anxiety and uncertainly are self-imposed. Be positive.
There is no better time than now to pitch the idea to your boss that you’ve been sitting on. Everyone in management – all the way up the ladder – is looking for ways to save money and keep things running smoothly. You have an idea to streamline inter-departmental communication?
You’ve got an idea to sell additional work to the client on one of you company’s largest accounts? Your proposal will likely get more consideration now than it ever would have before. Be proactive.
Do you work until 9pm on Fridays without anyone besides the janitors knowing? Have you been modest as to how you’re able to complete your tasks so thoroughly? Stop being so modest. If you’re working hard, there’s nothing wrong with being recognized accordingly. It’s ok to brag a little, as long as you do it tastefully.
With departmental budgets drying up faster than government funding for education, it’s unlikely that the week-long training in Dubai you’ve been eyeing will become a reality.
Can you buy a book to study for that certification you’ve been wanting instead of attending the vendor-sponsored training in Miami? Consider using this opportunity to “take one for the team” and postpone it until business picks up again. Your boss – and conscience – might thank you for it.
There should never be a question as to what you’re working on and why it’s valuable to the company in the mind of your manager. If you’re working on something that’s due in six weeks, give weekly status reports to your boss. Stay on management’s radar with quick, strategic, semi-frequent updates or questions regarding whatever you’re doing.
It’s good to be noticed for doing the right thing, but no one loves an office superhero. Unless your office is totally devoid of politics and infighting (it’s not), you’ll want to avoid situations where people have a reason to gang up on you.
People who don’t like you will be even more enraged when they see you going the extra mile. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t strive for excellence in your tasks – you should. Basically, try not to walk around in your Superman costume.
Most companies and departments have some type of quarterly gathering where attendance is optional. While it may be tempting to skip out on these events, you’ll definitely want to dust off the Hawaiian shirt or sun dress for this quarter’s get-together. Why not? Everyone’s in the same situation together, and this is a great time to show your commitment to the company, your team, and your coworker’s potato salad.
If you secretly aspire to be a professional ballroom dancer or fire-eater in the circus, now is not the best time to keep you coworkers informed about your progress. People will be subconsciously sizing each other up to find weaknesses and faults. An employee who doesn’t seem to have a great interest in being there is a prime target for termination.
Being important to the company sometimes takes a back seat to being liked by individuals in the company. The goal isn’t only to make yourself useful; you also want to be an integral part of the positive office chemistry.
Be known for your ability to work well with people. A smile when someone needs it, a jump when someone’s car breaks down, and openly recognizing someone for their assistance with a presentation or report will pay dividends in the long run. Simple acts of genuine kindness will help bolster your network with advocates who will stick up for you behind closed doors.
Sending personal emails while working, irresponsible use of your company credit card, and missing deadlines are excellent ways to get noticed for doing the wrong thing. You don’t want to make yourself look bad and more importantly, you don’t want to make you manager look back. Constantly evaluate your productivity and tasks while asking yourself how you can make your manager’s job (and life) easier.
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).
These are the 10 talks that have proven most popular during their first two years of publishing, each one having been watched more than a million times.
Building sophisticated educational tools out of cheap parts, Johnny Lee demos his cool Wii Remote hacks, which turn the $40 video game controller into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer.
Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions – motion, speech, self-awareness – shut down one by one. An astonishing story.
David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a color-shifting cuttlefish, a perfectly camouflaged octopus, and a Times Square’s worth of neon light displays from fish who live in the blackest depths of the ocean.
In a lively show, mathemagician Arthur Benjamin races a team of calculators to figure out 3-digit squares, solves another massive mental equation and guesses a few birthdays. How does he do it? He’ll tell you.
Blaise Aguera y Arcas leads a dazzling demo of Photosynth, software that could transform the way we look at digital images. Using still photos culled from the Web, Photosynth builds breathtaking dreamscapes and lets us navigate them.
Jeff Han shows off a cheap, scalable multi-touch and pressure-sensitive computer screen interface that may spell the end of point-and-click.
You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called “developing world.”
Tony Robbins discusses the “invisible forces” that motivate everyone’s actions – and high-fives Al Gore in the front row.
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
With the same humor and humanity he exuded in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore spells out 15 ways that individuals can address climate change immediately, from buying a hybrid to inventing a new, hotter “brand name” for global warming.