Thursday, November 30, 2017

Extra Credit 2- AI Impact on Business Jobs

Business is  a fast moving idea and in this day in age so many college students are getting a degree in business (me being one of them). Many of us that are in the business field dream of owning or running or even starting our own business but now we often wonder with this new idea of Artificial Intelligence will that be changing the way business operates. Todd Kelsey article Artificial Intelligence Impact on Business Jobs gives us a little insight by using the four sample areas  accounting/finance, Marketing/Analytics, Entrepreneurship, and Human Resources.


Let's start with accounting/finance so when we think of these two areas the first thing that comes to mind is numbers and checks and balances. So one would conclude that maybe Artificial Intelligence would not necessarily have a negative impact on this area of business in terms of jobs. Todd Kelsey article states "Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 11 percent from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all occupations. In general, employment growth of accountants and auditors is expected to be closely tied to the health of the overall economy"(Kelsey.2017). See this looks good but as mentioned doesn't consider AI so maybe it will effect this area of jobs. An example that is mentioned in the article is Global firms have developed a software that creates less work for an accountant and auditor to prevent repetitive tasks. In the end AI is going to affect the accounting/ finance job area but how drastically and positively or negatively we will just have to wait and see.

Next is business analytics which is big in the artificial intelligence but in a good way based on the article.  That means that a lot of the jobs in these two areas are looking for that knowledge on AI and automation. "For example, in LinkedIn's list of top skills to get people hired for 2017, among the very top ten include statistical analysis and Data Mining, and Data Presentation"(Kelsey.2017). For those individuals that are in this field it's important to educate yourselves on Artificial intelligence and automation to get yourself ready for the jobs to come.


Entrepreneurship is a growing field and the goal is to create jobs and opportunities for individuals. What I found interesting in this article regarding entrepreneurship is "A survey from Bentley University suggests that millennials sense that career success will require them to be more nimble, independent and entrepreneurial than past generations. Only 13% of survey respondents said their career goal involves climbing the corporate ladder to become a CEO or president. By contrast, almost two-thirds(67%) of said their goal involves starting their own business"(Kelsey.2017). I found this to be very interesting because this couldn't be more accurate because so many millennials have realized that what will make them the most happy and successful is if they are their own boss running their own business.

The last area is Human resources is the short point is that some areas of human resources may require automation while some areas may not so it's just better to be educated so that those in that area are ready for which ever job comes their way.

At the end of it all four areas will be affected with artificial intelligence and it's best to learn now.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/artificial-intelligence-impact-business-jobs-todd-kelsey

Extra Credit Blog-Surfing the Tsunami AI

At the beginning of the class Artificial intelligence was mentioned by Professor Todd Kelsey but it wasn't til seeing his research that we all knew that it was something that we all need to consider and take seriously. In his article Surfing the Tsunami he talks about three different perspectives.  The first perspective is to Adapt meaning that AI is coming and its better to learn more about it now and be aware of the direction that it is heading. The next perspective is Adopt which means to start incorporating the AI tools and platforms so that when it comes to it one is able to manage AI. The last perspective is Adept which means getting directly involved in AI and learning the coding and how everything works.

AI at this point is moving drastically and it's going to come quicker than expected. In the introduction for his book Todd Kelsey is mentioning how AI  is heading in the direction of many job loss for the next 5 years or so. This is a strong assumption to make because that is what the people  fear is that eventually robots will be taking over peoples jobs. What  I like about this article is the example that is used which is "For example, for a publicly-traded company, when profits are falling and there is pressure to cut expenses to maintain profitability, a company may hide behind the amoral rationale of duty to shareholders, and make whatever decision benefits the shareholders and the stock price". This is so true because then what happens is people end up getting laid off which then increases the stocks. At the end of the day the company has to be worried about the people and society while maintaining their bottom line.



Another valid point that is made in this article is that if in fact AI is going to create job losses there is really nothing we are going to be able to do about it so we almost just have to roll with it and be  to date with our information on it to prepare ourselves. The key takeaway is at some point or another a industry will under go changes of some sort and employees and employers adapt, adopt, and adept those changes and that's what the goal of this article was in my opinion.


For more information on this article check out the link below

http://www.tsunami.ai/introduction

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Week 12- How to use social Network to boost your career?

So we all have social media networks and make connections but are those connections for personal reasons or not.  Social media is important but did we ever wonder about using our social media networks for job searching.

Allison Doyle article using social network to boost your career talks about social media searching which is using social media networks such as LinkedIn or Facebook for a job opportunities. Using these social media networks as job opportunities allows you to get a feel for the company and be able to check out the job right then and there and fill out the application instead of seeing the job post and then going into to fill out the application. Also by  seeking opportunities on social media networks it allows the job recruiters to see who you are.


Allison Doyle talks about how employer recruits use social media. She states more and more employers have been expanding their hiring procedures to incorporate social networking sites. hiring managers and recruiters use social media to source candidates, to post jobs, and to accept job applications(Doyle.2017). This is key because so much is being done online now and as mentioned already this gives us the employer a chance to dive in deeper on who you really are and how you would fit into their company.



Social media networks are great for the personal aspect of staying connected with your friends but keep in mind  of the job postings and that recruiters may be noticing what is being posted on your networks.

https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-use-social-networking-to-boost-your-career-2062607

Week 12- What Color is Your Parachute- How to deal with Any Handicaps you have?

Do you ever wonder what went wrong, why didn't I get the job or the interview? The reality of it is that your not alone everyone feels like that at some point in their life. Richard Bolles chapter is here to tell us that everyone is handicapped in some way and tells us to not think of all the reasons of why an employer wouldn't hire you but why they would be lucky to get you.

In chapter 10 Bolles mentions dream killers which are certain disabilities that knock down your dreams and he gives examples that show how to get around those dream killers. The example that stands out is "One career counselor was working with a young adult who was dying to be a commerical airplane pilot. The killer: his eyesight was too poor to be a pilot. Well, there was a clue as to where to go from there. It was the way our would-be pilot talked about planes. The counselor sent him to the airport to right down all the other occupations you can do their beside being a pilot and when he came back he told said he loved the idea of making the seats that they put inside new airplanes and now he still works in the airline industry"(Bolles.Chp10.2018). Don't be discouraged theirs ways around the dream killers.


Now this topic has been a upcoming issue with the prejudices of employers Bolles mentions 7 but I will talk about the first three 1. Is out of work too long.  This is not hiring you because you have been out of work for a year or more. 2. Is racial, religious, or sexual stereotypes being prejudiced against blacks, Muslims, Mexicans, or Asians, gays, transgender. The anti-discrimination laws won't stop them they will find a way around them. 3. Age this is the big one because alot of the baby boomers are starting to reach the retirement years but those of that age will get hired if they show the energy and positive attitude and don't show their age so to speak.

The biggest handicap is shyness so John crystal came up with a method called the PIE method which stands for Pleasure, Information Interviewing and Employment to get familiar with P which is pleasure is to get comfortable first talking to family and friends about a topic that interests you then your able to go from their and start it out with relating it to the job process.

Week 11- Social Media Digital Advertising

In 2017 it's no surprise that the way marketing is being done is through the Internet or some form of digital ad.  Christina Newberry article gives us some information that is of no surprise to us. "An anticipated $72.09 billion spent on digital ads in the United States alone in 2016, a number expected to rise to more than $82 billion next year and more than $113 billion by 2020"(Newberry.2016). Wow those are some big numbers but that's how fast this digital advertising is going.

So now that we got some statistics to show how serious this concept is lets talk about the top social media platforms that produce the most digital advertising which are Facebook and Twitter at the top. As we talked about in class social media ads are any paid content that an individual post to a social media network.

The new one is Hoot suite which has been using ads since 2012. The CEO Ryan Holmes laid out six ways to use social media ads to grow your business according to Christina Newberry article. Number 1 is to use free social media to beta-test your paid social ads this means using the content that you already post that is free and keep track of the responses that your receiving from those. Number 2 is to take advantage of targeting features which means targeting one group on one social media network and another group on another social media network.


Number 3 is rotate ads frequently that way your not losing business by repeating the same ads or messages over and over again which is what Hoot suite does a good job of allowing you to do. Number 4 use small samples to test the text and images used in your ads this is good because if you use a small audience and get feedback on several ads then your able to select which one to run with a bigger audience. Number 5 is understand how ads are sold in different networks this is key in knowing who's looking and if its a benefit to be paying or not.. Lastly number 6 is is to design ads with mobile in mind so that the user can access it on their mobile devices.

https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-advertising/

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Week 11- What Color is Your Parachute

So we created a flower diagram with the seven petals but now your still confused well you have to start by figuring out what career or jobs the flower points you towards. Richard Bolle in chapter 9 starts by suggesting selecting your favorite from each petal knowledge's and skills and then show them to friends and family to see what kind of jobs they come up with based on what you give them. Then jot down everything they said then take that into consideration.


Second this chapter suggests trying on jobs before pursuing them. Start by thinking of these questions when asking people in the career or job that may interest you. "How did you get into this work?", "What do you like most about it?", "What do you like least about it?", And, "Where else could I find people who do this kind of work?"


Third, once you have narrowed it down then you need to find the organizations that have those jobs. This includes places that employ part-time, full-time, temporary workers, one project at a time, volunteers, startups, non-profit.

Fourth, find names of places that may interest you. Bolles says "successful job-hunt you should choose places based on your interest in them, and not wait for them to open up for vacancy".(Bolles.2018). This shows that your eager and then it also allows for keeping your options open.


Fifth this is key which is learning about the place before approaching them or looking for a job. Do research on the organization about what kind of work they do,style of working, and goals they are trying to achieve.

Last note it's all about how you interact with people and who you know. Bolles states " research has revealed that in general the more of a social life you have, the more people you know, the more time spend with people outside of work, the more likely you are to find a job"(Bolles.2018.).
Don't be afraid to go out and have fun and met people you never know what will come of it.


Bolles, Richard N."Chapter 9: You get to choose where you work". What Color is Your Parachute,  18th ed. Ten Speed Press, 2018, pp.199-215.

Week 10- What Color is Your Parachute

Chapter 8 is self-inventory Part 2 Richard Bolles talks about the flower exercise which includes seven petals and the center. The petals consist of people, workplace, skills, purpose, knowledge's, salary, and geography. Now lets talk about each petal individual.

1. You and People: This is describing who you are based on the kinds of people you can work with or help.

2. You and a Workplace: This is terms of your favorite workplace, or working conditions, indoors, outdoors, small or large.

3. You and Skills: Describe who you are in what you can do and your favorite transferable skills.

4. You and Your Purpose of Life: This is describing your goals or sense of mission in life.

5. You and the Knowledge You already have: By describing what you already know and what your interests.

6. You and Salary/ Responsibility: Preferred salary and level of responsibility, whether working by yourself, or with a team member.

7. You and Geography: Preferred surroundings such as warm/cold, north/south, mountains/coast, urban/suburban.

Bolles then walks us through each petal and then shows an example of Rich Feller Flower diagram. Rich Fuller learned from my flower the importance of "Being good at what matters to oneself and its relationship to opportunity. Personal clarity and responsibility for designing "possible selves""(Bolles.2018). This is very important to understand yes the employer decides on hiring you but you can help them with their decision by understanding who you and what you want and what you can bring to the table.


Bolles, Richard N. "Chapter 8: Self-Inventory Part 2". What Color is Your Parachute",  18th ed. Ten Speed Press, 2018, pp. 125-197.






Week 10 10/31- Ad Campaign

In class on 10/31 we learned how to set up a Facebook Ad Campaign for our Facebook page. Right now my Facebook page is just to post my blogs on for this class but it will eventually be used in the future for my business.

The ad that I created was to get more engagement on my Facebook page. So what I did was went into my personal Facebook logged in and then went into create ad. Once I was in there I was taken to a page asking me what my objective for my ad was whether brand awareness or reach.

Then once you select awareness and engagement it allows you to customize your audience whether you want a certain age group, location of people, etc.  Then after you customized your audience it allows you to then budget and schedule your ad. For the class we just used a budget of $25.00 and scheduled it for a week prior to making the ad. Then once you have created your ad it gives you the option to make it active or keep it inactive til your ready to release it.




Ad Campaign is very important and helpful to get your Facebook Page out there and allow other people the chance to see it. Below is my ad campaign I have choose to not active it at this time.



Week 9- What Color is Your Parachute

 Chapter 7: Self Inventory, Part 1 talks about why knowing who you are and what you can do is key to helping you get a job. Richard Bolles has seven answers to why this works so well. 1. By doing this homework on yourself, you learn to describe yourself in at least six different ways, and therefor you can approach multiple job-markets. 2. By doing this homework on yourself, you can describe in detail exactly what you are looking for. 3. By ending up with a picture of a job that would really excite you, and not just any old job,you will inevitably pour much more time, energy, and determination into your job- search. 4. By doing this homework, you will no longer have to wait to approach companies until they say they have a vacancy. 5. When you are facing, let us say, nineteen other competitors for the job you want- equally experienced, equally skilled- you will stand out above them all,because you an accurately describe to employers exactly what is unique about you, and what you bring to the table that others do not. 6. If you are contemplating a career-change, maybe- after you inventory yourself- you will see definitely what new career or direction you want for your life. 7. Unemployment is an interruption, in most of our lives. And interruptions are opportunities, to pause, to think, to asses where we really want to go with our lives.


Now that we got those out of the way in order to do a self-inventory there's some things that need to be taken into account. First one has to mentally prepare. Preparing is thinking back to the past of previous jobs and what your skills are. Bolle says instead of saying "I'm an accountant you must think instead I am a person who.... has had these experiences"(Bolles.2018). Then once you got that is important to write down everything about yourself and put it on one sheet of paper. After that it's important to prioritize what you want and don't want at your place of work and what skills you will be able to bring. Lastly it is important to figure out what is most important whether its salary, location, the people, the degree of skills or, degree of the job in the field.


In the end its about how you take the self-inventory and it all comes down to where you are in life and what is most important to you. What may be important for you may not be for someone else. That's why it's called the self-inventory and not the We-inventory or the Us-inventory because it's about each individual.


Bolles, Richard N."Chapter 7: Self-Inventory Part 1" What Color is Your Parachute, 18th ed, Ten Speed Press, 2018, pp. 111-123.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Week 8- What Color is Your Parachute

We have all been there searching for a job, thinking that it will never happen. In Richard N. Bolles Chapter 6: What do when Your Job-Hunt Just isn't working starts by mentions three rules of discouraged job hunters 1. Never Give Up 2. Never Give Up 3. Never Give up. This is so accurate because anyone whether it's looking for a job or a date or whatever if it doesn't happen after a certain amount time people get discouraged but they can't give up.

In this book Richard Bolles mentions to approaches the first one is the Traditional Approach which we all known by approaching the companies and just wait but when that doesn't work there is another approach called the Parachute Approach. This approach is all about you and figuring out who you are then finding companies that match you. In the book Bolles has  table of each approach for the Parachute approach one isn't just looking for a job they are looking for a "dream job". Also in this approach your trying to figure out Do I want them? as well as do they want me?


Throughout the rest of the chapter Bolles talks about the Eleven Best and Worst Traditional approaches to Looking for a Job. One of the worse is posting or mailing out your resume to employers. Bolles states "The success rate of resumes is clearly no more than 7%. One study suggested that only 1 out of 1,470 resumes actually resulted in a job. Also posting your resume on the Internet makes it open game for anyone besides just employers. One of the best that is very common today is Asking for job-leads. This method works 33% of the time. This method is asking people close to you or around the community on social media networks if a company is looking for the talent and background that you have. Now these are just a few of the worse and the best approaches for looking for a job but these were the two that stood out the most.



Overall this chapter is to help job-hunters to not give up on the job hunt and to try an approach that maybe focus more on who they are and understand that the perfect resume isn't a complete guarantee of a job.




Bolles, Richard N. "Chapter 6: What to do when your job-hunt Just isn't Working." What Color is Your Parachute,  18th ed, Ten Speed Press. 2018, pp. 99-109

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Week 9- Digital Marketing/ eCommerce

Digital Marketing is a new way to do marketing. It allows consumers and buyers to just go on to companies website and buy the products that they want and have it shipped to their house. There are many companies that are incorporating the digital marketing. Amazon is the service that provide these eCommerce companies with the opportunity to sell their products digital. Amazon is online shopping that customers can go to buy electronics, books, computers, etc. An eCommerce company such as  Zing Safety Products noticed a need for industrial safety products ranging from signs to locks and safety supplies. They teamed up with Amazon which is well known to get their products out there. So all a consumer has to do is such Zing Green Products in an Amazon search and their products come up for one to order. This is a great use of digital marketing by using a well-known company to get your company and products out there.


The next digital marketing company is Sage Tree who acts as the mediator so to speak. Sage Tree helps company's that are mostly eCommerce to drive their sales and to increase engagement and conversations that will help in the purchasing process. According to Sage Tree website "eCommerce in 2017 is forecasted  to grow 16% to 462 billion dollars as a channel, but many retailers are growing their categories by greater than 100%. By 2021, online retail is expected to grow to 789 billion"(sagetreellc.com). This is huge because so many people are shopping online and it's often a drawback when a company/ business doesn't offer an online option.Sage Tree helps those companies that are trying to get on the online retail wagon but are struggling a bit. That's where digital marketing comes into play a role for these online retailers.



The way in how a company markets it's products is direct reflection on how well the company will do. Digital Marketing is making it's way because of all the online shopping that is available now. Amazon does a very good job of marketing it's products and giving the customer the right deal and the most affordable deal. Zing Green Products is doing well as well by putting their products on to the Amazon site but also having their own online shopping site as well. That way customers can go to both to find what their looking for or if amazon isn't carrying it they know the company site itself is. Lastly Sage Tree LLC is to create a way for companies to get help on their online companies and be able to be where amazon is today.




Week 15- What Color is Your Parachute

 Throughout the course reading this book has guided me and the last section oft he book is about finding your mission in life. We all wonder...