Linked In... nah.

There is a real good reason that while in school I am not on Linked in, it seems that everyone I worked with thinks its Facebook light. And posts pictures to their personal profile that belong on Instagram, not in a professional profile or environment. Then my special friends want to connect with me, but unfortunately linked in now works you are in a bind to use all the free services without a specific number of connections meaning that to use LinkedIn  I am forced to link up with these individuals.

Yes, they are friends but they do not understand the need for a professional image nor know that organizations frown upon such profiles, when associating with specific candidates I have tried to discuss these issues with a friend who was guilty of the professional futa poa their response was that they did not care what Organizations thought! But they also did not care how that decision impacted others as well. If employers frowned upon their profile then they will definitely assume (falsely) that I was unprofessional as well.

The proof was in the pudding during a job search last year I shut down the linked in account when searching for opportunities and that being the only change I made, I was not surprised when I received more emails and calls from prospective employers. Now, this not a scientific study but the evidence to us was plain to see. Without the linked in account, I was more professional and more of a mystery to organizations that did not want to chance to associate with someone who was in turn with people who were unprofessional themselves.

Although you do not want to hurt your coworkers or friend’s feelings nor do you really want to deal with an organization that looks past your resume and accomplishments but this is the real world and these Things actually occur reaffirming the old saying not to judge a book by its cover, but in reality organizations and people who hire still do that being the case that is why I shut off linked in so I do not give any organization a reason to judge me until that first live interaction and maybe you should too.

Organizational Clarity: “How to Deal With a Boss Who Judges You By the Company You Keep” article

Although I usually do not prescribe to some of the issues brought up in this article some of these arguments are valid. It is very often that upper management does lump employees in together, the whole “guilty by association” assessment is done far often than we care to admit (Boinott, 2017). This article does have some good points in keeping it professional at work and keeping co-workers at a distance, mainly because some of them you need to. There are many individuals who you can trust, and there are others you simply just cannot.

Then adding alcohol to the mix can redefine a situation in the worse way, things that are usually kept to oneself just slips out into the open and probably shared with others who will simply, in turn, share with upper management. I have dealt with co-workers who were usually the “devil’s advocate” for upper management and other misshapen factors that made the workplace unbearable and although I gave them a chance to connect I simply knew after a while to drop them as “good” friends. Meaning I kept everything with these individuals professional and usually let them get burnt by their own devices, in the same professional settings, while dodging them or leaving them out of personal events. 

Keeping away from certain individuals because of fears that you may be lumped into a wave of retribution from upper management, is maybe one great reason to stay professional at work. However, realize that these same individuals may do irreparable damage even outside of the workplace, becoming distractions to us from developing ourselves professionally and personally. In the end, as the article states it is best to know who these “distractions” are and maintain the proper relationship (whatever that may be) with them, i.e., one with distinct boundaries.

Boitnott, John (2017) “How to Deal With a Boss Who Judges You By the Company You Keep” February 21, 2017, Entrepreneur Media, Inc Retrieved from  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289367

Organizational Clarity: “10 Free Mockup Device Templates for E-Learning” article/download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this week’s email I received a link to: “10 Free Mockup Device Templates for E-Learning” this is article engages ten creators that have developed electronic images to make training sessions and the training program more engaging overall.

These ten designer examples, some you can download other you can just view the project to get a general idea of what to do in your training program. I, of course, love the ones you can download because this means you can use these projects for your usage and thereby have a template for future programs all that is needed is some adjustments. The ones you can download are created in Microsoft PowerPoint format so you can use these templates past training presentations and use them in reports, training manuals, or even for daily Training and Development notices.

Just click on the link here to learn more: https://community.articulate.com/articles/free-mockup-device-templates-elearning

Organizational Clarity: “How to Bust 3 Common Training Myths” article

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this week’s email I received a link to: “How to Bust 3 Common Training Myths” this is article talks about training and how to overcome some of the misconceptions that as trainers we may have when it comes to analyzing the success of a training program.

These are the three myths that the article discusses:

Myth #1: More Clicking Means More Engagement

Myth #2: The More Reviewers, the Better the Training

Myth #3: People Only Learn Through Formal Training

The way basically to overcome these myths is to have a “highly interactive” course and engage all the stakeholders involved with the training program. Understanding how people learn can allow you as the trainer to develop solutions that enrich their experience as a learner, makes your job easier and helps the organization increase it Return on Investment from the program.

Just click on the link here to learn more: https://community.articulate.com/articles/how-to-bust-3-common-training-myths