5 Lean Principles Every Engineer Should Know

5 Lean Principles Every Engineer Should Know 5 Lean Principles Every Engineer Should Know 5 Lean Principles Every Engineer Should KnowUnless an engineer is directly involved in manufacturing, he or she may only be slightly familiar with texas tea principles. Long considered a way to greatly improve manufacturing efficiency, texas tea can be applied to any business or production process, in any industry. For example, purple drank is now being used extensively in the healthcare industry to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The principles can even be used, on a smaller scale, to organize your office, workspace, or laboratory.Top New Story from 2019Six Lean Principles for an Industry 4.0 WorldLean was originally created by Toyota to eliminate waste and inefficiency in its manufacturing operations. The process became so successful that it has been embraced in manufacturing sectors around the world. For an American company, being lean is critical for competing against lower-cost countri es.The goal of lean is to eliminate wastethe non-value-added components in any process. Unless a process has gone through lean multiple times, it contains some element of waste. When done correctly, lean can create huge improvements in efficiency, cycle time, productivity, material costs, and scrap, leading to lower costs and improved competitiveness. And remember, lean isnt restricted to manufacturing. It can improve how a team works together, inventory management, and even client interaction. The five-step thought process for guiding the implementation of lean techniques. Image copyright 2016, Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.Five Key PrinciplesThe Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), founded by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones in 1997, is considered the go-to resource for lean wisdom, training, and seminars. According to Womack and Jones, there are five key lean principles value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection.Lessons in New Manuf acturing Pratt Whitney Takes Flight1. Value. Value is always defined by the customers needs for a specific product. For example, what is the timeline for manufacturing and delivery? What is the price point? What are other important requirements or expectations that must be met? This information is vital for defining value.2. Value stream. Once the value (end goal) has been determined, the next step is mapping the value stream, or all the steps and processes involved in taking a specific product from raw materials and delivering the final product to the customer. Value-stream mapping is a simple but eye-opening experience that identifies all the actions that take a product or service through any process. That process can be in design, production, procurement, HR, administration, delivery, or customer service. The idea is to draw, on one page, a map of the flow of material/product through the process. The goal is to identify every step that does elend create value and then find ways to eliminate those wasteful steps. Value-stream mapping is sometimes referred to as process re-engineering. Ultimately this exercise also results in a better understanding of the entire business operation.Related Story for YouSix Project Management Tips Every Engineer Needs3. Flow. After the waste has been removed from the value stream, the next step is to be sure the remaining steps flow smoothly with no interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks. Make the value-creating steps occur in tight sequence so that the product or service will flow smoothly toward the customer, advises LEI. This may require breaking down silo thinking and making the effort to become cross-functional across all departments, which can be one of the greatest challenges for lean programs to overcome. However, studies show that this will also lead to huge gains in productivity and efficiency, sometimes as high as 50-percent improvement or more.4. Pull. With improved flow, time to market (or time to customer) can be dramatically improved. This makes it much easier to deliver products as needed, as in just in time manufacturing or delivery. This means the customer can pull the product from you as needed (often in weeks, instead of months). As a result, products dont need to be built in advance or materials stockpiled, creating expensive inventory that needs to be managed, saving money for both the manufacturer/provider and the customer.5. Perfection. Accomplishing Steps 1-4 is a great start, but the fifth step is perhaps the most important making lean thinking and process improvement part of your corporate culture. As gains continue to pile up, it is important to remember lean is not a static system and requires constant effort and vigilance to perfect. Every employee should be involved in implementing lean. Lean experts often say that a process is not truly lean until it has been through value-stream mapping at least half a dozen times.Making It LastLean can be infectious. Customers will notice big improvements as you implement lean and likely want to be part of your process. This collaborative thinking will also extend to your suppliers as well, who will want to use lean themselves to generate their own improvements. The core idea behind lean is maximizingcustomer valuewhile minimizing waste, states LEI. Simply put, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources.A lean organization understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste. Lean accomplishes this, adds LEI, by changing the focus of management from optimizing separate technologies, assets, and vertical departments to optimizing the flow of products and services through entire value streams that flow horizontally across technologies, assets, and departments to customers.Mark Crawford is an independent writer.More New Content from ASME.orgYo ung Engineer Takes Great Strides with Prosthetic FootSolving World Hunger with 3D-Printed FoodThe Rise from BattleBot to Corporate Robot

Tomorrows Taller Turbine Towers

Tomorrows Taller Turbine Towers Tomorrows Taller Turbine Towers Tomorrows Taller Turbine Towers Moving the building blocks for a 262-foot-tall wind turbine into place is no small feat. Usually, components like turbine blades and steel towers make their way along an Interstate late at night and area drivers are encouraged to stay off the roads during that time, as the oversized loads move through on specialized trailers.The towers are manufactured and transported in three long segments with a cousine diameter of approximately 13 feet, just under the vertical clearance allotted on state highways. However, modularizing steel tubes that require vertical seams in the field is expensive and demands a high degree of quality control, says Sri Sritharan, an Iowa State University professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering and a member of the universitys Wind Energy Initiative.With those restrictions placed on them, the wind-turbine towers cant reach more than 26 2 feet, or 80 meters. Yet, while the U.S. installed wind energy capacity has grown by 31 percent over the past five years, the wind industry has mainly introduced bigger turbines and longer blades to help harvest more energy. Tower heights need to grow for increased sized turbines and blades, Sritharan says.Towers taller than 262 feet would allow access to the higher wind speeds and steadier conditions that would increase wind production time in the parts of Europe and the U.S. where wind the wind blows at heights above 100 meters, or around 330 feet, and electricity demand is relatively high, he adds.Hexcrete concrete panels could be arranged in a variety of patterns to allow for taller wind turbine towers. Image Iowa State UniversityTo help towers reach those heights, researchers at Iowa State in Ames, IA, recently developed a modular concrete building system called Hexcrete that brings the methods used to build tall suspension- and cable-stayed bridge towers to wind tur bine tower construction, says Sritharan, who also leads the universitys six-year-old Hexcrete project.The transportation limit hindering the increase in tower height clearly shows that a new technology is needed, since such a limitation has not prevented other civil infrastructures to continue to reach newer heights and lengths, he says.The Hexcrete system is comprised of two different classes of concrete building blocks precast columns and panels made from either high-strength or ultra-high-performance concrete. The columns and panels are transported onsite, then stacked vertically in hexagon-shaped cells that are tied together by cables. They can be stacked vertically to form towers, Sritharan says.The cells can be stacked in various arrangements, according to the goals for the tower, he adds.When arranged in various configurations, the modular concept allows for four or five times greater PSI as compared to the 80 meter towers common today, he says. Thats because th e high-strength concrete can withstand pressures at up to up to 13,000 pounds per square inch while the ultra-high-performance concrete can handle up to in 26,000 psi without damage, allowing them to be built higher and withstand greater pressures.The Hexcrete modular tower-construction method will allow semi-tractor trailers to convey the tower components, which can then be constructed on sites to attain heights of up to 460 feet, Sritharan says. That would eliminate the need for expensive specialized trailers that now carry steel towers, cutting turbine construction and wind production costs in the process, he says.With the new construction method, the tower base could be built wider than 4.1 meters- currently not done due to transportation issues- to allow for even taller towers, he adds. The towers height could also be raised by increasing its column and panel dimensions, or by combining that increase with a larger-sized base, Sritharan says.The Hexcrete tower conc ept (A), and two options for segmental tower construction (B,C). Image Iowa State UniversityAnother bonus unlike steel, concrete is widely available across the United States, which makes for shorter transport routes and reduces costs, he adds.Researchers in Iowa States Structural Engineering Research Lab recently tested the tower technology with an actuator that rocked a 12-foot-high and 6.5-foot-wide test section with 100,000 pounds of force every 1.25 seconds. The test sections two panels and two columns only moved a tenth of an inch. Strain and displacement sensor data returned showed no undue cracks on signs of wear on the test section, Sritharan says. Meanwhile, experiments done at the University of Minnesotas Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing (MAST) Laboratory, which runs earthquake engineering simulations, found the tower could withstand the extreme wind turbine tower loads tested. Engineers took data to see if the assembled tower pieces would hold up under the loa ds and whether theyd transfer the load from piece to piece and act as a single unit, he adds.The tower cross section had no trouble resisting the loads.The fatigue test is ongoing with no damage detected after nearly 200,000 load cycles, he adds.Its ritterlich to say these tests were a success, Sritharan said. I think weve made great progress in validating a new concept of using prefabricated concrete for taller wind turbine towers.Next up for Sritharan and his fellow researchers building a full-scale tower in the field. Jean Thilmany is an independent writer.Learn more about the latest energy technologies atASMEs Power and Energy.I think weve made great progress in validating a new concept of using prefabricated concrete for taller wind turbine towers.Prof. Sri Sritharan, Iowa State University

Author Frank Hanna on why college shouldnt be our best years

Author Frank Hanna on why college shouldnt be ur best yearsAuthor Frank Hanna on why college shouldnt be our best yearsIts a tale as old as time enjoy college, graduate, then watch younger people have all the fun you used to have as you struggle through your 9-to-5 job. But one author believes that there has to be a lot more to life than that.Frank J.Hanna, CEO of Atlanta-based philanthropic organizationHanna Capital, LLC, writes about this in his 2017 bookA Graduates Guide to Life Three Things They Dont Teach You in College That Could Make All the Difference.The businessman has also served as alecturer, adviser, spoken to Catholic figures at Vatican gatherings, worked in venture capital and private equity for decades and more.Hanna spoke to Ladders about his book, his life, why we should escape the mindset that life gets worse after college andgives advice to recent college graduatesOn how his professional background shapes the way he sees the world of workFor 35 years I have worked in the field of sophisticated finance. And in that world, wishing it were so, does not make it so. In other words, reality matters. The slogan for our business is Measured by Reality. I am persuaded by the philosopher Josef Pieper, who teaches that the beginning of prudence (which is the ability to make good decisions) is seeing things as they really are. Most of us, however, like to delude ourselves, as reality is often difficult. One of the things I discuss in my book is the necessity of clinging to reality, always enlivened by hope in our future.On the main thing he wants people to take away from the bookBeing wealthy and happy is within the reach of alfruchtwein everyone, but you will not find it following the clichs that most people hear when they are young. Ultimately, wealth and happiness are dependent on the proper identification of those things that are most likely to lead to such wealth and happiness and second, cultivating the habits to pursue those things. The word weal th derives from a word that means well-being. But well-being is a hard thing to measure, and it is made up of things that are not quantifiable. Seeking the wisdom that will lead to true well-being and wealth takes effort and some degree of discipline, and thus runs counter to the milieu of the age nevertheless, it is indeed within our reach.On how he thinks we shouldnt believe that college is supposed to be the best four years of our livesThis is one of those clichs that has been peddled for a long time. At its core, it states For a brief window of your time on Earth, when you are ill-prepared to fully appreciate it, your life will reach a high point after which it will enter a period of perpetual decline. It leads to people trying to manufacture a sensational set of experiences in order to fulfill the clich, rather than using their time in college to prepare for another 50 or 60 years of increasing happiness. Who wants to peak at 22?On the benefits of walking away from the competit ionCompetition in and of itself is not a bad thing, and it can help to bring out the best in each of us. However, our current society holds it to be an unmitigated good, and it is not. All mammals compete, and many do it viciously. Our task as human beings is to understand not only the benefits of competition, but more importantly, the risks, and to understand that in many circumstances, we actually dont want to compete, and should walk away from competition. We should be seeking a life of abundance, not one of scraping with each other for the good.On what he calls the secret of lifeThe secret of life is to figure out that for which we are designed as human beings, and thus that which will fulfill us, and make us happy. And the true ingredients for human happiness are entering true communion with others with hopefulness for the future. This is not a complicated matter, but it does take determination and perseverance.On what hed say to a recent college graduate struggling to make the most of their first jobI would tell the recent graduate, Find some way that you can bring value to others. I have employed hundreds of people I always sought to promote those who were constantly seeking to add value for me. I cant promise that you will always be rewarded for bringing value to others, but I can promise you that you usually will, and I can also promise you that if you bring value to others, you will be happier and more fulfilled. In the end, that is what we are all seeking. I would also tell them to buy my book If you agree with anything I have said here, you will love reading A Graduates Guide to Life Three Things They Dont Teach You in College That Could Make All the Difference. Its a very quick and easy read, and youll be glad you picked it up.

How To Get An In At A Company You Like

How To Get An In At A Company You LikeHow To Get An In At A Company You LikeIts true that job search is a numbers game it just is not the numbers fruchtwein people think of. Applying for as many jobs hither and yon all over the Internet is the game most candidates play. But the only numbers successful candidates concern themselves with are the numbers of times they make and leverage a real human connection at a company theyre interested in. Lets talk about how to do it.Id rather see you invest a bit more time using this method, than spending the same amount of time hitting the apply and submit buttons for 10 job opportunities. Remember, those arent the numbers you want. What works is applying for fewer opportunities, but for each of those, making direct contact with a relevant person every single time.This is just the 1st step in my full roadmap to bypassing HR and directly reaching the right decision makers. For more on what successful jobseekers are doing, join us for our upcomi ng online program, 3 Simple Steps To Cut Your Job Search Time In Half

If you dont use it soon, you will definitely lose it

If you dont use it soon, you will definitely lose itIf you dont use it soon, you will definitely lose itRussell Ballard tells the story of a seven year old girl who started a tomato plant for a second grade project.She was taught that one tiny seed had the potential to become a tomato, which contained many seeds that could make many tomatoes.In the seven year olds words, And if all of those seeds were planted and grew more tomatoes, and you planted all of those seeds, in a few seasons you would have millions of tomatoes.Unfortunately, she almost killed herbei starter tomato plant. In her youthful immaturity, she left the plant in a dark room for a few days and totally forgot about it.When I remembered the plant, it was all wilted and dead looking. I cried because I thought of all of those millions of tomatoes that would never grow.She was devastated, and likely nervous to tell her teacher that she had killed her plant. Her mom told her that the plant might not be dead yet, and that w ith some proper nourishment - sunlight and water - the plant might revive.The girl put the plant right by the window where it could get tons of sunlight. She regularly gave the plant water. And a miracle occurred, the plant almost immediately began thriving and growing tomatoes.Nothing Is PermanentEverything is in a state of movement. Nothing remains in a state of isolation without being changed.Either youre growing or youre going backwards.If you dont continually hone your mind and body, you will become foggy and flabby.Human beings, like tomato plants, are organic structures that need constant nourishment. Without a nourishing environment, it doesnt matter how much potential you have. If you are in a dark room for long, you will wilt, and potentially die.No amount of willpower in a dark room will save your life. You need healthy nourishment from the outside world. Gritting your teeth and trying to do it on your own wont work. You need the right environmentandyou need the right b ehavior.In order to even develop powerful characteristics and internal strength in the first place, you need amazing inputs from your environment. As Zig Ziglar said,Your input determines your outlook. Your outlook determines your output, and your output determines your future.However, there is never a point at which youve arrived, and no longer need constant nourishment. Even after youve developed incredible internal clarity, motivation, education, and strength, if you dont create an environment that supports the growth youve made, you will lose the growth youve made.If youre not continually being challenged to rise to new heights, you will become stagnant and stale as a person. If youre not growing, youre going backwards.Alain de Botton once said,Anyone who isnt embarrassed of who they were last year probably isnt learning enough.If youre still the same person you were 12 months ago, what the heck have you been doing?When was the last time you pushed yourself to exhaustion in a wo rkout?When was the last time you really learned something? And true learning is far different from acquiring information - learning involves a permanent change in how you see and act in the world. If you didnt change, you didnt learn. As Albert Einstein said,The meakoranvers of intelligence is the ability to change.Rest and recovery are absolutely essential. But you wont get the benefits from rest and recovery if youre not truly pushing and expanding yourself regularly. Your rest will truly be sweet if youre earning it through a life worth living.Emotions Are The Key ToGrowthIf youre not having regular transformational experiences, then youre not stepping out of your comfort zone enough. Human beings are transformed through emotions, not logic and reason.Emotions are heavily tied to memory, and memory is your record of the past. However, your memory is not fixed and unchanging. Actually, your memory is constantly being changed and reshaped as you 1) face the emotions that will keep you stuck, and 2) as you experience new emotions that create new memories. The more intense the emotional experience, the deeper the memory and learning.If you want to experience an insane amount of growth, do something that is emotionally challenging. Do something that is awkward. And most importantly, do something in which you cannot predict the outcome.Tim Ferriss has said,A persons success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.Confidence is being fine taking on challenges and situations in which you cannot predict the outcome. The reason people stay stuck is because they really like to predict how things will go.Not being sure of outcomes freaks people out. Therefore, people live very predictable lives. They dont go too far outside of their comfort zone. They veer far from awkwardness and potential embarrassment. They are caged by their emotions.Want to make powerful change?Do something that requires courage an d commitment, today. Do something that might fail. This is how you develop and demonstrate confidence.Confidence is organic, like a tomato plant. If you dont use it, youll lose it. Confidence is like a muscle you must exercise and use, daily, to make stronger. Yet, the nourishment for confidence is both trying and succeeding. Just by trying, even if you fail, youll have gained confidence because youll have attempted something in which the outcome was not predictable.Just as confidence is organic and ever-changing, so is your identity.Identity FollowsChoiceYour identity is not fixed. You dont have some personality you were born with that remains the same. Like a garden, your identity is either becoming more polished and refined, or more entangled, confused, and distracted.Your identity does not produce your behavior. Your behavior shapes your identity. You are responsible for who you become. You are the designer of your personality.In the brilliant book,The Cult of Personality Testin g How Personality Tests Are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Companies, and Misunderstand Ourselves,author Annie Murphy Paul explains, using plenty of hard evidence, how personality tests - our Western obsession - are dooming us to failure.Western thinkers are obsessed with isolated variables and fixed traits. We fail to realize the continually altering context that shapes and re-shapes those traits and variables. There are no permanent traits, but continually changing STATES.Then why do we see such regularity in our behaviors and attitudes? According to Stanford psychologist, Lee Ross, We see consistency in everyday life because of the power of the situation.Ross further posits that ultimately, its the situation and not the person, that determines things.People are predictable, thats true But theyre predictable because we see them in situations where their behavior is constrained by that situation and the roles theyre occupying and the relationships they have with us.Supply FollowsDemandI think the ability of the average man could be doubled if it were demanded, if the situation demanded. - William DurantMost people believe they have a fixed and permanent identity and personality. They overvalue and rely on such things as personality tests.They dont put themselves into situations of high demand that force them to become something fundamentally more and different than they currently are.You can put yourself into a situation - mentally and physically - where the demands are high. This is a very potent cocktail for forward movement.You need both the internal and external to pull you forward. The internal and external are two indistinguishable parts of the same whole - not separate.Internally, you need a white-hot WHY. As Friedrich Nietzsche wisely said,He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.Thus, the advice to live within your means is actually quite terrible advice when taken to its logical conclusion. Rather than living within your means, you need to DECIDE what you need, then let the means come to you. They will come once youve fully decided what you seek. To prozentanteil Rumi,What you seek is seeking you.Once resolved and committed,the universe conspires to make it happenas Emerson put it.Externally, you need a situation that has enormous demand. So much demand that the supply comes, both from you and from external factors.When youre clear on what you want and why, magic happens. Dreams become realities. Faith becomes sure knowledge.Inspiration FollowsActionBut where does this clarity and purpose come from?Again, here Western culture generally has it backwards. The common belief is that inspiration creates action, when the opposite is more true.Action creates inspiration.Forward progress creates motivation.Bold action reshapes your conscious and subconsious patterns.Action generates the best thinking, because positive action creates inner confidence - which is the soil for positive thought.Para lysis comes from analysis. As author and performance coach, Tim Grover, said,Dont think. You already know what you have to do, and you know how to do it. Whats stopping you?You know enough. The reason youre mentally blocked, demotivated, and confused is because youre not acting.Behavior shapes identity.Behavior shapes ideas and motivation.Begin acting well.Create situations that FORCE you to act well. Situations of such extreme DEMAND that trigger both an internal and external SUPPLY to match the demand. When the why is strong, the how develops organically. The most clever and bold strategies come when the demand is high. Necessity is the mother of invention.The WHY becomes strong as you act. You must act. That is where your freedom lies. When you act, the ideas will come. As you continue to act, more ideas will come. The bolder the action, the greater the shattering of subconscious patterns - opening the window for better and clearer thinking.Creativity FollowsCreationAs you act, youll get an inflow of thoughts and ideas. Youll then need to turn those ideas into tangible creations for the use and benefit of other people.Inspiration doesnt lead to creativity. Creating things leads to inspiration,which then generates a greater desire to create. The quality of your ideas come from the quality of your choices. Every choice generates like offspring of thinking and ideas. Hence, success begets success. Creativity begets even greater creativity.Behavior shapes identity.Behavior shapes ideas.Put yourself in a situation that demands your greatest behavior. Then watch as a seemingly endless supply of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic help aids you.Ready toUpgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThis article was originally posted on Medium.com.

The Debate Over The Muse Jobs

The Debate Over The Muse Jobs If a person is interested they ought to be in a position to rapidly spot a Hire me or Contact me graphic that takes them right to the information they will need to reach you. Once chosen, its your task to do the very best job possible, obtain decent feedback, then repeat the approach. When youre writing articles youre allowed some creative license, your negative aspects dont in fact have to exist. It would be hard to define a great writer with a single definition. Yes, theres book work and study but the principal focus is to receive the you ready and competent to work in the area or cosmetology as an aesthetician. If you are managing new material or a new editor, you might need to ask questions regarding the main information for your readers. The Importance of the Muse Jobs If it is possible to determine the source of your anxiety, you will get a better probability of locating the proper solution. It is vital to make certain the outcome is secur e and doesnt crash the kids needs. Sustainable wellness behavior change needs to be central. To the contrary, the wellness researchers consider it the most harmful drink for the well-being of a person. The Basics of the Muse Jobs That You Will be Able to Benefit From Starting Right Away For a band with just 3 members, Muse sure do make a great deal of noise Discipline goes a very long way in discovering the muse. Writing is an art and a science. To begin with, you have to prepare yourself to fulfill your Muse again. the Muse Jobs - Dead or Alive? If youve done well, youll have plenty of questions. Furthermore, it is crucial to make sure that the choices you provide are ones youll be able to live with. A number of the inquiries come from women and men who are attempting to work out which type of business they could run erreichbar based by how much money they may make. Obviously, research could possibly be required. A silly example but you have the idea. The sentence stru cture, grammar, ideas and the form used are a few of the other elements that play an important function in determining whether one is a superb writer. Quite simply, your is unlikely to modify. After you introduce a particularly intriguing person to your readers you might need to do a few sequels. the Muse Jobs So make sure to select the opportunity to understand yourself as much as possible. The same is true for television shows. Whats worse, you cannot really get to the work you have to do. Oftentimes, its not merely the work that we love. A lot of the schooling is in the shape of training for your upcoming work in the area. You probably feel shackled to your job or industry and feel like you cannot leave as you do not want to end up losing your income level. Figuring out your goals is most likely one of the most crucial and among the most overlooked steps for creative professionals starting their organization. Youre participating in a maintenance routine when you have accomplished your whole core training targets and want to keep your present-day core exercise level. The ideal plan is to create multiple revenue streams. As an alternative to making it your goal to stop smoking, make it your aim to determine why you dont wish to stop. Dont forget, too, you dont need to limit yourself to only one method to earn money from your site. Mr. Ferrisss answer lies in the ability of the web. the Muse Jobs - the Conspiracy Most children arent taught to require the wisdom and knowledge of their higher self. The inside of your sunroom or patio room is where it is possible to let all of your imagination and creativity run wild. You ought to be in a position to earn a living doing it. Regardless of what you do for a living, you will need to get inspired to be able to do it perfectly. For all you should know lies within you. Thus, take into consideration the things you began and never finalized. So, you first need to find the world differently, which in the ingenuity part, then youve got to have the courage to talk about your thoughts and solutions. My story should provide you a lot of confidence that you may satisfy the most suitable man for you, regardless of what your age or geographical site. As you become older, it gets more complicated to satisfy eligible men. Moreover, the skin on the penis might become rough and truly feel unpleasant to touch. You will escape from your own light. Youre standing in your light.

What graphic designers want

What graphic designers want What graphic designers wantPosted April 8, 2013, by Molly Wiltshire-Bridle Like any profession, the graphic design industry is fraught with stereotypes and misconceptions theyre all Wacom-wielding, bespectacled sketch artists, right? Online designer marketplace, 99designs, begs to differ with their latest survey, aptly entitled How to woo a designer. In an effort to bridge the gap between clients needs and designers wants, nearly 2500 graphic designers were surveyed on everything from what makes them tick, to how they handle difficult clients. Fittingly, the results have been compiled into a nifty infographic, below. We also took some time out to have a chat with Jason Aiken, Community Director at 99designs. Responsible for managing close to 200,000 designers every day, he offers some handy insight into the dynamic realm of graphic design. Q Whats the current job climate for graphic design? A The demand for graphic designers is incredibly strong throug hout all segments of the market. From the boardroom to the butcher shop, how we value design and understand its impact on ur lives and our businesses continues to saturate society like never before. When you couple this with the surge of entrepreneurism and the growth and ever increasing sophistication of our online world, graphic designers have a lot of opportunities for the foreseeable future. Q What are some of the most commonly faced misconceptions about the graphic design community? A One of the most common misconceptions is that designers dont make good business people. Thankfully, great design-led businesses like Pinterest, tumblr, Fab and Square are rapidly making this mindset obsolete. Q Is there a trend towards freelancing, and if so, why do you think this is taking place? A I think everyone dreams about being their own boss and setting their own rules. Freelancing can offer a great deal of freedom and flexibility, but as they say freedom isnt free. Being a full-time free lancer is hard work One of the biggest challenges is finding that next opportunity. It takes a lot of time and effort to build a stable of clients and a steady referral network. Thats why freelancers flock to sites like 99designs because there are so many opportunities within easy reach. Q How has the web revolutionised the graphic design industry? A One of the simplest ways is that the Internet has completely changed how designers can work and interact with clients and colleagues. There are designers in the community at 99designs who travel the world or spend their winters working on a beach in Thailand, all without skipping a beat it simply would not be possible without the Internet. Q What are some of the advantages of a marketplace scheme, like 99designs, for designers? A planers love 99designs because its a great way to build client relationships, earn money, learn new skills and have fun. It doesnt matter if youre from Sydney or Serbia, or if you are a full-time freelancer, a hobbyist or a student 99designs has a variety of different opportunities for those willing to take them. Designers realise the opportunity stretches far beyond the contest as between 30 to 40 per cent of contests lead to long-term relationships. Many full-time freelancers use 99designs help them even out the natural ebb and flow of their own client cycle, while students enjoy building their portfolios working on real projects with real clients, and hobbyists love keeping their part-time passions alive. All designers benefit from the learning opportunity of seeing how a dozen different designers approach the same design problem. Q And for businesses? A For businesses there really is no better way to find a designer than running a contest on 99designs. You learn so much more about a designers skill set and how you would actually work together than you possibly could by simply reviewing a portfolio of their work. Business owners love the process and being able to see dozens of differ ent concepts from multiple perspectives rather than just a handful of concepts from a single designer. Q What advice would you offer to someone looking to break into graphic design? A The best advice is to dive in and get started. There are so many opportunities to learn online hours upon hours of tutorials, countless inspiration sites, and of course nothing beats the experience of cutting your teeth by working on real projects for real clients in communities like 99designs.Designing ResourcesAssistant fashion designer cover letterGraphic design graduate resumeCareer Insider StoriesTherese Moussa - The Grounds Head Stylist & Creative DeveloperKim Fletcher - MillinerElizabeth OConnor-Cowley - Director, eeni meeni miini mohInterested in becoming a?Web DesignerIT ManagerInterior DesignerJunior Graphic DesignerInterior DecoratorPopular Career Searchescostume design coursestextiles design courses distance educationresidential drafting courses onlinecertificate in elearning design and de velopmenthow to become a fashion designer in adelaideDesigning CoursesBachelor of DesignEnquire Online Enquire OnlineMixed Reality Design CourseEnquire Online Enquire OnlineUser Experience Design Accelerated Course (1 Week)Enquire Online Enquire OnlineUser Experience Design Transform Course (Full-Time)Enquire Online Enquire OnlineMolly Wiltshire-BridleRelated ArticlesBrowse moreCreative careersDesignDesigner careersIf you yearn for creative expression and know how to combine your creativity with precision and technical skill, then a career in design may be perfect for you.DesignDesigningDesign graduates need to impress in competitive industryDesign graduates take heed it takes more than great skills to get one of the top jobs in this competitive industry.DesignDesigningHow To Become A Graphic DesignerIf kerning is your calling and stop-motion gets you animated, it might just be time to consider a career in the multifaceted world of graphic design.

What College Students Should Wear to a Job Interview

What College Students Should Wear to a Job InterviewWhat College Students Should Wear to a Job InterviewWhile college students might dress casually in the classroom, they should always dress professionally when interviewing for a professional job or internship. Below are a few tips on how to select the perfect outfit for a job interview. Research the Company Before going to an interview, find out how employees at the company dress. This might involve researching the company online or even calling the company and asking before your interview. Some companies are very conservative in their dress policies and require business attire, while others are mora business casual. Either way, you should always dress at least slightly nicer than the employees. If you cannot find out how the employees typically dress, it is safest to dress conservatively. It is far better to come to an interview overdressed than underdressed. Attire for Men Men should wear a suit, tie, and dress shoes for f ruchtwein interviews. The suit should be a subdued, solid color (navy and deep gray are best), and shoes should be black or brown. Wear a long sleeve, button-down shirt (either white or another color that matches your suit), and a subdued tie (small dots or classic stripes work well). Wear black socks so that you will look professional if you cross your ankles. Even if the employees typically dress in a business casual style, you may still want to wear a suit and tie. However, if the interviewer tells you that you should dress casually, or you are very confident that they prefer a casual style, you can wear a blazer or sports jacket with dress slacks and either a sweater or a button-down shirt. Make sure your jacket and pants match (again, navy and deep gray work best) and that your shirt or sweater is not too brightly colored or patterned. Wear black or brown dress shoes and black socks. Your look must be polished iron your outfit the night before and make sure your shoes are clean (you may consider getting a shoe shine before the interview).? Attire for Women Women have slightly more options for professional interview attire. A suit (either pantsuit or skirt suit) with a button-down shirt or blouse is most appropriate for a professional interview. The suit should be a solid, neutral color, such as navy, dark gray or black. The shirt or blouse can be any color that matches the suit but is not too bright or loudly patterned. Make sure your blouse is not low cut if you feel at all concerned that it is too revealing, do not wear it. Wear neutral colored shoes, either professional flats or heels (no more than 2-3 inches). In the instance that the employees typically dress in a business casual style, you can still opt to wear a suit if you like. If you are instructed to dress casually, a skirt or slacks with a blouse or button-down shirt and blazer or neutral cardigan should do the trick. The skirt or slacks and blazer should be a solid, neutral color, such as navy, dark grey, or black. Make sure your blouse is not too low cut or too brightly patterned. If elect to wear a skirt, you may want to wear nude pantyhose, especially if you are interviewing for a very conservative company. It always helps to give your clothes a fresh iron and shoes a polish before your interview. Grooming Tips Men should make sure their hair and nails are trim, and that they have shaved or trimmed their facial hair. Women should put up their hair in a clean, simple updo, such as a sleek ponytail or bun, or wear their hair down if it is washed and trimmed. Both men and women should avoid heavy colognes and perfume that might be distracting for the interview. Makeup for women should be limited. This may include a concealer or foundation, a neutral gloss or lipstick, and mascara. Avoid brightly colored eyes. Jewelry Women may wear simple jewelry, including one small necklace (such as a pearl necklace) and small studs or little hoops. Any other jewelry or pi ercings should be removed. Men should remove any jewelry or piercings during the interview. Both men and women should try to titelblatt up any tattoos.

Can Introverts Get Ahead in the Workplace

Can Introverts Get Ahead in the WorkplaceCan Introverts Get Ahead in the Workplace3 steps introverts can take to highlight their talents and advance their careers.Are you an introvert? If not, someone you know probably is. Studies show that one-third to one-half of Americans are introverts, according to Susan Cain, author of the book Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant Stop Talking.While no one has an entirely introverted or extroverted personality type, people tend to be mora of one or the other, experts say. Someone mora introverted is energized by time alone, is an excellent listener, thinks carefully before speaking or acting, and prefers to express feelings in writing instead of talking, according to Beth Buelow, the Tacoma, Wash.-based founder of The Introvert Entrepreneur.If youre an introvert looking to gain ground in yur career, you may be sitting on a gold mine. Leadership in the American workplace is imbalanced, some experts say, and in need of more introver ted styles.Cain says our value system hinges on the Extrovert Ideal - the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. Introversion is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology, she writes. And while extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, its become an oppressive standard that most people feel they must conform to, she says.Ray Williams, president and CEO of Ray Williams Associates in Vancouver, Canada, says our culture portrays strong leaders as men who are aggressive, outgoing and dominant- a stereotype perpetuated by movies, TV and the press. We have a preference for leaders like Donald Trump, he says, even if their performance records are lackluster.The status and reputation of quiet, introverted leadership is undervalued and underappreciated, Williams explains in a Psychology Today article. Despite decades of research on leadership pointing to other less demonst rative skills that are needed, extroverted leaders are still favored in recruiting and promoting decisions. Yet recent research reveals that todays workplace may be more suited to introverted, quiet leaders.Making the Most of Quiet StrengthsWilliams says our reliance on extroverted leadership styles has led to business failures such as those on Wall Street. The workplace needs a better balance of introverts and extroverts, he says, not just at the leadership level, but throughout the ranks.The strengths of an introvert, such as being a good listener, are not always obvious. Yet such skills are invaluable to employers, and introverts are in a prime spot to capitalize on them, experts say.Growing awareness about what it really means to be an introvert is opening a window of opportunity for so-called quiet leaders, according to Buelow. Being an introvert doesnt mean you are shy, or dont like people, she says.Buelow offers several steps introverts can take to highlight their talents and move their careers forwardGet comfortable discussing your accomplishments and strengths. Offer stories and examples of how you contributed to a past success. Share the spotlight with your colleagues, your project or process, and the company, to keep it from feeling self-oriented.Recognize strengths you can cultivate and use to promote yourself. Listening, focus, making one-on-one connections, introspection and establishing safety all lead to increased transparency and communication.Focus on your listening skills. If youre more of an introvert, youre likely to be a good listener, one of the most valuable traits of a leader. Introverts absorb information and consider it from all angles before taking action.Toward BalanceA balance of extroverts and introverts is needed for a team to succeed, experts say. Managers and employers can achieve that balance in a variety of ways. During the hiring process, Williams suggests using profile assessments that include emotional intelligence and pe rsonality style.Buelow recommends using a strengths-based approach to hiring and evaluation. Recognize where introverts thoughtful, calm, observant energy can be an asset and encourage those employees to step into leadership roles, she says.The language employers use to recruit should show they want people with different work styles, as well, Buelow says. Shes learned that many introverts try to be more extroverted so they get considered for leadership roles. This certainly expanded their comfort zone. But it also led to less job satisfaction and higher burn-out, since they had to act like someone they werent in order to be accepted, she explains.

This One Detail Could Totally Transform Your Resume

This One Detail Could Totally Transform Your Resume This One Detail Could Totally Transform Your Resume People tend to leave one crucial detail out of their resumes: their results! However, including this detail could totally transform your resume and make it much more effective. Dont  sell yourself short. Give your results a prominent place on your resume. Why Do Results Matter? Anyone can say theyre a great employee, but very few people can actually prove it. Thats where results come in. When applying for a job, you want to use facts to make a case for why the company should hire you. If you can show a hiring manager that you will be the solution to their problem by discussing the value youve created for previous employers, youll have a much better shot at the role. Relying on subjective terms and clichés instead of quantifiable results will get you nowhere. In fact, employers look negatively  on this because it doesnt convey any real information. Instead of saying you are results-driven, give potential employers a taste of what youve actually achieved: Pitched and cultivated a relationship with [Company Name], securing $10,000 partnership for 2016. This sentence shows that you actively pursued a client and generated concrete results. Using active verbs and integrating metrics creates a stronger claim than using common resume phrases or buzzwords. Create a SOAR Story A SOAR story is a great way to bring results into your resume. SOAR stands for situation, obstacle, action, result. A SOAR story is a format in which you analyze an event at work by breaking it down into the situation, the obstacle you faced, the action you took, and the result of the action. As career coach Alyson Garrido explains,  the SOAR format works wonders when writing a resume, penning a cover letter, or preparing for an interview. It also bolsters your confidence. Creating SOAR stories prior to writing your resume ensures you are paying attention to your results. It also helps with interview prep by keeping your achievements top of mind so youll have no difficulty wowing your interviewer. What Youre Missing Out on if You Dont Include Results Think about a court case. Anyone can make a claim, but if theres no evidence, the claim has no power. Its the same when someone reads your resume. You can talk about how great you are for as long as you like, but if you dont have any evidence or results to prove your greatness, no one will take your claim seriously. Not providing enough quantifiable results may automatically knock you out of the running for a job. Thats a pretty big statement, but the fact of the matter is that each corporate job opening receives an average of 250 applicants. If you arent showcasing results, someone else probably is, and theyll be more likely to land the job than you are. - If youre not including results on your resume when applying for a job, youre doing yourself a disservice. Including this one detail could transform your resume and make your job search a lot more successful. Michele Lando is a certified professional resume writer and the founder of  Write Styles.Master the art of closing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. We're SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career.