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Word of the Day: foolhardy

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Word of the Day: foolhardy

The word foolhardy has appeared in 26 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 31 in the book review “All That Glitters: A Fresh Look at the California Gold Rush” by W. M. Akers:

“Fortune’s Frenzy” traces the path of Henry Jenkins, an Indiana farmer who left for California in 1851. Like many miners, he took on crushing debt to finance the adventure, agreeing to an interest rate of 59 percent on the assumption that he would return a rich man. What followed were years of hardship and misery as Jenkins risked everything and gained nothing at all.

Jenkins was a Philadelphian who went west to make his fortune on the frontier and found himself less prosperous with every year. Lyon describes him as “a responsible, sober adult” whose belief in temperance and toil were no match for a dearth of hard currency and a surfeit of bad luck. His voyage to California was not a foolhardy gamble but a carefully planned attempt to regain his financial footing before his family starved.

Can you correctly use the word foolhardy in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

If you want a better idea of how foolhardy can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

What’s Going On in This Picture? | April 15, 2024

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What’s Going On in This Picture? | April 15, 2024

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?

We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!

More?

• See all images in this series or slide shows of 40 of our favorite images — or 40 more.

• Learn more about this feature in this video, and discover how and why other teachers are using it in their classrooms in our on-demand webinar.

• Find out how teachers can be trained in the Visual Thinking Strategies facilitation method.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

University of Huddersfield partners with Coursera to launch online Masters in Management

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University of Huddersfield partners with Coursera to launch online Masters in Management

New online degree offers tomorrow’s business leaders the opportunity to gain a postgraduate degree from award-winning business school – with no application required. Learners can register their interest from today.

The University of Huddersfield today announced that it is partnering with Coursera, one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, to launch a new MSc in Management, for which no Business background or application is required. The MSc will offer learners across the UK – and worldwide – the opportunity to train for a career in a variety of leadership roles at the intersection of management and technology, from a university whose teaching contributed to Huddersfield Business School being named Times Higher Education’s Business School of the Year.

By offering performance-based admissions, Coursera and the University of Huddersfield will expand access to postgraduate education offered by an award-winning institution. All learners, irrespective of prior attainment or educational background, are eligible to attempt a first module of the MSc in Management, and, should they successfully complete this introductory module to the requisite standard, will gain admission to the full degree programme. 

The online MSc aims to produce business leaders who possess the combination of tech and human skills required to thrive in an economy increasingly defined by rapid digitalization and automation. To this end, learners will, from their mobile devices and around their schedules, complete modules including:

  • The Global Professional: this module provides an overview of the key skills needed for leaders to succeed in today’s highly mobile and interconnected world of business. Learners will gain the skills required to offer future employers, colleagues and other stakeholders an adaptable, interculturally aware, responsive approach to management.
  • Digital Marketing Strategy: learners will familiarise themselves with the digital marketing strategies, tools, and data analytics required to nurture an effective online business presence.
  • Research Project: students will conclude the program by completing an in-depth piece of business research work, deploying key applied research skills to solve a concrete business problem. 

The degree will be fully delivered by the award-winning University of Huddersfield, who rank first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships – which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education – having won 22 since 2008. The University of Huddersfield has also been awarded an overall 5 Star rating from the QS Stars quality assurance framework, which classifies the institution as world-class across a broad range of areas including Teaching, Employability, Facilities, Innovation, Internationalisation and Inclusiveness.

“We’re proud to expand our online degree provision in Britain, which has already seen us work with partners including Imperial College London and the University of London to offer flexible, accessible degrees from world-class institutions,” said Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer, Coursera. “Amid a growing need for highly-skilled, visionary business leaders, students worldwide can now earn a high-quality British management degree without upending their lives or careers. This life-changing credential, coupled with new skills and the robust professional network offered by a Master’s in Management, can unlock doors for countless learners, enabling them to lead in the digital economy.” 

“This is an exciting development for the Distance Learning offer at the University of Huddersfield, which continues to expand to meet the needs of our students. We understand the need for a flexible approach to learning and distance learning enables many of our students to study for their degrees whilst balancing their other commitments, as well as overcoming any geographical barriers. We’re delighted to be working with Coursera who share our vision to provide high-quality online learning and I look forward to our continued collaboration,” said Professor Jane Owen-Lynch, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning) at the University of Huddersfield.

Coursera continues to expand its degree portfolio, which includes more than 50 degrees from 29 of the world’s best universities, and currently serves more than 22,000 students. The new University of Huddersfield degree closely follows recent announcements of other leading institutions launching degrees on Coursera, including the University of California, Berkeley and Dartmouth College.

Coursera currently supports the skills development of 3.6 million UK learners, of whom over 230,000 – a 76% year-on-year increase – have taken at least one of Coursera’s 40+ Entry-Level Professional Certificates – which provide learners with job-relevant skills from industry leaders including Meta, IBM, and Google.

Learners wishing to register their interest in joining the first cohort of the University of Huddersfield-Coursera MSc in Management can do so now at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/msc-management-huddersfield, with applications beginning in May. 

Can Poetry Make a Difference in Our Lives and in the World?

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Can Poetry Make a Difference in Our Lives and in the World?

How important is poetry in your life? Do you read or write it? Do you ever turn to poems when you are feeling lost or overwhelmed? When you need comfort or direction?

Do you think poetry has the power to make a difference — in our individual lives and in the world?

In the guest essay “How to Breathe With the Trees,” Margaret Renkl writes about Ada Limón, who is serving her second term as poet laureate of the United States. Ms. Renkl says that in a new poetry anthology, Ms. Limón makes a case for poetry being able to heal us and the earth itself:

April is National Poetry Month, and it strikes me that no one is better positioned than Ms. Limón to convince Americans to leave off their quarrels and worries, at least for a time, and surrender to the language of poetry. That’s as much because of her public presence as because of her public role as the country’s poet in chief. When Ada Limón tells you that poetry will make you feel better, you believe her.

In her nearly weekly travels as poet laureate, Ms. Limón has had a lot of practice delivering this message. “Every time I’m around a group of people, the word that keeps coming up is ‘overwhelmed,’” she said. “It’s so meaningful to lean on poetry right now because it does make you slow down. It does make you breathe.”

A poem is built of rests. Each line break, each stanza break and each caesura represents a pause, and in that pause there is room to take a breath. To ponder. To sit, for once in our lives, with mystery. If we can’t find a way to slow down on our own, to take a breath, poems can teach us how.

But Ms. Limón isn’t merely an ambassador for how poetry can heal us. She also makes a subtle but powerful case for how poetry can heal the earth itself. At this time of crisis, when worry governs our days, she wants us to look up from our screens and consider our own connection to the earth. To remember how to breathe by spending some time with the trees that breathe with us.

Students, read the entire essay and then tell us:

  • Does poetry play a role in your life? If so, when do you turn to it most, whether that means reading it, writing it or both? Why? What effect does it have on you?

  • What do you think about Ms. Limón’s idea that poetry can heal us and the earth? To what extent can poetry make a difference in our lives? What about in our relationship to the earth? Or to the world at large?

  • Do you think poetry gets the respect and attention it deserves? Why do you think some people might be turned off or intimidated by poetry? How important do you think it is for young people to read and learn about this art form?

  • Tell us about one of your favorite poems. What thoughts, memories or feelings does it evoke? What does it mean to you?

  • If you’re not a reader or writer of poetry, is there another form of art or creative expression that you turn to when you’re feeling overwhelmed or lost? If so, what is it and how does it help you? Have you seen it make a difference in the world?

Bonus: Try your hand at the prompt Ms. Limón gave to writers in “You Are Here,” her new anthology of nature poems: Write a poem that “speaks back to the natural world, whatever that means to you.” If you would like, share your poem in the comments.

Tiny House

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Tiny House

Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration or, describe a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Picture Prompts here.

Word of the Day: succinctly

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Word of the Day: succinctly

The word succinctly has appeared in 54 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on March 4 in “Why Is There No Oscar for Best Choreography?” by Margaret Fuhrer:

Imaginative, world-expanding dance helped make Hollywood what it is, defining the movie musicals of its golden age. So many classic movies live and breathe through their dance numbers, marvels of choreographic wit and technical ingenuity. Today’s film choreographers also shape far more than steps, creating scenes that propel plot in ways that dialogue can’t. It makes sense that dance scenes frequently go viral: Good film choreography can capture, succinctly and with striking clarity, the essence of a character, relationship or problem.

“A well-choreographed movie scene can have a huge cultural impact,” said Kathryn Burns, a film and television choreographer. “That deserves recognition.”

Can you correctly use the word succinctly in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

If you want a better idea of how succinctly can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

Acquistions – Someone had an idea

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Acquistions – Someone had an idea

The other day, I was listening to an audiobook, and the author spoke about ideas. He noted that they are either good or bad, yet most folks only think about the good ones. I thought about this, as you can tell, and said to myself, okay, let’s write a post where the e-learning history and thus learning systems, authoring tools, and alike are intertwined with good and bad ideas. I decided to go further with good, great, bad, and poor ideas.

There is always one person who comes up with the idea in the workplace or out of it, for that matter. Sure, others may get involved (the usual case at a company), but there is still initially one person who thought of it. Maybe they considered all the scenarios and didn’t, but they came up with this idea and ran with it. A lot of us, I think, come up with ideas. The awful ones go right into the brain dustbin immediately without any additional thoughts. Others, though, we may feel more, map it out, or unleash it and see what happens (not recommended).

Someone came up with the idea of a LMS. Someone came up with the term LMS – albeit Jay Cross (RIP) is said to be that person; however, this is debatable.

Someone came up with the idea to create templates for developing courses quickly – and no, it wasn’t someone from Adobe or Articulate. Instead, it was someone from Macromedia Dreamweaver, which is software for building websites.

Someone came up with the idea of an LCMS (RIP) Community of Practice (yuck, first it went the way of the dodo bird, then has made a comeback – just like the dodo bird – which is being re-created genetically). Someone came up with the idea for the term WBT – a brilliant move. Someone came up with a term for DVD content, a horrible idea – and well, nobody remembers it.

How, then, should I write a post about ideas and the history of offerings so that anyone can ascertain the differences between good and downright poor or bad? We can look at this in hindsight or rose-colored glasses and say, “AHA, you are looking in hindsight. Therefore, it initially was a good idea, gone south.” I can’t entirely agree. There are times when, right away, you think to yourself, who came up with this? It’s a bad idea before it even goes to market. Anyone who worked during the dot.com days can attest to this.

I chose the groupings route. Groupings seem like a good idea but feel free to say this is a bad idea, and I’m okay with that.

Acquisitions

Any company that acquires another – in our case, a learning system- always thinks it is a great idea. I decided to eliminate PE firms, except Vista Equity. The initial person who thought buying SumTotal was a great idea (initially it was) and then dumped it for a fortune to Skillsoft (another great idea), which in turn was someone at Skillsoft thinking this was a great idea, which turned out to be false and was a factor in Skillsoft going into bankruptcy due to the albatross known as SumTotal. Then Cornerstone came along and bought SumTotal for peanuts, which was a good idea, and here we are with SumTotal.

The wonderful thing about acquisitions is that very few people publicly know who is on the market, who isn’t (but is open for acquisitions), and what the financial status is – unless the company is public, which is an outlier in our space.

In my grouping, I interspersed it with historical references that are not tied to our industry for the purpose of just doing it. I won’t go into all the particulars on that side; instead, I recommend using an AI search engine or using the web. Fortunately, you will avoid all the garbage of the top ten this or push of that, which has turned the internet into space junk.

LTG, Macromedia, Adobe, and Smart ideas (for the most part)

LTG acquiring Rustici (makers of the SCORM engine and Watershed LRS, among other items) is a great idea. Someone at LTG should score a raise for going up to their boss or being the boss and saying let’s look at buying Rustici. IMO, this is by far the best buy LTG has ever made, and I know all of their acquisitions.

LTG, however, made a poor decision (although they disagree) in buying NetDimensions. Sure, they got it for a song and a dance—Fred Astaire is back! However, ND never hit its stride and had the potential to do so – the very first vendor, whereas you could use part of it via a jump drive (true). I never tested it, but they noted it. They had some other clever ideas, but I remember telling their CEO on a webinar panel that mobile learning was the next big thing, and he disagreed. It turned out to be accurate, and the rest is history. Some companies still use NetD despite the system not receiving any updates, maintenance, etc. Therefore, from LTG’s standpoint, it is a gift that keeps giving. I still think it was a bad idea.

In another acquisition, LTG snagged Bridge away from Instructure. The person who came up with the idea landed a good one because Instructure never really figured out how to use Bridge; I mean, Instructure is an EdTech company, and it got so bad that I know of folks where they eyed Bridge and Instructure was pushing Canvas as the better choice. On top of that, one CEO I know told me he once got a call from Instructure on how he would position and make Bridge better. The CEO demurred. Whoever thought this was a smart move should receive kudos for attempting it just from the sheer holy moly yowsa, and at the same time, a bad idea.

Adobe acquiring Macromedia initially looked like an awful decision, and yes, from the website build, it was; however, tapping into those templates that Macromedia created for creating courses was a great idea. At the time, I hated it. I was using DazzlerMax and Authorware, which are superior offerings for creating courses. I looked at the templates and thought that anybody could create a course without knowing anything about ID or e-learning development, which wouldn’t be good.

The person who saw the template potentially hit it out of the park. Adobe was the first vendor to use templates to create courses. Not Articulate. Articulate and the person whose idea recognized that rapid course authoring was the way to go, establishing a considerable market even today, deserved huge kudos and a lot of money—probably got a pen. Studio drove the market to the point of going into Storyline, which is nothing more than a PowerPoint converter. It’s simple to use, creates a course in just a few minutes, and usually, it isn’t very good. However, the product person who first saw the value of a TOC was correct – although that has gone by the wayside.

For me, GO1’s track record is mixed regarding buys. I suspect, okay, more so, that the person who came up with the idea to go made a poor decision. They disagree (I think you are starting to see a trend here). GO1 picked off Anders Pink, which initially was a good idea; I mean, GO1 didn’t know the impact of AI in the content finding and bringing in (nobody did), and their strategy for leveraging AP was smart.

On the other hand, the purchase of a couple of vendors for the sake of buying for the people running or being actively involved with the product was not a good idea. Why not just hire those folks away? It seems to make more sense. Nevertheless, there were other apparent reasons for doing so, yet the people piece was a key. I remember the soon-to-arrive president (I always saw him as somewhat a de facto CEO) telling me they were not good buys. He noted reasons why, which I will leave out, along with some thoughts he presented. He is no longer at the company. And for the record, I honestly believe that Andrew, the founder and CEO of GO1, is a brilliant individual. I always have had the highest respect, and he knows my perspective on those acquisitions. Equally, I thought buying GetAbstract was not a good idea either. There were other ways to go here, and GA didn’t do it for me. But there is someone there, who believes and probably still does that was and is a great idea.

Cornerstone Track Record for Learning System Acquisitions

Mixed. I get the reasoning behind the deals, but clearly, there were some good ideas here, and one that I still believe was a bad idea from the system standpoint, from the financial though, very smart.

Good ideas

  • Saba – At the time, this was a brilliant idea. The system used to have a lot of potential, so the first thing to come up with was what they referred to as TIM (think a mentor thing that helps you). TIM I understand is still around and hasn’t evolved. Saba always thought of themselves behind the scenes as a performance management system, even though they publicly pushed it for L&D – employees.
  • SumTotal – I talked a bit about it earlier, the peanuts buy minus Snoopy, and while the reasoning for some was to eliminate the competition (Saba and SumTotal see ya), Cornerstone made a dent for sure, but their major competitors are still out there. Both were a client buy (prevalent, BTW) when vendors buy other learning systems. The notion it is for the technology is a farce. Maybe they want to integrate it into the system, OR they see it as a revenue channel by keeping it as a standalone – there are plenty more who seek it solely for getting the clients and moving them over to their system, ideally sunsetting the system if they can – the one they bought.)
  • EdCast—Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. The idea was mixed – sort of a good idea and, yes, some poor idea. It is sort of in the middle. I didn’t like it and saw no benefit since Cornerstone already had a legit LXP in their system, including the whole skills piece, the third-party content, and the other standards. EdCast is still a strong player in the LXP market, although, at the time, they were adding ubiquitous features to the LMS space. There were other reasons for the decision (and yes, I cannot disclose), but the idea – the initial person who went this strategically- makes sense; no, I do not see it as a good idea. Consider various other systems that would have made sense, not just from a competitor standpoint but a more decisive entry into two valuable segments, including customer training, which Cornerstone is not strong in, let alone a player.

Learn.com; Plateau Learning – It seemed like a good idea

Count Olaf. Probably the best con artist of all time. He once got a guy to buy the Eiffel Tower. Then took the guy’s money and bolted, before said person realized that the tower wasn’t for sell. The Count (hint – not a real count), even landed a financial gain with Al Capone, and lived to talk about it. It’s a wonderful story, on how the goal wasn’t to rip off Capone (a guarantee of death), rather to recognize that what he really wanted was X, and which Capone gave him, because he was sure that the Count was going to rip him off. I recommend reading the 48 Laws of Power which talks about the Count.

I bring up Olaf because the person whose idea led to the acquisition of Learn.com, would have impressed Al Capone. I do not mean this in a negative way, rather the folks or the individual who said let’s sale to Taleo, and everyone nodded their heads, either never heard of the Count or unfamiliar with the Capone story.

To say Taleo pulled the rug over the eyes of Learn.com back in the day, is an understatement. They promised folks who worked there (at least one exec told me this) that they were going to infuse money into Learn.com and make it even better. HA! That never happened, and if it did, it was probably a few dollars.

Taleo in turn, was acquired by Oracle. And the rest is history. I never understood the buy from the Taleo standpoint of Learn.com, which by that time was a course aggregator. Ahead of it’s time, actually, especially since they started out as a LMS. If you think hmm, I thought this happened before, well, not before, later – because GO1 started out as a LMS and is now a content/course aggregator. Thankfully, Taleo isn’t around to buy.

Learn.com wasn’t a bad system. It wasn’t great or okay, good, but there were people who liked it. When they went course aggregator, I saw them as a nice alternative to Skillsoft who was off acquiring other course providers including NetG and then down the road, Element K.

This just goes to show that one person, somewhere out there in the ancient world of early learning systems and e-learning, thought to themselves that Taleo would save them (Learn.com wasn’t exactly raking in the cash), and improve the system and just take it to the next level. The challenge that befell Taleo, IMO, was that they were never in the learning business to begin with, they were in the recruiting software business. Perhaps, they eyed what SuccessFactors had done – for SF was a recruiting software company who went out and purchased Plateau Learning, tweaked it up a bit (which was better than before, and that’s saying something) and whalla – SuccessFactor LMS or whatever they pitched it as.

For the person whose idea was to buy Plateau, a good idea. At the time, PL was a dominant player in the industry, with lots of loyal (aka recurring revenue) customers. The people who had PL loved it. I always say it as a dated, archaic system that made SharePoint look like a revolutionary solution for the masses for online learning (it’s not).

The initial human who said, let’s sell to SF, was smart too. A good idea all-around. Two cheers! For two good ideas on the part of initially two different people.

SAP buying SF, and the person who came up with the idea to do so, was equally brilliant. SF today is a cash cow for SAP. Moo – Moo. The buy of Litmos, not such a great idea. Litmos became the Cinderella, if Cinderella was not given any money to buy a revamped carriage, with all the goodies, including an upgrade from eight-track to HD radio. Oh, and Cinderella was pitched as someone who couldn’t date the prince, but Jolly the Jester is available. Litmos suffered IMO under SAP, and the impact clearly was seen in whom SAP pushed from an enterprise standpoint – SF, over Litmos. It got to a point, whereas if you were interested in Litmos, a salesperson from SAP had to be on the call too. The best thing that happened to Litmos, was a person, yes, a person who came up with a good idea of rescuing them with a buy and capital infusion.

Skillsoft and SumTotal

Yes, it is time to bring up this acquisition.

In the history of acquisitions in our industry, at least from my perspective, this one is by far the worst. At the time is seemed clearly as though they struck gold. SumTotal was doing solid business, people that used it, and stayed with it (and yes, there are companies today still on it, from those days of Skillsoft’s ownership). There was solid ARR. The problem though was that the visions of where ST could get to, oir what was the perceived long-term growth just never materialized. I’m sure lots will disagree but take a gander at the filing for bankruptcy that Skillsoft had to do, and you will see SumTotal as a key reason. This was an albatross.

I knew of vendors who received letters of interest for ST and scoffed. Skillsoft saw ST as a potential whale (Vegas is experience in the whale business, and no I am not talking about an actual whale), however it ended up being Charlie the Tuna, minus his tinned can. Sorry, Charlie.

I have no idea on whether the person who had the epiphany of unloading SumTotal to another vendor, which turned out to be Cornerstone, but they were smart to do so. Not because the system was lackluster or a bad buy for Cornerstone (it wasn’t), rather because they were able to unload it.

Skillsoft’s strength is now Perceipo, which oddly enough wasn’t seen as the system winner at the time, that was ST. Skillsoft rolled out the “P” too early, it was really a work in progress at the time. The UI/UX though was far superior to ST (in comparison). Anyway, the idea of that person who said Perceipo, which is not an LXP, despite what others may say, is the future should be given a medal. Or a few free tickets to Disneyland.

Bottom Line

There have been a lot more acquisitions over the years, and a few last years alone. The idea of “consolidation” is occurring though just isn’t accurate, not even in the same planet. I didn’t talk about the recent buys by Docebo (last year), or previous buys in year’s past by Absorb.

I demurred from talking about vendors who say they are rocking, and privately are hoping that somebody buys them – ignoring the fact that nobody is going to pay 8X for them.

What I love though about buys or sells, is that someone, somewhere, whether in a boardroom, or at their desk or cubicle or in the airport lounge or shopping for carriages, had an idea.

They ended up either being great, or good, or poor or downright bad. At the time though, they seemed to be a winner. Nobody, comes up with an idea, thinking this is a loser, but let’s roll with it. Especially when it comes to pitching it to others, getting buy-in and then acquiring a vendor, or learning tech, or some other offering.

There will always be outright wins here, and yes, questionable in hindsight losses, and while we can look through rose-colored glasses and say this was a good idea or bad idea, there are as earlier mentioned many of us (not just me), who heard about abc selling to DEF or EFG buying AXR and saying, bad, bad idea.

History is scattered with ideas that turned out to be successful.

And while, we can agree to disagree on what is really a good versus not so good idea, I think we can all agree on one thing.

Not having enough lifeboats on the Titanic, was a bad idea.

E-Learning 24/7

No post next week, as I continue my business travels.

Job interviews: How to confidently prepare

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Job interviews: How to confidently prepare

We have arrived at the beginning of another new Career Chat series. Over the next four weeks, we’ll be exploring how to prepare for a job interview.

So far in Career Chat, we’ve primarily focused on preparing for the earlier stages of the job search process—focusing your career goals, identifying key job skills, writing your resume (and part two)—and the things you can do to accelerate your progress, like finding a mentor and growing your network.

If all goes well in those first few stages, you’ll likely receive an invitation for an interview, where you will find yourself answering the question that bridges those first stages of your job search to the next:

“Why did you apply for this role?”

A question like this tends to come up during a phone interview, though you might get it in any type of interview. Much like “Tell me about yourself,” this question can be a nice way to start your conversation.

Recruiters or hiring managers typically ask why you’re interested in the role to learn a few things: what you’re looking for, some of your long-term goals, and whether this position will be a good fit.

When you answer, it helps to cover three main points:

  • Any previous experience that aligns with the role
  • How you plan to continue growing in this role
  • Why you want to pursue this role at this particular company

Then, connect those pieces back to your career goals.

Since you can almost be certain that this question is coming, set yourself up to deliver a confident and comfortable response by preparing in advance. Recall what went through your mind when you applied for this role—which job responsibilities excited you, what job skills you’re eager to use, and what about the company piqued your interest. (You can even ask yourself this question as you read job descriptions to weed out roles that may not be the best fit for your goals in the long term.)

Here’s an example of what a project manager might share when seeking advancement:

“Recently, my team launched a major update to our mobile app that increased daily active users by 12 percent. I really enjoyed leading that effort and coaching my direct reports through the roadblocks that tested their growth edges. Now, I’m looking to challenge myself by managing a larger team on more complex projects. I’m particularly impressed with how Company X prioritizes intuitive, user-first design, and think it’d be a rewarding place to grow.”

Where to begin

Answering this question honestly and tactfully requires two things: clarity on your goals and strong communication skills. The University of Pennsylvania’s Achieving Personal and Professional Success Specialization weaves together courses on both of those topics.

For a shorter commitment, you may also consider:

This is where we will leave you this week. Next week, we’ll discuss behavioral interview questions. See you then!

How to talk about a career gap

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How to talk about a career gap

Welcome to the final issue of our job search series. Over the past month or so, we’ve shared tips on finding entry-level jobs, changing careers, and landing remote roles. Today, we’re talking about how to frame career gaps.

But first, a quick announcement: We are running a promotion for new Coursera Plus subscribers! Through November 24, you can get your first month of Coursera Plus for $1. Search on the linked page

(Re)framing your career gap

Career gaps, or employment gaps, are stretches of time between jobs when you aren’t working at a traditional job. You may have a career gap if you, for example, decided to pause working while you raised children or cared for another family member, took medical leave, went back to school, or simply couldn’t find the right role for you.

Career gaps are normal and common. Life takes each of us in different directions, sometimes calling us to step back from a career—but that doesn’t mean your growth and development pauses during that gap.

Ultimately, as a job seeker, what you gained from your career gap is more important than the reason you took a career gap.

Think about the skills you learned or practiced in the time since you stepped away from your last role and embrace your career gap as time well spent. For example, when you were raising children, you may have learned to maintain schedules, delegate tasks, and manage resources—all useful project management skills. When you were traveling to different countries, you may have enhanced your language skills and cultural diplomacy, which can come in handy while working for a global company or conducting international business.

Next, proudly display those skills on your resume, either by inserting them into a dedicated skills section or giving yourself a job title and listing your responsibilities in your experience section. Here’s an example for a stay-at-home parent:

Stay-at-Home Mom

Self-employed, 2018—present (Atlanta, Georgia)

  • Managed schedules for two children under the age of 10, organizing competing appointments and activities
  • Oversaw weekly grocery budget, reducing overall spending by 8% over two years
  • Created a local parenting group on Facebook that currently features over 60 members;  planned meet-ups and collected resources and tools to feature each week

Think about how you may also talk about this period of time during interviews. The goal here is to retain control over the story of your career gap. See this as an opportunity to highlight the skills you gained—particularly those which you may not have been exposed to otherwise—and how those skills shaped you into the high-quality job candidate you are today.

Keep growing

Sharpen your resume with SUNY Online’s project-based course, How to Write a Resume.

Gain perspective on framing your work-life balance with the University of Pennsylvania’s Achieving Personal and Professional Success Specialization.

Formalize your new skill set with a Professional Certificate from industry leaders aligned with your new skills.

With that, our job search series comes to an end, but the conversation continues in the comments. Leave your questions, tips, and encouragement below—we’d love to cheer you on!

Dreaming of a remote job? Here are our tips for finding one.

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onlinefreecourse
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Dreaming of a remote job? Here are our tips for finding one.

Welcome back to our job search series. So far, we have explored tips for finding an entry-level role and navigating a career change. This week, we’re going to wade into a lifestyle topic of interest: remote jobs.

Working remotely can be one way to introduce flexibility into your career, while still retaining many of the employment benefits that come with working for a company. Some companies offer fully remote positions, while others have adopted a hybrid model, which sees employees working remotely on some days and convening in an office on others.

With a remote job, you gain the freedom to work from anywhere, whether your preferred environment is at home, with a coworking community, or even on the beach. This can make it easier to develop a more complete sense of work-life balance, or work-life integration.

At the same time, you may sacrifice some of the social elements of the workplace, like in-person meetings with colleagues and classic watercooler conversations. You’ll also need to manage your own dedicated workspace and motivate yourself to stay on task without the social cues that an office can supply.

If you want to experience both sides of these pros and cons, consider searching for a hybrid role. Otherwise, if you find the pros outweigh the cons, you may enjoy a fully remote role.

How to find a remote job

For the most part, the application process for a remote job is the same as a typical application process. You’ll likely need a resume, cover letter, and, in some cases, a portfolio or work samples. You’ll need to reflect on your career goals. And you’ll need to prepare for your interviews.

All that said, remote job searches can be unique in some ways. Here are some tips for your remote job search:

1. Research the kinds of jobs that are typically remote. You may already have some roles you’d like in mind. Remember, though, to work remotely, you’ll typically need to get a job you can do with just a device and internet connection. Broadly speaking, you’re looking at industries like IT, digital marketing, or customer support. To start your research, check out our guide on remote work-from-home jobs that pay well.

2. Filter your job searches to “remote.” Many companies adopted remote work policies during the pandemic, but some have returned to the office on either full-time or hybrid schedules. The result is that there are fewer remote roles now than there were a few years ago. Many online job search sites, like LinkedIn and Indeed, allow you to filter your search results to only show you remote or hybrid positions. That way, you can eliminate search results for in-person positions and only apply for roles that organizations have pre-approved for remote work.

3. Prepare to interview by video or phone. No matter how comfortable you are on Google Meet or Zoom, it’s still a good idea to prepare for challenges unique to this style of interview. For example, you may need to practice using an unfamiliar video conferencing tool, find a quiet space for the interview, or create rapport with your interviewer without the visual and nonverbal cues of an in-person meeting. Take a look at our Zoom interview tips guide for more ideas.

4. Prepare to describe how you handle working remotely. Even though many companies have introduced remote work policies in recent years, a recruiter may want to make sure that you can work productively outside of a traditional office setting. Prepare for any discussion around this topic by:

  • Reflecting on prior remote work or study experience
  • Thinking ahead to a future remote work situation
  • Describing specific strategies and practices you can use to make the remote work experience more productive, such as using software to collaborate asynchronously and setting up a home office you feel comfortable in

Quick tip: If you’ve taken a course on Coursera, the things that worked for you when you were learning online may be the same things that will work for you when you’re working remotely. You can relate your success with online, asynchronous learning to how you plan to succeed in a remote work environment.

Preparing to work remotely

The technical skills you’ll use to do your remote job well are the same technical skills you’d use if you were working in an office. However, there are some workplace skills that may be particularly useful in a remote environment.

That’s all for this week. Next week, we will close out our job search series with an issue on returning to work after a career gap. See you then!

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