After arriving in America I have to admit, a new guilty pleasure of mine, has been to watch the mind blowing reality series called "The Real Housewives of ....." For those of you unfamiliar with the show, I will try to explain. Basically, it is a reality show following a group of housewives, living privileged lives around the US, spending time back-stabbing their friends, lying to their surroundings, being conniving and obsessing over things that has no meaning and creating the biggest dramas you will ever see on TV. The show has millions of fans, bloggers, twitters and has run for more than 7 years, where each year, a new city is added with a new group of housewives, just as mind numbingly into fake tans and botox as the others.
When I first starting watching the show, I quickly became fan of the one from New York and the one taking place in Orange County. The shear volume of drama going on in these shows is beyond what I have ever seen before and so I was hooked. Some days ago my husband and I were dining with some new friends and we got into talking about the show, because an article recently argued how massive amounts of reality TV is unhealthy for your intelligence and will make you downright stupid. Both men at the table agreed, that the "Real Housewives" is a perfect example of this statement and an argument to stop watching the show. However, I am not sure it is that simple.
At this point in time you could of course argue that any type of reality TV is a waste of time and I agree there should be limits to the amount of time you spend watching it. However, there must be a reason why so many people choose to spent their time following these women and here is what I have come to believe;
1. First off, it is always intriguing to get a peak of how other people live their lives, especially if there are scandals and drama involved.
2. These women are not all stupid, some are actually quit savvy business people. They get the most out of what God gave them and hey in America that is called "Good for you!"
3. The women who participates in the shows, actually believe they are entitled to behave the way they do and that makes it even more interesting to watch as in "I cannot believe she just did that".
4. Probably a lot of the fans wish they were on the show. I really don't know what to think of this, but I am sure it's true.
So, what to make of the phenomenon. Clearly it is targeted at women and gay men who can enjoy a good round of drama. My husband clearly thinks it is the worst show on TV and I do believe that if I publicly endorsed the show at my next job interview, I would not get a call back. At the end of the day I have decided to cut back on my share of real housewives as it gets to you like a drug and I personally find it more sad than bad. Lucky for me "Toddlers and Tiaras" have just started, so as long as I don't tell my husband, I can get my reality fix through toddlers posing in beauty pageants - cause that's not wrong at all :-)
For those who want to learn more about the "Real Housewives" or "Toddlers in Tiaras" please follow the links.
the-real-housewives-of-new-york-city
toddlers-tiaras
For those who would like to know what the impact of TV has on you brain go to this link
reality tv and your brain
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The network experiment - Danes versus Americans
So, the other day I decided to make a little experiment. Nothing scientific, just a fun look into the difference in networking mentality between Danes and Americans. Goal of experiment was to prove, how Danes generally will only accept you into their network, if they already know you, whereas Americans will allow you into their network, if they think your profile looks interesting and they believe they at some future stage might benefit from having you in the circle.
So, in order to test this hypothesis, I went to my LinkedIn profile and looked for people I have never met, but are in some of the same LinkedIn groups as me. I chose to invite 20 Americans and 20 Danes to link to my profile, with just the standard invitation. I offered no explanation of why I wanted to link or acknowledgement of the fact that I don't know these people. Here, 24 hours later, I have what I would consider enough results to prove my point.
Status is, 15 out of the 20 Americans have linked to my profile, some of them with very welcoming comments like "You have such a cool profile" or "What a pleasure to meet you, I look forward to get to know you". Out of the 20 Danes, only 2 have linked to me, 10 have blocked me and 4 have written responses like "Do I know you??" "Why are you linking to me??" "Excuse me, but stop bothering me, I am not interested". SO, obviously 2 very different approaches to networking, but what can we really learn from this. My interpretation is;
1. Americans look upon everything as a business opportunity and are always open to meeting new people. Whether I know you is NOT important. If I believe you can be of value, then why not include you in my network.
2. Danes are always suspicious as to the "hidden" agenda of other people. Are you trying to sell me something?? Are you looking to bother me or ask me a favour?? They generally do not want to spend time on people they don't know and especially people that are approaching them without explanation.
For me it was an intersting experiment, because I learned something about my own approach to people. I used to have the Danish "don't-come-to-close" mentality, but after having been in the states for only 3 months I see how this is limiting me and what great opportunities I get, for unexpected things to happen when I open up and connect to strangers.
So my advice would be, for my fellow Danes to learn from the openness of Americans and let people in, even if you don't exactly know for what reason, I guarantee you will get positively surprised. As for now, I will go back to LinkedIn and spent time to get to know my new contacts and see where it takes me. Happy networking everyone!
So, in order to test this hypothesis, I went to my LinkedIn profile and looked for people I have never met, but are in some of the same LinkedIn groups as me. I chose to invite 20 Americans and 20 Danes to link to my profile, with just the standard invitation. I offered no explanation of why I wanted to link or acknowledgement of the fact that I don't know these people. Here, 24 hours later, I have what I would consider enough results to prove my point.
Status is, 15 out of the 20 Americans have linked to my profile, some of them with very welcoming comments like "You have such a cool profile" or "What a pleasure to meet you, I look forward to get to know you". Out of the 20 Danes, only 2 have linked to me, 10 have blocked me and 4 have written responses like "Do I know you??" "Why are you linking to me??" "Excuse me, but stop bothering me, I am not interested". SO, obviously 2 very different approaches to networking, but what can we really learn from this. My interpretation is;
1. Americans look upon everything as a business opportunity and are always open to meeting new people. Whether I know you is NOT important. If I believe you can be of value, then why not include you in my network.
2. Danes are always suspicious as to the "hidden" agenda of other people. Are you trying to sell me something?? Are you looking to bother me or ask me a favour?? They generally do not want to spend time on people they don't know and especially people that are approaching them without explanation.
For me it was an intersting experiment, because I learned something about my own approach to people. I used to have the Danish "don't-come-to-close" mentality, but after having been in the states for only 3 months I see how this is limiting me and what great opportunities I get, for unexpected things to happen when I open up and connect to strangers.
So my advice would be, for my fellow Danes to learn from the openness of Americans and let people in, even if you don't exactly know for what reason, I guarantee you will get positively surprised. As for now, I will go back to LinkedIn and spent time to get to know my new contacts and see where it takes me. Happy networking everyone!
Monday, June 20, 2011
You got 60 seconds go!
So, it's been three months since I got here and I am still fully engaged in the art of seeking employment. Here are 10 things I have learned so far and I wished someone would have told me in advance;
1. Learn to say exactly who you are, what you can do and why you do it better than anyone else. You have 30-60 seconds to do this. Piece of cake!
2. Do NOT expect employers to pay any attention to your resume, even it they tell you they have read it, they really haven't. Great!
3. Everyone in DC has an MBA so don't think you are special. Oh OK, good to know!
4. Please remember that if an employer tells you, they will call you, or get back to you, they most likely won't. But hey, that is not personal, so please don't take it the wrong way.
5. When going for an interview always be on time, bring extra copies of the resume and be ready to do a drug test on the spot. You will be sure the employer is always late, hasn't read any of the material you send them and can demand random requests in order to check you credibility. Yes! that makes sense.
6. No matter what you do, never ask about salary expectations or the anticipated time line for the recruitment process. These are just such hard questions that no one seem to know.
7. Be certain that you set up at least 5 coffee appointments pr. week. Not, that they will get you closer to a job, it's just how things are done, so we all do it without asking questions.
8. Go to as many networking arrangements as possible. Here you will learn the art of throwing business cards. Sometimes you don't even need to talk to people, just look them straight in the eyes and give them the damn card.
9. Be sure to post you resume at sites like monster.com or theladders.com. These sights will for sure not help you in any way, but if you are really lucky, they will charge you $300 for a resume review, which can give you absolutely nothing you didn't already know before.
10. Last but not least, make sure you have someone to hug you everyday. If not, you might be so discouraged you would want to take it out on the people you meet everyday and that will surely not get you the job!
So, with my new 10 commandments, lets see if I will be any closer to employment in three months from now. To all my fellow job seekers. Hang in there, and let me know how you are doing before you give up!
1. Learn to say exactly who you are, what you can do and why you do it better than anyone else. You have 30-60 seconds to do this. Piece of cake!
2. Do NOT expect employers to pay any attention to your resume, even it they tell you they have read it, they really haven't. Great!
3. Everyone in DC has an MBA so don't think you are special. Oh OK, good to know!
4. Please remember that if an employer tells you, they will call you, or get back to you, they most likely won't. But hey, that is not personal, so please don't take it the wrong way.
5. When going for an interview always be on time, bring extra copies of the resume and be ready to do a drug test on the spot. You will be sure the employer is always late, hasn't read any of the material you send them and can demand random requests in order to check you credibility. Yes! that makes sense.
6. No matter what you do, never ask about salary expectations or the anticipated time line for the recruitment process. These are just such hard questions that no one seem to know.
7. Be certain that you set up at least 5 coffee appointments pr. week. Not, that they will get you closer to a job, it's just how things are done, so we all do it without asking questions.
8. Go to as many networking arrangements as possible. Here you will learn the art of throwing business cards. Sometimes you don't even need to talk to people, just look them straight in the eyes and give them the damn card.
9. Be sure to post you resume at sites like monster.com or theladders.com. These sights will for sure not help you in any way, but if you are really lucky, they will charge you $300 for a resume review, which can give you absolutely nothing you didn't already know before.
10. Last but not least, make sure you have someone to hug you everyday. If not, you might be so discouraged you would want to take it out on the people you meet everyday and that will surely not get you the job!
So, with my new 10 commandments, lets see if I will be any closer to employment in three months from now. To all my fellow job seekers. Hang in there, and let me know how you are doing before you give up!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)