I will take a different approach in this edition of About Business for Business. I will cover three different topics in this article.
First is a note about me. Since the inception of this grand experiment, I have written a column on business every other week. We have traveled to the states of Washington, Wisconsin, and Texas. We have explored many a topic from floor restoration, customer service accounting, to marketing. We have visited bookstores, and flown a new airline (for me).
It has been great fun exploring new writers, new topics, and listening to comments I received from you. It is now time for me to cut back on my writings. Life is taking me in many directions.
Thanks to Margaret and staff for honoring my request to reduce my writing load. I will now be writing one article a quarter, and published four times per year. Please look for me around the middle of the month in January, April, July, and October.
Second, I saw an interesting article from Monica Torres of Huffpost.com. Like it or hate it, Google is very much a part of our lives. I am part of two organizations which heavily rely on Google products. Google has innovated a new practice tool, an interesting product, since many folks have been working from home without others.
Google just launched an artificial intelligence-powered job interview prep tool called Interview Warmup. For those of us unsure about artificial intelligence (AI), artificial intelligence means, a computer system able to perform a task that normally requires human intelligence.
What happens is that this tool asks you interview questions, you respond, the system records your responses, then, the tool shows you which responses you gave more than three times. It then suggests synonyms for improved responses.
Specific questions can be tailored for technical and field-specific skills. Goals, experience, and employment talking points can be covered. Google describes it as a, “judgement-free zone,” for anyone who wants a little practice interviewing.
Google makes it a point to mention that it does not save your audio or your transcripts. You do have the option to download them yourself if you want.
One big benefit is that you can practice as many times as you wish. You can re-phrase and correct what responses you do not like.
Mia Williams, a job interview coach, recommends Google Warmup. However, she does not believe it can measure tone, confidence, and one’s level of enthusiasm.
Third, let’s talk self-development. No one doubts the importance of continual life-long learning. Many of you know, I have been studying Spanish. I am rapidly approaching 1,000 days on Duolingo. Tharika Madurapperuma of medium.com asks, what is in your daily plan? She emphasizes the importance to everyone of having a plan, following the plan, and modifying the plan based on need. Businesses invest significant time in strategic plans. House builders establish plans to build those dream homes. I am in a planning stage for my reduced workload at Discover Muscatine. Yes, that is a smile on my face! I will let you know how my planning is proceeding in October.
I usually start my day with a dog walk, a cup of coffee, and Duolingo, but, do I really have a daily plan? Madurapperuma asks what topics do you explore when studying, for example, ordering food, traveling, and/or talking to family. Hopefully, one of my future articles will be from Queretaro, Mexico.
I will see you in October!
