Employee Selection Tool and the Interview Process Essays

Employee Selection Tool and the Interview Process Essays Employee Selection Tool and the Interview Process Essay Employee Selection Tool and the Interview Process Essay Employee Selection Tools and the Interview Process Axia College, University of Phoenix Choosing the best suited individuals who are highly skilled and adequately suited for an employment position has become a difficult and sometimes a time-consuming process for employers. Today’s job market has become so diverse and competitive that companies must implement resources that assist them in carefully evaluating the credentials, backgrounds, and abilities of each candidate. Therefore, it is essential that organizations possess the ability to properly and effectively select qualifying applicants for employment positions. Hence, the HR recruiters or department heads rely on various selection tools designed to prescreen, evaluate and objectively select the best qualified individuals for the position, which will eliminate the time and money spent processing less qualified applicants. Just as many large corporations and technologically advanced industries reach for highly educated, experienced, skilled and talented employees, smaller operations such as supermarkets must also consider the diversity and competitive nature of the job market. Therefore, it is essential that the human resources manager and department heads carefully evaluate each applicant just as efficiently as larger more complex organizations. Supermarkets contain an array of department within their organization. These departments may range from fresh produce and meat departments, merchandising and stock departments, to cash management areas and supervisory or executive heads. â€Å"In these to tough and competitive times, and certainly in tight labor markets, the need to hire the right talent the first time must be a top organizational strategy. states Sal Silvester, (2009). To make the proper selection though, recruiters in the supermarket must implement selection tools such as the application form, employee integrity and cognitive test, employee reference and employment verification checks as well as drug testing to ensure that the best suited individual is chosen that will effectively fill the vacant position as well as lead the company into future success. Silvester, S. , (2009). The first step, the application process, is requiring the applicant to complete an application for employment form. As explained by Bohlander and Snell, (2007), applications are selection tools designed to prescreen for experience and education allowing the employers to differentiate between possible qualified applicants and lesser experienced individuals. In essence, this will evidently save the employer time and money that would otherwise wasted processing each separate individual. After the candidates pass through the initial application and interview process, narrowing the selection of candidates even further requires more in-depth reviews, hence the employment integrity and cognitive testing enters. Integrity tests are designed to evaluate the applicants reactions to various ethical scenarios that involve, theft, misconduct and or corruption within the workplace while cognitive test are designed to reveal certain skills and abilities, which reflect the applicants deductive reasoning, comprehension, and problem solving capabilities. The use of these tests allows employers to minimize employee misconduct and efficiently to place individuals in the best suited positions. These tests, and the organizations ability to effectively manage them, may also potentially raise company moral and ethical standards. Bohlander and Snell, (2007) explains it as, â€Å"Employment tests are an objective and standardize measure of a sample of behavior that is used to gauge a person’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics in relation to other individuals. † Drug testing is a selection tool that has experienced recent debates in regards to its effectiveness as an effective tool for providing a safer work environment as well as its ability to raise employee productivity. Drug testing however, has been recognized to be predominantly more effective in industries in which safety is a critical element in the workforce or labor field. Therefore, supermarkets may fall into this category since there are various pieces of equipment used in the stores that require the employees to practice safe measures at all-times to eliminate potential dangers. For example, ladders may used by employees who stock shelves, and band saw may be used in areas like the meat department. Therefore, it is critical that employees be coherent and drug-free to ensure the safety of them and others while limiting the possible liabilities of the employer such as employee absenteeism, increased insurance premiums, and potentially devastating lawsuits. Bohlander and Snell, (2007) Although each of these selection tools may effectively assist the recruiters in choosing the appropriate individual for the position, cognitive and integrity testing however will more readily separate qualified applicant from lesser qualified individuals. Therefore, employment testing would be considered as the best selection tool designed for selecting the best suited individual in a supermarket setting, and more so, it would also prove as an effective device in areas such as a food and beverage director position, which has been selected for the final project. The position of food and beverage director requires the individual candidate to possess certain skills that include the ability to use deductive reasoning for problem-solving, effective management skills that allows the individual to efficiently direct individuals as well as to possess ethical and moral standards that will lead to success within the company and for the company. Considering the requirements for the position and the various selection tools used to evaluate the candidates, employment testing proves to be the best solution in determining these qualities in an individual. Although employee testing reveals the candidates abilities of deductive reasoning in problem-solving, effectively interviewing prospective candidates is a measure that should not be ignored, either. There are several methods that may be implemented in the interview approach. These methods may range from non-directive interviews in which the candidate is presented open-ended questions allowing them to freely express themselves to structured more directly focused interviews, which requires the applicant to relate more direct information in regards to his or her background, education and experience, and qualifications. In either case, interviews may be performed by a single interviewer presenting an atmosphere for a direct one-on-one approach, or by a panel of carefully selected individuals who are focused on obtaining the most qualified individual. Bohlander and Snell, (2007) The chosen direction of interview for the final project is the panel review method. The reason for which the method has been chosen is that a food and beverage director would be employed in an area of management; therefore requiring the individual to not only be qualified enough to carry out the various tasks of the position, but to also be able to communicate effectively with other supervisors, managers, or executive within the corporation. Panels that include the managers and or supervisors of various other departments closely related to the food and beverage director will be able to jointly collaborate and decide on the best candidate. According to Bohlander and Snell, (2007), advantages to this method could include higher reliability in the selection, acceptance of the selection, less bias or discrimination against the prospect, and essentially, less time and money spent evaluating prospects. Interviews are best effective when interviewers possess and implement a purpose and directive prior to beginning the interview. This requires the interviewer to possess the ability to be an active listener, effective observer, and to possess a certain degree of ethical standards that will enable the interviewer to be objective. To ensure that the interviewer can incorporate these standards within the interview process, questions to ask the applicant should be designed, which will enhance the interviewer’s objectiveness and ability to observe or listen. Question should also be designed to allow the individual being interviewed to effectively portray their abilities and qualifications in regards to the position being interviewed for. Examples of questions that would be used to effectively interview a prospect for the position of a food and beverage director may include the following which will be implemented into the final project. 1. Tell me about your experience in the Hospitality industry. 2. Why do you feel you would be best suited for this position? 3. Why do you wan to work in this position, in the Hospitality industry or even for this organization? 4. Explain what you feel is your best quality and if interviewed, would others feel the same? 5. Explain to me what others would say about your weaknesses and why? . If hired, where do you see yourself within this company in two years, five years, and ten years? 7. What other positions or jobs have you applied for or that you may be considering? 8. What are your goals in regards to your personal self, your family, or your career? 9. What significant characteristic, skill or ability do you feel you possess that will lead you to success in the position as well as being beneficial to the company? 10. Why should we hire you for the position rather than promoting from within or choosing another candidate? 11. What are you though about the company, the position, this interview and my effectiveness to perform the interview? Designing the question as described allows the interviewer to observe the applicants ability to focus on their qualities, communicate effectively, relate themselves to the position and the company, and to exhibit certain behavioral patterns that may reveal characteristics either beneficial or possibly detrimental to the work environment and the company. As one can perceive, selecting and hiring the right individual can be a difficult complex process. Employers; herefore must chose and develop strategies and selection tools such as employment testing, which will reveal skills in deductive reasoning and problem-solving, and to design question for the interview process that focus on the candidates past and present experiences, education, abilities, and behavioral characteristics. By carefully selecting the tools, designing the interview and incorporating others to be involv ed in the process can lead the company to higher success rates of employees creating long-term loyalty, higher moral, ethical standards, and customer satisfaction, and stability of the organization. Furthermore, by incorporating these practices into the employee selection process, companies will be able to focus on highly qualified applicant and be able to properly and effectively choose the right talent, highly skilled, and best qualified individual for the position. Reference Bohlander, G. W. , and Snell, S. A. , (2007) Managing Human Resources, 14th e. Retrieved December 15, 2009, from myesources. phoenix. edu Silvester, S. , (2009) Hiring the Right Talent. Retrieved December 15, 2009, from 512solutions. com/resources/downlods/talent. pdf

10 Words for Categories of Words

10 Words for Categories of Words 10 Words for Categories of Words 10 Words for Categories of Words By Mark Nichol Antonym, homonym, pseudonym. Do nyms make you numb? Here’s a handy guide to words, familiar or unfamiliar, for classes of words: Acronym: An abbreviation, pronounced as a word, consisting of the initial letters of a multiword name or expression. It can consist entirely of uppercase letters (NASA) –thought British English has adopted an initial-cap style, which is employed in American English for longer acronyms like Nasdaq or lowercase letters (radar); the latter are also known as anacronyms. Anepronym: A trademarked brand name now used generically, such as aspirin or kleenex. Antonym: A word distinguished from another with an opposite meaning, such as large, as compared to small. There’s also a class of words called autoantonyms, contranyms, or contronyms, single words with contrasting meanings, like oversight, which can mean either â€Å"responsibility for† or â€Å"failure to be responsible for.† Eponym: A proper or common name deriving from another name, as San Francisco (in honor of St. Francis) or many scientific terms, such as watt (named after James Watt) and volt (from Allesandro Volta). Heteronym: A word spelled the same way for different meanings, such as wear (to clothe oneself) as opposed to wear (to atrophy); sometimes, as in this case, however, they have the same origin. A heteronym can be pronounced differently depending on meaning, such as bass, the musical instrument, and bass, the fish; this type of word is also called a heterophone. Homonym: A word pronounced or spelled the same but different in meaning, like hi and high (also called homophones). Bass, referred to above, is both a heteronym and a homonym. (Does that make it a binym or a duonym?) The homonym sow, which can mean a female animal such as a pig or can refer to planting seeds, is also a homograph, meaning that not only its pronunciation but also its origin and definition can differ. Metonym: A term that identifies something by its association: Articles about Microsoft often used to refer to the company metonymically as Redmond, the city in Washington State where its headquarters are located, just as Washington stands in for the U.S. government. Pseudonym: A name adopted by an author, such as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s use of Lewis Carroll. In a literary context, this is often referred to as a nom de plume (â€Å"name of the pen†). A related term is nom de guerre (â€Å"name of war†), originally in reference to French Foreign Legion enlistees who masked their identities but since then employed by guerrilla fighters to avoid reprisals against their families. Other examples of pseudonyms include stage names (performing arts), ring names (professional wrestling), and handles (computer hacking, or CB or ham radio operation). Synonym: A word with the same meaning as another, such as small, as compared to little. Toponym: A place name, whether it retains capitalization, or is lowercased in generic usage, such as burgundy. Dozens of other -nym words exist many for, as you might imagine, obscure classes of words. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Is She a "Lady" or a "Woman"?Rules for Capitalization in TitlesParticular vs. Specific

Buddhism Modernist- Colonel Henry Steel Olcott Essay

Buddhism Modernist- Colonel Henry Steel Olcott - Essay Example ork City before later joining the University of Columbia before he could drop out of the university in 1851 when his father’s business failed to raise the required amount to pay for his education. In between 1858 to 1860, Olcott found a placement in the New York tribune where he used to write agricultural articles though he could engage in other topics in his writing for instance he wrote about the lineage of his extended family. Olcott married the daughter of trinity parish priest, Mary Epplee Morgan in 1860, and they were blessed with four children two of whom died while still toddlers. During the American Civil war, Henry Steel Olcott served in the military after which he was assigned with the duties of a special commissioner in the faculty of war in New York. In US army, Olcott attained much admiration and respected from his colleagues, and that led to his promotion as a colonel in the department of the navy in Washington. After the assassinations of the then president, Abraham Lincoln, Olcottwas hired to facilitate in the process of investigating the assassinations, as he was a skillful person in his field. In 1868, he ventured into law where he concentrated with insurance policies and all fraud activities therein. In 1874, Henry Steel Olcott made several publications that entailed the spiritualist movement and in the same year, he met Helena Blavatsky whom they held similar views towards the spiritualist movement. Their union elicited the urge to develop a spiritual, philosophical ideology that led to the establishment of the theosophical society that was a new religious movement. In order to support the new movement, Olcott continued to offer his services as a lawyer and in 1875, he was requested by popular spiritualist to carry out an investigation on Nelson Holmes, who alleged to control the spirit thus making Katie king affluent (Prebish & Keown, 2013). Since the inception of the society, Olcott continued to preside over the leadership of the society

Crime Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crime - Movie Review Example f actus reus) is that it comprises all the elements of the definition of the offence except those that relate to the mental element (mens rea) required on the part of the accused." (Allen; p.18) The actus reus of murder requires that a person is killed unlawfully under the Queen's peace. Queen's Peace - in times of peace rather than war time. Unlawful - that there is no lawful excuse or justification. Person means a human being. Lord Lane, C.J. in R v Nedrick [1986] 1 WLR 1025, states: "Where the charge is murder and in the rare cases where the simple direction is not enough, the jury should be directed that they are not entitled to infer the necessary intention, unless they feel sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty (barring some unforeseen intervention) as a result of the defendant's actions and that the defendant appreciated that such was the case, the decision being for the jury to decide on a consideration of all the evidence." Mens rea: (Gammon Ltd v Attorney General of Hong Kong, 1985) The above case was decided as: "In their Lordships' opinion, the law relevant to this appeal may be stated in the following propositions: (1) There is a presumption of law that mens rea is required before a person can be guilty of a criminal offence (2) The presumption is particularly strong where the offence is truly criminal in character; (3) The presumption applies to statutory offences, and can be displaced only if this is clearly or by necessary implication the effect of the statute; (4) The only situation in which the presumption can be displaced is where the statute is concerned with an issue of social concern, and public safety is such an issue; (5) Even where a statute is concerned with such an issue, the presumption of mens rea stands... "Murder is when a man of sound memory, and of the age of discretion, unlawfully killeth within any country of the realm any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the King's peace, with malice aforethought, either expressed by the party or implied by law, so as the party wounded, or hurt, etc. die of the wound or hurt, etc. within a year and a day after the same." "A useful working definition (of actus reus) is that it comprises all the elements of the definition of the offence except those that relate to the mental element (mens rea) required on the part of the accused." (Allen; p.18) "Where the charge is murder and in the rare cases where the simple direction is not enough, the jury should be directed that they are not entitled to infer the necessary intention, unless they feel sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty (barring some unforeseen intervention) as a result of the defendant's actions and that the defendant appreciated that such was the case, the decision being for the jury to decide on a consideration of all the evidence." (5) Even where a statute is concerned with such an issue, the presumption of mens rea stands unless it can be shown that the creation of strict liability will be effective to promote the objects of the statute by encouraging greater vigilance to prevent the commission of the prohibited

The fun drive company Essay Example for Free

The fun drive company Essay Once all the required data has been collected and verified and also approved by the manager of the Fun Drive Company, the changes would be put into action. Firstly, the data would be sorted into tables. I would create a Main Menu to access forms, reports and queries. The tables that would be created in order to organize the data are as follows: Dealers Table: The fields in this table would be Dealers Id, Dealers Name, Address, Contact Number and Email. And the Primary Key is the Dealers Id. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE Dealers Id Number Name Text Address Text Contact Number Number Email Text The use of validation would be necessary in the Dealers Id and Contact Number. The Validation Rule for the Dealers Id would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must Be A Nonzero Value. The Validation Rule for the Contact Number would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must Be A Nonzero Value. Input Mask: Name -Dealers Id   999 Suppliers Table: The fields in this table would be Suppliers Id, Name, Address, Contact Number, Item Name, Quantity and Email. The Primary Key in this table would be the Suppliers Id. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE Suppliers Id Number Name Text Address Text Contact Number Number Item Name Text Quantity Number Email Text The Validation Rule for Suppliers Id would be 0 and the Validation text would be Entry Must be A Nonzero Value. The Validation Rule for Contact Number would be   0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must Be A Nonzero Value. Input Mask: Name. Suppliers Id   999 Quantity 999 Employees Table: The fields in the employees table are Employees Id, Name, Telephone Number, Wage Rate, Hours Worked, Basic Salary and Address. The Primary Key in the table would be the Employees Id. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE Employees Id Number Name Text Telephone Number Number Address Text Wage Rate Currency Hours Worked Number Basic Salary Currency The Validation Rule for the Employees Id would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must Be A Nonzero Value. The Validation Rule for Telephone Number would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must Be A Nonzero Value. Validation would also be used for wage rate, hours worked and basic salary. The validation Rule for Wage Rate would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must be A Nonzero Value. The Validation Rule for Hours Worked would be 52 and the Validation text would be Less than 52. The Validation Rule for Basic Salary would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Greater than 0. Input Mask: Employees I999. 99 Purchases Table: This table would contain fields such as Dealers Id, Name, Item required, Quantity, Date Of Purchase, Price, Discount Allowed and Item Code. The Primary Key would be the Dealers Id. The Dealers Id would be looked up from the Dealers Table. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE Dealers Id Number Name Text Item Required Text Quantity Number Date Of Purchase Date/Time Price Currency Discount Allowed Currency Item Code Number Validation would be used for Dealers Id, Date of Purchase and Price . The Validation Rule for Dealers Id would be 0 and the Validation Text would be Entry Must be A Nonzero value. The Validation Rule for Price would be 60 or 1000 and the Validation Text would be Not Less Than 60 And Not Greater Than 1000. TStock Table: The Fields in this table would be the Item Code, Quantity-in-hand, Item Name and Suppliers Name. The Primary Key would be the Item Code. And the Suppliers Name would be looked up from the Suppliers Table. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE Item Code Text Quantity In Hand Text Item Name Number Suppliers Name Number The Validation Rule for Item Code would be0 and the Validation text would be Entry Must Be A Nonzero value. Input Mask: Item Codtables. I would create a form from the Employees Table. This form would store Employees Id, Name, Wage Rate, Hours Worked and Basic Salary. Other form created would be from the Purchases Table, Dealers Table and the Suppliers table. The form created from the Purchases Table would store Fields such as the Dealers ID, Item Required, item Code, price, Discount Allowed, Date Of purchase, Quantity. The Form created from the Suppliers table would contain fields such as Suppliers Id, Name, Quantity, Item Name, Address and Contact Number. The form created from the Dealers Table would store information such as Dealers Id, Name, Address, Contact Number and Email. A sub from would be created so that the user can update the Dealers Table and the Purchases Table simultaneously. Switchboard Manager The Switchboard Manager is a user interface to access the different options available for example repots, queries and forms. It is easier to search for any option. It is very convenient as you can view the queries, forms and reports quickly. The purpose of a Switchboard Manager is to make-work Funer and to save time. The switchboard Manager would benefit my company, as it would save a lot of time. Reports would be generated from the Employees form, Dealers Table, Stock table. In the Employees Report the data would be classified, as the Employees Id would be in ascending order and the Employees Name would be in Alphabetical order. The Data in the Dealers Form would be classified as the Dealers Id would be in ascending order and the Dealers Name would be in Alphabetical Order. The data in the Stock Table would be tabulated, as the Item Code would be in ascending order and the Suppliers Name and Item Name would be in Alphabetical Order. Graphs and charts can be generated from the data provided in the table. This makes the data more presentable. Graphs could be implemented for more clarity of data. Queries would be originated from the Dealers Form, Item Table and Purchases form. These queries would sort the data in alphabetical order in an organized manner. Queries are used to display certain information on tables depending upon a certain criteria specified. Command Buttons would also be implemented for each of the forms. The command Buttons would be: PRINT ADD NEW RECORD Go TO NEXT FORM DELETE EXIT Some of this data would be screen-based such as the employee information. But other data such as the Dealers Form and the stock reports could be printed out for convenience. The user could do this by applying the print feature in MS ACCESS. Mail Merge This feature will require the need of Microsoft Word. In Word we will first go to the Mail Merge Feature in the Tools Menu. This is very simple, to carry out Mail Merge by opening an existing Data Source in Word. The only difference is that when the Open dialogue appears I will change the File Type to Microsoft Access Database. The Mail Merge Feature helps to print out a vast majority of letters. For example the company if wants to print out notices to the dealers if closed on a weekday etc. it may use the help of the Mail Merge Feature. All this data would need backup and security. The different possible backups would be storing data on floppies on weekly bases and monthly on CDs. Storing data on CDs would be more appropriate for databases. Data would be stored on floppies as its a cheap medium. The Security Strategies would be password protected files and a power on password. Security Strategies would also include Anti hacking programs, which would be prevent files from being hacked. The Anti Virus Program would protect the data from any virus. Read-only passwords could be put on certain files so that a person would be able to view the file but wont be able to make any changes to it. Interview An Interview was conducted with John Ibrahim, the manager of The Fun Drive Company. Q. What is your job description? Ans. My job requires a lot of attention. There is a lot of paper work to do. I have to make sure there is enough staff to satisfy dealers requirements. I have to see whether my company stands out in terms of quality. Q. How is information Received? Ans. I receive information about all the dealers from the questionnaires handed to them at the beginning of the transaction. I also receive information by conducting a general survey every 2 months. Through these surveys we find out the status of the company in the market and the level of customer satisfaction and popularity. Q. What accounts do you prepare? Ans. A Trading And Profit And Loss Account is prepared and also a Balance Sheet is prepared. These Accounts are primed in order to find out the profit of the company. Q. What outputs are generated and where are they stored? Ans. Reports are generated from the data stored on the stock, dealers and employees files. These reports are then stored in cabinets. The Dealers report is generated from the Dealers File and it contains the Dealers personal information. The Stock Report is originated from the Stock File and it contains detailed information about the products in stock. The Employees Report is procreated from the Employees File and it contains meticulous information about the employees salary, wage rate, hours worked etc. Q. What are the problems encountered? Ans. The data entered might not be accurate. Its time consuming and the reports generated may not be clear and professional.

Othellos Loss for Words Essay -- Othello William Shakespeare Essays

Othello’s Loss for Words Othello’s character throughout the play demonstrates a skill and confidence in the art of language. From the beginning we see long, eloquent speeches that dazzle his audience – eloquently mixing complex words that help portray him as not only a strong warrior but also a fighter with a sound mind. However when Iago pressures him about the possible relationship between his wife Desdemona and Cassio, Othello’s passion for his beloved wife breaks down his self-control. In the next few pages I will demonstrate how Othello’s speech during the beginning of the play helps to strengthen his character, and by his death, he’s but a stuttering empty shell of a man. In addition, we’ll compare the language of the moor with that of Iago and see how anti-heroic words shape the way we see this self-interested character. During the third scene of the first act, Othello speaks eloquently about how he’s won and married Desdemona. This is a beautiful forty-line speech that really shows his capacity to articulate and communicate effectively before the higher court. The language that he uses helps us see Othello as a true, confident leader. Shakespeare writes: Hath this extent, no more, Rude am I in my speech, And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace, For since these arms of mine had seven years pith Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field And little of this great world can I speak More than pertains to feats of broils and battle. (I.iii.81-87) Here Othello uses irony to subtly demonstrate his grasp of the English language. His claim that he is â€Å"rude† in speech is particularly revealing because he knows all too well that no one in that room would believe that he has rudimentary abilities. Similarly, the remaining line of this example shows us his poise with regard to physical strength and the leading of armies. Ultimately, use of this kind of language reflects Othello’s lofty ideals. From the onset, we are given words that mirror powerful, dramatic images that know no bounds – and with that, we see his strength and passion for being both an idealized military general and a devoted, loving husband. In contrast, if we look at the language of Iago we see long soliloqui... ...use of animal imagery continuing as before. In the final act of the play we see Iago’s language shift from long lines filled with evil thoughts to shorter sentences – much like Othello in act four. However, Iago’s slyness remains. Shakespeare writes: I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense, And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio Or Cassio him, or each do kill each other, Every way makes my gain. (V.i.11-14) It isn’t until Othello begins to understand what has happened that we see a shift in each characters word selections. Once Othello slowly comes to realize Iago was behind the scandal, his confidence in speech begins to come back – and we start to notice more coherent thought. It’s interesting to think about how words play the most crucial role in creating imagery for an audience. In the case of these two characters, particularly Othello, the emotional wave he rode was only represented by his ever-changing use of words. In the beginning, we cheered for him – and by the end of play we weren’t sure what to think. Had he become as evil as Iago? Iago on the other hand, well, he’s just Iago.

Frank Lloyd Wright Essay

As an architect, Frank Lloyd Wright pushed the American boundaries of art, and for over seventy years he envisioned and physically brought to the world his vision of space, buildings, and a slight avant-guard construction in architecture. Wright, as an architect in the late 19th and early 20th century became synonymous with Prairie style houses as well as organic architecture. In the following essay his exploits in the endeavor of architecture, as well as his career from early in his life to his later life will be examined. â€Å"Frank Lloyd Wright introduced the word ‘organic’ into his philosophy of architecture as early as 1908. It was an extension of the teachings of his mentor Louis Sullivan whose slogan â€Å"form follows function† became the mantra of modern architecture. Wright changed this phrase to â€Å"form and function are one,† using nature as the best example of this integration. † (Elman). It is with great accolades that Wright is thought of as one of America’s best architects, and with innovative style, his uncompromising nature as an artist, and his unyielding artistic view Wright is still considered to be ahead of his time (Ken Burns). Wright studied at the University of Wisconsin at Madison but soon learned he had a great passion for architecture and so moved to Chicago. In Chicago he teamed up with architect J. L. Silsbee. After this apprenticeship, Wright moved on to the firm Sullivan and Adler. It is with Louis Sullivan that Wright began to establish himself as an architect, as Westcott House states, â€Å"As an apprentice to Louis Sullivan, Wright shared Sullivan’s desire to create uniquely American architecture and to rebound from the chaotic restlessness in American architecture of the late 1800s. † Although this conglomeration was beneficial for Wright, he eventually discovered that he was more interested in residential architecture, and broke with the firm in 1893 to begin his own business Oak Park Studio in Oak Park Illinois. (Westcott). Although the tutelage that Sullivan offered to Wright was slightly traditional in scope, Wright managed to extrapolate from Sullivan and Adler the beginnings of his own ideas of space and architecture. In the architectural world, buildings were still being built as traditional and classical, along the lines of Greek facades, and clean, straight lines; mostly boxed shaped and unimaginative (Library). In this awkward and banal stage of architecture, Wright turned his attention to the Far East, for he found no muse with the Occident. It was with Japanese style and tradition that Wright created the Winslow House (1939), as Westcott states, â€Å"From Japan, he borrowed the concept of the tokonama, a permanent element in the home and the focus of contemplation and ceremony. What is tokonama in Wright’s work? The hearth. The hearth is often the vertical axis from which the horizontal floors radiate. † Frank Lloyd Wright’s early style was not yet as progressive as his later works such as the Guggenheim. In 1909 Wright traveled to Europe. It was in Europe that Wright became more independent with his ideas of architecture. While most of the architectural world was focusing on the denial of the machine and technology, Wright was fully embracing the concept as Blake writes, †¦between 1889, when Wright built the first section of his house in Oak Park, and 1909, twenty years later, when his first two most beautiful Prairie houses – the one for Avery Coonley and Frederick C. Robie, respectively-were completed, Wright had actually built something like 140 houses and other structures! In addition, he had completed nearly fifty project for various clients, and many of these were widely published and exhibited. Indeed, Wright’s work took up an increasing share of the annual exhibitions at the Chicago Architectural Club from 1894 onward†¦unlike the latter-day functionalists, Wright never believed that the machine look was an essential result of machine fabrication. ‘This plain duty (of dominating the machine) is relentlessly marked out for the artist in this, the Machine Age. ’ (Blake, 315). Contemporary America was embellished with style works involved purely in height and construction materials, Wright was indulging his artistry in a completely different light. Although Wright was a great experimentalist, he also delved into the idea of space, and how space functions. Even in his early career, in works such as FLLW Home and Studio and Unity Chapel (Heinz), that expressed his Shingle Style, Wright was still very much obsessed with how space can be manipulated by the materials, or lack of materials around it, as Scully writes, Through all these experiments in spatial continuity and abstract control Wright never entirely abandoned the rectangular module, nor did he ever entirely lose sight of European achievements†¦Wright remained, too, more sculpturally aggressive than the Europeans were at that period. His sculpture has the double quality of seeming almost solid and yet being fully expressive of his deeper considerations, the hollow of interior space. The Lloyd Lewis House of 1940 is an excellent embodiment of this expressive union (Scully, 27). Throughout Wright’s entire career, the objective of union was pressing for him. Again, it was with the machine that Wright found a way in which art and environment engaged with one another. With steel and concrete Wright focused his attention on structure, and the advances that these materials made were innumerable especially when considering the Charnley residence. Though this house was built during his Sullivan years, Wright still harbored what would be known as his personal style, or even the influential Chicago style (Blake, 276) and the key element of modernity. The house is of a geometric shape, three stories high, with ‘Roman’ brick, or elongated brick, and the composition involved basic classical symmetry. Wright, in his early career focused much of his architecture with the block system. He enjoyed using rectangular shapes, and incorporated the classical manner with the base of the building, truncated masonry shafts, and a slab roof (Blake). The Charnley house was built in 1891, and exhibited the box look that Wright quickly shied away from as it was too pedestrian and stale for any modern way of approaching architecture. He did however stick with this block system for a few more years and produced dramatic houses as Scully states, Wright went on to exploit his block system in many other houses which were as appropriate as the Millard House to the California landscape. In the Storer House he developed the blocks as piers and opened the building into an articulated pavilion; in the Freeman House he dramatized the system with great beams and elaborated the patterns and perforations of surface which the blocks made possible. The Ennis House used its hill as a Mayan temple base and loomed at the top like something from Tikal. But the twenties were not rich in commissions for Wright, and his sometimes rather desperate search for stimulus led him to other Indian forms, as in the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony project of 1922, where the cottages not only closely evoked the shaped of the pines around them but also resembled the tepees of the Plains Indians. (Scully, 25). From the rectangle to the circle, Wright advanced in architecture and his ideas of what form should contain as Davis states, â€Å"Frank’s designs gradually evolved from rectangular, triangular, and hexagonal forms toward designs based on circle. Some circular forms first appeared in solar residences, such as the Jacobses’ second house. † (108). It is with this evolutionary concept that Wright made his mark in the architectural world. While in Europe, Wright was witness to various designs that incorporated environment in their composition. The strict adherence of the block that was so popular in America at the time had no niche in European style. Wright enjoyed seeing the German styles ebb and flow with their construction materials and he was undoubtedly convinced of their superior performance as part of the landscape than were skyscrapers (i. e. Sears Tower, and others) that were being aggrandized in America in the early 20th century. The epiphany that introduced itself to Wright while in Europe can best be attributed to Raymond, and as Secrest states, What was equally distressing for Wright, perhaps, was a contemplation of the direction that modern art was clearly taking. If he had seen flowing movements in Germany closely, as no doubt he had, he should have seen the similarities between the landscape Raymond had painted, to which he had taken such a dislike, and similar landscapes painted by Kandinsky in 1909. Raymond’s exaggerated distortions of line and color and his radical simplification of the actual scene being illustrated, all of which were meant to produce a far great emotional impact than, say the serene and naturalistic landscapes of the Impressionists, were in the accepted manner of the new group of Expressionist painters†¦Wright somehow knew that Expressionism and its closely related school, Abstractionism, were taking art, and architecture along with it, down a path to which he would become absolutely opposed. (Secrest, 234). So, it was not with Expressionism that Wright found a kindred spirit but with Abstractionism that the revolution of architecture grabbed hold of Wright. The trip, and later trips to Europe greatly impressed Wright, however, it must not be surpassed that his own Midwest upbringing had great influence in his style. Wright brought to the architectural world the Prairie style . This included low sloping rooflines, cantilevered overhangs that juxtaposed the concrete and windows that in turn created an horizontal line that gave the style the name Prairie (Westcott House). The natural landscape was a great influence on Wright throughout the breadth of his career, as Blake states, There was no chance for a free, democratic architecture, Wright felt, until man could make buildings unbend, until the building could be shaped by the desired flow of space in any and all direction. Such buildings would be truly ‘organic,’ for not only did they express the aspirations of free men to free space, but they also expressed a kind of structure that had within it all the elements of living things in nature-muscles, tendons, fibers, skin-all woven together into a single organism acting in unison†¦To Wright, American architecture had to be Nature’s architecture-organic, flexible, free. Conversely, he felt, all straight, post-and-beam architecture was, in effect, an expression of a straight-laced, autocratic, European concept of society. (Blake, 340). With the notion of organism, and the organic Wright left his early architectural ‘block’ years and traversed into his more controversial buildings such as the Usonian Houses. One very spectacular Usonian style was the Turkel house, built in Detroit in 1955. Usonian architecture occurred much later in Wrights career, and was an antithesis to how urban architecture was becoming in America; Usonian was ‘anti-urbania’. Though Wright is well known for his residential buildings, he also liked to maintain the involvement of nature in buildings. Usonian buildings were seen as a sanctuary for Wright, one in which a person could feel rejuvenated and not pressed in by the foreboding buildings of the city. Wright taught his Taliesin Fellowship apprentices that architecture is about emotion and the expression of that emotion with reference to the landscape in which the building will reside. This reflection of nature in art would soothe the occupant’s spirit, and thus the philosophy of architecture for Wright in his later career was that of fluidity in design in all aspects. The Usonian ideal built itself out of this philosophical outlook and ten Ohio projects were finished after World War Two (Westcott House). The Usonian design can best be described with the Jacob’s house built in 1937. The culmination of flawless design and organic architecture proved to apex with the Jacob’s house. Wright still had a decade plus left in his career, but the joining of his ideas and construction materials can best exhibited with the Jacob’s House as McDonough states, Wright included other design innovations in the Jacobs house, such as the use of glass, stained wood, and brick walls in order to eliminate the need for paint, varnish, plaster, and wallpaper,. In place of a cellar, Wright tripled storage space with a row of closets running the length of the outside wall of the bedroom corridor. Holed piercing the house’s roof overhangings conducted rainwater into drains in the foundation blab, eliminating gutters and downspouts. He replaced the garage with a carport that was walled on only two sides and connected to the front entry. Wright removed doors from kitchen cabinets, abolished light fixtures and radiators, and designed much of the furniture himself. (McDonough, 92). Wright had complete control over this house and its construction, right down to the furniture. He was completely in power for every inch of the plans. The innovation involved in the Usonian style was progressive. The layout of the house, with the absence of gutters was very non-traditional. Though Wright’s contribution to architecture was expansive, until 1949, he was not fully recognized by the American Institute of Architects . Wright was criticized for his somewhat post-modern glimpse into the world of architecture. His organic style though praised overseas in Europe did not win a large audience in the states, â€Å"Despite the face that Frank had never joined the American Institute of Architects and over the years had been quite critical of its members, he received their prestigious gold medal in 1949. Ironically, Frank cherished this award more than any other. At last, he had received the highest of honors from professionals in his own country. † (Davis, 119). This was a great moment in Wright’s career, previously rebuffed by the American architectural community for being avant-guard, he now owned a captivated audience, and from his Prairie, to his Usonian style, Wright was still breaking architectural boundaries. Wright was the leading architect in the Chicago style as can be exhibited with his Charnley residence, as previously stated, and from his Shingle style in his early career, the block style which he quickly abandoned to the Usonian and Oriental style residencies, he came to be one of America’s leading architects. He lead the trends in buildings, and surpassed the ideals of the classical, Greek look to come to his own influenced Oriental style houses such as the Guggenheim museum. Wright was being recognized the world over as an innovative and purely pioneering architect, †¦Wright’s genius began to be recognized and honored throughout the world. The Royal Institute of British Architects awarded Wright a gold medal (1939), he was inducted into the National Academy of Architects in both Uruguay (1941) and Mexico (1942), and he was invited to represent the United States at the International Convention of Architects in Moscow 91937). On the domestic scene, he received honorary degrees from Wesleyan, Yale, Princeton, and the University of Wisconsin. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City held an extensive retrospective of Wright’s work from November 1940 to January 1941, and he was featured in the Masters of Four Arts Exhibition at Harvard’s Fogg Museum along with French sculptor Aristide Maillol, Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. (McDonough, 100). With this recognition, Wright is still known throughout the world today as one of America’s best architects. His buildings scope the expanse of seventy years worth of work. He used a myriad of styles and ideas to construct buildings and in his imaginative approach he created for architects a way in which nature twined with machine, and through his Usonian concepts, conglomerated into a work of not just construction materials, but art. In the culmination of Wright’s career, the apex can best be attributed to his plans and development of the Guggenheim museum. World renowned for its genius in design, the Guggenheim museum offered Wright the chance to display his Oriental concepts in a building that was purely his own. In the development of its lines, its structure, its very shape, denied the urbania movement in American architecture, in fact nothing in the world existed quite like the Guggenheim, nor is it imitated to the degree for which Wright conceptualized it. In its flowing movements of the outbuilding, to its naturalistic color scheme of clay, did Wright ever produce something so similar to an organism in nature. The Guggenheim museum was a statement for Wright; one in which he favored the ideas of going against the mainstream popular notion of steel construction in a city. With the Guggenheim, again, Wright created the antithesis to the city, he gave the city something natural, which made the building stand out even more- the steel surroundings and glass were eclipsed with the clay design of the Guggenheim, The Guggenheim Museum was almost finished when Wright died in April 1959. Apart from its importance as a plastic statement, it is important as Wright’s last slap at the city. No building could be designed to fit less well into the established urban pattern-and that, in Wright’s view, was about as great a compliment as you could pay a building. Both in form and in its clay color the Guggenheim Museum looks like a growing organism in a graveyard-not pretty, but certainly alive and kicking. Its exterior is perhaps a little too plain and crudely finished-one of the few unornamented Wright buildings, perhaps because Wright wanted nothing to distract from the boldness of the principal statement. But the chances are that when the planting begins to trail over the curved parapets, the Guggenheim Museum may look a good deal softer than it did on its opening day-almost mellow toward its surroundings†¦(Blake, 379-380). In its lack of conformity, Wright made his architectural statement best with the Guggenheim museum. The organic shapes, from the outside as well as the inside lead the viewer to fully engross themselves in a mixture of light and air, which are common sensations exhibited with Usonian works. The exhibition area is a concave dome with a glass covering at the top. The space inside the museum creates the atmosphere of fluidity so prevalent in Wright’s designs. The genius of the art museum is that Wright had a completely new concept of how art should be displayed. The spiral’s continuity allows the viewer to see art in an uninterrupted fashion and the narrow galleries allow the viewer to become involved in the art because they are seemingly accosted by it, forced to view it. (Janson, 37). It is with organic form that Wright can best be remembered as an architect. The organic form is prevalent even in his early Prairie house style, though the block style does not exactly call attention to this. His organic style is one that developed from Wright’s love of the Orient, and the early Japanese houses he accomplished. Wright was not simply interested in the art of organic architecture but in the philosophy behind the designs, as he writes, Many people have wondered about an Oriental quality they see in my work. I suppose it is true that when we speak of organic architecture, we are speaking of something that is more Oriental than Western. The answer is: my work is, in that deeper philosophic sense, Oriental. These ideals have not been common to the whole people of the Orient; but there was Laotse, for instance. Our society has never known the deeper Taoist mind. The Orientals must have had the sense of it, whatever may have been their consideration for it, and they instinctively built that way. Their instinct was right. So this gospel of organic architecture still has more in sympathy and in common with Oriental thought than it has with any other thing the West has ever confessed. (Wright, 218-219). Wright’s mark in the architectural world is strongly tied with his philosophy of the organic. Wright, while talking about instinct, developed for future architects a way in which buildings gave residents a sense of something natural in space. The walls, the ceilings, the floors in each of Wright’s buildings each gave a sense of heightened space, of air and light moving naturally through the framework of the lines of the building. Wright did not like to see limitation in architecture, but chose to see possibility. In this possibility such works as the Imperial Hotel, Fallingwater, Johnson Wax and the Guggenheim were each created. It is the possibility of space existing not separate from the design but twined with the environment, and harboring to the natural landscapes own detail that made Wright famous (as can be best seen in Fallingwater, where the house doesn’t disrupt the flow of water, but allows the building to converge with the water, and thus gives that fluidity so governed in Wright architecture). As Wright writes, But in this land of ours, richest on earth of all in old and new materials, architects must exercise well-trained imagination to see in each material, either natural or compounded plastics, their own inherent style. All materials may be beautiful, their beauty much or entirely depending upon how well they are used by the Architect. In our modern building we have the Stick. Stone. Steel. Pottery. Concrete. Glass. Yes, Pulp, too, as well as plastics. And since this dawning sense of the ‘within’ is the new reality, these will all give the main motif for any real building made from them. The materials of which the building is built will go far to determine its appropriate mass, its outline and, especially, proportion. Character is criterion in the form of any and every building or industrial product we can call Architecture in the light of this new ideal of the new order. (Wright, 61). In America still there exists Wright’s philosophy of the organic. It is with his use of light and space in his buildings that his career culminated in a worldwide acceptance of genius paired with artistic persuasion. The materials involved in creating a building are very harsh, they denote sharp lines, and geometrical alignment. Wright gave architecture a new and innovative way in which buildings could be unified with the earth. Modern architecture would not be the same if Wright had not developed the Usonian style, and thus give freedom from the block, and classical styles incorporated even today in architecture. Wright wrote, I learned to see wood as wood and learned to see concrete or glass or metal each for itself and all as themselves. Strange to say this required uncommon sustained concentration of uncommon imagination (we call it vision), demanded not only a new conscious approach to building but opened a new world of thought that would certainly tear down the old world completely. Each different material required a different handling, and each different handling as well as the material itself had new possibilities of use peculiar to the nature of each. Appropriate designs for one material would not be at all appropriate for any other material. In the light of this ideal of building form as an organic simplicity almost all architecture fell to the ground. That is to say, ancient buildings were obsolete in the light of the idea of space determining form from within, all materials modifying if indeed they did not create the ‘form’ when used with understanding according to the limitations of process and purpose (Wright, 23). For Wright, and other progressive architects today, function has a different meaning, one other than synonymous with blocks. And the shapes of buildings are forever changed with Wright’s organic style. Work Cited Blake, Peter. (1961). The Master Builders. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Burns, Ken. (1998). Frank Lloyd Wright. PBS home video. Burbank California. Davis, Frances A. (1996). Maverick Architect. Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis. Elman, Kimberly. Legacy Essays. Heinz, Thomas A. (1993). Frank Lloyd Wright Midwest Portfolio. Gibbs-Smith, Salt Lake City. Janson, H. W. & Anthony F. (1997). History of Art. Harry N. Abrams, Inc, New York. Library. McDonough, Yona Zeldis. (1992). Frank Lloyd Wright. Chelsea House Publishers, New York. Scully, Vincent Jr. (1960). Frank Lloyd Wright. George Braziller, Inc. New York. Secrest, Meryle. (1992). Frank Lloyd Wright. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Westcott House. (2002). Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright, Frank Lloyd. (1954). The Natural House. Horizon Press, New York.

Conventional and organic food products Essay

While conventional food products are still dominating American market, the phrase â€Å"healthy eating† is gradually gaining popularity. To supplement this new trendy belief, a wave of organic products is sweeping across this nation’s grocery stores. But do people really realize the differences between conventional and organic products as they mound their shopping carts? Do they know that the main differences between the two categories of foods actually lie in their processing procedures, advertising strategies, and product ingredients? When people look at an organic product, the first thing they are most likely to notice is its cost. Which, under normal circumstances, is remarkably higher than average products. Since people have the misconception that the word â€Å"organic† on food labels means â€Å"all natural,† they accepted this phenomenon as a necessary price to pay for a healthy life, but it merely indicates that the product is minimally processed and is preservative free. The true reason behind the intimidating price of organic product is because organic production prohibits the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides as well as genetic manipulation of plants. These standards require greater labor input from organic farmers to provide a purer product, and at the same time help to protect our environment. People expect a â€Å"fair price† for conventional foods, because they are well informed of its manufacturing process. Modern machinery allows factories to undergo mass-production, thus little manual labor is required. This not only leads to increments in the yield, but also lowers the overall cost of production. Though the reasonable price of conventional products is beneficial to one’s budget, chemical preservatives are used during the manufacturing process. Conventional cropping practices may also include a combination fungicide/insecticide treatment to protect the seed from soil diseases and insects, which poses potential harm to our health and environment. Since the prices of organic products are far from alluring, and at the same time tend to have less variety, organic producers advertise their products by their nutritional appeals. Ostentatious statements such as â€Å"good for  life†, or â€Å"nature’s best† are printed unsparingly on the packages; accompanied by idealized pictures of nature. TV commercials for organic products are rarely seen; if people happen to see one, they will find themselves viewing a beautiful field of crops or a lively farm with cows mooing and chickens cackling. A middle-aged man in agrarian overalls will then come along to accentuate the freshness of their products with earnest. The popular demand for conventional food generates large profit for conventional food producers, which enables them to innovate more varieties of products and to advertise their products more efficiently on TV commercials. The majority of these commercials take place away from rural settings; they are either in a nice house, a fancy restaurant, or some imaginary land. While the well-dressed actors and actresses are feasting on the food products, a confident male voice will pop up in the background to announce that their products are better than those of others. Other than well-animated TV commercials, imagery also plays a key role in packaging. The producers wrap their products up in boxes that are covered by bright colors and decorated with popular food icons to attract consumers’ attention. Messages such as â€Å"50% more volume† or â€Å"free CD inside† can also be found on packages for promotion purposes. Nutritionists are placing an unprecedented amount of emphasize on organic products, which makes people feel compelled to read the list of ingredients before buying it. That’s when the buyers will be pleasantly surprised to discover that they can actually understand the list. For instance, the ingredients of organic milk are simply: certified organic grade A milk, and Vitamin D3. This unique feature not only helps consumers to identify an organic product, but also provides a sense of security when people consume the product. When people pick up a conventional product, they glance at it to check for defects, and then toss it into the cart. It is unlikely that anyone is going to read the ingredient list closely. Not only because people are so used to the products they use, that they tend to neglect the details, but also because the ingredient list of a conventional product is nearly meaningless  to the consumers. Reading the ingredient list of a processed food is like reading data from a chemistry book; it is incomprehensible and boring. For example, a simple bottle of conventional milk can consist up to four kinds of added chemicals. Therefore, the long list of scientific components does nothing more than bewilders the customers. Even though organic foods differ from conventional foods in many aspects, study shows that there are no substantial differences between their taste and safety. Buying an organic product is more of an act of protecting the environment than promoting one’s own health. If consumers’ budget allows, they should buy more organic products, because it is a simple way of giving back to the Mother Nature, and help to preserve biological stability on earth.

Smart Answers to 10 Stupid Interview Questions

Smart Answers to 10 Stupid Interview Questions We’ve all been there. You’re in an interview and expecting to be asked intelligent questions so you can show off your excellent preparation. But all of a sudden, you get a question so stupid that it throws you off your pins. Here are a few of the silliest  questions we have heard- and ways to answer them gracefully.1. â€Å"Why do you want this job?†It is possible to have a good answer to this that talks about your passion for the company and the position and the field, but it’s also a pretty stupid way to phrase it- and not particularly nuanced. Get your revenge by quickly explaining your keen interest and then deflecting by ending your answer with another question. Such as: â€Å"I’d really love to hear more about what you’re currently working on here†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 2. â€Å"Tell me a little bit about yourself†Keep your response here short and sweet. Don’t actually talk about your life story. Instead, have an elevator pitch r eady to encapsulate your career story- where you’re coming from and why you’re a perfect fit. Focus on the professional and finish it off painlessly and quickly.3. â€Å"Why should we hire you over all our other applicants?†You can’t compare yourself to the other qualified applicants. You have no idea who they are or what their resumes look like. All you can do with this question is sell yourself. I.e. â€Å"I don’t know about the others, but I can tell you why you should hire me.† And then just pivot to your talents and value.4. â€Å"What should we know that isn’t on your resume?†This is a curveball, and there are a lot of stupid ways to answer it, but it can also be a gift. Here’s your opportunity to explain gaps in employment, or to emphasize skills or experiences that would be relevant to this job but maybe didn’t make the cut on your documents. Frame your answer to show how you’d be great at this job. 5. â€Å"How honest are you?†This one is a real doozy. Who in their right mind would say: â€Å"Not at all; I’m a total liar.†? Get out of this one by giving a short and straightforward statement about your high ethical standards and remind your interviewer about your available references.6. â€Å"Describe yourself in three words.†This is an invitation to put yourself in a box. It won’t be particularly illuminating for either of you. Try to think of qualities that show you off in a particularly good light. And refrain from saying: â€Å"Ask better questions.†7. â€Å"If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?†The biggest trick here is to not make a face. Come up with something related to your professional strengths, then move on.8. â€Å"What was your salary at your last job?†Most applicants will feel compelled to answer this- and you really don’t have to. Fire it back this way: â€Å"I’m currently l ooking for jobs with an annual salary of around $X. Does that correspond with your salary range?†9. â€Å"What would your former manager say about you?†If they really wanted to know, they could call and ask for a reference. Also, your former manager might not be someone worth asking! The answer here depends entirely on the kind of person/employer your former boss was. Ignore the inanity of the question and say something positive and truthful.10. â€Å"How badly do you want this job?†Ugh. Answer honestly and you might sound desperate. Play it cool, and you might sound indifferent. Try to keep it in the middle. Say how confident you are that you would be an asset there, and then voice your enthusiasm and passion for the company or position and reassert your eagerness to move forward in their hiring process.

Transcendentalism in American History

Transcendentalism in American History Transcendentalism was an American literary movement that emphasized the importance and equality of the individual. It began in the 1830s in America and was heavily influenced by German philosophers including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Immanuel Kant, along with English writers like  William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.    Transcendentalists espoused four main philosophical points. Simply stated, these were the ideas of:   Self RelianceIndividual ConscienceIntuition Over ReasonUnity of All Things in Nature In other words, individual men and women can be their own authority on knowledge through the use of their own intuition and conscience. There was also a distrust of societal and governmental institutions and their corrupting effects on the individual.   The Transcendentalist Movement was centered in New England and included a number of prominent individuals including Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Ripley, Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller. They formed a club called The Transcendental Club, which met to discuss a number of new ideas. In addition, they published a periodical that they called The Dial along with their individual writings. Emerson and The American Scholar Emerson was the unofficial leader of the transcendentalist movement. He gave an address at Cambridge in 1837 called The American Scholar. During the address, he stated that: Americans]  have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. The spirit of the American freeman is already suspected to be timid, imitative, tame....Young men of the fairest promise, who begin life upon our shores, inflated by the mountain winds, shined upon by all the stars of God, find the earth below not in unison with these, - but are hindered from action by the disgust which the principles on which business is managed inspire, and turn drudges, or die of disgust, - some of them suicides. What is the remedy? They did not yet see, and thousands of young men as hopeful now crowding to the barriers for the career, do not yet see, that, if the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him. Thoreau and Walden Pond Henry David Thoreau decided to practice self-reliance by moving to Walden Pond, on land owned by Emerson, and build his own cabin where he lived for two years. At the end of this time, he published his book, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods. In this, he said, I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Transcendentalists and Progressive Reforms Because of the beliefs in self-reliance and individualism, transcendentalists became huge proponents of progressive reforms. They wished to help individuals find their own voices and achieve to their fullest potential. Margaret Fuller, one of the leading transcendentalists, argued for womens rights. She argued that all sexes were and should be treated equally. In addition, they argued for the abolition of slavery. In fact, there was a crossover between womens rights and the abolitionist movement. Other progressive movements that they espoused included the rights of those in prison, help for the poor, and better treatment of those who were in mental institutions. Transcendentalism, Religion, and God As a philosophy, Transcendentalism is deeply rooted in faith and spirituality. Transcendentalists believed in the possibility of personal communication with God leading to an ultimate understanding of reality. Leaders of the movement were influenced by the elements of mysticism found in Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic religions, as well as the American Puritan and Quaker faiths. The transcendentalists equated their belief in a universal reality to the Quakers’ belief in a divine Inner Light as a gift of God’s grace. Transcendentalism was greatly influenced by the doctrine of the Unitarian church as taught at Harvard Divinity School during the early 1800s. While Unitarians stressed a rather calm and rational relationship with God, transcendentalists sought a more personal and intense spiritual experience. As expressed by Thoreau, transcendentalists found and communed with God in gentle breezes, dense forests, and other creations of nature. While Transcendentalism never evolved into its own organized religion; many of its followers remained in the Unitarian church. Influences on American Literature and Art Transcendentalism influenced a number of important American writers, who helped create a national literary identity. Three of these men were Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman. In addition, the movement also influenced American artists from the Hudson River School, who focused on the American landscape and the importance of communing with nature.   Updated by Robert Longley

Evidence Based Youth Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evidence Based Youth Policy - Essay Example The necessity for systematic investigation on youth issues headed to an array of activities within the Council of Europe. The "Recommendation 92 (7)" of the Committee of Ministers specifies three broad objectives for youth policy. The White Paper of Commission "A new impetus for European youth" deals elaborately about the priorities of youths and proposes following objectives: For timely, sustainable and efficient policy making, it is necessary to formulate a qualitative, relevant and coherent knowledge in the youth area in Europe and anticipate future requirement through dialogue, exchange and networks; Identify - including at regional and local level - knowledge in priority field of the youth area namely, information, participation and voluntary activities and carry out measures to update, supplement and ease access to it; In next stage identify - including at regional and local level - knowledge in more important field of interest to the youth area, like health, employment, education and training, non-formal learning, fight against discrimination, and carry out measures to update, supplement and ease access to it; In 2003 European Commission and Council of Europe agreed to increase co-operation for evolving a better and common knowledge basis in the youth area by gathering research knowledge and networking in order to enhance educational practice and European youth policy. On the basis of the above guidelines Malta formulated a National Youth Policy in 2004. It incorporated various aspects of young people field such as social, personal, spiritual and political development of youth within a holistic perspective. In other words, the youth policy is meant to encourage an integrated manner, youth's social, economic and cultural positions, like access to advice and information, education, employment, health, housing and leisure. The final goal of this National Youth Policy is to promote youth participation in society and to train them for a dynamic form of citizenship. The State (Republic of Malta) recognises the role of the National Youth Council (an autonomous body representing youth organisations), Youth Studies Programme (University of Malta), Youth Centres, Non-Governmental Organisations and other youth groups. This national youth policy sets a broad parameter within which young people work should be accomplished. In general, the term 'evidence based youth policy' refers to a practice that has been adopted after evaluating it with rigorous scientific techniques, particularly experimental studies utilising random assignment and is applicable on young people between the ages of 14 - 30. However, Malta's National Youth Policy also recognises various stages of youth, from pre-adolescence to adulthood. The term 'disadvantaged youths' means those young people who faces discrimination due to their socio-economic, religious, health or educational backgrounds. This policy has a holistic approach of youth aspirations and development but here we shall focus to State's policy in the field of health. Health The State follows a holistic perspective of health which does not only incorporate therapy and cure but also primary health care, promotion and prevention. It contains the broader spectrum of mental, physical and