Job-Search Fumbles That Will Cost You the Game

Job-Search Fumbles That Will Cost You the GameJob-Search Fumbles That Will Cost You the GameDont get penalized for unterstellung errors this job-hunt season.Every Fall across the United States, avid sports fans organize their tailgate parties and incessantly check their Fantasy Football teams. Collegiate and professional athletes alike give it their all on the field, hoping to avoid a spotlight on ESPN SportsCenters Not Top 10. Playing football at this level requires hard work and dedication. Make one mistake and you could cost your team the game.The same can be said about the job hunt. Dont let a little mistake cost you a job offer. Learn from the football pros and avoid these job-search follies.Neglecting Your PlaybookLegendary football coach Paul Bear Bryant once said, Its not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference. tweet this In football and the job search, preparation is the key to success. Before an bewerberinterview, do your homework. Revie w the employers website and social media accounts and read that industrys latest news articles to get a sense of the companys culture and business. If you know someone who works at the company, set up an informational interview to get insider tips for the interview process. Prepare your elevator pitch based on the job description and practice your interview responses for the questions that make you most nervous. Its much easier to be confident in an interview when youre properly prepared.Throwing Hail MarysA Hail Mary is a football play made in desperation with a low probability for success, usually toward the end of a half when a team is out of range to score. Dont succumb to similar last-ditch efforts in the job search, such as applying to jobs youre unqualified for, disregarding social media etiquette and sending inappropriate messages to hiring managers, or mass emailing recruiters with a template message. These activities have a very small chance of success and are likely to da mage your personal brand in the process. If your anxiety levels are hitting an all-time high, take a step back and re-evaluate your job-search strategy instead of resorting to Hail Marys.Fumbling an OpportunityNothings worse than missing out on a great opportunity, whether youre on the football field or in the job hunt. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so dont drop the ball when youre networking and interviewing. Approach each opportunity with a confident and positive attitude, adjust your elevator pitch to suit the situation and audience, and make sure you follow up afterward. Connect with new contacts erreichbar and look for opportunities to pay it forward before asking for any favors. After an interview, send personalized thank-you notes to each person with whom you met.Being a Johnny ManzielIf youre a fan of college football, youve probably heard of Texas AM quarterback Johnny Football Manziel. While Mr. Manziel is a very talented athlete, his antics on and of f the field are damaging his personal brand and could hurt his NFL draft position. If youre searching for a job, pay close attention to your personal brand. Dont bash your colleagues or employer online or during the interview process. Clean up your online presence and secure your personal social media accounts so recruiters wont find them. Make sure the candidate employers find online matches the person they meet in person and on paper.Click on the following link for more information on setting the right job-search strategy.

The collaboration trap Why we assume teams like working together

The collaboration trap Why we assume kollektivs like working togetherThe collaboration trap Why we assume gruppes like working togetherIt takes both sides to build a bridge.? FredrikNaelCollaboration is critical to thriving in an ever-changing environment it helps organizations solve complex problems in less time by bringing together various experts, accelerating go-to-market time, and responding mora rapidly to fast-changing environments.Failing to practice collaboration can put your organization behind your competition in a fast-paced 21st century.Researchshows that 81 % of people believe that collaboration is critical and 71% think their managers are making it a priority.So, why do so many companies still fail to collaborate?Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreSenior executives have an unrealistic vision of collaboration. They assume their direct reports are aligned with the stra tegic vision. Or have an idealized conflict-free image of what a highly collaborative team should look like. Pushing people to work together doesnt work.True collaboration canelend be imposed it happens from within.Thats the first thing I tell my clients. CEOs are frustrated with how their teams collaborate, but their approach is leid helping it actually backfires. They assume collaboration is a given. Most executives believe thatbuilding a high-performing teamrequires picking all-star people and let them figure things out.Research by Heidi Gardner, author ofSmart Collaboration,demonstrated that merely putting a team of experts or specialists on the saatkorn project is not enough leaders must create the right conditions.A survey by Harvard Business Review cites no surprise that organizational silos are the key obstacle for lack of collaboration. However, those silos are not physical barriers but driven by peoples mindset and behavior. The culture, leadership, fear of control, and la ck of time inhibit successful collaboration.Collaboration is a byproduct of culture it requires the right conditions, mindset, and tools.Heres how to avoid falling into the ten most frequent collaboration traps.1. Avoid the Collaboration BurnoutAlways-on cultures, demanding bosses, collaborating with a decentralized workforce spread across different time zones, and inefficient use of technology are draining people.Tech tools like collaborationplatforms have increased team communication and productivity. But overuse and inefficient practices create a collaboration overload.Also, newresearchhas uncovered another reason much collaborative overload is driven by peoples desire to maintain a reputation as helpful by trying to over-collaborate, they find themselves at a breaking point.When clients hire me to help their teams adopt new behaviors, the first I tell them is, What are you going to get rid of? New practices should replace old ones, not add more burden to your team.Thecollaborati on erschpfungdrains teams. People are busy jumping from one thing to another at the expense of having less time for deep work, effective decision making, and to build strong relationships with other team members.Your team doesnt have an infinite capacity collaboration is time and energy consuming. If you ask people to engage in a new collaborative project, give them space toget rid of other tasks.2. Stop Idealizing CollaborationMany people naively landsee collaboration as a friendly approach style in which relationships matter more than the task at hand. Cooperation is not about consensus or getting along with others though those are nice-to-have.Effective collaboration should focus on the outcome, not on making friends. Tensions keep your team at theirtop of the game. Constructive conflict-management requires integrating opposing ideas and personalities, not to neutralize differences.Collaboration is a means to an end what the team delivers matters more than how they work. Some gro ups are very friendly but are not effective.Also, avoid portraying collaboration as a magical solution for all organizational problems. The more manager focus on selling the upside, people focus on what they might lose people see things from their own reality, not yours.Collaboration is uncomfortable, more times than not. People must get used to working with people outside their team, to interact with folks they might not like or that work in other locations with the addition of time zones, technology, and language barriers.Portray collaboration in a more realistic, human way idealizing it will only backfire.3. Collaboration Is a Byproduct ofCultureKicking off a new team requires to build trust and understanding. People will resist, conflicts will arise theemotional culturealways gets in the way. It cannot be suppressed.Leaders must work to build a culture for collaboration they must provide a safe space.As Jacob Morgan, head ofThe Future Organization,said, Collaboration can only ex ist in an environment where people feel safe. If you dont have an organization where people feel the ability to be vulnerable, to be empathetic, to be themselves, then you are not going to have collaboration.Power is also a cultural thing that needs tobe addressed openly. When leaders dont want to give up their power, you cant expect the regular folks to give up theirs. People need to be clear about the rules of engagement and how the team will make decisions.Wise leaders are generous they enable people to do great things, rather than provide the solution themselves great CEOs act like a coach more than a general.To develop a collaborative mindset requires training people to open up about their fears, resistance, and objections. That requires ongoing conversations, not just a one-off meeting.4. Dont Take Alignment forGrantedVisionary leadership can blind executive they are so excited about their vision and assume everyone is on board.As thisHBR pieceexplains, the emphasis on visiona ry leadership relies on the assumption that managers outside the C-suite arealwaysaligned with corporate strategy. But, what if they arenot?Middle managers play a key role in change initiatives they are tasked to align their teams around a new strategy. CEOs take for granted that, because of their positions, middle managers are convinced about the new direction by default.Driving alignment is not about persuasion but an act of co-creation. Rather than selling your perfect vision, involve your middle managers at an early stage. Allow them, not only to provide feedback but also to share ideas and shape your vision.The meeting where the C-suite reveals their visionary approach and the rest have to buy into it are gone if that approach ever worked. Collaboration cannot be imposed it happens from within its a personal choice.Your team must be involved in not only driving but also designing change. Collaboration is not about selling something thats already been baked but inviting them to cook it as well.5. Groups Dont Want to Sacrifice theirIdentityIn mandating and driving collaboration initiatives, leaders tend to focus on outcomes, processes, and logistic. However, they forget to consider how the groups interpret that request Lisa Kwan calls this thecollaboration blind spot.Each team has a culture of its own. When managers ask them to break down barriers, share information or resources, people feel threatened they worry about how this might affect their identity.As the executive coach explains, groups define and develop their sense of security along three main dimensions identity, legitimacy, and control.Group identityis what a group understands itself to be its purpose.Group legitimacymeans that a team is perceived as valuable outsiders value its contribution.Controlimplies that the group determines how it operates and implements change.Respect each groups identity. Not doing so can make people retreat into themselves and assume a verteidigung posture they will b ecome siloed instead of collaborative.To engage in effective cross-group collaboration, teams might feel safe and protected. Its better to start small than to expect groups to share all their secrets and resources instantly.6. Collaboration Must Be Purpose-DrivenOne of the reasons cross-team collaboration fail is that its not perceived as meaningful. Most leaders focus on the goals and why an initiative makes sense from an organizational and business standpoint but fail to connect it with something deeper.A team purpose is always more meaningful and relevant than a corporate one. When launching a new initiative, leaders must address the Whats in it for me?A collaboration purpose answers the Why are we supposed to work together? question. Not just what the team must achieve by working together the deliverables but the impact their work will create both on them and the organization.Our values and beliefs are supposed to bring us together, yet tear us apart, asI wrote here. Leaders mus t create a common ground. Focusing on a shared purpose will drive the team toward what everyone is trying to achieve collectively.Involve the different groups and let them craft the collaboration purpose. Also, they should define expectations, rules of engagement, and how each side will contribute.Team rituals are an effective wayto design and kick off a cross-functional team.Collaboration doesnt mean erasing sides but integrating them.7. Reward the Team, Not IndividualsConflicting rules send conflicting messages.Though most organizations encourage collaboration a collective practice their reward system is based on individual or specific performance. How can you expect the different areas to work together when sales, marketing, and customer service are measured by conflicting metrics?The same happens with performance reviews, bonuses, and promotions they encourage people to focus on whats best for each person not for the overall team.Also, always-changing or contradictory priorities confuse teams. Most people complain their priorities are moving targets they dont know where to focus their time and energy. Clarity and consistency are key to push a team in one direction.If you reward individual behaviors, dont expect people to pursue goals collectively.8. Technology Doesnt Solve PeopleProblemsMost managers now spend 85% or more of their work time collaborating via e-mail, meetings, group messaging platforms or on the phone that has increased by 50% over the past decade.The digital revolution has accelerated the ability to engage with other people. However, theres a difference between interacting with other people and effective collaboration its the outcome, not the time spent, what matters.Technology facilitates collaboration but doesnt encourage it. Having the right tools is essential to accelerate cooperation, but if organizations dont fix the people problems discussed above, technology wont be useful enough.Lastly, organizations must train their employees on how to use technology more mindfully. Today, many people are suffering from burnout they need a digital detox, not more tech.9. Collaboration is Not justH2HCollaboration is intrinsically a human function, but not limited to people.Technology will continue to play a bigger role in the future of collaboration. The rapid growth of AI will change not only what people do but also shape our way of working.Organizations must prepare their teams not just to become better at cooperating with other people, but also to collaborate with technology.As David Coleman, author of 42 Rules for Successful Collaboration said, Were moving into an era where collaboration is not just human-to-human but human-to-machine collaboration and machine-to-machine collaboration.Collaboration is a way of working it attracts and brings together people outside the regular structure, practices, and expertise to accomplish a complex shared goal. But its far from being smooth or conflict-free.A human-centered approach c an help avoid the collaboration trap. It requires understanding the challenges through peoples eyes. To develop a culture that is safe for teams to let go of being defensive and work together in achieving something more meaningful.Human beings are collaborative by nature but dont collaborate by default its up to you to create the right conditions for successful cooperation.This article originally appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Bringing more personality to our basic plan

Bringing more personality to our basic planBringing more personality to our basic planOur main goal at is to help you stand out in a pile of resumes and get recruiters excited to meet you. To do this, were constantly in andeutung with hiring professionals. Time and time again, they tell us they select candidates whove shown some personality. Skills are still important but not as much as character.This is why were making some Pro personality-revealing features available to all users.Starting today, our premium My Time section and all design customization options are available to all users. They will help you grab the recruiters attention, secure an interview and get that dream job.Drive attention with My TimeThe My Time section is much more than a fancy way to talk about your day.First off, its a great way to show recruiters a bit of your personality. Do you practice the guitar every day? Is it important for you to carve out time for family dinner and play dates with your kids? All of this shows your interests and priorities, which are just as important as your work experience. In my book, having the discipline to go running for 1 hour, come rain or shine, demonstrates personal qualities Id like to have in my team determination, focus, pursuit of personal improvement. Recruiters express the saatkorn opinion. What you do with your time speaks volumes about the person you are.Additionally, My Time can draw attention to something important you want to communicate. What that would be depends on you. Weve seen wonderful uses of the section, showcasing industry experience, types of roles previously held, weekly routines, priorities, or anything you can think of. The distinctive graph serves as a natural focal point, thanks to its unique design.You can now include the My Time section even on our Basic plan just add it from the left-hand side menu in the editor.Make your resume truly your own with fonts and colorsThe main thing you need to invest time in is your re sume content. However, that doesnt mean you should just go with a default design. In fact, people who dont settle for the default option perform better at their job. Its scientifically proven, at least when it comes to browsers.Think about it. You surely have a favorite color that makes you feel empowered and confident. Youd probably feel better if you could wear it to your job interview, right? Your resume should reflect your true personality just as much as your interview appearance.document.createElement(video)https//.com/blog-assets/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ezgif.com-gif-to-mp4-1.mp4Now, all colors, fonts, backgrounds, and icons we provide are accessible to all users. You can make the resume look and feel as personal as possible. Choose one of the color combination that represents your personality.All provided color pairs have been chosen by our product designer to give off a professional and balanced feel. The same goes for the fonts and backgrounds you can choose from.Go ahe ad and build your human-centric resumeWe believe in the power of resumes that showcase the true you. This is why were working hard to bring more personalization features to our users. Try them out and tell us what you think in the comments

Unique Gas Turbine Engine Powers Quieter, More Reliable Drones

Unique Gas Turbine Engine Powers Quieter, More Reliable Drones Unique Gas Turbine Engine Powers Quieter, More Reliable Drones Unique Gas Turbine Engine Powers Quieter, More Reliable DronesThe earliest drones David Ransom remembers were biplanes that ran on piston engines and took off from runways. Now battery-powered quadcopters take flight vertically with relative ease.Inspired by those copters, Ransom, director of the machinery department at Southwest Research Institute, saw an opportunity to make a wider variety of unmanned aerial vehicles quieter, mora reliable and able to fly longer than current engines allow.As a result, the company built a small radial gas turbine that powers a small generator that provides thousands of hours of flight to drones. Current drone turbines typically wear out after a few hundred hours. SWRIs engine is also quieter and more durable than piston engines, and provides more flight time than battery-powered motors.The fuel-to-electric system resulted fro m an IARPA-sponsored project to develop an architecture for a quiet unmanned aerial vehicle.For You Improving the Internal Combustion EngineSwRI used a specialized 3D printer that can craft layered and highly detailed metal parts to build its radial gas turbine. Image Southwest Research InstituteSWRIs turbine makes a very high-frequency noise that humans cant hear. It is designed for larger drones used for surveilling different types of equipment. Drones with SWRIs turbine would be carried around in a trailer and then ground-launched, Ransom said.The turbine has an efficiency of 20 percent to 25 percent, which is not as good reciprocating engines, which can hit up to 50 percent. But the turbines application calls for less noise, not more efficiency.By and large, theyre not the most efficient machines, Ransom said. I wouldnt think of it as a replacement, but as a new enabling combination of technologies that allows you to do quiet flight operations.Turbines are also more expensive th an piston engines, but the simplicity of their moving parts means easier maintenance. The new turbines also run cooler than small turbines currently in use. Those turbines are also constantly exposed to high temperatures given off during the generators combustion process. While turbines perform better as they get hotter, the extreme heat eventually damages them.To solve the overheating problem, SWRI used a new selective laser melting machine (SLM) to build small, intricate airflow passages inside the turbine that cool it without affecting power. The design, Ransom said, yielded a turbine thats both reliable and high-performing.Turbines also have an advantage in remote monitoring applications, since gasoline and diesel could be easier to transport and find than a charging station. .While other engineers are building even smaller micro gas turbine engines, Ransom doesnt think he could go any smaller with the SWRI turbine.What happens is you start to get dominated by the clearance effe cts between the compressor and turbine and the housing, he said. So clearance starts to become quite large compared to the size of the air flow path. Thats where you really start to lose efficiency. I think the designs that were seeing right now in this class is about the smallest practical size for a gas turbine engine.Listen to episode 2 of ASME TechCast How Engineers Close the Communication Gap For Further Discussion I wouldnt think of it as a replacement, but as a new enabling combination of technologies that allows you to do quiet flight operations.David Ransom, Southwest Research Institute

Understanding the Recruitment Process The Key to a Successful Job Search

Understanding the Recruitment Process The Key to a Successful Job Search Understanding the Recruitment Process The Key to a Successful Job Search While every company approaches recruiting somewhat uniquely, there are certain challenges all recruiters face. There are also processes that nearly all follow to some extent. As a job seeker, understanding these is key. The more you know about what recruiters are looking for at any point in the recruitment process, the better you can meet their expectations.The best place you can start is by understanding each step of the recruitment process, even those that dont involve contact with candidates.Working With the Client or Hiring Authority to Define RequirementsWhether they work independently helping clients to find new employees, or as part of corporate recruiting divisions, the first step for recruiters is often the same. They work with clients, department heads, and other hiring managers to define the requirements for the newly opening pos ition. This step is key because it lays the foundation for all efforts made towards finding the iabsprache candidate.Recruiters begin by working with the client to produce a list of educational requirements, minimum years of experience, and hard skills. In order to ensure that recruits will be most able to meet the demands of the job, most recruiters also ask for any required soft skills. unterstellung could be customer service skills, the ability to work in a team, and negotiation skills. Finally, other requirements are gathered. For example, a recruiter may as if potential hires should be sourced from a specific geographical area.Identifying Sources For Potential Job CandidatesRead more Jobscan spoke with four corporate recruiters to find out what they really want to see from applicants during the recruitment process.Recruiters frequently rely on LinkedIn or word of mouth referrals to seek out passive job candidates. These are people who may be very well suited for positions, but are bedrngnis actively looking. In order to improve their chances of being spotted by recruiters, job seekers should create and maintain social media profiles on professional platforms such asLinkedIn. They should also update their profiles frequently. Successful candidates will also use networking and rely on relationship building to make it more likely they will earn word of mouth referrals.Recruiters often maintain a stash of resumes and CVs that have been submitted to them for other positions. Theyll use these as an anfangsbuchstabe source when they are trying to fill a new position. One thing that job seekers can do is keep a list of employers that interest them, then submit their resumes every six months or so. This will help ensure that they remain in that stack as many recruiters purge every six to twelve months.Of course, active recruiting remains a primary part of filling open positions. This means creating job listings and then posting them on job boards and other relevan t locations. A good recruiter will clearly outline the requirements that successful candidates will meet. This is the point where job seekers can really put themselves at an advantage. Job listings are full of relevant resume keywords. They can be mined for these keywords that can then be added to resumes and cover letters.Paste your resume and a job description below to receive an instant keyword analysis.Recruiters Begin Screening Potential HiresAs recruiters receive resumes they begin screening potential hires. This helps them to identify those who are more likely to be qualified. Keep in mind that this isnt always a manual process. Recruiters often use resume screening software. Those keywords you added to your resume and cover letter may mean that your resume makes it to the next step in the recruitment process.On the other hand, even if that is the case your work isnt done yet. Hiring managers review dozens upon dozens of resumes. To keep up, they may only scan your resume for a few seconds. This means your resume should be well-formatted and easy to read. The most important information belongs at the top.Dont forget that following instructions is key. If you do not submit your resume as instructed, count on it being quickly discarded. Read application instructions carefully. Deviating in order to be creative or attention getting is nearly always a bad idea.On the other hand, recruiters and hiring managers do like to be impressed. There are a few things you can do that will grab attention without being irritating. If you have a portfolio or professional social media accounts link to them on your resume. The contact information section is perfect for that. This can help to further highlight your qualifications. If you have a video or infographic resume add a link to that as well.Creating The Short List of Potential HiresAfter reviewing resumes, its time for the recruiter to start reaching out to those who have made the short list. This means making initia l contact and conducting phone screenings. This is the time to be alert and responsive. Ignoring emails for a day could mean losing out on an opportunity while the recruiter moves onto the next candidate.During these initial screenings, recruiters want to verify a few things. Primarily they will ask if the candidate is still interested. If filling the position is urgent, they may also ask about availability. As expected, there will also be questions about work experience and skills. The best approach is to be prepared and enthusiastic. This is the stage where additional candidates will be weeded out.Interviews BeginIf youve made the cut, you will be contacted to schedule an interview. Here common sense applies, but the advice is worth repeating. Arrive on time. Be prepared to ask and answer relevant questions. It is always a good idea to research the position and the company. Read up on Glassdoor and other websites to learn more about company culture.Hiring And NegotiationThe recrui ter will contact you when they are ready to make an offer. This is the time to know which of your requirements are deal breakers, and which are simply nice to have. Research salaries for your field in your geographical area. Knowing this information is empowering, and puts you in the best position to negotiate.Final ThoughtsThe better you understand the recruitment process the more likely you are to get the jobs you pursue. You can benefit from this information by acting in ways that put you in the best light possible along every step of the way. Use this strategic approach to maximize the impact of your job search.Sylvia Giltner is a freelance HR manager. In addition to this, she offers her consulting services to Resumes Centre. There she assists job seekers by crafting amazing resumes while providing practical advice on reaching career goals.

The 30-Second Trick for Data Entry Clerk Resume

The 30-Second Trick for Data Entry Clerk Resume Data Entry Clerk Resume the Ultimate Convenience Staying positive and optimistic is among the toughest facets of the work search. Staying positive during your job search can be difficult, particularly if you recently lost a job which you loved. Professionally personality appropriate for direct customer relations. Resume examples by industry you should create a resume that highlights the particular skills employers are interested in finding. With skills, you need to be a bit more detailed. Review them carefully but dont hesitate to add more on your resume provided that the skills are related to the work post. You predominantly wish to present the essential skills, education and experience. Hiring managers anticipate seeing numbers in resumes. Try to remember that recruiters may contact your prior employers to validate the claims stated on your resume. Many employers simply slap together a work description without an excessive a mount of thought. What Data Entry Clerk Resume Is - and What it Is Not A high degree of attention to detail is necessary, and you need to already know about basic forms of organizational software. For dreingabe points, use our guide on how best to write the very best LinkedIn profile you are able to. Instead, it is going to be less difficult to quantify your capability by referencing your prior work experience with a Professional Experience section. There are various types of Resume Templates based on the individuals interest of what job position which he or she likes to apply. Youll also manage the transfer of information from paper formats into computer files. My purpose is to utilize proficiency in internet form application and HTML Tagging skill to boost quality of consumer service and maximize profit for the business. In the modern information-rich world of conducting business, theres a constant demand for new info to be fed into business databases. You will see that d ata entry isnt all about speed although really being a quick typist is almost always a huge plus. As a consequence, employers always search for data entry clerks who compliment a speedy typing speed with accuracy too. The clerks are also accountable for handling software problems that arise when importing data, together with prioritizing publication and distribution of information reports. Utilize your judgment, also as consistently, you always should make a lot of resumes for numerous kinds of organizations. It is essential that they communicate with the managers and preserve the information flow by coordinating with different data centers and data points. The ever rising amount of information is an important issue in any developing firm. Even if youre an expert professional, you can nonetheless refer to samples that may help you update your resume. In order to affix the place of a data entry clerk, you must build a one of a kind and impressive resume sample. For example, fo r a clerical position, you must ensure you show the employer which you are organized and can handle administrative duties well. As a jobseeker, youve got control over the sum of and kinds of jobs that you apply to. Virtually every job has data entry within it. Whether you find jobs as a data entry, or any portion of the country for this matter, will be contingent on your capacity to take the correct type of action.

Modern Job-Hunting a Not so Perfect Game of Perfect Information

Modern Job-Hunting a Not so Perfect Game of Perfect Information A recently held Philadelphia job fair for ex-offenders got canceled when its doors opened and it became clear that the 3,000-strong crowd of job hunters was about to overwhelm the venue and plunge the fair into chaos. Only then did it become obvious that the turnout estimate based on the previous years attendance figure1,000 job chaserswas wildly off. A key contributing cause of the fiasco? As Homer Simpson might put it, Too much informationmora precisely, it was a problem of too many people with too much informationa situation nonetheless idealized and celebrated in classical theories of pure capitalism as the perfect information condition. This means that all the players (in this case, the job hunters, the fair sponsors and the participating employers) have the same information about the market, the other players, the rules of engag ement, etc., and that the information is complete.This is pretty much as it is for chess players, in virtue of their all having the same knowledge of the permitted moves and positions of all the pieces, which are equally and completely visible to them on the chess board. Knowing your opponents every move in advance would amount to having more perfect information, but then it would make chess more of an exercise than a game, even assuming you made no stupid moves yourself. (Note The theory of perfect competition assumes all the players are rational, which presumably means not stupid.)In connection with any game of perfect information, you may be forgiven for asking this awkward question Isnt it possible for the players to know too much, to have too much informationeven though, or because, they all have it?Imagine a version of straight poker (five cards, no draw) in which each player knows every card every other player holds. Wouldnt that be too much information, at least to the exten t of making the game pointless, if not impossible?Blame What We KnowThat perfect information was the root of the attendance spike is clear from what Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety had to say about it He explained that 25 employers were on hand for this years planned fair, for which, in the previous year 1,000 people showed up, with 435 people getting jobs. He added that, after that success, this time, word of the fair quickly spread on social media and snowballedheadlong, toward an ever-closer approximation of a state of perfect information.In the pre-Internet, pre-cell phone era, awareness of the job fair would have diffused and rippled much more slowly and imperfectly through the job pool, e.g., by word of mouth, notices read on bulletin boards or newspapers. In those days, the reality of imperfect information pretty much guaranteed each job hunter that not everyone with similar job qualifications and ambitions would know about any given opening. ansicht days, to post a job or to hold a job fair amounts to triggering a flash mob, as the news spreads faster than wildfireindeed, at the speed of light and electrons. The described job-fair chaos suggests that perfect theories of perfect capitalisms idealized notion of perfect competition are far from perfect. In the real world, as the failed job fair evidences, not only is a little knowledge a dangerous thing a lot of knowledge (in terms of both the quantity of information and the quantity of minds possessing it) can be just as, if not more, dangerousassuming chaos of the kind that ensued at the fair is not a good thing. The Flash-Mob Model of Job HuntingIn classical perfect-information scenarios, the egalitarian, instantaneous diffusion of market information is presumed to ensure efficient, effective, open and fair competition, e.g., no skewing of economic advantage because of privileged insider information and no misallocation of talent because of ignorance of opportunities. Well, the flash-m ob model of 21st-century job hunting may be fair, but it is hardly efficient and effective. (Note In case youve never heard of or seen one, a flash mob is created through coordinated communication e.g., by means of social media or cell phones, among a large number of people, for the purpose of congregating at a specific time and distribution policy for a specific purpose, not necessarily, although frequently, frivolous or nefarious.)The argument that the flash-mob models defects are self-correcting because everyone in the job mob instantly and equally is informed of the cancellation and planned rescheduling of the job fair is not compelling. Using perfect information to correct a perfect-information-induced catastrophe seems terribly wastefula failing that is and should be anathema to idealized capitalism. This failure of perfect-information dynamics makes a case for the good old days, when the ignorance of other job seekers in a tight job market safeguarded orderly hiring, to the degree that at least somebody got a job offer, instead of getting jammed up and turned back at the swarm-packed door. This modern phenomenon and deficiency of perfect information-driven recruitment has its parallel in modern law enforcement In bygone eras when not only the good guysthe police, but also the badeanstalt guys had only imperfect information, a convenience store manager could depend on having only one or maybe two shoplifters at a time, filching a couple of items. Now, in 2013, that shop owner has to brace himself for a coordinated flash mob of fifty cleaning the stores shelves like locusts on a field trip, having a field day, in somebody elses field. Clearly, the old ways and days of imperfect information made things more manageable, more orderly. To keep up, modern law enforcement agencies are striving harder to make their game more like a game of perfect information, e.g., ubiquitous CCTV cameras, monitoring of social media, communications interceptsperfect, at least for themselves. Apparently, although the other players, the perps in flash mobs, also have comparably perfect information, e.g., know about the cameras and the rest, they are not only fearless, but are also brazen or dumb enough to post their own videos of their crimes on YouTube or Facebook. (So much for the rational player models and theories.) Such is the tangled techno-psychological relationship between perfect information and those who, despite in fact knowing better, try to pull off the perfect crime.Making Imperfect Perfect Information More Perfect an Oscillating ModelIn defense of perfect information, it could be claimed that the problem at the failed job fair was not too much information, but, instead, too little. If the job hunting ex-offenders knew, in real time, exactly how many people were planning to show up at every moment before the fair, how relatively few employers would be there and how cramped the space would be given the projected crowd size, they would have th e information needed to make a more informed decision about whether to bother to attend. Now, this could get complicated, as some job seekers, becoming discouraged, drop out, to be replaced by others who learning about the dropouts, then decide to attend, thereby swelling the ranks of the job seekers once again, some among whom then become discouraged, drop out, cueing others to attend, etc. What Ive just described is a dynamically oscillating system with negative feedbacka system that tends toward an equilibrium value by oscillating around an average projected attendance. Thats about the best that can be expected under such more perfect information conditions. In the basic perfect-information model for a tight job market, it would be 100% certain that 100% of the job hunters will show up in a huge flash mob scrambling for whatever jobs are availablein toe-to-toe fierce, staggering and chaotic competition, if their huge numbers dont cause a shutdown of the process.In the second, the oscillating model, although things wouldnt be so hectic and frantic, theyd be very stressful throughout, e.g., because of the unceasing vigilance, monitoring, instantaneous adapting and re-planning required. However, neither of these perfect competition models can offer the comforting assurance the old days provided. That was when knowing that finding out about a job didnt mean everybody else did too. Back then, the imperfect information that employers as well as job hunters had improved your odds For not only did far fewer job hunters know about the employers and the jobs, but also, employers knew of far fewer job hunters. In many cases, perhaps the biggest challenge then was just to find out about the job. Now, the comparable challenge is to find one before everybody else finds it.or at least to find the end of the queue, if theres an end to be found.