Taking on the crazy job interview questions

Giles Turnbull of the Morning News takes on the “20 Craziest Job Interview Questions” list that CBS Money Watch recently published.

Facebook: Twenty-five racehorses, no stopwatch, five tracks. Figure out the top three fastest horses in the fewest number of races.

The fewest number of races is one. Just keep those suckers running round and round and round until they collapse from exhaustion. The final three make it through, the rest end up as dog food. Actually, I thought that’s how they make dog food.

Nailed it!

Found on Kottke.org

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“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.”

Ira Glass, on taste and creative work

Found on Kottke

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Enter the Dragon: The Old Man Schedule

I’m doing it. No more playing around. I’m manning up. I’m doing the old man schedule.
—Matthew Smith, Squaredeye

Over the last few months I have attempted—unsuccessfully—to switch to a much earlier schedule built around highly productive early mornings, getting the most out of time with my family, and cutting out all of the late nights.  I always feel like I accomplish significantly more on the old man schedule, but I need to learn the ability to fight the urge to stay up late just to get “one more thing done”.

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How To Sell Creative Work To Clients

Absolutely anyone can sell crappy work to clients.  It’s actually quite easy, and on of the main reasons why there are so many terrible ads, mediocre campaigns, and uninspired websites reeking of sameness.  If you want to sell a truly unique idea or creative work to a client it will take hard work and serious effort.

Here are a few key points from the article: know the work inside and out, pick apart your idea, be ready to fight for your ideas, believe in what you’re presenting, and brass balls can help too.

After you finish reading part 1, continue on to part 2.

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Workaholism


From 37signals’ book REWORK, illustration by Mike Rohde

Our culture celebrates the idea of the workaholic. We hear about people burning the midnight oil. They pull all-nighters and sleep at the office. It’s considered a badge of honor to kill yourself over a project. No amount of work is too much work.

Not only is this workaholism unnecessary, it’s stupid. Working more doesn’t mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more.

Workaholics make the people who don’t stay late feel inadequate for “merely” working reasonable hours. That leads to guilt and poor morale all around. Plus, it leads to an ass-in-seat mentality—people stay late out of obligation, even if they aren’t really being productive.

- Excerpt from 37signals’ REWORK released today, download PDF excerpt

There has been several times in my career where I fell into this cycle working countless nights and weekends.  Looking back a lot of what drives workaholism is insecurity in your work and approval from your peers.  When you fall into the cycle of workaholism it always takes far longer to make creative decisions, think critically and produce exceptional work.  In my personal experience, after putting in the long hours any ground I gained was usually lost the following day or week as I struggled with not having enough downtime for my mind to be fresh.

There is a distinct difference from being a workaholic and pulling the very rare all-nighter in an effort to sprint towards a deadline.  One will leave you constantly trying to make up for lost productivity with endless hours and the other gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment in launching a project.

Over the last few years I have actively worked at shifting mindset from working around the clock to working with intense focus and productivity.  As a result I have been able to accomplish more that I am proud of, and more importantly I have been able to spend far more time with family enjoying life.

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