Multitasking Done Right for the Work-at-Home Mom

Multitasking Done Right for the Work-at-Home MomMultitasking Done Right for the Work-at-Home MomFor many work-at-home moms (WAHMs), the art of multitasking means learning not only how to multitask but when to do so. Busy WAHMs develop tricks and shortcuts so they can manage to get everything done they need to get done throughout their day. Inevitably, WAHMs find themselves in some circumstances when they have no choice but to multitask in other circumstances, its just not a good idea. Knowing when to say no to multitasking is as important as learning how to do it. There are a few guidelines that can help you do both. Combine Mental and Physical Tasks Pair complex mental tasks only with simple physical tasks. Emphasize the word simple. Driving, for example, isnt a simple task (nor is it purely physical), so it shouldnt be combined with a complex mental task. Here are some examples of simple-physical-task/complex-mental-task combos that work well together Think out a multifaceted a ufgabe in the shower or while walking the dogFold laundry while watching a recorded video of a work-related presentationCatch up on reading for work in a doctors waiting room Offer Your Full Attention Nothing is more annoying than talking on the phone to someone whose responses to questions are preceded by long pauses punctuated with the tapping of a keyboard. So dont be that person. Give your colleagues your full attention when you are speaking to them. The same goes for your family. Children of WAHMs can get the idea that their mothers work all the time, especially if they continue to check email or talk on the phone while playing with their kids. Establish a Clear Divide One of the important rules for working from home is, as much as you can, to work when you say you will and not to work when you say you wont. Inevitably, life sometimes intrudes on work and vice versa. But establishing a clear divide between work and life most of the time helps your children understand th eir place in your work environment and prevents work from making your children seem second most important. Work Until Completion Whenever possible, stay focused on each individual task, whether its home- or work-related, until its completed. Otherwise, multitasking can lead to a scattered approach and a list of half-finished jobs. A related tip is to complete tasks that require less of your time first to get them out of the way. Of course, thats not possible if a hugely important and very time-consuming project is suddenly due in six hours, for instance. But if all things are of relatively equal importance, check off the small jobs on your list first. Choose Joy Instead of Guilt Trying to get lots of things done in a given workday can lead you to feel rushed and stressed. Take a breath or a break when youre feeling overwhelmed. Attempt to find the joy in what youre doing each moment and dont feel bad if a non-crucial task falls through the cracks. Theres always tomorrow.

6 Advertising Campaigns That Actually Hurt Sales

6 Advertising Campaigns That Actually Hurt Sales6 Advertising Campaigns That Actually Hurt SalesAdvertising has a number of jobs to do. It has to create awareness about a product, service, or brand. It can also add value to a product, making it more desirable. For instance, there is very little difference between the three major light beer brands, Coors Light, Miller Light, and Bud Light, as far as flavor goes. Consumers are buying the brand, which is built from advertising. And advertising also should inform. Heres what this product or service does, and does well.But by far the greatest role advertising plays is to increase sales. No advertising agency would ever pitch a campaign that knowingly hurt sales, or did elend move the sales curve in the right direction. It would be suicide. However, ad campaigns fail all the time. And sometimesthey fail hard. Here are six of the biggest advertising fails that actually made the sales figures drop. 01Kenyan Runner Just For Feet YouTubeA qui ck Google search for California Raisins yields almost 1.5 million results. Clearly, they had an impact and people remember them. The ads took some classic Motown and rock hits, and paired them with some Emmy-award winning stop motion animation. They even had a Billboard Hot 100 hit. And if you saw Straight Outta Compton recently, they were mentioned in that movie. Whats not to love, right? Well, The California Raisin Board had plenty of reasons to grumble.The first issue was that the funky little raisin characters were not exactly attractive. A wrinkly rabbit dropping with arms and legs is hardly a great way to advertise a food product. But the bigger issue was that the characters and songs overshadowed the actual product. People were digging the ads, and loving the music and the charm of it all. But, they did not go out in droves and buy boxes of raisins. The ads didnt really do anything to inform people about the uses of raisins, the nutritional benefit, or anything else. Instead, people just took away some cute singing raisin creatures and bought their records.The campaign proved to be popular, and sales did increase slightly while the campaign ran. But, the price to do the production was exorbitant, costing the CRB almost twice their annual earnings. And when the ads were pulled from the air, sales actually dropped. Needless to say, this is another case of nice ad, shame about the results.

16 Web Developer Interview Questions to Ask

16 Web Developer Interview Questions to Ask16 Web Developer Interview Questions to AskHiring a web developer can be tough in todays employment market. Talented professionals are in high demand, and its difficult to find people with the right technical skill set and work experience. It can be tempting to overlook a candidates interpersonal abilities. However, ansicht qualities can actually determine whether someone flourishes or flounders on the job.Of the managers polled for a recent Technology survey, 95 percent admitted theyve made a bad hire in the past. Of those, 38 percent said the problem was due to the individuals lack of technical skills. But more interestingly, 57 percent blamed it on personal attributes. A further breakdown Twenty-nine percent said there were interpersonal issues with those failed hires - either their soft skills werent up to par, or they caused conflict with colleagues or customers. And 28 percent said the problem had to do with a mismatch with the corpor ate culture they simply werent a good fit for the company or work environment.To avoid the high costs of a bad hire, you may want to reexamine how you vet job candidates. Here are 16 of the best web developer interview questions.1. Can you tell me briefly about some projects youve worked on and the approach you took from start to finish?This is a good web developer interview question to start with because you can learn about their work style - how they gather requirements, solve problems, manage computer-nutzer feedback, handle QA and collaborate in a team setting. Their response will also show you their level of enthusiasm for web development.2. Pretend Im a tech novice. Can you explain what ________ is in plain English?Your newly hired web developer will likely work closely with other departments, which means theyll need to communicate effectively with their non-techie colleagues in marketing, sales, editorial, accounting and human resources. Ask candidates to expound on a topic all web developers should be familiar with, and look for their ability to speak using non-jargony terms. Here are some concepts to choose from CSS, PHP, plug-ins, responsive design, W3C, version control or microservice architecture. You could also ask them to compare and contrast related terms, such as UI vs. UX or front end vs. back end, for a lay audience.3. Have you ever given a presentation?IT plays a strategic role in many companies, so public speaking is a good skill to have in a web developer. Youll want to hire someone who has presented in front of their team. Bonus points to those whove given presentations to large non-IT groups. Follow up with questions on how they gathered and organized information, and what they did to keep the audiences attention.4. What is namespacing in JavaScript?This is a basic JavaScript question that should be easy for experienced web developers to answer. In brief, a namespace is a global object with a unique name that holds methods, properties a nd other objects. Its used to increase modularity and reuse of code in web applications, and to prevent naming conflicts.Hiring web developers? We can helpREQUEST TALENT5. Whats the difference between SOAP and REST?These are two web service protocols that developers should know. One of the key differences is that SOAP uses XML while REST also supports text, JSON and other formats. Web developers may have strong opinions about which one is better, but they should demonstrate an understanding of both.6. List some of the input types that are new to HTML5.HTML5 has been around for several years now, so a good candidate should be able to name at least a few of the following color, date, datetime-local, email, month, number range, search, tel, time, url, week.7. Which CMSs have you worked with?Some common open-source content management systems (CMSs) are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. To elicit more information, ask if theyre involved in the relevant open-source communities and whether the yve ever made any contributions.8. How are your SQL skills?Database expertise may not be listed in the job requirements, but fruchtwein web developers will need to work with SQL Server or MySQL during the course of their duties. Any practical experience, such as having worked as a database administrator, is highly valuable.9. Who is your role model in the world of tech?Do they admire innovators? Talented engineers? Great designers? Entrepreneurs whove made billions? People who do good in the world? The answer to this question can tell you much about what the web developer values, which is another data point in whether theyd be a good or poor fit for your company culture.10. Name a website or app that annoys you. Whats wrong with it?This web developer interview question asks about the candidates awareness of current issues in web development, as well as their own problem-solving abilities. A good answer is one where they do more than just gripe about someone elses work. Skilled web d evelopers will offer real solutions to practical issues, such as how to improve load times or optimize the user experience.11. Do you have any projects that you work on (or have worked on) in your spare time?Web technology moves fast. Even if your company provides extensive skills development training, top developers spend a significant chunk of their own time tinkering and staying on top of emerging trends. Candidates should be able to discuss their personal projects, either past or present, and possibly even show you their work.12. What do you do when an application stops working?Problem solving is at the heart of web development, so listen to how the candidate talks about fixing things that goes awry. Do they break down the situation and analyze potential causes? Do they know when to ask for help and where to go to find answers? How do they respond if their first idea for a solution doesnt pan out?13. Tell me about a time youve had to respond to negative feedback.Web developers h ave to deal with a barrage of comments from beta testers and actual users. The ideal candidate for this position needs to know how to take that feedback, analyze it and turn it into action. Listen to how they walk through the issue and arrive at a conclusion.14. Have you ever been blamed for something that wasnt your fault?This is a challenging question, but its a good way of gauging the candidates attitude toward teamwork. If interviewees are quick to throw people under the bus, they likely will make for a terrible colleague. You want to hire a developer who doesnt get angry quickly and who will work toward a solution - and hopefully clear their name in the process.15. Can you find the error in this code?Its common practice to ask candidates to write code by hand during an interview, which isnt an ideal setting. Plus, unless youre a coder yourself, you wont know whether theyve done it properly. An alternative is to print out a piece of code - some JavaScript will do - with strat egically placed errors and ask interviewees to find them. This is a quick way to establish both technical knowledge and their attention to detail.16. Which perks of this job are you most excited about?This is a chance to find out a little more about the person youre interviewing and their work-life balance. Maybe they really want that free gym membership to help stay in shape, or perhaps the flexible hours will help them juggle personal and work responsibilities. This is also a good opportunity to sell the company as a top employer. Perks can sway a candidate who has received several job offers, and this question allows you to follow up with all the advantages of joining your organization.Asking these 16 web developer interview questions should help you narrow down your list of candidates to those who will most likely be the best technical and cultural fit for your team.