Professional Life

Does the academic education prepare for working life?

This is not an easy question to answer and it highly depends on your academic courses and the profession you are aiming for. But if you are looking for a short answer: Don’t expect too much. The journey continues Any academic qualification or title is usually just the beginning and not the endpoint of your professional journey. Don’t expect that after completing your studies, you will be equipped for every professional task or challenge in the future. Embrace new beginnings…

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Professional Life

Be suspicious if you hear these three statements

As a fresh graduate, you don’t have any other frame of reference than your first job. Sometimes it is hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. But you should at least be suspicious if you hear one of the following three sentences: You won’t get a job anywhere else Depending on your personal situation, the job marked, or the economic climate, this could be true. Still, you should be definitely alarmed if your boss repeatedly reminds…

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Professional Life

Smartphone Apps I wish I used earlier

Some smartphone apps make your life easier. Personally, I wish I had started using them earlier. Read here which are these apps are and why they are helpful at work, in life, or at uni. The LinkedIn App The LinkedIn app stands for the app of the professional network of your choice. It does not have to be LinkedIn. Using the app on your smartphone makes it much easier to be active on the professional network on a regular basis.…

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Professional Life

Four questions I never dared to ask

As a student or your young professional, some encounters left me with burning questions. Unfortunately, back then I did not have the courage to ask the questions that came to mind. I was either too shy and did not want to embarrass anyone. Or I did not believe I was entitled to ask. Don’t be like me and learn from the four questions I wished had the courage to ask: What about mediocre people? Students might have discussions with supervisors…

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Professional Life

Teach without being a schoolteacher

Teaching can be a very rewarding experience. Yet, some of us realize this only quite late in life. Others did not pursue a career as a schoolteacher for different reasons. Even so, it is still possible to incorporate teaching in your life. Here are four ways to teach without being a schoolteacher. Teach at a university Whether you are a postdoc, a lecturer, or a professor, teaching is most likely part of your job description. If you enjoy teaching, you…

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Professional Life

Surprising qualities of creative people

There are many misconceptions about creative people or creativity. These fallacies don’t do justice to creative people. Furthermore, these attitudes might even hamper our own creativity. So let’s look at some traits of creative people that might actually surprise you. Creative people do need to work hard It is a popular but wrong impression that creative minds make up their lack of hard work with their creative genius. Their valuable ideas are so precious that they can afford to laze…

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Professional Life

Avoid these common misconceptions in work, life and uni

By sticking to some common misconceptions, we often make professional life harder on others and ourselves. Interact more effectively and smart by letting go of false believes. If you are anything like me, you have been misled be the following three misconceptions. Reflect whether you are guilty of entertaining those fallacies: Successful people don’t know failure The myth that successful people never failed is a popular one. Thankfully, it has been debunked already in many books and publications (read also…

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Professional Life

Integrity in working life – dos and don‘ts

Working or interacting with colleagues with impeccable professional integrity, is pure joy. Those individuals are held in high regard and immensely respected. Be like them. However, at times we do not act in accordance with our values and thus compromise our integrity. More often than not, this happens rater out of neglect than out of bad will. Professional integrity should be the norm. But it can’t hurt to recall a few guidelines: Show integrity as a manager As a line…

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Professional Life

Do this, not that for your career – 3 replacements to make

Sometimes it is the smallest things that have the biggest effects. A simple swap can do wonders for helping you reach your career goals. Healthy eating enthusiasts know this principle from the suggestions made in Eat This, Not That. Eat This, Not That suggests nutritious swaps for unhealthy food choices. In addition, replacing one habit by another is doable and helps your career. Therefore, here are some suggestions. Do this, not that for your career. Do one sensible thing instead…

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Professional Life

Three human instincts to fight in your work life

Biologically speaking, humans are nothing but animals. The baser instincts that are an integral part of us kept us alive for many generations. However, in the modern work environment some of these human instincts do not serve us but hamper our performance. Being aware of those aspects is the first step towards a better workplace. Read about three of them and note whether you, like me, are guilty of following your baser instincts sometimes.Three human instincts to fight in your…

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