Good Enough for Google

      Although many talented individuals are choosing to work for Facebook over Google, there are still a plethora of people who would love to work for the Bay Area-based company. And now is the time to do so! Google executives announced that they plan to hire 2,000 individuals throughout the duration of the year, and they will have no trouble attracting top talent from across the world for these coveted positions.
      Think you have what it takes? Check out some of these sample interview questions that are taken directly from previous Google interviews. They clearly want individuals who can think "outside the box", so if you know how many golf balls can fit in a school bus--sample interview question #6--then consider applying for a spot!

House Rich, Cash Poor

      I remember asking my mom what she meant by the statement "house rich, cash poor". She explained that many people in California had all of their wealth tied up in the value of their homes--but when it came to paying the bills, they didn't have the cash to do so.

      There is a going trend amongst homeowners to up-size their homes, while sacrificing other expenditures like education and health in order to afford bigger living spaces. According to the LA Times, "the typical American home has grown about 40% larger over the last 30 years." The ironic part about this statistic is that the number of children per household has declined over the past 30 years. Therefore, the change in home size cannot be explained by an increase in children; rather, it appears people are associating socio-economic status with home size. The problem with this trend is that families are devoting "34% of household expenditures to their homes". These expenditures do not benefit society like an investment in education would, which has caused the U.S. to be behind in "both the quality and quantity of the labor force [because they] are not keeping pace with the demands of the skill-based economy". If we want to grow as a country, we need to learn from our Chinese neighbors and devote more of our household expenditures to education.

College Admissions: Have Things Gone Too Far?

        It comes as no surprise that colleges are experiencing record application numbers this year--with the most qualified, talented applicant pool they've had thus far. But have they gone too far? Colleges now compete on how many students they can turn away, not how many they accept. An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education looked at several schools like Brown and Stanford who bragged about accepting less than 10% of applicants. Rather than marketing other aspects of a college, admissions believe that "The more apps a college receives, and rejects, the more impressive it seems".  

         This focus has caused students to feel like they have to apply to more schools than is necessary. One student remarked "I should apply to a million schools...if I shoot lots of arrows, maybe I'll hit something". However, this push is not only harmful to potential applicants, but also to the colleges themselves. A larger applicant pool does not mean that the quality of incoming students will be better. By striving for larger applicant pools, colleges are unable to predict the number of students that will actually attend, leading to longer waiting lists and other problems. 

        The solution: copy University of Chicago. Rather than trying to attract every type of student, Chicago admissions focus on attracting a student that would be successful at their university. The Dean of College Admissions at Univ. of Chicago sums up their recruiting tactics in one idea: "If understood properly, no given college will appeal to everyone—that wouldn't be possible...It's important to signal something true and meaningful about yourself. The more signals, the more honest you're being, and doing that does limit the applications". Chicago still attracts top-quality students--but it doesn't try to compete with other schools in attracting 50,000 applicants.

       I think schools should try to be more like the admissions team at Chicago. There is too much emphasis on attracting the greatest number of applicants possible, rather than focusing on attracting students that would be happy and successful at a particular school. This will yield positive benefits for students as well, because it will force them to sit down and prioritize which schools they want to attend, rather than applying to as many schools as possible just to get in.

National Unfriend Day!

Jimmy Kimmel announced on his show that today, November 17, shall be National Unfriend Day! In honor of the holiday, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker wrote a song called "The National Unfriend Day Soundtrack" (see lyrics below). Kimmel created the day so that "all Facebook users shall protect the sacred nature of friendship by cutting out any 'friend fat' on their pages occupied by people who are not truly their friends". I couldn't agree with you more Jimmy Kimmel. 

To all the friends I've un'ed before 

Who sent me quizzes about Jersey Shore 

You made my life a hell 

With your stupid LOL 

To all the friends I've un'ed before

To all the guys from grammar school 

Posting shirtless pictures by their pool 

Your fat and sweaty back

Really makes me want to yak 

To all the friends I've un'ed before

Our time on earth goes by so quickly 

We have to make each moment great 

So I cannot waste one more minute 

Reading your dumb status update

The Day Has Finally Arrived!

     In case you couldn't tell by my post entitled "Taxman", I am a HUGE Beatles fan. I am currently taking a 4-unit course entitled "Beatles: Their Music and Their Times", where I get to access my inner nerd and learn all about the Beatles every Monday and Wednesday. While I could talk for hours about Paul McCartney, there is a reason why I bring up my obsession now.
     Apple is set to make a big announcement tomorrow, and there are various rumors as to what the surprise could be. According to Yahoo, the big surprise has to do with my favorite band: The Beatles. All iTunes users know that Beatles music is not available for sale due to the lack of agreement that could be reached between EMI (The Beatles's record label) and Apple. However, Apple has finally made an offer that EMI can't refuse, and Beatles fans will finally get to purchase their music on iTunes.
     Although I own all of the Beatles albums already, I am giddy with excitement that more people will have access to, in my opinion, the best music available.

I'm Sorry That I'm Not Sorry

Dear Kanye West,

Why are you such a horrible human being?

Love,
CMG

For those of you who missed the Kanye West and Matt Lauer interview on The Today Show, please watch it. Matt Lauer had Kanye on the show to be able to publicly apologize to George Bush, but once again, West let his true colors show and left viewers disgusted with his arrogance and lack of remorse. He made a complete fool of himself (yet again) on TV and I am embarrassed to own 2 of his albums.

Watch it here.

How to Nail the Interview

     College students often underestimate the importance of interviews in the job process. While grades & extra-curricular activities are important, if you lack the ability to sell yourself in an interview, your job prospects may be grim. This doesn't mean that you have to be outgoing and the "life of the party"-you just need to convey to the interviewer that you will add value to their firm.
     Check out these helpful interview tips before you start the interview process for internships or full-time job offers. Jobs may be few and far between, but all it takes is one great interview to enter the world of employment!