Why we are feeling lonelier now than ever before

Why we are feeling lonelier now than ever beforeWhy we are feeling lonelier now than ever beforeWhy is Fyodor Dostoevsky considered one of the greatest novelist to live?In his memoir, Ernest Hemingway claimed that he couldnt get through any of his books because of how poorly written they were. And there is truth to that Dostoevsky isnt known for his flowery prose.There is, however, something else to his appeal. He knew what it meant to live as a human being, day in and day out, over years and decades, in a way that very few writers have known and then managed to express.A consistent theme in his novels is how individuals deal with themselves, their minds, when they have done something of consequence, usually negative, like committed a crime or an immoral act. Many of his characters go on to show expressions of guilt, loneliness, and isolation.The subject matter that he details is often heavier than the things that may be directly relevant to ur lives. But at the core of his explorati on, all he is really doing is figuring out how ur mind makes sense of ideas of belonging, connection, and meaning.His argument is essentially that the way we relate to our self is deeply connected to the way we relate to a society of others and vice versa, and if one of them is out of sync, the other will be, too. To nourish this connection, as he writes in Brothers Karamazov, we have to practice honestyAbove all, dont lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.At first, the way in which this relates to loneliness is unobvious, undefined, and unassuming, but as we hack away at the layers, something quite obvious, quite defined, and quite assuming makes itself known.The perils of cultural complexityThe term loneliness seems to originate from the 16th-century. Even then, it wasnt until the next few hundred years that it propp ed up in art and media. There has always been something that it is like to feel lonely, of course, but the semantic usage shows its level of relevance over time.Today, if you do a search of the term, you get 51, 700, 000 results returned in 0.34 seconds. If you care to dig deeper, you will come across thousands of articles about how we live in a world where loneliness is an epidemic, a public health issue, the defining state of modernity.Many culprits have been identified the disintegration of family and community ties, our migration to cities, the phone and the television and the radio, and everything in between. Beyond mere isolation, which is one part of it, what they all point to is the saatkorn thing We live in a world of increasing cultural complexity.In the African Savanna, say, 200,000 years ago - the ecology for which we evolved - we operated within small, nomadic tribes. There may have been some genetic differences between you and your friends and your family members, bu t broadly, due to the simple and uniform culture you lived in, you were all fairly similar, with complementary selves.Now compare that to a world in which we have the internet. Every single culture, from every eckball of the world, is accessible to you every moment of the day, just like it is to everybody else. The level of connectivity we have means that there is a mixing and matching of cultures that creates immense diversity in individuals and their exposure. And the result?The formation of our self, our identity, as we grow in such a world makes us very different from everybody else in both subtle and obvious ways. While this has benefits, it means that on a deep, spiritual level - the one that it takes to truly connect with someone - we feel alone, because no one quite understands us the way we would like them to understand us.While, yes, loneliness can be a product of isolation, the kind of loneliness that many of us feel in a world where we are increasingly connected has mo re to do with the fact that our modern culture has mentally separated us from each other than it does from a simple lack of interaction.Reconciling our fragmented selvesThe fact that we are all more unique today than we have ever been isnt a bad thing. In fact, depending on your values, its a great thing. And being different in itself also isnt why its hard to connect with people.In Dostoevskys novels, whenever a character deals with committing a crime or with knowingly causing suffering in the world, its never the outer reality that punishes them. Its their own psyche.Even if no one else in the world knows about what they did, they still have to hide it from others, and eventually, try to hide it from themselves. This simple fact - the realization that they can never truly be honest with someone, never show their whole self to them - makes them feel alone and isolated even when they are surrounded by people who suspect nothing wrong.This is an extreme example, but in many ways, m odernity, with its complex cultures and its technological connectivity, has created a fragmented reality in which we cant get away from this problem, either.You are a different person at home than you are at work. You are a different person offline than you are online. You are a different person in one sub-culture in your life (say, a book club dedicated to science-fiction) than you are in another one (say, a Sunday league where you play football).Due to various social norms, we have to hide some parts of ourselves in front of certain people and in certain places, which - again - isnt itself a problem, but the simple habit of doing so generates subtle lies that we tell both ourselves and other people. And eventually, these lies begin to build on each other, leading to a number of fragmented selves that dont integrate.A true connection with someone occurs when you show them your whole self, as they show you theirs, warts and differences and all, simply accepting that not everyone i s going relate to it. Modernity, unfortunately, makes that very difficult with its various, complex norms, in spite of the fact that we are now superficially connected all the time.If we dont actively work to reconcile our different parts into a cohesive, integrated whole that we expose to the world, in complete truth and honesty, then we are not going to find what we are looking for.Before you accept the company and the connection of another person, you have to first do the work to accept yourself.A case for honestyThe irony here is this It takes a lot of isolation and solitude (which can lead to loneliness but is usually not the root cause) to develop the self-awareness to see that all of this is playing out beneath the surface.Today, we are all a product of an infinitely complex combination of cultures that come together at specific points in time, at specific places, at every moment in our life, to create our sense of self in a way that is hidden. As a result, even we dont know who we are.In this sense, solitude is a gift. It lets you see whats there when you arent being influenced by your relationships to those around you or to other distractions, giving you a chance to objectively observe how the different parts of your identity conflict with one other.Instead of managing your image or your brand in a situation, you are forced to reckon with the person behind the appearances the lies you tell both yourself and other people, the shame you feel, and everything else that your mind does a great job of hiding when you are not paying attention to it.None of this is easy, and none of it feels like an antidote to loneliness, but a strange thing happens when you face what you have been avoiding You start to slowly respect and value the real person underneath, no longer needing to be dishonest about anything, thus opening the door to connection.Naturally, real honestly and a lasting connection require the participation of two reciprocating parties willing to bare themselves, which isnt entirely up to you, but it still has to start with how you relate to yourself.In Dostoevskys novels, any time one of his characters give in to the guilt of their falsehoods and remove the psychological burden that weights down their life, they find themselves feeling freer than they had been before, even if they are punished for their confessions later on.In this same way, we feel lonely when we hide our selves, or when we dont know our selves, and the solution isnt to add more superficial connection to our lives its to become who we already are.Want to think and live smarter? Zat Rana publishes a free weekly newsletter for 30,000+ readers atDesign Luck.Thisarticlewas originally published onDesign Luck.

Customize this Outstanding Superintendent Resume Template

Customize this Outstanding Superintendent Resume TemplateCustomize this Outstanding Superintendent Resume TemplateCreate Resume Writing a Construction Superintendent ResumeA construction superintendent must bring considerable leadership, planning and organization skills to the table. With all the complex considerations to make on a daily basis at construction worksites, you must have extensive expertise and logistics capability to be successful. The following construction superintendent resume templates provide a clear example of how to construct a unique and distinguishing resume. Resume Template for Construction SuperintendentJanis HartmanProfessional SummaryConstruction Superintendent adept at setting project goals and enhancing employee productivity to achieve them. Experienced with selecting, hiring and training construction workers, producing project cost estimates and shift management. Specializes at designing and designating tasks to employees.Core Qualifications Employee s hift management Worksite supervision Cost estimates Budget management Trade coordination Resource requirements Organized EfficientWork ExperienceConstruction Superintendent, July 2009 to PresentPyrio Construction- New Cityland, CA Coordinated logistics between tradespeople to facilitate unified action and to meet goals Assessed operational requirements such as workers, resources and equipment Procured necessary construction equipment, negotiated with sub-contractorsConstruction Superintendent, November 2005 to June 2009Harthouse Construction Company- New Cityland, CA Produced construction project budgets by conducting cost estimates and determining necessary resources, materials and labor Supervised worksite, delegated assignments to workers and directed daily construction Developed scheduling and construction plans for projectsConstruction Manager, February 2000 to October 2005Cityland Construction- New Cityland, CA Hired, oriented and directed construction workers on project requi rements, involved materials and safety regulations Produced and reviewed construction plans and strategies Monitored worksite for befolgung with working policies, federal and state regulationsEducation2000 Bachelor of Science, BusinessNorthern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZCustomize Resume

3 Tips to Help You Win the Workplace Game of Thrones

3 Tips to Help You Win the Workplace Game of Thrones 3 Tips to Help You Win the Workplace Game of Thrones Thankfully, the stakes are not quite so high in the workplace failure does not lead to death. You can actually just move to another company if things go south.Still, though, you have to do afair bit of maneuvering in the workplace if you want to ascend the corporate ranks (which is pretty much the working worlds equivalent toCerseis game of thrones). To do that maneuvering successfully, youll need political expertise which may be just as important as, if not more important than, your technical skills. According to research from Florida State University professor PamelaPerrew, a person rarely gets promoted without having developed strong political skills.Whether you are an up-and-coming millennial or a maturing Generation X professional, understanding the political machinations of your workplace will be key to outwitting your peers and landing the promotions you desire.Of cours e, not everyone wants to move into management. But, if you do,and you are ready to win the workplace game of thrones, then here are three tips to help you climb the corporate hierarchy.1. Findan Influential ratgeberDuring your journey to the top, youll need toaccept some guidance from a benevolent power broker who has been there and done that, with respect to ascending the companys ranks. Seeking and accepting such guidance will accelerate your own personal development, improvingyour judgment and decision-making.It alsostands to reason that because your mentor isanexperienced member of the upper echelons of the company, they can act as a powerful political ally.Studies show that candidates who are recommended by influential people are much more likely to be invited to interviews and land jobs. If your mentor vouches for you, your chances of landing the promotion you crave skyrocket. Similarly,a study carried out at Sun Microsystemsfound that employees who were mentored were promoted five times more often than employees who were not mentored.2. Get Noticed For the Right ThingsDo some of your peers seem to be the golden boys or girls of the company? Do these peers have a knack for getting noticed by senior managers and leaders?Thats because they know either by instinct or by paying attention to their surroundings what to do to get noticed in the firm. What makes someone a golden employee often depends on what the managers and leaders ata given company value, but one of the fruchtwein commonly valued traits in employees is entrepreneurialism that is, the willingness to take risks, move out of your comfort zone, and take on projects outside of your job description. Being entrepreneurialalso involves spotting opportunities to improve some aspects of thebusiness and presenting potential improvementsto decision makers and influencers. A study from Millennial Branding found 58 percent of managers are either very willing or extremely willing to support entrepreneuria l employees, making entrepreneurialism a great way to get noticed at most companies.Another quality that impresses managers, according to the Millennial Branding study, is being a subject matter expert. Sixty-five percent of employers surveyed said subject matter expertise was important to career advancement.So, another great way to get noticed is to be able to give sound specialist advice at times when it is most needed.3. Hone Your Influencing and Impression-Management SkillsThe Millennial Branding study cited above found that managers often looked for soft skills when promoting millennials, rather than hard skills or digital tech savvy.Simply puttingyour head down and grinding it out is not enough you need to demonstrate your soft skills if you want to land a promotion.Professor Perrewof FSU outlines four skills that define political adeptness social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and the ability to convey the impression of sincerity. Youll need to pract ice these skills and use them regularly if you are to succeed in the workplace games of thrones.

How to Tell Me About Yourself During a Job Interview

How to Tell Me About Yourself During a Job InterviewHow to Tell Me About Yourself During a Job InterviewHow to Tell Me About Yourself During a Job InterviewHeres how to answer one of the most commonly asked interview questions with confidence. TWEETYou landed an interview for your dream job Once the excitement dies down, you start getting nervous as you realize its time to prepare for the ever-important interview. What kinds of questions will they ask? Which interview questions should you prepare for?No matter the type of business, industry or the interviewers experience level, one question is bound to arise Tell me about yourself. This is likely the first thing youll be asked as you sit down behind the conference room table. While this ansicht should be easy to answer, many people struggle with it, often unsure where to begin with their response.Prior to answering tell me about yourself, put yourself in the interviewers shoes. What does that person really want to know about you? Do they want to know your birthday is April 12 and that your favorite color is purple? No, of course not. Do they want to know that you have a bachelor of science degree in marketing and have eight years of sales experience? Absolutely.You must be careful when preparing for this interview question. First, think of how this would sound My name is Heather and I have an 11-year old son. I am very actively involved in his school and try to volunteer as much as possible. What does the potential employer hear?My name is Heather. And, by the way, I may miss a lot of work because I do a ton of volunteering at my sons school. This means I may miss important work deadlines and, quite possibly, may not be able to work overtime when you need me to do so.I couldnt be prouder to be a mother to a wonderful son, but this is not something Id very bring up during an interview. My focus is on my relevant professional accomplishments, educational hintergrund and business expertise.To avoid this scenario, stay with job-related information and have a brief 30-60 second introduction (i.e. your elevator pitch) ready-to-go when you enter the interview. Here are four things to keep in mind as you prepare your response to one of the most commonly asked interview questionsEmployers are looking for confidence.Say your statements firmly and as definitive sentences. Dont add a verbal question mark to the end of your statements.Dont ask them what theyd like to know.This shows that youre unsure of yourself and your strengths, or that you werent prepared to answer this common question.Give a brief overview of your job history.Dont provide a play-by-play of your past 20 years of experience however, explain how your experience is related to this particular role and how it led you to apply to this position.Stick to job-related information.While most people immediately want to discuss their family, where they live, or community involvement, this is not the time. In addition, by discussing these perso nal things, you open yourself to potential discrimination.Prepare your response to tell me about yourself carefully. As the first statement during an interview, your response is going to set the tone for the rest of the interview process. Prepare, plan and develop a productive response to this question in order to shine a light on your strengths and help you land that dream job.Hire a TopResume writer to help you land more interviews, faster.Related Articles

You Can Consciously Transform Your Culture

You Can Consciously Transform Your CultureYou Can Consciously Transform Your CultureYour corporate culture has a significant impact on whether or leid your company accomplishes its most significant goals. You may need to tweak the culture, or you may need a complete culture overhaul.Although changing your organizational culture can feel like rolling rocks uphill, it will likely result in increased growth and revenue. Organizational cultures form over years of interaction among participants in the organization. It usually takes a significant event for people to consider culture change, such as flirting with bankruptcy, a significant loss of sales and customers, a new CEO with a different outlook and agenda, or losing $1 million. Steps in Organizational Culture Change Three major steps are involved in changing an organizations culture. Understand your current culture.Decide where your organization wants to go, define its strategic direction, and decide what the organizational cultu re should look like. What vision does the organization have for its future, and how must the culture changeto accomplish that vision?The individuals in the organization must decide to change their behavior to create the desired organizational culture. This is the hardest step in culture change. Plan the Desired Organizational Culture Develop a picture of your organizations desired future. What does the organization want to create? How will this benefit your employees and the organizations other stakeholders? Examine your mission, vision, and values for both the strategic and the value-based components of the organization. Your management team needs to answer questions such as What are the five most important values you would like to see represented in your organizational culture?Are these values compatible with your current organizational culture? Do they exist now? If not, why not? If they are so important, why arent you attaining these values?Are your mission, vision, and valu es clearly articulated and disseminated so that employees have a clear understanding of the organizations direction and where they fit within it?What cultural elements hilfestellung the success of your organization, and what elements of the current organizational culture need to change? Perhaps your team decides that you spend too much time agreeing with each other rather than challenging potentially incorrect forecasts and assumptions of fellow team members. Or perhaps key management leaders spend most of their time with team members individually and promote individual agendas to the detriment of the cohesive functioning of the whole group. Consciously identify the cultural implements and decide to change them. Change the Organizational Culture Knowing what the desired organizational culture looks like is not enough. Organizations must create plans to ensure that the desired organizational culture becomes a reality. The two most important elements for creating organizational c ultural change are executive support and training. Executive Support Executives must support cultural change in ways beyond verbal assent. They must show supportfor cultural change by changing their own behaviors. Provide Training Culture change depends on behavior and belief change. Members of the organization must clearly understand what is expected of them and how to actually do the new behaviors. Use training to communicate expectations and new behaviors. Mentoring will also help employees learn and change. Additional Ways to Change the Organizational Culture Communication, employee involvement, and a willingness to learn and adapt are keys to keeping organizational change on track. Create value and belief statements Ask employee focus groups to put the companys mission, vision, and values into words that state the impact on each employees job. For one job, the employee stated, I live the value of quality patient care by listening attentively whenever a patient speaks. This exercise gives all employees a common understanding of the desired culture that actually reflects the actions they must commit to on their jobs. Practice effective communication Keeping all employees informed about the organizational culture change process ensures commitment and success. Telling employees what is expected of them is critical for effective organizational culture change. Review organizational structure You may need to change the physical structure of the company to align with the desired organizational culture. For example, a small company with four distinct business units competing for a product, customers, and internal support resources may not support an effective organizational culture and the overall success of the business. Consider moving employees and teams You want to create the sense of cohesion and camaraderie among groups that must work together to serve customers. So, to accomplish this closeness, you will want to move people who must work closely togeth er into the same space. Redesign your approach to rewards and recognition You will likely need to change the reward system to encourage behaviors vital to the desired organizational culture. For example, if you want to encourage employees to work as cohesive teams, you must reward them for their success as team players. Review all work systems Make sure systems such as employee promotions, pay practices, performance management, and employee selection align with the desired culture. For example, you cannot just reward individual performance if your new organizational culture values teamwork. A senior leaders bonus should also be based onplaying well with otherson the leadership team to accomplish your organizational goals. It is more difficult to change the culture of an existing organization than tocreate a culturein abrand-new organization or team. When an organizational culture is already established, people must unlearn the old values, assumptions, and behaviors before they can l earn the new ones. But with time, commitment, planning, and proper execution, you can change your organizational culture to support the accomplishment of key your business goals and needed outcomes. Yes, you can.

Federal Resume Template 2017 Reviews & Tips

Federal Resume Template 2017 Reviews & Tips New Ideas Into Federal Resume Template 2017 Never Before Revealed You should commit time into each application and make certain that your resume is tailored to every employer and the job which youre applying to. Resumes arent translated in regard to duties and obligations from military terminology into federal job duties. Unfortunately there isnt any reference book on keywords, but should you examine the job duties and specialized skills on each and every vacancy announcement you will discover keywords populated within the wording. The true educational demands of your management resume will depend only on the industry youre working in. Before you commence writing your resume 2017, you should make certain that all the resume section you want to include are formatted proper way and will be simple to read by a hiring manager. Developing a federal resume is an extremely comprehensive procedure, and it is extremely crucial that you unde rstand precisely how to code or write your USAJobs resume to create a hiring authoritys interest in you. How to Get Started with Federal Resume Template 2017? Speaking of unique, the main target of your resume is to make you stick out from the remainder of the folks applying for exactly the same job and aelendher means to create that happen is to use action verbs and power words (also known as resume verbs). Most men and women look at writing a resume as just something youve got to do to have a job. When youre asking for employment which then relies on the skills of the individual, you require a resume plan youre able to inject a little more personality into to make it pop. Resume should be very well formatted based on the kind of job anyone is hoping to find. The truth is, acquiring a simple personal site that highlights your abilities and more importantly your personality go a ways to creating a 3 dimensional persona for the hiring manager. When deciding on resume themes pick the one which suits the task practical experience instead of the work profile. As youve already understood writing an outstanding resume isnt an effortless job that you can do. Enkoranvers you didnt miss whatever could cost you the job that you dream about Knowing the difference between a resume and curriculum vitae is much more important before selecting a template. You should make your resume important to each undertaking. Creating your resume is crucial. Creating your resume is essential. Career objective is currently the most important section your own resume. Its also advisable to list wow content beneath a distinct category, including an Honors and Awards or Media Mentions subhead. Theres a particular template that youve got to follow when you compose the FBI Special Agent resume, Lisa states. If youre looking for Business Follow Up Email Sample youve come to the proper spot. The Upside to Federal Resume Template 2017 Not only are you going to look bad, but it is going to haunt you down the line with other future prospective employers. Moreover, federal presentation resume format depends on specific job announcements. It resume format is not something completely different from the other resumes you have seen on the web. Knowing the distinction between a resume and curriculum vitae is a good deal more essential before you select a template. If you dont meet the requirements, you just wont be considered. You need to advertise yourself by developing a summary that includes your best accomplishments and most notable skills. The procedure for building your resume and applying online might take several hours. All About Federal Resume Template 2017 Accomplishments with a couple of details are typically not added into the resume and if theyre in the resume, they are combined with the fundamental duties and thus, the accomplishment is tricky to discover. So, your resume must be somewhat much perfect. So you only want a simple resume. Agai n, you wish to make sure that your resume is readable. Understanding Federal Resume Template 2017 There are two classes of font. Pay attention to the resume format you opted to pick, as you need to reveal your skills, depending on the format you chose to pick. The format has to be of a type at which you must excel in professionalism. When you format your resume you wish to be sure your leave enough margin space to permit for printing. A whole lot of federal resume templates do not own a normal format throughout. 1 thing which you have to do is make sure you arent personalizing the resume cover letter. Its vital that you personalize each resume cover letter to the work that youre applying.

5 Things We Love

5 Things We Love Its Brittany again, the Marketing Associate here at PowerToFly. Im excited to be bringing you a brand new batch of resources by women in tech. But, Ill spare you the random chit-chat. Lets get into it TodomDespite my best efforts, I really suck at keeping track of what needs to get done and whats already accomplished. I have notes, both physical and electronic, of things I plan to do, and its not the most efficient thing ever. Enter the todometer. Its an extension you install on your web browser that keeps track of all your tasks with a visual meter that represents all that youve finished, put on hold, and have yet to complete. Thanks to Cassidy Williams for coming up with this super handy tool. A task organizer? Another thing I can cross off my list. Amy codesAnyone who knows me knows I spend a good amount of my free time on YouTube. Theres so much to learn and see, and theres a place where everyone can feel like they belong. Thats why Im in love with Amy codes. Muc h like Kalina Edwards of our first post, shes here to offer support to others as she navigates the tech world. Everything from Navigating your first week on the job to Coding fundamentals. Shes an inspiration for tech newbies and veterans alike. Check out her channel and subscribe Does your company have a healthy workplace?Toxic work culture is real. In the age of startups and entrepreneurs, its easy to get caught up in how we can be most productive. But that productivity often time comes with a price. Im a huge fan of self-reflection and so I thought this blog was not only a great way to think about the workplaces we inhabit, but also the workplaces well be a part of in the future. These 5 questions provide a great foundation for assessing where you are and where you want to be. Hopefully youll find the tools to bridge the gap along the way.Broad MicThe first line of the description of this podcast reads How many times have you seen or listened to an entrepreneur profiled in the me dia as a white-male, hoodie-wearing, unicorn-hunting Stanford engineer?, so you know it has to be good. Broad Mic, Sara Weinheimers brainchild, highlights the best and brightest female entrepreneurs the world has to offer. The content of this podcast is great for both aspiring and seasoned female entrepreneurs. Plus, after listening everyone will know that female entrepreneurs are here and are doing some amazing work.MoodicaCalming and satisfying videos are all the rage on social media. Now, take all of those video and put them into an app and you have Moodica. From paint-mixing videos to popping a water balloon in slow motion, Moodica is great for taking a break. Maybe you need to look at something other than lines and lines of code or you just want to pretend youre on the beach because youre waiting for your next vacation. Regardless, theres a video for you on Moodica. I wont tell you how much time I spent on there, though. Did I miss something? Let me know via email hipowertofly. com or on twitter powertofly

Manufacturing Cars with Virtual Reality

Manufacturing Cars with Virtual Reality Manufacturing Cars with Virtual Reality Manufacturing Cars with Virtual RealityOculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear, Sony Playstation VR, Google Daydream View. What are the first two words you think of when you see those funky-looking headsets? First, virtual reality. Second, gaming.What was science fiction once is now a reality not only in gaming, but also in automotive manufacturing. Car manufacturers, such as General Motors and Ford, are increasingly using VR to test design plans, tolerances, and safety features in virtual environments to ensure their products are evaluated at a very early phase of the process, thereby reducing the time and costs.VR has enabled us to shorten the vehicle development process in many ways, says Joe Guzman, engineering group manager, Vehicle Assembly Structure and Virtual Reality Center at General Motors. It offers the ability to very early in the development process make decisions in an accurately represented ma nner in a life-like representation of the vehicle that in many years past would have required a physical property, he says.Gone are the days of clay, wood, or metal models. VR enables the designers and engineers to view the products in 11 ratio in a real setting. It can actually turn around realistic models onto one scale within a day where as if you were to build a physical prototype it would probably take up to a few weeks or months, says Joe Alef, a senior global visualization specialist at GM.The use of virtual technologies allows designers and engineers to see, assess, and modify a considerable number of variants. Image General MotorsInside the CAVEThe use of virtual technologies allows designers and engineers to see, assess, and modify a considerable number of variants. The virtual data is displayed on a monitor, a large projection screen, or Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) an immersive virtual reality environment where projectors are directed to multiple walls of a room-sized cube.The CAVE provides an environment where designers and engineers wear 3D glasses and become completely immersed in the computer-generated graphics of the exterior and interior of a vehicle. They can then evaluate mirrors, placement of controls, and design quality, such as gaps, fits, and finishes.The CAVE solution was developed by the University of Indiana in the late 1970s so it is not new, says Guzman, who has been using the technology since it was first installed at GM in the year 2000. It has, however, undergone a major upgrade in the last three years. GEs technical center in Michigan, Detroit, has two CAVEs and two more are under construction in Europe and China.What we have here is a four-walled CAVE, smaller than the design center. Theirs is eight feet and ours is a six-foot CAVE, explains Guzman. The design center utilizes the cave for aesthetic purposes while we do for engineering and manufacturing purposes, he explains.We have done a lot of global dimensioni ng and tolerance studies, visibility studies from the drivers perspective to detect any object variation between the wind shield and mirrors, reflection studies from inside rear-view mirrors and outside studies, says Alef.The CAVE provides an environment where engineers become virtually immersed. Image General MotorsIntegrating with planEvery program, vehicle, and platform utilizes VR at GM. According to Guzman, VR is being used by different groups on different days for decisions being made in the physical development process from the initiation of a program to a prototype. Its a validation of what they are seeing in the physical world translated correctly from what they had done in math on a computer model, he says.Safety is another parameter being evaluated using VR. We have taken CAE crash simulation data one of our demo math data for a vehicle that went into production last year. We took the crash data put it into 3D rendering using 3DExcite DeltaGen software. As you are develop ing these parts early on in the development process, you can optimize them for weight strength and how they react under crash conditions. Thats how we are making the vehicles safe, says Guzman.GM is not alone in the use of VR. Other automakers are using it for design, engineering, and manufacturing purposes. Ford, for example, also has a lab outfitted with VR technology to raise manufacturing quality.So what is its future outlook? Guzman believes the entire virtual world will become fully integrated into the design process, fostering increased collaboration between designers and engineers. The VR tools will have a place in a meeting room to collaborate much the same as it used to be when engineers and designers would meet around the car down at the shop. They are going to collaborate around these VR properties and it will be more integrated into the fabric of the design process. Every decision will be based on this. For Further Discussion The entire virtual world will become fully i ntegrated into the design process fostering increased collaboration between designers and engineers. Joe Guzman, engineering group manager, General Motors

Stop Job Loss from Stealing Your Confidence and Your Identity

Stop Job Loss from Stealing Your Confidence and Your IdentityStop Job Loss from Stealing Your Confidence and Your IdentityClinical psychologists and therapists provide insights on how elend to lose your identity when you lose your job.One big challenge a professional faces when hes lost his job is that hes also lost a big piece of his identity.Being out of work is a terrible feeling, said Elizabeth Friedman, PhD, a clinical psychologist in New York. We identify at least part of our self with what we do. Hopefully its not all of our self-definition, but it is a big part of it. So we lose our grounding, our footing, in certain ways. Who am I? Where am I going? What do I do tomorrow morning at 800? Do I get up? Do I stay in bed? Staying in bed is not the right answer, experts agree. In fact, sticking to a praxis and applying control when and where you can is key.Take one day to feel terrible, and then get moving, Friedman said. Its very important to keep basic routines. You cant suddenl y be up all night long watching Law and Order. Get up in the morning take a shower. If youre a guy, shave if youre a woman, do your hair. Send out a million e-mails, contact all of your friends.A sense of identity loss can affect a persons relationships and family dynamics, as well.When youve lost a job, you start to question your own identity, said Kevin Skinner, who has a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy and shares expert advice at MyExpertSolution.com. Sometimes if its an extended job loss, you begin to feel guilty, especially if its affecting your family, and maybe your wife has to go back to work. You start to feel like, Whats wrong with me? And its not about that.What it is about, said Skinner, is reaching out to others and focusing on realistic solutions.The best thing we can do in these times is get additional support, he said. You might have to turn to family for support. You might have to go live somewhere else - downgrade your home, downgrade your cars. The resilient people are going to say, Im going to find a solution - Im a person who finds solutions to problems.

Heres How To Negotiate Flexible Work Hours

Heres How To Negotiate Flexible Work HoursHeres How To Negotiate Flexible Work Hours These days, it almost seems, as having a flexible work schedule is common practice at most workplaces. The traditional nine-to-five, Monday-through-Friday schedule does not work for everyone anymora, and some companies accommodate for those who work better with a mora flexible schedule, such as one where you can work from home . For example, telecommutersthose who work from home have increased by 115% in the last decade, according to a new study . If other workers are able to have a flexible schedule or work from home , maybe you can do Whether your company offers the option to work from home or not, it never hurts to ask your boss for a more flexible schedule. But, before you do so, its best to go into a conversation like this prepared. Heres what to do.1. Read through your contract or the employee handbookWhen you were hired, you were likely given an employee handbook filled with the ins and outs of the companys rules. You might not have read through everything when you got the job, but if youre hoping to change up your work schedule, the first thing you should do is check the handbook, or your contract, and see if it says anything about flexible schedules or work from home options.Plus, doing so ahead of time and bringing it up later in your conversation with your boss shows that youve done your homeworkWhether your company policy says anything about flexible time or not, you should prepare a plan for the flexible schedule if you want to increase your chances of getting it approved. First, consider how you can balance your work and life and what schedule would make the most sense, both for you and your employer. Are there certain days of the week where you do physically need to be in your office for meetings or to do something for your job? What parts of your job could be done remotely? Do you have an office set up in your home or a specific plac e where you would be working so your employer would know where you are located when youd be working? The more you take the time to compartmentalize all of your work tasks, the better you can set up which days of the week you can get those tasks done, and which days you could be in the office or work from home. If you can show your boss that you have a set plan in place for what your schedule will look like, itll be easier for them to see your schedule from your perspective.3. Lay out the benefits for your employerNext, make a list of the ways in which your employer could benefit from you working from home or having a more flexible schedule. You dont want to make it seem that you are just trying to get a flexible schedule for your benefit you have to show your company how this will be good for them too.Perhaps you will be able to work the two hours you now spend commuting, suggests Human Resources expert Susan Heathfield. Less stress will make you a better employee. Knowing that y ou can drop the children at daycare and pick them up will make you less concerned about their welfare.The next step is to negotiate with your coach. If you are a valuable and trusted employee (meaning youre timely, hard-working and generally a team player) you should not have an issue discussing a flexible schedule with your supervisor. Your track record on your other projects and overall work ethic should be a good indication that you will be able to pull this off.You have a plan, youve thought through the benefits both for you and your employer, so now its time to sell your supervisor on the idea But, dont get your hopes up too high and dont feel discourage if they dont say yes or give a direct answer.According to Karen Dillion , co-author of How Will You Measure Your Life?, you should not expect an answer right away. Dont push for a yes or no right away, she says. Your manager needs time to think about the implications, or maybe get approval from HR. Give them the time and spa ce to do that. If you dont hear back from your boss, a good way to bring up the conversation again is to ask if you can try working a flexible schedule for a week so you and your supervisor can see how it could work. This could be a great opportunity for your supervisor to see how motivated you are to make the schedule workand how much it would mean to you for your work-life balance to be a little better.Even if your supervisor says no for now, dont take it as a total loss You can still convince them later on. If they say no, maybe they arent totally sold on the idea that you could get the work done remotely so before you ask again, spend time working on how you can show your boss how you can still maintain your strong work ethic even if youre not in the office as much. Goodluck