In addition to the most smart phrase about free internet resources like Gmail, free apps, Tweeter and Instagram etc., ““If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product“, I have one more idea to share today.
People, who are posting their travel destinations, flights and pictures and other things clearly showing that you are not at home and then wonder, why somebody broke into your house, are you kidding?!!!
Kind regards,
Russianladyabroad
PMP: If you still don’t get what a deadline is and that your clients sometimes want something from you, this is the time to get a professional certification.
Agile: If you want to pay us to understand that expectations of your clients change from time to time, deadlines may be moved and colleagues may not deliver on time, let’s get another certificate!
Scrum: If you work in IT, don’t like programming and want to become a Big Boss one day, here is an extra paper to give it a go!
Design Thinking: If you are not Picasso, we may at least teach you how to paint. The same way you will do innovations. Creativity through logics – for the most untalented.
CAE: If you still think that a good English is not a must have, you may spend some money on our certification!
If you know other expensive certificates, write your jokes in the comments 😉
Your Russianladyabroad
People should be worth more than machines. That’s, probably, why the expectations from what a person CAN jumped to a very different level in past 15 years. It’s not enough anymore to be able to use a computer – it’s essential. Your English should be very good if you want to see any positive changes in your career; your ability to overcome work overloads should be impressive; your intercultural understanding should be very progressive; your creativity should jump up to the sky even if you’re a logical type; you should speak at least 2 foreign languages fluently; you must be a good team player at any time.
I am currently helping a friend to become creative. Yes, I am not joking. He is a very talented Senior Manager in a famous consulting company, who works at least 10 hours a day (this is Germany, my dear, just 10 years ago people would count every 15 minutes of the extra workload!) and analyses every issue logically, going into the depth of it until he finds a solution. As I am something in-between hard logics and creativity, I went to look for information on how to open one’s creativity. Guys, there are COURSES and even CERTIFICATES on creativity out there! People with absolutely different talents are expected to cover all the important personal traits available! Logics for creative people, creativity for mathematicians, language courses for engineers..
HR departments tell us that they are looking at the “individual strengths” of the candidates. Yes, they do – in order to push us with the additional courses to opposite directions, which creates an “all inclusive” employee.
The truth is, we will never be there. We will work extra hours, visit all the “complementary” courses in order to shift from our real talents to universal soldiers who can just a little bit of everything, burn in the gym in the evening to correspond to the beauty standards and take Arabic courses on the weekend. This will not change a thing.
Relax, we will never be there. As a person, who can a little bit of everything and speaks several languages fluently, I confirm I rely on you THAT damn much. Because we need people, who are experts in their fields and know the subject into the depth. So, just gain yourself a day off, take a deep breath, get a cup of good green tea and remember: you are talented in what you ARE talented – don not try to be somebody else and everybody at the same time.
Sincerely yours,
Russianladyabroad
Cities are what people create – cities are what people inside are. Some cities, just like we all, take, some give, some offer you people in exchange for a small fee of experience. While Barcelona always GIVES, Frankfurt immediately takes away. Most people come here for work, but never make their home here – therefore, you meet this very special “office city” without any expectations.
I paid for this visit with my time – a month, which disappeared right before my eyes. It’s time to get back to work!
Coming soon, starting tomorrow:
etc.
Kindly yours,
Russianladyabroad
Every person who lives abroad sometimes has a question, if the life in the home country would be better, easier, and closer to your heart.
This might be a week or two when I am sick and tired and start looking for a one-way ticket to Russia. In order to support me, my mom sends me pictures, which became my very own “meanwhile in Russia” journal.
I was always very much impressed, how little Russians cared about the environment since 90s came into the play. However, that is one thing to leave the shit behind – and this is another thing to leave in the very shit you collect every day.
This is an example of mentality I could never understand.
Behind the car: “Vika, Happy Birthday”! and “Gulia, please forgive me!”
A very special sense of life’s humour.
Kindly yours,
Russianladyabroad
Today in Forbes Woman Russia, I read an article about the self-presentation of women in social networks. It was mostly about the fact that internet is tired of the Instagram and Facebook presenting ideal life of a businesswoman, who wake up with perfect hair and makeup and never look exhausted.
This is a very interesting idea, especially because I just coloured my hair blond so my colleagues and my BF would not see swelling around my eyes 😉
A good career, even and especially with a “work-life balance” requires a lot of personal investment. You will get much more tired, if you care to get more from your life. If after your day at work you will go to a sport studio or to a language course or even for a coffee with a friend, you will be more satisfied, but also more tired. Did you ever wonder about those pictures of coffee cups by the window, and why people do them in fancy cafes?)) Because, when you have that damn cup of coffee, you look like hell, be it before or after work.
This is essential that one cannot come to a presentation looking exhausted, but this does not mean that you should present myself as a person who never gets tired. Personally, after such fairs like IFAT, I am just tired from the social interaction, so the next 3 days there will be no meetings with clients, and I may come to the office wearing less to no makeup.
Another point I would like to mention are mothers, who want to demonstrate that a career with a child is possible. They come with their husbands moving a baby carriage with a 4-months child to give a presentation about their mother-friendly employer. Are you kidding me??? A mother-friendly employer will give a woman her peace for the first year, which is of an ultimate importance to her child. You may start your career and change it over and over again, but you will never be able to take back the first year with your child.
Today one can enjoy the benefits of home office and flexible working hours. Especially for pregnant ladies and women with children this is an opportunity to keep the career and still invest a lot of time into their families. In Germany, one can also choose to work 70% or 80% of the usual 40 working hours per week, which gives even more time for children. In many well-developed countries interested in increasing of the women in management rates, men can also get a part of the total time off to raise their child to support the mother. This looks like a world getting used to working women to me.
The appropriate integration of women into the working world does not mean that every woman should act like a man. This does not mean that she should step back from her life as a woman in order to demonstrate everybody the commitment to her career. This only means that she, with all her female problems and female looks, should be accepted and understood not less than men are.
Always yours,
Russianladyabroad
Today I have an interesting idea to share…Everything in life comes not in cycles, but in waves. Every wave is a bit higher than the previous one. Sometimes we can catch the wave, and sometimes we just get wet and can’t see it, but this does not change how things are working.
Some years ago, I had a difficulty to get an unpaid internship for my Diploma thesis in Russia. This is not in our culture to get somebody running around and disturbing other employers for free. Therefore, I got a small job as an interpreter and agreed with the employer that he will sign the Diploma thesis papers. We went to Munich for a large construction fair, he liked my translation work and asked to stay as a Financial Manager in his company. I denied and went abroad.
After 5 years, I was standing in the very same hall as a speaker talking about complex project structures and high-level IT issues. This is the same spot, just a much higher wave.
This life will give you a change to return and look back – not for a revenge, but for a moment to spend thinking, how much you have done. Do not waste this moment – it is there for you to plan the future, not to regret or to judge your past.
Always yours,
Russianladyabroad
