The Premise / Goal / Timing of This Weekly Feature
Premise. If you like the content in this blog, you may like the type of content I regularly read and study on the Web.
Goal. On a weekly basis, I'm going to publish links to three (3) articles I find interesting. I'll include a brief summary with some bullet points explaining why I think the content is worth consuming.
Timing. I'll publish this content every Wednesday / Thursday. Okay, I didn't exactly hold up my end of the deal last week and this week. 🙂
The Three Articles I Evernoted
1. Reid Hoffman: The Network Philosopher (Wired Magazine): This is the best article I've read providing an in-depth biography of LinkedIn's current chairman, its co-founder, and now venture capitalist at Greylock.
- During the time of these interviews, he still drove the same 10-year old car (a green Acura) and lives in a modest four-bedroom Palo Alto home
- His closest friends worry he does too much to help others (and neglects taking care of himself)
- He doesn't think Google+ and its "Circles" is a substantial innovation versus Facebook
- Regarding Google's attempts at social: "The dynamics around social, I don't think they have the full tool set yet."
2. Why the Job Search is Like Throwing Paper Airplanes Into the Galaxy (Knowledge @ Wharton): This article highlights why today's job search can be so frustrating for applicants.
- The "spray and pray" approach of sending resumes online is not an effective time investment
- "Applicant tracking software makes it almost impossible for [a job candidate] to stand out, at least at the initial screening step."
- Recruiters say gaining an internal referral is a game changer. When recruiters see an application comes with an employee referral "that person goes straight to the top."
3. Lessons I Learned Reading Over 200 Books (Julien Smith's In Over Your Head Blog): I love reading. And, I envy the reading comprehnsion abilities of talented folks like Julien Smith. For the past five (5) years, Julien made it a personal project to read a book every week. And, he continues that personal development excercise yearly.
Here's what I love about this list:
- Julien cleverly summarizes his takeaways in Twitter-like fashion: 140 characters or less
- The list's breadth and depth says a lot about his intellectual curiosity
- He publicly shared this knowledge / content to help others
- Knowledge from books still ROCKS in an Internet Age of ubiquitous content (i.e., blogs, YouTube, and tweets, etc.)
Your Feedback Please!
I'd like to experiment with this type of post for the next two to three months. Let me know what you think (especially if this idea sucks):
- How can I improve the value of these weekly posts?
- Is my initial timing choice for publication okay with you (e.g., middle of the week versus the end of it)? If not, please tell me.
- What content are you reading? Please share your links with our community in the comments section!