Mind Soup

When looking for a job online, most people tend to go directly to Linkedin.com and create a profile while disregarding their existing social networks. What they don’t realize is that most employers search for potential employees on personal social networks before professional ones. I am going to discuss a few measures that you should undertake to survive an unexpected stalking from a potential employer. Firstly, your email address should be professional. Try to create a professional email address using your first name and last name, or first initial and last name. Email addresses like sexybeast69@aol.com or puppy_loveXOXO@msn.com will deter an employer from considering your resume. In addition, your email provider says a lot about you. If you are using AOL for example, you would give off an internet newbie vibe: "Hi. I'm from 1996. What is this internet that you speak of?“. If you use Hotmail, you are perceived as an amateur or a teenager: “Hi, I’m 16. Would you like...

A while back I was asked to give a couple of lectures at the American University of Beirut for the Strategic Career Planning course on how to use the internet and social media to find a job or present oneself professionally. It seems that not many people are aware about the potential that social media holds in recruitment and job search. Many students and job seekers have found this presentation useful from the number of comments and messages that I received so I decided to share it here in hopes that it can reach more people. This presentation starts off as general tips that can apply to everyone in the world, but the job recruitment websites are resources are mostly tailored to Lebanon and the Middle East. If you have any questions or if you'd like me to check your professional online presence, feel free to drop me an email: moudz [at] mindsoupblog [dot] com. Good luck on your job search! Finding a job online in 10 simple steps from Mohammad Hijazi

When you hear “Lebanon” and “government” in the same sentence, what comes to mind first? Sectarianism, money wasting, no electricity, no water, no jobs, bad internet, expensive living, taxes, wasta? The list goes on and on… Lebanon does not only have a beautiful landscape, it’s not only a touristic destination, it’s not only a clubbing hub, but it is also rich in resources that can help the Lebanese stand on their own feet. Lebanese are proud of that and are ready to fight for Lebanon, that’s the only thing they all agree on. But are we fighting for the right reasons? Do we participate in protests and political gatherings to improve our current state of living or just because our leaders tell us to? A couple of years back, Israel tried to claim the traditional Lebanese Hommos (Chickpeas) dish with tahini as their own. The whole Lebanese community from different sects and religions stood together and defended the Lebanese-born dish by breaking the Guinness Book of records for th...

photo source   Today, the Lebanese Parliament endorsed a law that bans smoking in public or closed spaces. After years of debate on whether this law should be implemented, it has finally become a reality. Non-smokers have been overjoyed today with the news filling up the social timelines with their expressions of approval. The law also bans any sort of tobacco advertising and promotions and considers them as an illegal act. These include all sorts of advertising media such as billboards, magazine ads, and TV commercials. The law also prevents any tobacco companies from sponsoring events and concerts. In addition to that, all tobacco packs should now depict a pictorial warning of the dangers of smoking that should cover at least 40% of the package. Fines will be imposed on citizens who are caught smoking in public or individuals who violate the smoking ban. Hotels, however, will be able to assign 10-20% of their rooms to smokers. Companies will b...

MIND SOUP : After more than one year of renovations, AUB's main cafeteria (the one in Ada Dodge Hall) had its "grande" opening last Thursday (October 14). During the last three working days, students have been flooding into the cafeteria, more disappointed than satisfied. Below is a detailed pros/cons description of the situation. AUB-Themed  Wallpaper © Mind Soup What we like: Definitely the design and the wallpaper which captures the AUB spirit and successfully integrates itself in the AUB campus. The division of food sections is a good idea, students can get pasta, daily dishes, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, manakeesh, and drinks from different places, but this also a negative aspect (scattered lines of waiting people, crowding) The colors. I personally like the black, red and white retro thing that's going on. The modern furniture which is a well-deserved upgrade from the bus cafeteria that we had for the last year. Students have a ne...

YAHOO : If you want to avoid the worst-paying college degrees, think twice before choosing a college major that involves children. Included among the 20 worst-paying college degrees are elementary education, special education, social work and child and family studies. That's the conclusion of the latest annual study of college degrees by Payscale, Inc. that compiled starting and mid-career pay for dozens of college majors. Child and family studies earned the honors as the worst-paying college major. The average graduate earns a beginning salary of $29,500. What's equally discouraging is that the salary of someone in this field will barely budge after 15 years in the profession. Food is another common theme for students who major in the worst-paying college degrees. Students who earn degrees in horticulture, dietetics and the culinary arts are more likely to end up struggling financially. College Degree Starting Pay Mid-Career Pay 1. Child and Family Studies $29,500 $...

SWNS :  Petrol-head Gurcharn Sahota charges a staggering £7,200 for Britain ’s most expensive car wash which he does – from his PARENTS’ GARAGE. Car-nut Gurcharn, 30, has a string of celebrity clients and takes up to 250 HOURS to clean each motor. He has cleaned hundreds of dream machines including a Lamborghini Gallardo (pictured), Bugatti Veyron and an orange McLaren F1 GTR worth £5 million. Since he started the business five years ago he has travelled the world with his hi-tech kit which includes a microscope, 100 cleaning fluids and £8,200 car wax. Gurcharn charges customers up to £7,200 for a wash which includes polishing and buffing every inch of the car inside and out – FIVE times. He even uses a computerised microscope – normally used by forensic scientists – to examine the body work for the minutest scratch not even visible to the naked eye. Gurcharn, who drives an iconic MK1 Volkswagen Golf GTi, started his passion for cleaning by washing his neighbours’ cars...

Below is an opinion piece written by a good friend of mine, Doaa, who is Sudanese. She talks about the problem of racism in Lebanon, and how the Sudanese are treated. MIND SOUP : Recently, a group of Sudanese living in Lebanon - legally or illegally - held a fundraising event in one of the areas in Beirut in order to raise money for two Sudanese cancer patients who are in dire need for the money. Unfortunately, the gathering was busted by the Amn El-3am or police and the Sudanese were accused of various things. The highlight of this story is not what they where doing or where they were but rather it was the way they were treated by the police. They were verbally and physically assaulted not to mention humiliated and belittled. I am a Sudanese living and studying in Lebanon; I am fortunate to be studying at AUB as it shields me from a lot of the aggression and even racist remarks I sometime get walking down the streets in various neighborhoods in Beirut. I get surprised looks wh...

MIND SOUP : A couple of days ago, the news of Octavia Nasr being fired from CNN envaded the Lebanese and Middle Eastern media. It may has come as a shock to the society, yet this denial of free speech has been demonstrated very widely across various prestigious institutions in the region and world-wide. To re-cap, Nasr who held the position of senior Middle East editor at CNN was laid off earlier this week after 20 years of work because she praised the late Hezbollah Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah on twitter. "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot," she posted Sunday morning. This tweet was immediately picked up by Israeli supporters and Nasr was criticized and attacked for sympathizing with Fadlallah. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in the US demanded that Nasr "apologize to all victims of Hezbollah terrorism whose loved ones don't share her sadness over the passing of one of Hezbol...

Today in Operations Management class, the professor showed us a video called "The Hidden Face of Globalization". This video shows how humans are abused in developing countries by western corporations to do all the labor is sweat-shop conditions, violence and being paid less 3-5 dollars per week. Off course, in class we were focusing on the business concept of sweat-shops, the efficiency, the processes, the decisions, etc.. but we did not focus on the ethical perspective. I thought it would be very interesting to share this video with my readers to make them aware of what goes on in the world. This should make you think twice before buying a standardized product from your favorite brand company. [If you are viewing this post via Google Buzz,  click here  to see the video]

مع إقفال محل أبو ناجي، بداية جديدة «كش... ملك». هذه هي قواعد اللعبة في شارع بلس الذي لا يملّ من تغيير معالمه. إلا أن للتغيير ضريبة تظلّ باهظة على «السكان القدامى»، رغم اعترافهم بأنه «سنّة الحياة»، كما يقول أبو ناجي، مدير أقدم سوبرماركت في الشارع. على عكس الكثير من جيرانه الذين رُحّلوا، هو لن يذهب بعيداً، فقد هُجّر فقط لمسافة بضعة أمتار، كانت كافية لإشعاره بالغربة رنا حايك  «انتقل محل أبو ناجي». تصوّر طالبة من الجامعة الأميركية اللافتة المعلقة على محلّ مختوم بالشمع الأحمر وبأختام رسمية: «لا يجوز فضّها تحت طائلة الملاحقة الجزائية»، لترسلها إلى متخرّجين يعيشون في الخارج. فلكلّ من طلاب الأميركية ذكرياته مع هذه البقعة الصغيرة من الشارع التي تشكّل الطبقة السفلية من مبنى سيهدَم قريباً، كما شرح كيو الشامي، من مكتب مالك العقار، رجل الأعمال، تحسين خياط. «كان الإيجار قديماً، حاولنا رفعه منذ سنوات حين اشترينا المبنى لكن المستأجر رفض، فرفعنا دعوى، وحكمت المحكمة لمصلحتنا. أخيراً، قرّرنا هدمه لأننا نملك عقارات أخرى وراءه تشكّل مساحة شاسعة إذا ما جمعت معه. هكذا، نستطيع خلال السنة المقبلة بناء مج...