Mind Soup

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

source I was in TSC Signature (Beirut Souks) this week. If you don't know already, I'm a tea addict and I like to go to that branch because they have different types of tea not available anywhere else. In the tea section, there was a whole column for premium Lipton tea (not the regular yellow box ones). All of the Lipton premium teas were at priced 6490LL so I decided to buy the Vanilla Caramel Truffle one (among other things). I made sure that the price is correct and that the shelf label is correct and that it matched the item that I bought. I paid at the cashier and just before leaving I checked the receipt and saw that I was charged more for that item (7990LL to be exact, that's $1.00 more). I went back to check with the manager and told him that the pricing is not right. He went to the stand to check the label. After acting puzzled and confused, he tells me that this label is for a different product. Does he really think I'm that stupid? I gave him a mea...

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...

I was recently contacted by Tomooh to spread awareness about a scholarship that has been going unnoticed. PepsiCo has an ongoing scholarship program since the past 6 years called Tomooh. It is a scholarship program funding the education of those with high academic performance. It gives partial scholarships starting $500 up to $5,000 depending solely on the academic performance and financial needs of the applicants. Only 500 students are applying each year and more than 200 are getting scholarships; they believe that much more deserving students would apply if they were aware and informed about the scholarships which have become close to 300 this year. For the past two years, the program has been dedicating 10% of its funds for students with special needs. Hopefully this year even more students will benefit. The program is active in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, and have given partial scholarships to more than a 1000 students in Lebanon so far, it's their 6th year and deadline f...

What I donated on Cityville As you might know A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean nearby Northeastern Japan at around 2:46pm on March 11 (JST) causing damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami [ google ]. And I'm sure a lot of you would like to help, no matter how small the contribution. Here's a way that I found that you can donate to Japan through social games (and for free). Zynga is a social network game developer located in San Francisco, California, United States. The company develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. [ wikipedia ] They are now offering 100% price donations when you buy premium items that are designed for this purpose. And yes, I am saying "buy", but in fact you won't be spending a dime (well real ones anyway). Zynga's "Save the Children" Campaign If you are like me, you would have probably played...

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...

TELEGRAPH : Mark Boyle, 31, gave up using money in November 2008. He lives in a caravan that he got from Freecycle ( uk.freecycle.org ), which is parked at an organic farm near Bristol, where Boyle volunteers three days a week. He grows his own food, has a wood-burning stove and produces electricity from a solar panel (it cost £360 before the experiment started). He has a mobile phone for incoming calls only and a solar-powered laptop. Boyle, who has been vegan for six years, set up the Freeconomy in 2007 ( justfortheloveofit.org ), an online network that encourages people to share skills or possessions and now has 17,000 members. The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living (Oneworld Publications, £10.99) is out now. Mark Boyle gave up using cash over a year ago and loves his new lifestyle. "It all started in a pub. My friend and I were talking about all the problems in the world, such as sweatshops, environmental destruction, factory farms, animal testing, wars over reso...

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...

GUARDIAN : A French property tycoon enraged at his government's plans to ban women from wearing the full veil in public has promised a fund of €1 million ($1.4 million) to help any Muslim who is fined for wearing the niqab in the street. Rachid Nekkaz, a businessman of Algerian origin who ran a short-lived campaign in the 2007 presidential elections, has already put €200,000 into a bank account aimed at bailing out women who fall foul of the new law. He said the ban, which was approved by the lower house of parliament on Tuesday and goes to the Senate in September, is ''anti-constitutional'' and could put France on a slippery slope towards greater intolerance. While he has no problem with an idea mooted by MPs of banning the full veil in state areas such as town halls and post offices, he is vehemently against a law that applies to women simply walking down the street. ''I am very, very sensitive to when people start playing around with instituti...

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you." What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well. So it is with...

Update: May 26, 2010 Dear AUB Community, With the announcement issued recently by AUB regarding the delayed implementation of the new tuition policy, I wish to address some remarks to all who hold this University dear. Universities exist in part to champion the exercise of free speech and to empower the members of our community to use it. But the right to express one’s opinion requires judgment and consideration: free speech does not equate to free license. Last week the limits of tolerance and respect were violated in numerous ways. I wish to salute those at AUB who upheld the best traditions of the University during three turbulent days: professors who endeavored to keep their classrooms open, though frequently subject to brute intimidation; students who exercised their freedom to get an education, though several were physically dragged out of class; staff members who crossed blockade lines in front of College Hall and other buildings, in the face of the crudest physical a...

Most of you might have heard about the tuition increase protest that will be occurring in AUB on Wednesday. Here's a small briefing: The AUB Administration has announced last week that it will be abandoning the current 12-credit tuition system (whereby students pay only for 12 credits, and can get up to 17 credits for free) to a 15-credit tuition system without reducing the credit price. This will lead to a 25% increase for new enrolling students (around $3000 to $4000 per year). Anyway, the student governance at AUB in coordination with various clubs and societies are protesting starting Wednesday and calling for students to boycott their classes. A huge number of students (around 2000) will be blocking AUB's main entrances, buildings and pathways for some time. It is still not clear how long this protest will last, but I was informed that they are planning to stay longer than 5:00 PM. During this time, security at AUB will be greatly heighte...