How to Give an Honest Back-Channel Reference - The Muse

How to Give an Honest Back-Channel Reference - The MuseHow to Give an Honest Back-Channel Reference Its a small, small world in professional circles. That can be great for you as you prove yourself and work your way up. It can also turn your work life into a horror movie sequel as the villain, Toxic Boss or Colleague Who Makes You Pick Up All the Slack, strikes again. But the bottom line is that youre likely to encounter some people more than once throughout your career- whether theyre your former office buddy you cant wait to be cubicle neighbors with again, the worst boss youve ever had, or that really nice colleague who just couldnt get their act together. And some of these people might apply for a job at your current company. Or they might apply elsewhere and a friend, recruiter, or hiring manager doing their research might reach out to ask for a back-channel reference. So, what do you do? What to DoIf it Was a Toxic Personality ThingIf a former co-worker you didnt love is applyi ng to a job at your current company, the first thing to ask yourself is whether youd feel comfortable working with this partie again, says Muse Career Coach Yolanda Owens. If it was a toxic boss or a cruel colleague and the answers something along the lines of under no circumstances or that would be my worst nightmare? Then Owens says sing like Patti LaBelle. A toxic person could completely change cultural dynamic, she explains. I think I would feel kind of a moral responsibility and self-care responsibility to say something about that, she adds, whether or not someone explicitly asked for your feedback. Be honest, but professional. The safest bet is to approach the recruiter, if your company has one, she says. But if youve been at the company for a while, established a solid reputation, and built a strong relationship with the hiring manager, you might consider approaching them directly. If you have to be the whistleblower, Muse Career Coach Leto Papadopoulos says, the most profess ional and helpful way to relay such feedback is to give actual examples. Owens agrees, emphasizing that you should be strategic about your examples. If you talk about how this persons behavior affected not only you, but also other colleagues, its less likely to come off as a personal vendetta. And if you are asked directly by someone at your own company or elsewhere, definitely dont lie and say that persons great, Papadopoulos says. Because if they come in and behave terribly, in the end I will look bad, and its going to hurt my current company or that of the friend asking. Try Phrases LikeI understand youre interviewing person. I know you didnt explicitly ask for my feedback. But I do feel its important to give a little feedback from my experience with that person for their candidacy. These are some behaviors/patterns/red flags I noticed that I think you should be aware of Person may not be a good fit for this organization.I have to tell you, I know this person, I know their work. Heres what happened Im afraid they might not be the right fit.I would be very disappointed if this ended up happening here. This is great place to work.What to DoIf it Was a Performance IssueIts not just huge jerks that might give you pause. You mightve worked with someone who was super nice, funny, or pleasant to be around, but they just never met their deadlines or always turned in sloppy work or made tons of mistakes. If the issue was related to performance, Papadopoulos and Owens say the situation is less dire. Remember that people can grow and improve, especially if its been years since you last worked with them. You probably dont need to volunteer information about past performance issues. But if someone asks you explicitly, especially within your own company or a close friend, it might be worth saying something, Papadopoulos says. But be as soft as possible. Give the person an opportunity.Try Phrases LikeI did work with this person before. There were some performance issues b ut its completely possible that theyve worked on it. Heres what was going on when I worked with themThis was a great person. However, I did notice a few patterns with this individual in terms ofI dont want you to just base it on my word but might suggest adding questions that would address this kind of issue for this candidate and future candidates.What to DoNo Matter WhatBe ProfessionalNo matter how horrible an experience you had with a former co-worker, remember that how you talk about them and how you articulate your feedback reflects on you. You dont want to become known as the tattletale or the gossiper, or be seen as immature or unprofessional. And remember that its not about getting retribution or vengeance, Owens says. The important thing is, again, making aya the person is making an informed decision.Take Time to Prepare Your FeedbackFirst and foremost, I wouldnt answer the question immediately, Owens says. If someone reaches out to you, acknowledge that you received their request and let them know youll get back to them in a day or two. Take some time to get over any initial impulse or emotional reaction you might have and prepare a thoughtful answer. Ask Yourself How Much You Know and Trust the Person Youre Talking ToThe difficult truth is that if the co-worker in question is someone whos both very awful and very powerful, and word gets back to them, it might hurt you. Or if your feedback is otherwise repeated in a less professional way or without context, it could affect your own reputation. I would hope if it was my own workplace, they wouldnt throw me under bus for it, Papadopoulos says. The same goes for a close friend working at another organization. But it gets trickier when you dont know the person asking well, or at all. Before you say anything, ask yourself how much you trust them. You can always opt to say very little, such as, This isnt someone I could recommend, and leave it at that. You might also decide to decline to speak about your f ormer co-worker entirely. Id be really wary of sharing that kind of detail with someone dont know or trust, Owens says, because you cant be sure they wont use your name later. In that case, you can just say, I wouldnt be comfortable speaking about that person but I appreciate you reaching out.Plan to Speak in Person, or at Least on the Phone, and Off the RecordEven if youve decided you trust someone enough to give some honest feedback, both Papadopoulos and Owens caution against putting anything in writing. In other words, dont do this over email. The best approach would be to have a conversation in person. Ask the recruiter or hiring manager if you can schedule 15 minutes to sit down one on one. Or, if youre not in the same office, set up a phone call. Owens also suggests explicitly saying you want the information youre sharing to stay just between you. You can tell them, Im happy to share as long as this is completely off the record.No one wants to face a revival of their worst wo rkplace experience (with original cast members). And no one wants to hire someone who will end up bringing down the morale of a team or company. So it can be crucial to both sides that you reisepass on some honest feedback about people youve worked with in the past. Youve just got to be careful how you do it. So read this, rehearse, and take a deep breath before you do.

Sustainable Manufacturing Interview with Nancy Diaz

Sustainable Manufacturing Interview with Nancy Diaz Sustainable Manufacturing Interview with Nancy Diaz Sustainable Manufacturing Interview with Nancy DiazBy Katie McKinstry, Graduate Student Researcher, University of California at BerkeleyAt the University of California at Berkeley, we are studying sustainable manufacturing at many levels. We consider sustainability at the enterprise level, to the factory scale, all the way down to a specific process. In an bewerberinterview with PhD student Nancy Diaz at the University of California at Berkeley, she talks about her experience researching factories that specialize in machining.Tell us about the evolution of your sustainable manufacturing research? When I first abfluged, I worked on the process level. I was interested in machining, production equipment, and how we can make them mora sustainable. I found that one element had bedrngnis been considered energy. There was a lot of effort put into characterizing process, but not the equipm ent as a whole. As I was working on this, I saw that they did not work independently. I found that timing is a big piece of the puzzle, which is why I expanded my scope to include the factory level. It is within process planning where we can have the biggest impact on energy, and process planning includes machine tool scheduling.What can manufacturers do to address their energy use and environmental impact?I am looking at energy from the perspective of a manufacturing facility, and not a product designer. But interestingly, many of the decisions that affect energy, like how the product has to be made, are determined upfront by the designer. There may be common steps, such as making a metal piece. There are many different types of equipment that can perform that operation and provide the same function but differ in terms of environmental impact.One can look at factory scheduling, such as turning production on and off, or deciding where products get routed. Production facilities can b e organized by processes or by product line. Scheduling is particularly interesting in factories that have multiple machining centers. Before, process planners did not take into account energy consumption of machine tools. This field has just developed within the past few years. Now we know we can rank the environmental impact of machine equipment and turn off some of the worst performers some of the time. Looking at equipment, many times, factories will have a broader plant perspective, and may already be measuring overall energy and resource consumption. But they do not know, within the factory walls, which machine is consuming what. So it can help to characterize different parts of the facilities. You can measure in real time, with watt meters, for example, and get real time data, energy in particular.What are some low-hanging fruit opportunities for manufacturers to reduce their energy and environmental footprint? It depends on the customer. Machine tool manufacturers want to kn ow how products they are making function, which can highlight areas to save resources. Also the degree to which a manufacturer is ready to implement improvements affects their options. If they are not already taking measurements then that would be the first place to start.For small to medium manufacturing companies, some quick and easy things to begin with include recycling chips from machining and, coolant recycling, either onsite or offsite. This can lead to a substantial savings because you will save on the cost of disposing hazardous waste. That is actually a really easy one, and a lot of manufacturers dont realize how easy it is.You do not necessarily have to upgrade to the newest and greatest piece of equipment. You can use more sophisticated tools, such as coated tools or different materials that allow you to implement high speed machining. This can save on processing time as well as, save money on overtime. Also, I recommend having a good relationship with your cutting tool supplier, as they can have great advice on cutting tool paths. Companies like Sandvik and Kennemetal have great customer support to help reduce tool path. Unfortunately, a lot of people just use default settings, however, you can realize significant long-term cost savings by investing in better, and sometimes more expensive, tools up front while setting up efficient tool paths.Describe a case study of improvements you have made in the factory? A while ago I was working with at a factory of a major machine tool manufacturer. At first, they thought they were out of solutions for making lighting more efficient. But in my study, I expanded the scope of where they looked for lighting solutions. We found a quick fix that resulted in a 50% saving in lighting energy consumption. Also, compressed air presents another opportunity for savings. Companies may be overwhelmed by size of compressed air piping, but they should know that areas like maintenance are important. 30% can be lost if compre ssed air is not properly maintained, so a device to detect leakage will pay for itself instantly.There are resources that manufacturers can take advantage of when looking to make improvements the Department of Energy and the Energy Information Administration have excellent information. Their websites are great place to start in determining how you can improve your manufacturing site and also familiarizing yourself with life cycle assessment.Within process planning, the biggest impact was machine tool scheduling. How did you decide that? I looked at it from the perspective of a manufacturing facility and not a product designer. Product designers can dictate what type of features to have on its product and the material extraction piece is something that is also significant. But since that is dictated by the product designer, a manufacturing facility has the job of figuring out how to actually make it.So, for example, making a metal part, maybe it will involve something like casting th e initial workpiece, milling or turning, heat treatment, possibly grinding as a finishing process. Those are just basic steps to manufacturing a metal piece. And, because there are so many different types of pieces of production equipment, milling in particular, for example, they all provide these same functions, but in terms of their environmental impact, they are all very different. As a facility, you can at least choose to schedule your machine tools accordingly. Scheduling would involve turning on and off machine tools. Now, a manufacturing facility will probably have only one piece of equipment that allows for casting, but a lot of machine tools on their floor.Learn more about advanced manufacturing concepts at the 2013 ASME Congress featuring the latest cutting-edge engineering research and innovation.

These are worlds most expensive cities

These are worlds most expensive citiesThese are worlds most expensive citiesIn the pilot episode of Girls, Lena Dunhams character Hannah, after quitting herbei unpaid internship, estimates that shecan only last in New York City for Three and a half more days. Maybe seven if I dont eat lunch. Hannah encompassed the plight of many 20-somethings in New York who come to pursue their dreams, but realize that is quite hard to do when you are living in an expensive city.However, it turns out Hannahs counterparts in other cities in the world may have actually only lasted for two days sans lunch asthe Economist Intelligence Units (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living 2018 survey was just released and New York didnt even make the Top 10. In fact, no North American cities made it. So where are the worlds most expensive cities?Asia and Europe are all about the $$SingaporeParis, FranceZrich, SwitzerlandHong Kong, SAR, ChinaOslo, NorwayGeneva, SwitzerlandSeoul, South KoreaCopenhagen, DenmarkTel Aviv, Isr aelSydney, AustraliaThe Economist came up with the rankings by comparing the prices of 150 basic commodities including bread, wine, gasoline, etc., bottle of wine, pack of 20 cigarettes, l of gasoline, etc., For the fifth year in a row, Singapore landed on top as prices are 16% higher than in New York, which was a benchmark city in the study.Many Asian cities, including Hong Kong and Seoul, are seeing the cost ofliving surge as these cities expand at fast rates and items like basic groceries see inflated prices. Car ownership is also extremely expensive in Singapore but the cost of domestic help and household items are actually relatively reasonable there.Paris moved from spot No. 7 to No. 2 with only the price of alcohol and transportation being somewhat reasonable when compared to other cities in Europe.New York and ab dafr Angeles took 13th and 14th place respectively, which is a drop from last year. Tel Aviv was the only Middle Eastern city to make the cut, coming in at ninth.Ne w York and Los Angeles FTWBut if you were thinking New York and L.A. werent expensive, think again. The report also ranked the most expensive cities in North America and New York and L.A. took the top spots (domestic help and utilities continue to keep these cities quite expensive), followed by Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. out of 16 cities in total. Atlanta was found to be the cheapest.New York, NYLos Angeles, CAMinneapolis, MNSan Francisco, CAWashington, D.C.Chicago, ILVancouver, CAHouston, TXSeattle, WAPittsburgh, PASomething to consider if you are looking to relocate,work abroad or just take a vacation.

How to Set and Achieve Goals

How to tischplatzdeckchen and Achieve GoalsHow to Set and Achieve GoalsGoals are objectives, targets, purposes, intentions, and plans that you intend to achieve. They can be personal or support the objectives of your work organization. Whether your goal isa promotion at work, a streamlined work process, a new customer, a published article, an exercise program, or weight loss, the goal must be your goal. You are less likely to achieve your managers goal, your spouses goal, or the goal you think you ought to work on this year. Set Goals Based on Values Hyrum Smith, the founder of Franklin Quest, later Franklin-Covey Inc., developed a Success Triangle that puts governing values at the base of the goal-setting process and recommends linking every goal to a governing value. For example, if diversity in the workforce is a value your organization espouses, then at least one goal must further diversity. Every goal should be linked to a governing value. Establish short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals based onthe solid foundation of your values. If your goal is congruent with and allows you to live your most important values, you are more likely to accomplish the goal. Gene Donohue of TopAchievement.com suggests setting goals in all aspects of your life to maintain yourlife balance. You are less likely to experiencewarringpriorities if every aspect of your life has a value-based goal. He suggests setting goals in the following areas Family and homeFinancial and careerSpiritual and ethicalPhysical and healthSocial and culturalMental and educational Listen to Your Positive Voice Each of us has the voice of our subconscious, judging self in our heads. On a daily basis, you engage in self-talk and comment on each situation you encounter. You discuss events and plans in your mind. Your commentary is both positive and negative. Positive thoughts and planning support the accomplishment of your goals. Negative thoughts and comments undermine your self-esteem and self -confidence and negatively impact your ability to accomplish your goals. Listen to your voice. You can change its tone by believing in yourself and in your ability to accomplish your goals and resolutions. If you are a manager, one of your more important tasks is to support the development of positive self-esteem by your staff members. Your positive outlook and belief in their success at accomplishing great goalsfostertheir increased self-esteem and self-confidence. This, in turn, magnifies their ability to accomplish more and contribute more to your business. Paint a Vivid Outcome Traditionally, goals were established around measurable outcomes. But dont tie yourself to setting only measurable goals you may find yourself concentrating on the trivial because it is measurable rather than on your most important outcomes. Sometimes the most important goals- the nonurgent, critical goals- are hard to measure. Explore alternatives for a businessinthe World Wide Web is tough to measur e, whereas the steps are easy to measure. Learn about new options and think aboutperformance management is tough to measure in any significant way. As you move up the management ranks, the key measurable aspects of your job will likely be the results produced by your reporting staff. With hard-to-meausure goals, departure with a picture in your mind that describes the outcome you are seeking. Make the picture as vivid as you can. Write Your Goals Writing out your goal is your commitment to achieving the goal. Its a powerful statement compared with half-formulated thoughts in the back of your mind. It is the conscious promise to yourself to pay attention to the accomplishment of the goal. Writing out potential action plans and due datesmakethe goal even more powerful. Share Your Goals With People Who Are Important to You If you are certain your significant others will support your goals, share them. Your manager is likely to support your accomplishment since your success is h er success. Honestlyassess the ability of your family members, peers, and friends to provide support. In close relationships, many different feelings, experiences, and historical events are at play. If you dont believe you will have wholehearted support, keep the goals to yourself. Check Goal Setting and Achievement Progress Regularly One of the weaknesses of any annual appraisal systemis the lack of frequency of progress and success measurement and tracking. You are most likely to accomplish the goals you set if you review them daily as part of your normal planning process. Whether you use a paper planner, a smartphone, or a computer, enter your goals and schedule daily and weekly actions that support their accomplishment. The discipline of the daily review is a powerful goal accomplishment tool. Take Action to Identify and Eliminate Obstacles to Goal Setting Success Simply tracking your goals daily is not enough. If youre unhappy with your progress, assess what is keeping you from accomplishing the goals. Ask yourself questions such as, Is this goal really important? Perhaps reevaluate the goal. Are there specific obstacles you are experiencing which are interfering with your ability to accomplish the goal? In this case, makeaction plansto remove the obstacles or seek help from a coworker, friend, or family member. If you are not making progress on a particular goal, attempt to do a root-cause analysis to determine why. Only by honestly analyzing your lack of progress can you determine the steps to take to change. Reward Yourself and Celebrate Goal Accomplishment Even the accomplishment of a minor goal is cause for celebration. Dont depress yourself with thoughts about all that you still have to do. Celebrate what you have done. Then move on to the next milestone. Goals and New Year Resolutions Change Periodically look at the goals you have set. Are the goals still the right goals? Give yourself permission to change your goals and resolutions based on changing circumstances. Dont spend an entire year failing to achieve a particular goal. Your time is better spent on achievement than on beating yourself up for lack of progress. Maybe you made the goal too big or maybe you set too many goals. Do an honest assessment, change what needs to change, and move on. Paying attention to these guidelines can make all the difference in your life and help power your success.

Undoing the wicked toll of comparing yourself to others

Undoing the wicked toll of comparing yourself to otzu sichsUndoing the wicked toll of comparing yourself to othersRecently I listened to a client who is struggling in her marriage discuss how difficult it is to watch other happily married couples. I understand the feeling. I spent a lot of time in my first marriage wishing I had what others had and comparing myself to them as well as enabling bad behavior by making excuses for him. Then my third child welches born with a developmental disability and I used to sit at playgrounds comparing her to them while somewhat insensitively pushing her and her therapists like machines because I became so outcome focused.What I realized is that when we compare our lives to others and grasp at what isnt ours, we lose sight of all the good things we do have and this strips our fulfillment. This less than focus keeps us from letting go of what boundary maven Dr. Henry Cloud calls necessary endings to allow for things to bloom in our lives. A healthy rose bush needs to be pruned for new buds to grow. If not, scraggly stems shoot out in all directions bearing only thorns.My marriage was intolerable, yet I looked the other way and held on because I couldnt imagine my life alone. I had blindly affixed purpose to rescuing him from himself to save myself from the false anticipation of abandonment. I wasnt strong and covered that up by being overly direct, detached, an overachiever and guarded.My daughter was struggling to talk and I spent more time on that than noticing how beautiful she was and how hard she was working. All I could see was how disappointed and alone I felt and how I didnt want her to grow up and feel that way. So, I pushed her toward my metric of what normal was or more accurately perfect should be while I pushed everyone else away.It is impossible to move to a more intimately fulfilling place in life where you accept yourself with all your imperfections without addressing negative influences that need to be pruned out of your life. Creating boundaries is the beginning. A boundary is nothing more than an invisible line between what you will and will not allow.Boundaries force us out of denial and broaden our perspective to notice opportunities as well as aspects of our lives where we thrive breathtaking things we can be grateful for such as children, pets, relationships, health, a home, careers, skills, values, character traits and more. Often setting boundaries nudges us forward to necessary endings that are imperative to preserve our soulmusik and enjoy how rewarding the gift of life is.I told my client the same thing I will tell you. Wherever you are people look forward to being with you so be yourself. Dont dummy yourself down because of what someone else expects. Be the open person who always has the world by the tail. Be a leader who knows how to anticipate, visualize, plan, execute, fail, measure, relaunch and succeed.You are not responsible for anyone elses choices or happiness but yo ur own. You need not rescue, enable, deny or defend anything anyone else chooses to do. Make good choices with strong and deliberate presence. Dont be afraid to share your authentic personality or your warm, kind, open and welcoming soul. You have power. Draw that boundary. No one else will. You are worth it.MaryLeeGannon, ACC, CAEis an executive coach and corporate CEO who helps busy leaders get off the treadmill to nowhere to be more effective, earn more, bemore calm and enjoyconnected relationships with the people who matter while it still matters.Watch her FREE Master Class training on Three Things to Transform Your Life and Career Right Now atwww.MaryLeeGannon.com.

The 5-Minute Rule for Levels of Proficiency Resume

The 5-Minute Rule for Levels of Proficiency Resume Nevertheless, you figure its well worth listing on your resume. If one of these categories is a region in which you excel, visit its precise page to learn how resume skills may be used to your benefit. Additional information regarding the program can be discovered at the Troops to Tech Careers site. Then make a list of your matching skills that youre able to incorporate in your resume. The capacity to speak different foreign languages will always be regarded as a strong point irrespective of the particular needs of the work position. Possessing a universal approach to speak about your language proficiency can help you distinguish yourself in a crowded area of job candidates or school applicants. So whenever your linguistic skills are related to the position youre applying for, and that is going to offer you the correct highlight as a prospective candidate, you might think an area in your resume for a language section (sometime s holding the Spanish language is extremely practical for candidates in the United States) If language is a huge area of the job requirements, put it toward the surface of your responsibility list. Hard skills can be classified in various ways, based on your job title. As stated previously may also weave language training and experience into the distinctive abilities or private details list toward the base of your resume. As you get experience and knowledge, it will only become more difficult to choose what things to enumerate. Your work experience will allow me to know what characteristics of the language youve used and for how long. The hierarchy of job levels is similar to a vertical pyramid with the majority of the power and data at the very top. For example, if you try to apply for a Chinese-English interpreting job, you need to be fluent in both languages otherwise you would not really qualify for the position. Selecting the most suitable candidate for a position, as an e xample, shows critical thinking. It is vital to understand the cv example is called a guide and you must modify the case statements in order that they match the position needs from the job which youre applying for. The Characteristics of Levels of Proficiency Resume The use of structure and vocabulary is extremely imprecise. Skill Assessment has turned into the most vital part of the interview practice. Your vocabulary is extremely limited and youve got no true comprehension of the grammar. While it could still be limited, youve internalized the voreingestellt frameworks. Once you fill out the proficiency requirement, you can continue to use the exact same Canvas website for continued learning. So, assessing language proficiency is a crucial part of program evaluation. Analytical skills are the ability to assemble information, visualize and solve complex together with simple issues with the information available. The common behaviors for every one of the competencies (un iversal and technical) illustrate how a specific competency is used at various degrees of proficiency. In uncommon circumstances, if youve limited language capability generally, but language experience in a specialized sector (computer, for example). In case the student doesnt locate a suitable resume template, resume builders are another alternative for assisting the user to come up with the resume live. You ought to have a particular languages section which gives more comprehensive info on your ability. While in the very first instance, a less intricate query about usernames and passwords wouldnt need a programmer. The level of students conceptual understanding is regarding the richness and degree of the connections theyve made. Cultural proficiency isnt solely the acceptance of cultural differences, but instead a transformational process which allows people to acknowledge interdependence and align with a group aside from their own. All students must finish the internet ear tr aining assessment. They taking a course that is not a Beginners course must take the online level test to ensure they are placed in the correct group for their ability. The effect of the test assumes that you didnt guess any of the answers. A fantastic modern resume template provides you with a fast and straightforward means to update your resume with clarity and fashion. As soon as you create something you prefer, you can save yourself the template and reuse it repeatedly.

What Emotional Intelligence Isnt

What Emotional Intelligence Isnt EQ / Image Michael MoffaYoure a smart recruiter, which means that you have the intellectual horsepower to get, organize, analyze and disseminate information deal with clients and to screen and assign candidates. But nowadays it also means that you have the emotional smarts to gauge the emotional and temperamental fit of applicants and candidates, i.e., you have the emotional intelligence to assess the emotional intelligence of others. Emotional intelligence has a nice ring to it. But, If there is any such thing as emotional intelligence (EI) or its associated emotional quotient (EQ), elendlage only will it be very useful to know what it is, it will be important to know what it isnt. Historically speaking, a relatively new and fuzzy concept, EI has been interpreted in a multitude of ways, not all of which deserve to exist.Repeating the Mistakes of IQ HistoryIn part, as a backlash against a perceived elitist bias toward book-learnin IQ and, in part, as a back-up for those excluded by that elite, emotional intelligence and emotional quotient have become mainstream concepts and tools, however roughly framed and used. In their exuberance to fashion and wield these concepts and tools, some EI proponents and commercial promoters have made mistakes that repeat those made in the early days of IQ testing and comparisons.As a result, the understanding and application of the new quotient on the block, EQ, has been flawedplagued by some of the same errors identified and rectified since the comparably early era of IQ testing, e.g., the flaw of cultural bias and the mistake of failing to distinguish aptitude from achievement.For example, disadvantaged youths in the early 20th-century, presented with an IQ test analogy question like the following, would be virtually certain to be unable to do more than guess the answer polo is to snooker as a Royal fox hunt is to (a) regatta, (b) duck hunting, (c) the Kentucky Derby, (d) bee-keeping, (e) none of the above. Answer bDealing with Your DaughterNow consider this EI question what is the emotionally intelligent response to the following situation?Your daughter, who is 16, has been spending too much time away from the family, with a boy that you and your spouse landsee as totally unsuitable, especially because of his completely unacceptable religious beliefs and lifestyle choices. Should you(a) Display your disapproval through non-physical anger?(b) Display your disappointment through sadness?(c) Calmly discuss with her your family hopes, policies and expectations, as well as your concerns about the suitability of the boy?(d) Allow her to make her own decisions and limit your involvement to offering advice when she seeks it?(e) Take her into a courtyard and have her stoned to death for dishonoring the family by associating with an unrelated male who belongs to a different sect?If you are as eg alitarian as the American ideal, you probably chose (c) or (d), while gasping at (e).The Cultural Relativity of Emotional IntelligenceExtreme though this example is, it makes the cultural relativity of emotional intelligence transparently obviousa fact that is incorporated into some definitions of emotional intelligence, and a consideration that immediately raises a red flag regarding the eligibility of emotional intelligence to join the ranks of recognized innate and universal intelligence measures.So before you congratulate or berate yourself for a low EI online score, e.g., on the emotional intelligence test at the popular Psychology Today website (http//psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/take_test.php?idRegTest=1310), take a closer look at the questions in any EQ test youve taken or seen. It will be nothing short of a miracle if there are none with a cultural, berzeugtheit von sich selbst or ideological bias or some confusion of aptitude and achievement, the latter in the form of learned emotional skills, rather than innate ones.The Psychology Today test presents hypothetical situations, comparable to the one above, in which you are asked to choose between remaining calm or silent, displaying anger, etc., in the face of a specific provocation. Notably, other-cultural options like (e), above, are excluded from any consideration whatsoever, despite the fact that in some cultures neither alleging that such behavior is a crime nor punishing it so brutally is considered wacky. Worse, in those cultures (e) is not only the epitome of emotional intelligence, it is also recognized as profound, traditional and precious emotional wisdom. (Note It has sorely tested my emotional intelligence to criticize the same Psychology Today test that gave me a 98 percentile emotional self-awareness score. Anyway, no sour grapes analysis here.)The Rank Relativity of Emotional IntelligenceDespite our cherished egalitarian ideologies, the fact is that the right response may vary d epending not only on the cultural situation, but on the relative rank of the participants When outraged by an enlisted mans namby-pamby attitude, General Patton was wrong to strike the weak-willed soldier, but a toned-down, yet nonetheless himmelskrper emotional response that would have been emotionally intelligent for Patton would have been, in virtue of the difference of rank between them, stupid for the enlisted man to dare attempt.Even dominant and deferential silverback gorillas grasp this difference in their jostling for rank in the troop hierarchy. Yet, somehow, perhaps under the influence of Western egalitarianism, some EI theorists have not, and have instead blithely assumed that the correct answer on an EI test is correct for allirrespective of both culture and rank.Emotional Aptitude vs. Emotional AchievementTo put these issues into a recruitment perspective, imagine you are interviewing a Thai job applicant. You are both comfortably seated and in crossing your legs, you happen to point one of your shoes toward him. Since you are probably completely unaware of any emotional consequences, namely, his culturally-instilled discomfort in having a shod foot pointing at him, you would fail to display insight into the emotional consequences of your behavior. Does this mean you have to subtract points from your EQ? Of course not.You have merely revealed a limitation of your emotional-cultural achievement, not of any innate emotional-cultural aptitude. It means you have something to learn, not an innate limitation to bear. But since this can be learned, why call this kind of learnable understanding intelligence? Why not call it emotional skill?Perhaps it is because skill requires extra work, whereas intelligence doesntwhich is great for really busy people, like recruiters.