A Simple Question that Most People Will Answer Incorrectly

If I had to pick one question that you could ask to a cross-section of reasonably intelligent people, and be sure that most of them would give you the wrong answer – and confidently, no less – it would be this one: “What is the shortest day of the year in the U.S.?” Go ahead and put that question in a Google Search and you’ll see. Even they get it wrong. Don’t think those Microsoft folks are any more accurate, a Bing search brings up the same wrong answer.

In fact pretty much every web search engine, and most people on the street, will give you the same wrong answer to this apparently easy question. Here’s the deal.

Everyone, it seems, interprets this question to mean “What day of the year has the least amount of sunlight?” and, when interpreted in this fashion, the correct answer is the one you will hear the most often – the date of the Winter Solstice, which usually occurs around December 31 in the Northern Hemisphere (plus or minus a day depending on the year).

If you listen to the question as it is stated, as opposed to how it MIGHT be interpreted, the correct answer is that the shortest day of the year in the U.S. is the second Sunday in March. You remember that day, it seems like yesterday doesn’t it? This being written on March 9, 2015 it was in fact yesterday. If you were looking at one of your many internet connected devices at 1:59:59 AM on Sunday, the next tick of the clock would have jumped to 3:00:00. The hour from 2 AM to 3 AM is completely eliminated each year when Daylight Saving Time (no, there is no “s” at the end of Saving) begins, which means that the day this happens is only 23 hours long making it, in fact, the shortest day of the year! Of course, the longest day of the year is the first Sunday in November, when DST ends. On that day we get to repeat the hour from 1 AM to 2 AM because that’s when we turn the clocks back. That Sunday is 25 hours long. (Interesting story I heard about an old Indian who was told about daylight saving and said “Only the government would think that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it on the bottom and have a longer blanket.”)

Of course, there are other parts of the world that practice Daylight Saving, and they don’t all follow the U.S. Calendar. In Great Britain for example, DST begins on March 29, and in Iran, March 22. In the Southern Hemisphere (Hello, Australia!) they turn clocks backward in first part of the year, and forward in the latter months – something about the tilt of the earth, I suspect. For all of the world travelers out there, here’s a handy reference guide for you to consult.

Daylight Saving Time has been connected with many arguments, not all of them necessarily true or valid. A lot of people think it was designed to help farmers, but farmers don’t actually like DST, and have consistently noted that “cows don’t look at clocks”. It does appear to be true that Benjamin Franklin first proposed it for the United States back in 1784, but it did not become a general policy here until around 1945 (there were some fits and starts) . Germany was the first country to adopt the policy as a country, in 1916. I wonder if there will be a big celebration for the Centennial next year?

If you want the straight scoop on Daylight Saving Time, there is no better source than Wikipedia, and if you want to know some other lesser-known facts about it, take a look at this resource. I also commend to you the John Oliver piece on Last Week Tonight.

The point of all this, and there is a point, was not really to entertain or to inform you about Daylight Saving Time, although if that happened I will take it as a bonus. The real point is to make you think, the next time someone asks a question, what question was really asked. I’ll address this more later but perhaps this simple example helps you begin to understand how nearly everyone can be wrong about an answer, and that just because we all agree on something, doesn’t mean it is true. Stay tuned!

Why I Threw Your Résumé Away

Dear Applicant:

Thank you for sending your recent correspondence in response to the position we posted. It might be polite for me to tell you that we had so many quality applications for this job (which we did), and that we needed to narrow the list down to a manageable number (which was also true), and unfortunately, you did not make the cut. But the truth is, I never read through your entire résumé, and in fact, I threw it into the trash about halfway through my review. The reason for this abrupt move on my part is simple. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to give you a specific answer, as this is a form letter and not an individualized response. Since I throw away nearly 1 of every 7 applicant packages sent to me, I really haven’t the time to be specific for each person who will never be considered for a job. I can tell you that the reason your submission ended up in my trash can is likely one of the following:

1. You completely misspelled a word. Spell checking tools are built into every word processor on the face of the earth. There is no reason for any misspellings. Ever.
2. You used a real word that looks or sounds like the right one, but isn’t. Your spell checker will miss this type of error, so it is important that you read over what you are about to send to make sure you picked the right one. Affect does not mean the same thing as effect. Stationary means something is not moving, and stationery is something you write on. Peek, peak and pique are decidedly different words with quite divergent meanings. There, their, and there are also so very different – same with then and than. You have to make the right choice!
3. You may have used a word incorrectly when there was another that was the right choice. Systemic and systematic get confused by a lot of people, as do continuously and continually. Sympathy is a passive act, empathy is very active. Well is an adverb and good is an adjective, so they are just not interchangeable.
4. The problem may have been one of punctuation. I can’t tell you how many people use it’s as a possessive article when you only put the apostrophe in if you are indicating a contraction (it is). Semicolons are not the same as commas or as colons, either; you probably learned that in high school and perhaps just forgot. And, although the occasional exclamation point does serve to denote emphasis, three in a row do nothing to enhance your message!!!
5. Perhaps you went over the line by using expansive pomposity when diminutive verbiage would suffice. Or to put it more appropriately, you use big words when small ones would do. Use means the same thing as utilize, end is more direct than terminate, proof tells me what I need to know, but substantiation just makes me think you are unnecessarily puffing things up. Communication skills are important in pretty much every position, so be clear, not cloddish.
6. Maybe you didn’t realize that your printer was running out of ink or toner but clearly from the different look of the text, fading out as your document progressed, this was the case. Or perhaps it was that food stain on page two…
7. Clever non-words like “LOL” or “IMHO” or the smiley face – – are great when you are texting your friends, but they have no place in any business document.

By now you may be thinking “Wow, what a nit-pickier, I don’t think I would even want to work for that guy!” Please put yourself in my place. You are sending me a written document that is the only thing I have with which to evaluate you, particularly if we have never met (notice I did not use “meant”). It’s your one big chance to represent your skills, abilities and attention to detail – the types of things that could be crucial in a hiring decision. When you submit a piece that has one or many of the errors listed above the message that comes across most clearly is that you didn’t care enough to take the time to make sure your pages represent you in the best possible light. And, I heard that message loud and clear. So, I hope you will take a look at your copy of what you sent to me (you did keep a copy, didn’t you?) and next time use your spell check feature. Read over your résumé before sending it off, or better yet ask a couple of other people to check  your work for spelling, grammar, punctuation and readability before you ship your next batch out. Take advantage of online resources to become a more skillful writer (and speaker). You may not get the job, but at least someone will read your document to the end.

Quick (but not at all Dirty) LinkedIn Tips

Recently a friend asked for some Quick and Dirty advice on improving his LinkedIn strategy. He already had the basics covered, like many LinkedIn participants do. A full (albeit not too developed) profile, 300+ connections, following a dozen or so groups. What was lacking were those few extra steps to move up to LinkedIn “superstar” status. I was able to give some advice based on my own long-time experience on LinkedIn, and I thought it would be worth sharing. For all of you out there who are thinking that you could be getting more from your participation on LinkedIn, here are a few ideas.

Quick Fixes: Edit your profile. Include a one line statement of purpose or mission for your company under your name, add 1 – 3 sentences to each of your experience listings to describe what you did there, focusing on things that are most relevant to potential clients and/or your current work.

Outside Assistance: Ask selected colleagues, particularly those you have worked with in the recent past (1 – 5 years should suffice) to write you a recommendation.

Involvement: Make sure you belong to at least 3 active groups that would be followed by people who might engage your services (as opposed to groups of colleagues, who are important as well, but might not bring you any business).. Check these groups 2 – 3 times per week and participate in discussions either by posing a question or responding to someone else’s post.

New Friends: Look at the 20 or so most influential people you are connected with at level 1, and see who their connections are. Try to get at least 3 new connections from each of these. That (60 names) would increase your level 1 reach significantly and provide you with some really good contacts. Ask your current connections for help with contacting these new people, it will give you a good reason for getting in touch with them

Publish: Post remarks/status updates at least once per day, and write a long form post (see http://linkd.in/1DybGy0 for plenty of good guidelines) once per week. If you want to become known as a thought leader in your field, publishing (particularly the long form posting) is the best way to do so.

Try these five strategies yourself, and see if you don’t experience a noticeable improvement with your own LinkedIn experience!