FCB: Well-Being for Parents, Working with Anxiety, & Interviewing Types

Hello Reader!

We're one full week into summer and my brain's already fried! Between getting a week-and-a-half long cold on the last day and tons of rain Memorial Day week, it hasn't felt much like summer but this introverted mama is talked out 😂

Kids are golfing, acting, and swimming (when it's sunny!) while working on one's online t-shirt & sticker store and the other's trying to build their first app. I'm squeezing in my own reading and working wherever I can! So let's jump in!

Feel

Dr. Laurie Santos has a new course, The Science of Well-Being for Parents, available for free from Coursera. I took the original Science for Well-Being course back in 2020 and found it not only fascinating but very helpful! It's based on the most popular class at Yale and shares science-back strategies to feel better. I've had friends' teens take the teen version and they loved it!

The topics to be covered for better well-being not only for the kids but for the parents as well:

Managing Time
Prioritizing Self-Care
Navigating Negative Emotions
Fighting Stress
Navigating Academic Pressures
Technology & Social Media

You can also catch Dr. Santos on her podcast The Happiness Lab!

Change

Since I started posting on LinkedIn, I really enjoyed listening to Leah Smart's podcast, Everyday Better. Her journey with personal development started similarly to mine and has a very practical take on dealing with anxiety.

Last week on the episode "How I Learned to Work with My Anxiety", Ms. Smart excellently explained how we are not our thoughts. She compared it to the fact that we don't identify as our leg or even our head. We know we are more than our bodies. We are also more than our thoughts.

One way to think about it is that your brain is the hardware and your thoughts are the software. Software can have glitches or bugs but it can also be fixed. The episode is a great place to start if you've ever suffered from anxiety or intrusive thoughts.

Build

I checked out a new book on interviewing this week and picked up some new insights on interviewing. The book is Interviewology by Anna Papalia. After interviewing thousands of candidates for Fortune 100 companies and teaching graduates of Temple University's Fox Business School how to interview better, she discovered there are four types of interviewers: charmer, challenger, examiner, and harmonizer.

Ms. Papalia's idea is that there isn't one right way to interview and that anyone can become better in their own style instead of trying to conform to what's normally considered the best interview style. It's also a must-read for managers, who tend to look for candidates that match their style. Most interviewing managers also have little to no training and easily fall into the trap of this bias.

Here's a quick look at the 4 types of interviewers:

Charmer: "I want to be liked." Engaging in interviews. Extremely focused and easily open up and seek approval of the interviewer.

Helpful advice:

Job seekers: Don't let yourself become so distracted with making a connection that you forget to discuss your qualifications.
Hiring managers: A structured interview leads to better results and allows you to compare candidates more easily.

Challenger: "I want to be me." Interesting and thought-provoking, they open up in interviews and pride themselves on being truthful.

Helpful advice:

Job seekers: Do not ask tough questions until you've built rapport.
Hiring managers: Justin because your job as an interviewer is to ask questions doesn't mean you can barrage the candidate.

Examiner: "I want to get it right." Reserved in interviews. Focused internally and are not especially interested in seeking approval.

Helpful advice:

Job seekers: Don't be afraid to share stories and more about yourself that isn't on your resume.
Hiring managers: This is not a test; it is the beginning of a relationship with a person.

Harmonizer: "I want to adapt." Goal is to put others at ease. Focused externally and seek approval from others.

Helpful Advice:

Job seekers: You need to be comfortable selling yourself as an individual, not just a coworker or team member.
Hiring managers: You need to prepare interview questions that ask specifically how someone is qualified and why they want the job.

If you're curious about your interview style or want to learn more, check out Ms. Papalia's website. The style profile does cost money but she has a lot of other free resources!

What topic are you excited to explore most from this email? I'd love to know! Email me back anytime :)

And that's it for this week! I'm working on creating my first email course which I would also love some testers and feedback on next week.

Have a lovely day! - Kate