Learning English Fast

Learning English FastTutoring Per Hour is an affordable way to learn English fast. It is one of the most advanced programs online that will be able to teach you the fundamentals of English and you will be able to get an excellent knowledge in the fast track at the same time. In this program, the teacher is also a tutor so that you can discuss various things together in a cool way.These online programs are extremely economical because it does not require you to spend too much money on transportation and accommodation. Most of the time, the program is conducted from your home, which also helps in saving a lot of money for you.Before selecting any course, you should first compare the costs that are involved in the different programs. It is also good to find out which course can help you at the moment and at the same time teach you the basics of English. All these are important things that you should look into before choosing a particular course.You should take care of the fact that the tutoring session is conducted in an actual classroom, rather than a high school. This is so because the teachers at the high school will give the students some useful information that can make them understand the basics of the subject in a better way. However, you will not be able to get a great deal of understanding through the online method because the instructors will not have the capability to explain things in such a way that can help you understand more.Online tutoring is not as cheap as offline tutoring; the cost is quite a bit higher than the local tutoring sessions because of the availability of the Internet. Therefore, if you are looking to get tutoring per hour at a reasonably inexpensive rate, you should choose the online method as this is not possible with offline tutoring sessions. Therefore, you should select the online courses after determining the reasons mentioned above.However, it is always better to take the advice of some expert people and find out what the best program is for you. The most common method is to choose the program that is considered to be the most affordable. In this way, you will be able to spend less and get the desired results for the same amount of money.Online classes are very beneficial and they are provided at a relatively affordable price. There are numerous online courses that are available online.

Everything You Need to Know about Sculpture.

Everything You Need to Know about Sculpture. The History, the Famous Sculptures, and the Most Influential Sculptor Artists: Essential Knowledge about Sculpture ChaptersThe History of SculptureThe Most Famous SculptorsAnd Some of Their Most Famous Sculptures.The Different Forms of Sculpture.Where to See Sculpture Collections.Sculpture, as an art form, is one of the more wide-ranging, diverse, and surprising in western art. Ranging from the monumental figurative sculptures of ancient Greece to the abstract sculptures of contemporary art, the figurines of prehistoric civilizations to the kinetic sculpture, sculpture gardens, and assemblage pieces of the twentieth century.There’s a lot to know if you are interested, but art history has developed sculptural styles, expressive forms, and colossal variety â€" meaning that you are probably going to be interested in at least something.Whether it’s the naturalistic styles of the Italian Renaissance or the found objects of modern and contemporary art, we can assure you that you’ll find something of interest.Here, we’re going to give you the lowdown on these artworks in three dimensions. We’r e going to give you the history of this form â€" from antiquity to modern art. We’ll show you some of the masterpieces of the medium â€" and the sculpture artists responsible for them.And, of course, we’ll let you know the places to see the best works across the world â€" both the public art in the streets and squares and those locked up in a museum of art.So, strap in and get comfortable, because, as we said, there’s a lot to know.Check for the best art courses near me on Superprof. CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Lo uiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsThe History of SculptureThe history of sculpture, as far we know, started in the Upper Paleolithic, with a littl e figurative sculpture known as the Löwenmensch. It’s thought to be forty thousand years old.From this Paleolithic figure found in a German cave â€" through the statues of Mesopotamia, the Hellenistic sculptures and Roman art, through the Romanesque and Gothic reliefs and architectural sculpture â€" to the nineteenth century, sculpture was dominated by a number of themes.Primary among these were religion, spirituality, and ritual. Some of the most famous images from the art world â€" the Great Sphinx of Ancient Egypt, the statues of deities from Greek and Roman sculpture, the carvings and reliefs from Romanesque and Gothic art, like Chartres Cathedral â€" are all essentially religious icons. They were merely commissioned by people with money (i.e. the Church) and created by artists.It wasn’t until the High Renaissance, really, that the connection between the art of sculpture and religion was broken. Whilst sculptors like Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo da Vinci used relig ious imagery, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, sculpture became more concerned with anatomically accurate and naturalistic representations.And this shift changed the history of sculpture. Through Baroque and Rococo, through neoclassicism and up to the modernism, sculpture was about rendering form accurately with a representational eye.Whilst Auguste Rodin was the hugely influential sculpture artist that triggered the turn to modern sculpture, Constantin Brancusi was the figure that gave the art form the inspiration it needed to move away from the representational form.His abstract sculpture really paved the way for contemporary sculpture, by reminding people that painting and sculpture did not need to be representational at all.Learn more about the history of sculpture!The Most Famous SculptorsPeople are often interested in hearing about the most important, influential, and famous sculptors around. And honestly, there are a lot of them.However, the important thing to re member is that, as any art historian will tell you, for most of the history of art, we weren’t so focused on the names of painters, sculptors, and writers as we are now.The earliest known sculpture from the ancient world â€" from the classical period but also from the ancient civilizations preceding this â€" art was not considered so much of a personal, individualistic mode of expression. Rather, it was something more of a social enterprise, a dedicative activity.Consequently, some of the most famous sculptures we have â€" chessmen made of mammoth ivory, ancient art from Mesopotamia, the high relief found on old cathedrals â€" these are unattributed to any individual. The ‘famous sculptor’ is a category that is necessarily going to miss people out.Again, it wasn’t really until the Renaissance that sculpture, as for the rest of the visual arts, came to be considered through the lenses of individual names. Names like Benvenuto Cellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarrot i, these came to be associated with some of the most beautiful pieces of art sculpture ever made.However, even these dudes didn’t work alone. In their respective sculpture workshop, they had many assistants, students, and observers. And so, even at this point, sculpture was always a collaborative task.Of course, the history of sculpture has remembered only these names â€" just as it has remembered the names of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Antonio Canova, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Marcel Duchamp, and others.It was the vision of these people that was so influential. However, to limit the history of the art to famous names does a disservice to all the others who contributed to its progress.Read more about the famous names in the history of sculpture. The Statue of Liberty is one of the world's most recognisable public artworks. CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi im oleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsAnd Some of Their Most Famous Sculptures.And if that’s the most famous names in sculpture, which are the most famous sculptures themselves?Well, we suppose what it is you mean by sculpture! (It’s never easy, is it?) Because, as we have alluded to above, sculpture is not just an art, simply, like a novel. Rather more like painting, sculpture has a whole host of different functions.Sculpture isn’t just Michelangelo’s David, or Rodin’s Thinker â€" each of them seeking to be art for art’s sake, a little piece of har mony and beauty.Sculpture, more realistically, is decorative. It idealises. It is religious and ritualistic. It is bought by power and serves political ends. It shows the world who has lots and lots of money.Sculpture represents an awful lot of different functions. And some of the most famous sculptures have little to do with art at all.And you’ll know some of the most famous sculptures immediately. The Statue of Liberty, say. Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer. Mount Rushmore, the Great Sphinx of Giza, or the Trevi Fountain.These works, from the earliest to the most modern, are famous not because of the beauty of the art (maybe with the exception of the latter), but for the values, powers, and ideas associated to them. And so, the Statue of Liberty is known less for the intricacy of its design and more for the US idea of ‘liberty’ that it draws upon.These, really, are the sculptures that become famous: the huge works of public art. Next to these â€" which are so bound up with national, economic, and familial power â€" the others don’t really stand much of a chance.Which are people more likely to know? An innovative statue by Henry Moore or Rio’s famous sculpture? Constantin Brancusi’s game-changing work or a statue of Winston Churchill?Fame isn’t everything when it comes to sculpture.Learn more about famous sculptures here. Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous sculptures in the world.The Different Forms of Sculpture.As in any field, there is a lot of different terminology to learn about sculpture.How does a sculpture garden differ from a sculpture park? What is the difference between relief and sculpture in the round? What is kinetic sculpture, sound sculpture, and land art?And, crucially, how do we differentiate between the array of different art movements and styles throughout history?These are questions which, to answer properly, you need an in-depth knowledge of the form. Or a detailed glossary with clear explanations. This, by the way, you can find in our extended article on the different types of sculpture.But here, let us say, with the poet, T.S. Eliot, that the history of art is a continuous tension between tradition and individual talent. If a sculptor works in a completely idiosyncratic style, nobody is really going to understand what he or she is going for. If that sculptor builds on the work of past sculptors, however, audiences will have the knowledge and reference points to navigate the different ideas and styles that the sculptor is going for.So, different styles of sculpture, whilst they might seem miraculously new, are actually always built on previous movements and styles.Take Michelangelo. His work is thought of as the peak of Renaissance sculpture. Yet, he was building on the ideas and techniques of Donatello, Brunelleschi, and Nicola and Giovanni Pisano.The same with Rodin â€" another considered completely innovative. Yet, his work was a response to and development of the neoclassical and romantic styles of his day.This is the real birth of new sculptural styles. Not just a sheer ingenuity. The Trevi Fountain is Rome's centrepiece.Where to See Sculpture Collections.Finally, then, let’s talk about some of the best places to find the best sculpture. All over the world, there are museums housing exquisitely beautiful objects. Of course, however, some are a little better than others.Start with Rome and Florence. These are the homes of the Italian Renaissance â€" and the former also boasts being the seat of late antiquity. These Italian cities are like living museums.Then head to New York, where the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art will blow you away with the variety of their work.Then there’s Paris and London, the capitals of two countries whose colonial history has collected all the treasures of the world.For more amazing locations for sculpture, read our article!

How to Create Your First College Schedule

How to Create Your First College Schedule One of the most exciting parts of starting college is the newfound freedomadjusting to dorm life, choosing when you go to class, and what courses you take. Your ability to choose courses in high school was likely limited; you probably didnt have too many options to choose from, since most credits were mandated. However, colleges offer an array of choices for every interest. How do you choose courses for your first semester of college? Creating your first college schedule can seem exciting but also daunting. No matter how you feel about your new freedom, be sure to follow these tips when creatingyour first college schedule. 1. Be realistic when creating your schedule With all of the new and exciting class options, its natural to get excited and want to try them all. However, do not overload your course schedule during the first semester. College is a huge transition, and not just in terms of academics. Adjusting to your new life will be work in itself. Each college has a different recommended number of courses to take per semester. Do not plan on exceeding this recommended amountat least in your first semester. Its also important to be realistic when it comes to your lifestyle. Choosing all night classes may seem like a great idea (you get to sleep in!), but if you know you are most productive before nightfall, you may not want to heavily load all of your classes into the late afternoon. Furthermore, having later classes does not necessarily translate into sleeping in. If your afternoons and nights are consumed with class time, your mornings will need to be reserved for studying, homework, and assigned readings. It may come in handy to have an early class that forces you to be up and productive. Your first semester is a great time to discover what your best habits are. Mixing up your class schedule to discover when you are most productive can help determine your future schedules. 2. Use your schedule to plan ahead for later in your college career College is a marathon, not a sprint. Every college has different requirements that you must meet before graduation, and each degree comes with its own set of requirements as well. Before beginning to choose classes, make sure you are aware of your schools education requirements. If you know what you would like to major in, you should also be aware of the prerequisites needed to enter the program and to graduate. A rough four-year plan can make each semesters scheduling an easier process. Map out the classes you know you will have to take and tentatively place them in a four-year schedule. This planning can ensure you arent stuck with a 20-credit semester senior year in order to graduate on time (or, that you must delay graduation). Use a class catalogue to do some research on the types of classes you are planning to take before setting your schedule in stone. Some classes have extra requirements, and its important to know those before the class begins. Does your class require an extra lab? Will you be required to participate in a service learning project that takes place over the weekend? These components might be required to pass the class, so be sure you can complete them before you sign up. 3. Maintain a balance of requirements and electives in your class schedule Your first instinct may be to spend your first semester knocking out all of your required classes. General education classes, typically referred to as gen eds, are classes outside of your major that must be completed to reach your degree. These requirements ensure that all graduates have a well-rounded education and the opportunity to acquire a variety of skills. In addition, these classes are most beneficial when scattered throughout your academic career, over several semestersloading up on these requirements in one semester will not provide you with the maximum benefit. Gen ed classes complement your major classes, allowing you to make connections between disciplines and gain skillsets that can help you in your future career. Plan to take a few general education classes each semester, along with classes in your major. 4. Expand your horizons by signing up for new courses As a college freshman, it is completely normal to be unsure about what you want to do with the rest of your life. College is a time to explore and discover your interests. Even if you do know what you want to study, its important to use your first semester as a time to expand your interests. Try to take one or two classes that interest you, even if they arent in your planned major. You may find that your original plans changeperhaps you decide to double major or minor in a new subject. At the very least, youll likely discover a new interest. Many colleges offer seminars and workshops specifically for freshman that cater to their interests, or even that help with the college transitioning process. These classes are a great way to meet other students who share your interests, while helping you hone your college skills. You never know what you can learn from a sports in history class, an event planning class, or even a class on Harry Potter. Find what peaks your interest, and see where it may take you.

Build Your French Vocabulary What Do You Do For Fun

Build Your French Vocabulary What Do You Do For Fun Sign up successful Check out the list below for some common words and phrases used when describing what you do for fun: French Vocabulary for Activities We Enjoy Whether  relaxing at the beach, catching up on our favorite TV shows, or  going on a family vacation, we all have activities that we love and enjoy. Here are a few French vocabulary terms to describe common activities many of us enjoy. Regarder la télé ?  Watch television Parler au téléphone ? Talk on the phone Lire ? To read Faire de l’équitation ? Go horse riding Faire de la natation ?  Go swimming Faire du sport ? Do sports Voyager ? Travel French Vocabulary For Activities We Dont Enjoy However,  there are also things we hate doing or rarely do. While some of us may like faire les magasins (to go shopping), others of us  hate it. Some of us love  sortir avec les copains (to go out with friends), while others prefer to spend  time alone. Either way, we all have  activities that we just don’t like doing.  Check out some examples below: Faire le ménage ? Housework/chores Faire de devoirs ? Do homework Étudier  ?  Study Jouer au golf ? Play golf Faire du jogging ? Go jogging Using French Vocabulary in Context When it comes to the activities we enjoy or don’t enjoy, in French, we always put J’aime ou je n’aime pas (I like or I don’t like) before the activities that we either enjoy or don’t enjoy. For example, maybe tu aimes danser (you like to dance), but  tu n’aimes pas écouter de la musique (you don’t like to listen to music). Or, maybe tu aimes jouer au foot (you like to play soccer), but  tu n’aimes pas jouer aux cartes (you don’t like to play cards). Here are some more examples: J’aime sortir avec les copains. â€" I like to go out with my friends. Vous aimez voyager ou faire du sport? â€" Do you [formal] like to travel or do sports? Elles n’aiment pas étudier. â€" They [girls] don’t like to study. Il n’aime pas faire les magasins. â€" He doesn’t like to go shopping. Nous aimons chanter. â€" We like to sing. Elle n’aime pas tellement jouer au tennis. â€" She doesn’t really like to play tennis. J’aime surtout fair du ski nautique. â€" I especially love to water ski. Ils n’aime pas beaucoup faire de la photo. â€" They [boys or boys and girls] especially don’t like to take photos. Additionally, if you want to ask someone if they like to do something, you just say, Est-ce que vous/tu aimez/aimes…  (Do you like to…), and then add in the activity. For example: Est-ce que tu aimes jouer à des jeux video? (Do you [informal] like to play video games?) Est-ce que vous aimez faire de l’athlétisme? (Do you [formal] like to do athletics?) Describing How Often You Perform  an Activity If you want to mention how often you do any  activity, here are some French vocabulary words  to describe the frequency with  which  you perform a particular activity. Jamais ? Never De temps en temps ? From time to time/occasionally Souvent ? Often Rarement ? Rarely Tous les jours ?  Every day ____ fois par semaine  ? ____ times a week Une fois/deux fois/trois fois par semaine ? Once/twice/three times a week Quelquefois ? Sometimes For the most part, these frequency words and phrases come after the verb and before the activity itself. For example: Je ne fais jamais du sport (I never play sports) or Je fais souvent de la natation (I often go swimming) or Je joues quelquefois au foot (I sometimes like to play soccer). However, de temps en temps  and  ___ fois par semaine  go at the end of the sentence. For example: J’aime écouter de la musique de temps en temps (I like to listen to music occasionally) or J’aime faire du jogging deux fois par semaine (I like to go jogging twice a week). Now that you know how to talk about the activities you like and don’t like doing, time for some devoirs. If you want your French to improve, you have to practice. So, how about writing down what you like to do and how often you do it in French. Then, say what you don’t like to do and how often you do or don’t do those activities. Have fun, and a tout à l’heure! Post Author:  Emmanuel N. Emmanuel N. teaches online Spanish and singing lessons. He earned his B.A. in psychology from California State University, Fullerton and has been teaching lessons since January 2015.  Learn more about Emmanuel here! Photo by  Pepe Pont Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher

9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job - Introvert Whisperer 9 Things To Do To Set You Up for Success in Your New Job Congrats! After all the hard work and effort on your job search, you landed a great job. You deserve to feel excited. The next step is to start your new job and move past the learning curve. As you’re starting to think through important things like when you have to get up in the morning and when you will do your workout, there’s one very big thing to plan. How to be a major success in this job? It’s ok to admit that’s what you’re shooting for. What you do in the first 90-120 days in your new job will “set the tone” for how your time in the job (and company) will go. When you were looking for a job one of the things you had to think about was the first impression you made on decision makers. Generally, you only have one chance to make a good first impression and that chance was maybe a minute long. Your first few months on a new job are when the first impression and a lasting impression on the people you work with are formed. It is the time you build your Personal Brand. It’s a much more critical time than anyone realizes and is often written off because you’re in a learning curve. And everyone is given a break during a learning curve, right? Yes and no. Yes because we all know what learning curves are like. No, because we’re humans and still expect you to deliver. Here is your “New Job Strategy” #1 â€" Learn your job by understanding the expectations. Spend time with your boss and key co-workers to not only show you the tasks and how to do them but what do they expect. This is your performance. We get too wrapped up in the task and fail to realize that those people do have expectations for how we do the work. Ask early and often. #2 â€" Learn people and process. All businesses hang together by various processes. You may be only 1 of many in the entire clockwork of a process. If you learn the entire process or business, your ability to think outside the box goes up significantly. It will also help you to better understand how your work interplays with others. #3 â€" Learn the boss. You need to learn many things about your boss. You need to understand what their work priorities are so you can support them with your work and communication. You need to discover how they learn and how they best take in information. To ignore this is to irritate the boss and create a poor impression. #4 â€" Figure out problems and solve them. Plan on an early win. Our work is all about solving problems if you think about it. As you are going through and learning the things outlined above, be looking for problems you can solve quickly. Try to contain your solutions to your own scope of work or minimally only a couple of others. Do not attempt to solve world hunger because you won’t have the clout built up to be given money and resources. You do want to solve problems that have visibility so when you are done; it becomes an affirmation that you were a good hire. #5 â€" Do not bad mouth how things are being done. One problem newbies have sometimes is making the mistake of unearthing business problems and make disparaging remarks about them. You do not know who may have implemented the very thing you are trying to improve. Take the approach that you can see opportunities for improvement. Your approach and attitude are critical. #6 â€" Don’t boast about your previous employers/job. It doesn’t matter if you worked directly for the Pope. No one wants to hear how great things were in your other job. Its not relevant to this job and may get people wishing you had stayed at the previous job. Do not compare and don’t put down people or companies. #7 â€" Ask for feedback Don’t make the assumption that “no news is good news” when it comes to your work. Ask for feedback on a routine basis and if you have things to improve take that as a sign that you better improve quickly. #8 â€" Learn the culture You can be doing all things right but if you fail to “read” the culture and learn to adapt to it, you will never fit in. A work culture is the way people interact, how decisions get made and even language. It can include things like informal leaders within the group that need your attention. Understanding a group’s culture is tricky because it can be very subtle. It can be done with observation and asking questions. #9 â€" Build relationships While you are hunkered down learning all these new things, don’t fail to ignore that a big part of your success will be with and through other people. Make a point to get to know your co-workers. Keep in mind that your first impression will last for a long time. By doing these things, you will position yourself for success and a strong Personal Brand. Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech. In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression. Get your copy now by clicking here. Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleash your professional potential. www.introvertwhisperer.com

36 Top Experts on the Best Career Resolutions for 2017 - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 36 Top Experts on the Best Career Resolutions for 2017 - Introvert Whisperer 36 Top Experts on the Best Career Resolutions for 2017 Every year we make New Year’s resolutions like “eat healthy” and “run five miles a week” and “volunteer,” things that are usually manageable until the middle of February. Wouldn’t it be great if they made it through the entire year!? This year, instead of trying to make it to the gym every day, consider adding manageable actions to your list that will further your career and better your professional development. We asked top career experts for their advice for making career resolutions you’ll want to keep, here’s what they had to say: “The one New Year’s resolution to make this year (and actually keep!) to benefit your professional development would be to become a better networker.  Nothing can advance your career faster than being a good networker.  So, in 2017, you should not only find and attend networking events that can further your career but you should also dedicate some time to hone your networking skills.  Being a great networker doesn’t just happen â€" it must be practiced! Make 2017 the year that your networking efforts pay off!” Jennifer Gefsky, Co-founder of Après “Update your photo on LinkedIn. How old or outdated or appropriate is it for your current career stage? Recruiters (and I am one) still look at photos and we will jump over a profile that is without one or lacking a professional photo. That picture from a wedding 10 years ago isn’t right for you now. Update using a true photographer or have a friend with a great camera take a bunch of shots and choose the best.” Lora B. Poepping, President, Plum Coaching Consulting “The best thing you can do to benefit your career and professional development â€" is to help others within your networking sphere. To position yourself as The Go-To Candidate Everyone Wants on Their Team… 1) Introduce your contacts to  key individuals you know who can help them, 2) Write a positive review about your contacts in social media, or 3) Offer to volunteer at your contacts’ next extracurricular project.” Grant Cooper, CARW, Founder President, Strategic Resumes Business Plans “Seek out a trusted ‘partner in action’ to help guide you in taking the first step towards your career goal, be it a career coach, professional mentor, etc. The one reason why people don’t keep their resolutions is because they don’t actually take the first step needed, or don’t know how to get started. A resolution is useless without action!” Vicki Aubin, Career Transition Personal Branding Consultant, The Rockin’ Career Coach “My professional development resolution is to have a coffee or a peppermint mocha with extra whip with an industry idolâ€"anyone I admire and want to emulateâ€"once a month. I believe you can learn a lot more about a person over a cup of coffee than 100 webinars.” Kayla Kozan, Director of Marketing, Ideal “Decide what you need to give yourself permission for this year to ensure you are not the barrier from meeting your goals. It may be you need to give yourself permission to try new things and fail. It may be to give yourself permission to put your needs first. It may be permission to speak up  or permission to quiet your inner critic/self-doubt.” Amy Wolfgang, Career/Leadership Coach Owner, Wolfgang Career Coaching “Focusâ€"Know what your professional (career) goal for the coming year is, pick one relevant professional development experience (education, training, etc.), and make sure it can be accomplished within the yearâ€"or, worst case, break it into components and schedule the bulk of it for completion during the year. Then DO IT!” Georgia Adamson, MRW / ACRW / CPRW / CJSS / CEIP, CEO, A Successful Career “Know thyself. The more you know about what you naturally do well (vs. acquired skills), what you do to get in your own way (e.g., limiting beliefs), and what you truly desire (vs. what others expect), the better you will be able to find satisfaction and excellence in your work. This is when a job is more than a job or even a career. It becomes a calling. Be willing to invest in this process (e.g., books, group programs, individual coaching).” Carol Ross, Career Integration Coach, Carol Ross and Associates LLC “Keep it simple. If you find the stories developing in your head, remind yourself you could be complicating things and look for a simple explanation. If you don’t have one, ask for it, and don’t overthink. Sometimes things are simpler than they seem.” Tanya Ezekiel, CEO and Executive Coach, CareerCoach.com “The career planning task that every individual should do ASAP is to assess the likelihood that their jobs will be automated out of existence. They can visit this site: Will Your Job Be Done By A Machine? input their field and job title, and look at the results. And if they conclude there’s an uncomfortable likelihood their job will be automated, then they need to: identify a “safe” career pivot, develop the skills they need to make the change via on-the-job, online education sources, and more formal training and start job hunting to make the change.” Donna Svei, Executive Resumes LinkedIn Profiles, Retained Search, AvidCareerist.com “Many professionals consider their professional development only in “crisis mode” instead of planning early (save costs, get good seats) and implementing sound career trajectory strategy. As much as possible, invest in development that leans toward your next career step with or without your boss’s blessing or buy-in.” Mark Anthony Dyson, Founder, The Voice of Job Seekers “Whether you are looking for a job or seeking more professional satisfaction I highly recommend that you become an active member of a professional association. My clients have had many successes after actively participating in their respective trade associations because it has been the most effective way to meet people in their  field, make friends that share similar interests  and stay abreast of current developments in their field.” Lynn Berger, Career Counselor and Coach “The one New Year’s resolution I personally keep and that I advise my clients to keep is to find thought leaders in your industry â€" those you admire and aspire to be and then follow them on social media, read their blog posts, enroll in their online training programs or webinars so you can learn from the best. This is the greatest benefit to your professional development and it’s easy to keep because you enjoy following their work and learning from them.” Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, President/CEO, Great Resumes Fast “Do one thing each day to further your professional developmentâ€"whether that’s reading an article or book chapter, having lunch with someone in your network, attending a professional event, or spending time to update your LinkedIn profile.” Mitchell Friedman, Ed.D., APR, Career Coach “Establish your short and long-term career goals, and proactively identify the experience, skills, and professional development you’ll need to achieve them.” Marty Weitzman, NCRW, IJCTC, RPBS, Managing Director, Gilbert Resumes “The best gift a person can give themselves is to increase their emotional intelligence.  At a professional level, your ability to connect to others effectively will be the difference between a career with very little traction and one that moves like a rocket.  There are books and classes to take on the broader topic of emotional intelligence or you can hone in on such things as increasing your ability to influence, reading body language or communications.” PERSONAL BRANDING Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU.  I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech.  In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression. Get your copy now! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

Just Starting Your GMAT Prep Build Your Study Plan Around Official GMAT Materials

Just Starting Your GMAT Prep Build Your Study Plan Around Official GMAT Materials GMAT MBA Admissions Blog One of the most common questions we receive from folks who are just getting started with GMAT prep is “what materials should I use?” The short answer is, you should build a study plan around the materials offered by GMAC.org via www.mba.com, as this is the company that designs and administers the GMAT. In the rest of this article, we’ll explain why this is the right approach, what those materials are, and how to begin to create a study plan using them. Why is using official GMAT materials the right approach? When you are studying for a test like the GMAT it is important to prepare using practice GMAT questions that are similar to what you’ll see on the actual exam. This is true for three reasons. First, the test is designed to pressure test your critical thinking abilities using math and reading comprehension concepts. In that sense, it’s a unique exam. It isn’t trying to directly test your “academic proficiency” as the ACT or SAT might. It requires you to have a certain amount of proficiency, and then tests your ability to think critically and creatively. So, the trick lies in getting comfortable with the GMAT’s unique question types and becoming a flexible thinker able to apply those concepts to answer questions correctly. For example, there is a quantitative section of the GMAT that looks very much like a math test. But if you study primarily using materials that treat the GMAT like a math test, you’ll make very slow progress. Sure, there will be math concepts you must know, and learning those concepts as you might during a math class is fine. But applying them is much different on the GMAT. If you practice using materials that tend to be more straight forward and just require that you recognize x, y, or z math concept, you won’t be building the right type of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Second, major well-known test prep companies (e.g., Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc.) with strong brands and an established content creation business model have an incentive to create “practice material” that they claim is uniquely able to build your skills. And each year, they need to have another batch of new content, and an overall amount of content that is very large such that they can meet the needs of stressed out GMAT students worried that they’ll somehow run out of practice material. In fact, the official material offered by GMAC.org is plentiful, and if you practice in the right way, slowly reviewing all missed questions and determining why and how you missed them, you won’t need thousands and thousands of questions. At the end of the day, it’s far more likely that the practice content offered by these firms is either not much better, or in fact worse. Unofficial GMAT content can be worse in a few different ways. The questions, as covered above, can be unlike the actual GMAT exam. Or, they can be too hard. Worst of all, they can be too easy, leaving students with an illusion of competence that can create some serious disappointment during the official GMAT exam. Finally, there’s more than enough official practice content available from the folks who create the official GMAT exam. If you are convinced of the importance of official materials and concerned about quality but simply want to be able to have enough to practice, rest assured. As you’ll see below, there’s quite a bit of free and low cost GMAT practice available from www.mba.com Here are the official GMAT materials offered by www.MBA.com. All the “official” GMAT prep materials offered by gmac.org are listed here. It’s a little confusing, because some of the materials listed are “bundles” of previous materials already listed on the page, but in sum, for something below $400, you’d have access to: A free “kick-starter” online study program with two official practice exams 6 official online fully adaptive practice exams, and 9 official previous GMAT exams, for a total of 15 full length practice GMAT exams. When I prepared for the GMAT, I took every one of these full-length practice exams. Between the online “GMAT Official Practice Questions” program (400+ questions), Official Guide Prep book (900), the Official Guide to Quant (300) and Official Guide to Verbal (300) prep books, you can find over 1,900 official practice problems, without including any of the full length practice tests www.mba.com also offers a unique tool for homing in on your weaknesses in the quant area through its GMAT focus tool, as well as an enhanced GMAT score report that gets very specific about what types of questions you missed Is there enough “official” GMAT content to build a complete study plan? An official GMAT exam takes 3 hours. So the above reflects 15 tests * 3 hours = 45 hours of official exams. For each full length GMAT exam you take, you should spend at least two hours reviewing the problems you miss. So, that’s a total of 45 + 30 = 75 hours of study time using all of those full-length exams. On the official GMAT, you get about two minutes per question. So that means the third bullet point above reflects over 3,800 minutes of practice, assuming you only take 2 minutes per question. That’s another 63 hours of direct practice, but then you’d probably want to spend another 50% of that time reviewing missed problems. So, call it 90 hours of practice problems. At this point, we’ve not yet accounted for integrated reasoning or AWA writing practice, OR any of the time it takes to read about the exam and its question types and the various concepts which would be covered in the official Guides to the GMAT mentioned above. But we have still identified 165 hours of practice, which means you could study for 10 hours a week for 4 four months. Once you include the tools provided for preparing for the Integrated Reasoning Section and the AWA Writing section (GMATWrite), you could conceivably use official GMAT practice materials for 10-15 hours a week for 5-6 months without needing to invest in any other types of practice. That is more practice than almost any student needs to be doing, particularly if they are following deliberate practice principles and reviewing missed problems carefully. I would say this is true even if you scored a 500 on an official practice GMAT exam and are looking for a 700+ score. Here’s how to build a study plan around the Official Guide materials. At a high level, the key to studying for the GMAT is to design a study plan upfront, stick with it, practice deliberately, and stay positive. Think about it as a five-step process: Spend just a bit of time learning about the exam and what’s on it Take some sort of diagnostic exam to identify strengths and weaknesses. The official Guide to the GMAT offers a 100-question diagnostic, or any of the full-length exams will also do the trick. Given your diagnostic exam performance, target score, timeframe, and availability, build a week by week plan for concepts to cover and homework to do. Take practice exams at regular intervals to track progress and refine your study plan Refine time management and build confidence in the weeks leading to test day by taking more full-length practice tests. If you are targeting a 700+ score, you’ll want to see consistent practice GMAT scores of 720 or higher, as it’s not uncommon to get a little stressed and see a slight decline on test day. Regarding point 3 above, which may seem like the most difficult of the five steps to execuate against, www.mba.com offers an example GMAT study plan here.