by Abdulganiyu Ibrahim | Jul 29, 2021 | Personal Growth
Do you want to make a good impression at a job interview? Simple steps to know are the basics of impressing your potential employers.
And at a job interview, you need to make a good impression. Why? Because you need to nail the interview to get the job.
So, what are you going to look out for if you want to make a good impression at a job interview?
We will be sharing with you 10 steps to make a good impression at a job interview.
1. Conduct Research on the company
A successful job interview starts with a solid foundation of knowledge you have of the company. So, it is always advised to conduct research regarding the employer or the company. The more research you make, the more you will understand the company and be able to provide answers to some questions that would be asked.
Why I said that was because, an interviewer may choose to, or may decide to ask you some of the external problems the company is facing which you think is hindering it from moving more forward, is it the brand? The price? The quality? The quality? Etc., And how would you intend to fill the space when you are given the chance to.
Having a good research knowledge about the company helps, And what needs to be put in place to move the company or the employer forward, you might not be opportune to know.
Therefore, it is advisable to know more about the company or the employer before you present yourself for the interview.
2. Plan Your Dressing
Plan out the kind of dress to wear at least a day to the interview. I suggest this because you might be thinking that the cloth is in good shape or good enough, however it may be of a surprise to you that there might be a certain flop in the clothes which might likely hinder your burst of glee.
The flop may be in the form of a stain, wrinkles, tear, oversized, etc. Moreover, in a situation when the company does not have a dress code, you should wear business casual. So remember it is better to be overdressed than to be underdressed.
3. Arrive On Time For The Interview
First impressions matter because there may not be a second chance to redeem yourself.
Most companies count the time you show up at the interview venue as part of the interview process. Therefore, you need to be very punctual to the venue, at least 10 minutes before the commencement of the interview.
4. Enter With Full Confidence
Wait a minute, if you truly want to make a good impression at a job interview, before you enter the room you are going to be interviewed in, you need to take a step back, take a deep breath, relax and enter the room with full confidence.
This is important because you need to be able to express yourself confidently, lest you might be forgetful about what you can do and help the company achieve.
Okay? Then you put on a big smile. Because when you enter the room, you can be confident that you wouldn’t only have the best smile that your interviewer has probably seen, but you will appear so much more confident.
What else would you do to appear confident while entering to be interviewed?
When you enter, the way you do could make a lot of difference, which means you need to realign your posture. Therefore, you need to keep your back straight; don’t slouch while walking. Because when you keep your head down, you would look like a nervous wreck and it would show underconfidence.
But you should want to enter confidently without showing your nervousness or underconfidence in any way.
5. Extend Handshake Back And Maintain Eye Contact
On approaching your potential interviewers, as the case may be, you need to extend back a handshake if they offered but maintain proper eye contact. Mind you, since you have succeeded in establishing that confidence, don’t spoil it by giving a weak or strong handshake. And also for no reason should you withdrawing your eyes contact with theirs.
According to a psychological study, when you look the person in the face or maintain eye contact, it shows that you are hiding nothing. Furthermore, it shows that you are a person who is ready for feedback.
6. Maintain Good Body Postures
This means you sit erect, you don’t slouch. You could practice this in front of a bathroom mirror in advance before the interview.
Check out some guides to maintaining good posture.
7. Don’t Make Unnecessary Body Gestures
This is simply referring to your hands and legs’ movement. No unnecessary shaking of your hands and legs. Make sure to not clutch your hands or arms altogether. It would show you are either nervous, afraid, or not ready for the job.
8. Matching Frequency
This depends on how the interviewer interviews you. If he is enthusiastic, then you should as well match an enthusiastic tone in responding. But if he is more sobber, then you adopt little of the mode in responding to questions. In short, you should either be aping or mirroring.
Moreso, matching the frequency could also be in the way the interview is sitting.
9. Ask Relevant Questions After the interview
Most employers are always looking up to an employee who has the best interest of the company at heart, no matter how hard they are to approach. They are always happy when employers ask what are the things they can do in other to move the company forward, or how to get it out of its hole.
So at the end of the interview, you can as well toss some questions which would feed you more about the company and the things which could be done to improve them in one aspect or the other.
10. Thank Your Interviewer
This is another most important interview tip most people forget about. At the end of the interview, don’t just dash out through the door without sparing few seconds in thanking your interviewer or to every member of the employer’s staff who interviewed you.
Forgetting to do this simple act may speak volumes about your manner, and you do not want them doubting your communication skill and ability to have healthy work relationships with other team members.
Conclusion
Remember, first impression matters. If you stick to these basics, certainly you would make a good first impression at your interview. So go ahead and make a good impression and don’t forget to comment on how it went.
Remember to share this article with your friends, and you might also like to check out how you can nail down a job interview in 5 minutes.
by Aisha Zakari | Jul 27, 2021 | Food & Kitchen
Humans eat. We one way or another depend on foods to increase our metabolism, get the required nutritional requirements, and get the energy we need for our day-to-day activities.
Our bodies undergo chemical reactions that change the food we eat into the energy we use to get through our activities, from moving to thinking to working to feeling to growing, and that is metabolism.
Having a high metabolism in the body can give you energy and make you feel better. In this article, you’ll discover foods that increase metabolism in the body and that are mostly found in protein.
12 Foods That Increase Metabolism
1. Avocado
Avocado provides the body with necessary nutritional benefits as it contains fat and mono-saturated fats—these are the good fats that lower bad cholesterol. It also contains nine essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids.
Eating avocado has been proven to be a food that increases metabolism and keeps us healthy.
2. Milk
Whole milk does the body good as it is a good source of protein. More so, it is a bone-building food that increases our metabolism as it has calcium in it. Add this to your diet or drink it as a whole. You will still get the same benefits.
3. Beans
In addition, there are varieties of beans based on their color – black, white, red, and brown beans. Research suggests all varieties do good to the body but black bean does the most.
This food increases metabolism in the body as it is a complete protein meal.
4. Leafy vegetables
This is also one of the foods that increase metabolism. Leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, asparagus, green peas, and broccoli help increase metabolism as they have a high content in protein, iron, and magnesium. Iron is required to accelerate the metabolic rate in the body. It also helps in the growth and development of the body.
5. Soy-bean
This is a versatile protein food that increases metabolism, as it could be consumed either as tofu or soy-bean milk. Make sure to make tofu with a healthy oil such as sesame seed oil, coconut oil, grapefruit oil, or hempseed oil.
6. Eggs
Eggs are low in carbohydrates, an excellent source of protein, and contain vitamin B. Eat your eggs in any way you desire—cooked or fried—but make sure you use a good source of healthy oil.
7. Spicy Foods
Chilli pepper! Studies show that spicy foods have natural chemicals that boost metabolism in the body. Add chilli pepper or chilli flakes to enjoy that pasta as it is guaranteed to increase metabolism in the body.
8. Ginger
This root spice is also versatile as you could grate/mince them to your meal or use them in their dried form. Add this to a meal or the dried form to your tea as breakfast to get that energy and boost you require.
9. Fish
This is also one of the foods that increase our metabolism. Our bodies burn calories when we eat protein; replace those carbohydrates with protein to boost metabolism in our body. In addition, fish is a great source of protein, be it salmon or tuna.
10. Seeds
Good foods that increase metabolism in the body are found in these seeds: hemp seed, flaxseed, and lentils. Another is chickpea, as it has a high protein content. Chickpeas are cooked, eaten, and sometimes topped with these varieties of seeds.
11. Green Tea
Furthermore, green tea is one of the foods that increase our body’s metabolism. Studies show that drinking 2–4 cups of green tea a day pushes the body to burn 17% of its calories. They are also anti-inflammatory.
12. Coffee
Coffee increases body metabolism due to its high caffeine content.
Other Ways of Increasing Metabolism in the Body
1. Water: Drink enough water before and after every meal, as this keeps you hydrated and fills you up.
2. Adequate Sleep: Have a good night’s rest for at least 8 hours. This helps keep you sane, active, and well-rested.
3. Exercise: Sitting too much is bad for you, and even doing nothing, in particular, makes your body burn calories. So, walk, run, and stand more often if you can. Have a routine you do at home to activate those core, glutes, and muscles.
Protein is the most effective for increasing metabolism because the body needs to use more energy to digest it than it does carbohydrates.
Eat a balanced diet if you can, stay hydrated, get adequate sleep, and exercise too; you’re on your way to increasing the metabolic rate in your body. I hope this article helped you by telling you about foods that increase metabolism in the body. Add them to your meal when you can, thank you!
by Precious Alex-Toji | Jul 26, 2021 | Personal Growth
Learning how to control your emotions is an essential skill that can be learned.
Emotions are various forms of feelings, positive or negative, that results in physical or psychological changes which affect our thoughts and actions.
Psychology emotion is often a personality mood. It is our body’s response to the happenings around our environment. Therefore, the ability to control your emotions increases your emotional intelligence and improves your interaction with people.
Our emotions tend to escalate to a point where we find it difficult to control. I remember breaking a mug due to over-excitement because of a gift from my father.
Irrespective of the nature of your emotions, if you cannot learn to regulate them, it may lead to dire consequences.
These methods can help you in your learning.
1. To Control Your Emotions, First Identify How You Feel
Identifying your emotions requires you to do two things:
First, it requires you to monitor your emotions in a given situation. An example of such is how you feel during an argument.
Are you cool-headed or got tempered during an argument? Knowing what emotions you feel during a particular time can help you to control your emotion during that period.
Lastly, this helps you to monitor what emotions you are prone to. Often, we hear people say things like “I easily get angry”, “I am easily irritated”.
Understanding what emotions you’re quick to exhibit is one step in learning how to manage and control your emotions.
2. Question Your Emotion
Taking a moment to question why you are feeling a certain way can help to control your emotions.
A roommate of mine was prone to anger every time he returned from the school market. He’d shout and argue, then throw a tantrum.
To help him manage his emotion, we would first identify his primary emotion – anger. Then we question why he was always angry when he came back from the market. It turned out that his annoyance was a response to the outrageous hike in the prices of goods in the market.
When you’re feeling a surge of emotion, you can take some seconds to question why you’re feeling such a rush. It could be a gift from someone or the death of someone. Whatever is the reason for such emotions, taking a moment to question the perspective of your emotions can help you regulate how you’d act.
3. Intend To Control Your Emotions; Not Repressing Them
You cannot control your emotions by repressing them. We repress emotions because we want to avoid feeling their effects.
Usually, repressed emotions are negative emotions such as pain, sadness, and anger. While repressing such emotions might give you temporary satisfaction, in the long run, it can have dire effects.
Imagine you have a bag and you need to fill it with clothes. The more clothes you fill it with, the less space it has. If you keep stuffing the bag with clothes, it’ll eventually damage the bag.
Our body is like a bag. When we repress our emotions, we’re filling our bodies with negativity. If you do not address these emotions adequately, with time, they can hurt your health.
Rather than repressing your emotions, you should practice expressing your emotions with regulation. When you feel sad, it is okay to cry. When you feel angry, it is okay to punch your pillows.
Whenever you feel the urge to repress your emotions, remember, expression with regulation is what you should rather do.
4. Expression Helps To Control Your Emotions
Our emotions are best expressed through our actions. When you cannot control your emotions, it translates to uncontrolled actions.
The 10 seconds rule state that before we take any action, we should take a deep breath; count to ten, during which we’re analyzing our actions before taking them.
The death of a loved one can cause immense pain and sadness which can lead to the urge to hurt yourself.
To implement the 10 seconds rule, before you carry on the act to hurt yourself, pause for 10 seconds and rethink your actions.
What are the repercussions of my actions? Is it good or bad?
5. Consider Mild Expressions
Since our emotions are expressed through actions, rather than indulge in negative actions, you should consider being kind to yourself.
From the example above, the alternative to hurting yourself includes talking to a loved one, seeing a therapist, or taking a break from social activities.
Another example is how you relate in the workspace environment. You have a colleague who is bad at meeting up with deadlines, leaving you with more work.
While it is natural to get angry and express it through harsh words, there are better alternatives to that. You could find out why such a person is always late on reports, give a friendly reminder in subsequent scenarios or report to HR.
6. Journaling Helps To Control Your Emotional Journey
Keeping a journal to document your moods can help control your emotions.
Journaling involves documenting your emotional experiences as they come, negatively or positively. Just like you’d keep a diary that has a summary of your daily activities, a mood-journal can help keep track of what emotions you frequent and how well you control them.
Writing down your daily experience can help identify your quickest emotions. It also helps in identifying better ways to work through an emotional phase.
For example, if you feel extremely sad about an event, you can write about it. Note why you feel sad about it and three (3) better ways you would think to respond next time.
This way, if such a situation should reoccur, you’re already prepared because you have written alternative actions.
7. Visit A Therapist To Help You Control Your Emotions
Seeking professional help is recommended when you begin to notice a high emotional imbalance.
Our emotions are influenced by our environment. An unhealthy environment cannot foster the development of healthy emotions. In this scenario, no matter how much effort you put into controlling your emotions, you’ll always find yourself responding negatively.
In this case, it is better to see the help of a health therapist. Therapists are professional personnel trained to help people identify health issues and provide support.
Some emotional trauma could stem from family-related issues to financial burdens.
A therapist identifies the root cause of your emotional imbalance and provides support, sometimes medications, to help you manage your emotions.
Conclusion
Although Rome was not built in a day, they’d spent hours of work laying bricks. Thus, to achieve a high level of emotional intelligence, you need to practice the art of controlling your emotions persistently. The keyword is practicing constantly.
Considering that we interact with people every day, we must learn how to manage our emotions.
Building high emotional intelligence improves your self-confidence and how you’re perceived by others. It is one big step into being a better you.
by Happiness Hassan | Jul 26, 2021 | Family & Parenting
Regulating screen time for kids is almost impossible for most parents in our tech-savvy generation. This is because technology is dominating every aspect of life due to the benefits attached. This benefit likewise has numerous disadvantages when not appropriately utilized, most especially for kids. Limiting screen time for kids is a parental duty for parents, who desire a healthy upbringing for their child.
Unfortunately, too much screen time for kids makes their brains numb as it impairs the function and structure of their brains. Similarly, obstruct creativity, emotional coordination, and academic performance. Failure to limit screen time for kids affects their health as they become victims of insomnia and obesity. However, limiting screen time for kids is achievable when you commit yourself to the methods outlined in this post.
Ways You Can Effectively Limit Your Kids Screen Time
1. To Manage Your Kids Screen Time Begin by Talking About it
Oftentimes, parents find it difficult to discuss screen time with their kids. This is due to their negligence towards activities that increase their love bond with their children. There is a need for a healthy relationship with your kids, this enables you to enlighten them more about the time spent in front of the screen.
Your kids need to learn about the importance of having a balanced life, beginning from childhood. This balance is attained when there is moderation in their online and offline activities. Let them know that too much screen time for kids is destructive to their well-being. They deserve to know all the negative effects attached to excessive screen time. This awareness helps your kids cooperate with you to effectively manage their screen time.
2. Ensure They Earn Their Screen Time
When the purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable
Myles Munroe
This principle applies to kids who got technological devices without knowing why. They begin to abuse it by spending hours in front of the screen doing the needless. Many parents are fond of buying devices for their kids because they ask for them or to compete with their co-parents.
However, to limit screen time for kids, parents must ensure their kids earn it. Your kids must prove themselves worthy of their screen time. This tactic makes them responsible. Their earnings should stem from their excellent performance in academics, sports, vocational skills, helping with the house chores, displaying a well-mannered behaviour among others.
3. Set Boundaries to Effectively Control Your Kids Screen Time.
Do you want to discipline your kid’s screen time? Certainly yes— Set rules! When it comes to limiting screen time for kids, setting rules prevent them from going the extra mile. It keeps their screen activities under check. However, rules without consequences when violated are unproductive. Therefore, seeing your kids abide by your rules ensures there are consequences fixed to each rule. The number one rule on your list should be on timing. It’s beneficial to allocate time to their daily activities, both offline and online activities.
Their screen time shouldn’t exceed two hours for your teenage kids and one hour for kids below teenage with your supervision. Next, set aside the days in the week you grant them access to their devices. It could be twice or thrice weekly depending on your preference. Perhaps, they violate the rules, let them face the consequences for their actions like suspension from the screen, withdrawal of allowances, extra house chores. Be mindful not to employ violent methods of disciplining a child when correcting your kids.
4. Encourage Productive Online Activities During Their Screen Time
The online space can be utilized to benefit your kids. Therefore, you can manage your child’s screen time by using their screen time for productive activities. Activities that enhance their passion, interest, intelligence, and emotional quotient. Too much screen time for kids is harmful, most especially when used for unimportant things like gaming, discussing in prohibited chat rooms, or watching videos that portray violence or immorality.
Gradually, they become victims of cyberbullying and defiant behaviour. In contrast, parents, insist they use their screen time mainly for academic research or watching educational programs, giving less time to entertainment.
5. Content Orientation is Necessary When Managing Kids Screen Time
Not all content online is healthy for kids. Therefore, to achieve the aim of limiting screen time for kids you must scrutinize and select the site they can access during their screen time. Simply adjust the settings of their devices by placing restrictions on sites you deem toxic for your kids. Meanwhile, it’s destructive to limit their screen time while you grant access to all sites. In contrast, enlighten your child about online sites before they begin exploring. Warn them not to secretly read content or watch videos they won’t be proud to show the world or do it in your presence.
6. Make Offline Activities Worthwhile for Your Kids
Oftentimes, kids consider online activities fun compared to offline engagements. This attitude stems from parents who wouldn’t participate in offline activities with their kids. Parents who claim to be occupied always grant their kids express access to screen devices to prevent them from feeling abandoned. However, spending less time with your kids is one of the parenting mistakes to be avoided— reschedule your activities.
Show your kids that offline activities can be fun too. A good way to begin is by discovering your child’s passion and giving them your maximum support. Most especially if it’s a vocational skill. Your support ignites more love for their interest. Gradually, you won’t worry about limiting screen time for kids since they get to prefer spending more time on their passion than in front of the screen.
7. Be a Good Role Model in order to Convince Your Kids
You’re the first role model to your child and they are silently watching every move you take— including your screen time. Unfortunately, they won’t hesitate to do the same when given the opportunity. To properly limit screen time for kids, begin by regulating your own screen time as a parent. Quit sending your kids to bed early while you stay all night in front of the screen.
It’s disheartening how parents claim to spend time with their children, whereas their complete attention is on their devices. Be more realistic as a parent, this enables you to lead by example. If you can regulate your screen time in the presence of your kids, it will be reflected in their screen time as they take reference from you.
8. To Successfully Manage Your Kids Screen Time Employ the Assistance of Tracking Devices.
Are you one of those parents who worry about what their kids do with their screen devices while away? If yes, worry no more. The growth of technology has brought about tracking apps that can be used to regulate your kid’s screen time even while you’re absent. Too much screen time for kids isn’t healthy, that’s why you need a tracking app.
Qustodio and Famisafe parenting control and screen time apps are effective tracking apps that are used in managing screen time for kids. Some of its features include time restrictions, app blocking on desktop/mobile, intuitive app, web interface, browsing history.
In addition, you’re notified directly with an alert to your phone when your kids are visiting suspicious sites, watching blocked videos channels, or installing unknown apps. However, their subscriptions are quite expensive, but I advise you to attempt their free trial and see if it’s worth paying for. You can further download these apps from the Google play store.
Conclusion
It’s your responsibility to guide and supervise your kids during their screen time irrespective of their age since no one is above mistakes—preferably join them. therefore, endeavour you strike a balance between their online and offline activities. Furthermore, it’s easier to limit screen time for kids by rewarding them if they abide by the set rules most especially during your absence.
Also, endeavour to share your thoughts and join the discussion in the comment section below.
by Happiness Hassan | Jul 22, 2021 | Family & Parenting
Training children Is a hectic job to do as there are lots of do’s and don’ts to be addressed to them. Kids are extremely sensitive and are fast learners, they are mostly action followers in the terms of behavioural traits that’s why there are things you shouldn’t do in front of them. The saying “ practice what you preach” is very important as a parent because kids are mostly affected by your actions and to ensure their good and productive upbringing, you have to be careful with what you display in front of them. Below are seven things you shouldn’t do in front of your children.
What You Shouldn’t Do in Front of Your Kids
1. Avoid the Use of Foul Language When Communicating With Your Kids
The use of foul language such as “you are useless”, “ stupid child ”, “your are a mistake”, ”I wish you were never born”, etc, on a child, leaves a bad mark on his mental health which also leads to a lack of confidence and fear towards you. A child being treated in such a manner yields little or no productivity, he also develops fear towards you which makes it hard for him to share his little problems with you as his parents and he tends to treat people he comes in contact with, in such a manner.
So as a parent, you ought to mind the words to say in front of your children.
2. It’s Wrong to Argue With Your Spouse in Front of Your Kids
In every relationship, arguments are inevitable, one thing leads to another causing exchanging of words, yelling, slamming of doors, and at times physical fights, but as parents, you ought to try and control your temper when in front of your children.
Every child needs love and care but constant arguments make the atmosphere unconducive for the child’s upbringing, most times the child becomes moody or sad so that’s why arguments, misunderstandings should be managed properly.
3. Avoid Smoking and Drinking Alcohol in the Presence of Your Kid
Most people do this to calm their nerves down but as a parent, doing this in front of a child isn’t advisable at all. Smoking and drinking don’t just affect your internal organs but also your mental health and social well-being.
No parents would be proud to see their children practicing such activities due to the consequences afterward so to avoid that, it has to start with you.
4. Never Ill-treat or Speak Poorly of Others in Front of Your Kids
Like they say; charity begins at home. Most ill-mannered people you come across with are due to their bad upbringing. One of the duties of, a parent is to train your child to respect and treat people with humility in his everyday life but when you as a parent constantly treat people badly or speak poorly about them in front of your children, they develop such character.
5. It’s Irresponsible to Spend Too Much Time on the Screen While Your Kids are Watching
We are in a computer age and this has not only become a problem for children but adults (parents) too, because the time being spent on gadgets is excessively too much. Wastage of time, yielding little or no productivity, depression, etc are the results of spending lots of time on gadgets.
A child spending lots of time on gadgets more than his books scores low in test and this makes the child feel like a failure so as a parent you have to control the time been spent on gadgets for your child and yourself as they follow in your footsteps.
6. It’s Improper to Compare Your Kids to Others
No one likes to be compared to someone who appears better at doing things than you. Children need encouragement when they fail at something rather than being compared to other kids who did better, as a parent you shouldn’t compare your child to other kids because comparison only reduces the child’s self-esteem and confidence.
Children need encouragement to do things better especially when trying new things, so the comparison shouldn’t be done in front of them because it only discourages them.
7. Telling Lies in Front of Your Kids Gives You a Bad Image
As earlier said, one of the parents’ major duties is teaching the child morals. Telling lies in front of a child, no matter how petty it is, teaches the child that there is nothing wrong with lying. To train your child’s tongue, it has to start with you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, parents should be cautious with what they do or say in front of their children. Children learn every day so it’s your duty as the parent to teach them good morals in a healthy and conducive environment and we should always bear in mind that whatever has been displayed In front of a child appears right to them.
In addition, feel free to share your thoughts regarding this post below.
