Dropping the Ball

Dropping the Ball Dropping the Ball Dropping the BallNew Years means many things to many people. A chance that next year may offer better things. An opportunity to reflect on the year gone by. A chance to celebrate with friends. And if you happen to be in Times Square in New York City, there may be about 1 million friends to celebrate with. But theres no doubt that much of the world is watching, and waitingwaiting for the tanzerei to drop in Times Square. For a city like New York, this is a chance to showcase that it truly is the crossroads of the world.John Trowbridge is very much at the center of it. With a background in entertainment production, hes the project manager for the ball drop, with The Wolf Productions, LLC. In other words, if you enjoy setting your year off with a bang, hes one of the key people to thank.Twenty one years ago now a client called and said I have the perfect event for you, he says. At the time, the ball drop was done via a control ordnungsprinz ip that ran wire from building to street all the way uptown four or five blocks and used computers to boost the signal. The ball is permanently on the roof now. It didnt used to be.The old ball was six feet in diameter and weighed 1200 pounds, but the new ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 12,000 pounds, he says.The Times Square Ball designed for the new millenium in 2000. Image Hunter Kahn / Wikimedia CommonsTheres a winch that is directly underneath the pfosten and cables go up all the way to the top of the mast through what I call headblocks, and then they come down and lift the ball, he says. Theres a computer system that drives the whole thing.In terms of lighting, the ball has 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs grouped in 672 modules, he says. The software ecue is the control system that drives the entire lighting system. And the timing of it stays accurate, he says. There is a timestamp- that time is being set from the GPS system. We have a black box that receives t ime from the GPS system and makes sure its 100 percent accurate, he says.But they continue to look for ways to improve the New Years Eve ball drop experience. The next improvement we would like to do is increasing the resolution on the LED panels, he says. We want the patterns and designs on the ball to continue to get better.And at the time of writing, hes excited again to be a part of the event that has such a prominent place in society. This is about as much fun as you can have, he says. The people love it and its absolutely become one of those iconic events. You just want it all to go off well and you cant help but smile after its done. Then you go home and you can think about next year.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.This is about as much fun as you can have. The people love it and its absolutely become one of those iconic events.

Illegal Interview Questions You Thought Were Harmless

Illegal Interview Questions You Thought Were HarmlessIllegal Interview Questions You Thought Were HarmlessEver find yourself uncomfortable in an bewerbungsinterview because of a question asked? Theres a good chance it could be illegal. Below are ten commonand illegalinterview questions.And while many HR and Recruiting staff know that these questions are illegal, many hiring managers do leid. Where Were You Born? While this question seems innocent enough on the surface, it could be used to gather information illegally about national origin. Although it may seem more relevant, hiring managers are also bedrngnis allowed to ask Are you a U.S. citizen? Employers may ask whether you are authorized to work in the United States but not specifically about citizenship. They may also ask for documents proving your authorization to work in the U.S. after you have been hired. What Is Your Native Language? Again, the problem is that this question could be used to determine national origin. The employer can ask whether you know a particular language only if it is required for the job. For example, if job responsibilities include supporting Spanish-speaking customers, its fair to ask if you speak Spanish. Are You Married? Heres another question that would seem innocent in most settingsbut is not allowed in a job interview. Employers are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of marital status, so this question is not allowed. Do You Have Children? Even though this sounds like a casual, innocent question, it is not allowed in a job interview. Its covered by a general prohibition about discrimination over parental status. Do You Plan to Get Pregnant? This question is not legal. Employers used to ask this of women to avoid hiring someone that would go out on maternity leave. It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender and on the basis of pregnancy. How Old Are You? Age discrimination is illegal, so this question is off limits. Some companies hav e tried to avoid hiring workers over a certain age for fear of higher insurance costs, the potential for more absences, and for a general age bias. For this reason, employers are not supposed to ask what year you graduated from college, either, unless there is some job-related reason for the question. Do You Observe Yom Kippur/Good Friday/Ramadan, etc.? Employers cant discriminate on the basis of religion, so this question is illegal. Employers can ask whether you can work on holidays and weekends (if its a job requirement), but not about the observance of specific religious holidays. Do You Have a Disability or Chronic Illness? It is illegal to use disability or medical information as a factor in hiring, so these questions are illegal. If the job would require some specific physical task, such as bending to install cables in walls, the employer can ask if you could perform those tasks with reasonable accommodation. Are You in the National Guard? Although some managers m ay find it disruptive when employees leave for duty, its illegal to discriminate against someone because he or she belongs to the National Guard or a reserve unit. Do You Smoke or Use Alcohol? In general, employers cant discriminate on the basis of the use of a legal productwhen the employee is not on the premises and not on the job. Note Updates to this article have been made by Laurence Bradford.

Leaving the Military Heres Your To-Do List for Getting Hired

Leaving the Military Heres Your To-Do List for Getting HiredLeaving the Military Heres Your To-Do List for Getting HiredRegardless of the length of your time of service, closing out a career as a veteran can be a daunting task. Its hard enough to get your personal life on a civilian schedule, and then you have to tackle your civilian career.Fortunately, many have gone before you to transition into excellent and fulfilling careers using military experience. And the process starts when you position yourself and your skills in a way that helps you identify possible careers and catch the interest of civilian recruiters.If youre looking to get back into the workforce after a short or long military career, here are four things you can work on today from one veteran to another, featuring Army Veteran and Human Resources recruiting professional Toya Hamilton.Start networking before the paperwork is finalDont wait until youre discharged to start identifying possible networking opportunities i n your new field. The time to network is before you get out of the service.The most important thing I did was was networking within my industry, says Hamilton, Ninety-nine percent of all my job leads and offers came from networking with people in my field. And even better? Those contacts helped me form my own network by telling me who I needed to talk to and what my resume needed to look like. Networking is what will get your resume out there and let people see it.Be open to constructive criticismand dont be afraid to step down to step upWhile you might have a valid need for reassurance as you start job hunting outside of the military, Hamilton adds that its important to be open to constructive criticism.Dont be thin-skinned, she says. Be open to constructive criticism and turn it around and apply to your job hunt, resume and cover letter. For me, I asked for feedback from my industry connections and got excellent feedback about particular parts of my resume that werent strong enoug h. I took that advice to heart and sought out experience that would round-out what I brought to the table as a job candidate.parte of this process, Hamilton says, is being confident enough to step down in order to step up. Take another job based on the skill set you do have, even if it pays less or is less prestigious. Work your way up to achieve your ultimate goal if its not working out for you from the beginning. It may be uncomfortable financially, but thats why you have to plan ahead before you get out of the military.Seek out certifications before you get outA lot of military members think military experience is good enough and they dont understand why they dont end up with the job, says Hamilton. We see where we fit, but we cant show other people that we can do the job. Thats why its so important to verify the skills that you have with visible credentials and certifications.When you first depart from military service, your career path might be obvious to you based on skills an d experience. But there are other parts of the civilian world that might escape your experience. For example, says Hamilton, As a military HR recruiter, I worked with people and managed leaders. But I didnt have extensive experience with the business side of things such as managing benefits and pay scales. Counting on everyone understanding and valuing your experience isnt good enough. You need to get certifications within your field that can provide universal assurance to HR managers that you meet the qualifications and can do the job.Explain your training and experienceFinally, make sure that your resume properly translates your experience by connecting the dots for the HR manager on paper. If possible, find someone who can translate your resume from military to civilian language for you.Military personnel, were limited. ur minds dont think like that, and our terminology is completely different. But if you dont translate your skills on your resume using the words that the HR manag er includes in the job description, you wont get the interview. If you get the interview but not the job, on the other hand, you need to work on explaining your position correctly.Hamilton shares that Hire Heroes was a great resource, and she used the site to work with a resume coach that made it easier for her to interview and get the job. Many other sites offer consulting and job support to veterans, and you can access those links here.