When I got my first full time job, I thought I didn’t.

I had interviewed for an entry level job at IBM where the job description made it sound like I was going to be doing glorious work, solving the world’s problems in front of a desktop computer for 8 hours a day. In the interview I was asked about my proficiency in Microsoft Office, which quickly turned to the focal point of the conversation.

What is your experience with PowerPoint? Hmm, which one is PowerPoint again?

How good are you with Excel? I think that’s the one with numbers…?

If you were given a series of metrics and numbers, could you build a meaningful report to present to management? What does that even mean, I’ll just say yes.

I don’t specifically remember my answers within the interview other than telling the guy that I know I had used PowerPoint and Excel in highschool for some project work - whether or not I did or not was another story.

As we walked out of the interview room he proceeded to tell me I really should take some courses on BI and specifically BRIO, which I don’t even know if anyone uses anymore but at the time those were two new phrases I had never heard before. I just said uh huh, sure and assumed I didn’t get the job.

Two weeks later, I got the job.

Why did I get the job? Because I had a degree - didn’t matter what the degree was in, it was just the fact that I had a degree.

Thinking about that story nowadays makes the current job market and entrepreneurship situation in the world make way more sense. These days you’re rarely going to be working on something you specifically went to school for unless you’re a doctor, lawyer, plumber, etc etc. Which I guess why it makes sense that companies like IBM and Google are hiring people who may not have graduated college or university but have relevant experience to do the job.

The average is at an all time low in the history of trust within universities and colleges with 41% of Gen Zers thinking their schooling actually prepares them for the workforce and their job coming out of post-secondary school. Other than the network you create and I guess the soft skills like being able to present in front of a class, meet a deadline, and communicate to strangers, what really is the use of going to university or college?

In a world where the internet has opened up the practicality of learning anything or simply making (potentially a lot of) money online, post-secondary education does not seem to be the be-all end-all it used to be. But does this mean you should drop out of school to start a Discord community? Maybe…but probably not. What this does mean is that even if you aren’t satisfied with your schooling, your future career options won’t necessarily be tied to what you study anyway.

I have a film degree. And I have somehow become a technology executive who writes a newsletter about random hot takes weekly. See??

This week's issue is a LONG 7 minute read:

📱 Which iPhone are you?

🎵 Taylor Taylor Taylor

💪 Exercise and your mood

The Apple phone - my brief history

So fine, I’ll address it here - it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve last engaged with you. As a result, this first piece I was going share with you was much more relevant two weeks ago when the iPhone 15 came out. At this point you’ve probably seen the new phone, the pretty colours, and the new blah blah blah’s. If you haven’t, here’s probably the best person to hear a review from:

Warning: If you’re an Android user then you’ll relate as much to this as I do to my kid’s love for watching YouTube videos of people playing with Barbie dolls.

What was your first iPhone? Mine was the iPhone 3GS which was the same weird round shape as the original but with 3G data - a huge deal at the time. Frankly I wasn’t a big fan of the 3GS, it felt weird in your hand, texting didn’t feel as clean as T9 on my Nokia (I stand by this statement!), and it was a bigger phone, something no one wanted at the time.

Where I really fell in love with the iPhone was when I went from a Samsung 6S Edge to an iPhone 5. In my opinion all iPhones should be the size of the iPhone 5. It fit perfectly in your pocket, it wasn’t too big that if you fumbled with it you would drop it, and it just felt natural in your hand - this is why I’m a huge fan of the flat edges around the phone on the newer models.

For work I had an iPhone 6 and then an iPhone 7 and so I didn’t upgrade my phone for a while until the iPhone 8 came out. It was the last phone that still had the button on the bezel that to this day, I still think is such a necessary feature. You ever try to unlock your iPhone through Face ID with sunglasses on? YOU CAN’T. Although the iPhone 8 had the rounded edges, it was a nice slim phone that still felt comfortable in your hand - I still think about the button on the bezel now and again.

Currently I rock an iPhone 14, which I received as a nice little gift from my wonderful wife (whose birthday was actually on one of the weeks I missed and so she didn’t think I’d shout out her birthday but here we are! She thinks iT’s ToO lAtE tHoUgH). I like the phone, it’s definitely a good upgrade, especially since it has the flat edges reminiscent of the iPhone 5. I’m not crazy about Face ID though - I think Apple should incorporate their finger print ID capability into the touch screen. But all in all, you really can’t go wrong with one of the newer iPhones in terms of their camera, the screen to watch things, and responsiveness in and out of apps.

With the new 15 out, I could care less about what it does. It’s just insane how much phones cost these days. The real question is, is there a world we live in where the phones actually start to come down in price given they’re basically starting to compete with MacBooks in terms of pricing? Or does Apple finally admit they aren’t as sustainable as they claim to be and finally allow you to swap out parts instead of having to buy a whole new phone - bruh.

Another thing from two weeks ago

In case you haven’t noticed, Taylor Swift is popular. She’s so popular that her song, “Cruel Summer” which is from like 2-3 albums ago (I lowkey like her Lovers album) peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100. The only other artist I can think of that has had a song hit the charts in a top 10 position from a previous album is The Weeknd.

But aside from Taylor Swift dominating music for as long as Gen Z has been alive, influencing economies across the US, and breaking ticketmaster several times, Swift is by far one of the most covered entertainers to ever grace us with her pop presence. And so naturally, media outlets must dedicate resources to covering her…? At least in the case of USA Today, they were hiring for a role that specializes in covering Taylor Swift, reporting on her every move.

Specifically, they were looking for someone who basically understands Swift, her fanbase, her music, why she’s famous, why she broke up with Taylor Lautner, and basically why Taylor Swift is arguably one of the biggest pop icons we’ll ever see in this generation. If you could do all that while balancing spinning chinese plates on a broomstick while riding a unicycle, then you’ve got the job. I’m joking…kind of, given the competition this kind of role would garner.

Move like your mood

One of the best feelings from a good workout is going into it angry or stressed and coming out of it feeling like a refreshed spring chicken. But what about all the other moods you might be in - how do you map your exercise to your mood? I did a bit of research on this and I’m here to tell you whether you’re feeling happy, sad, good or bad, there’s a workout for you.

When You’re Sad

Yin Yoga - the opposite to Yang Yoga, which you all probably know - is the movement you want to do. It involves simple poses that are held for much longer periods of time, around 5 minutes. Yin Yoga allows you to think or not, given how much more quiet and slow paced this type of yoga is.

When You’re Happy

Freestyle! This means you should just find something that gets you active, gets your heart rate up, and it involves activity that you enjoy doing. This could be biking, playing a sport, going for a walk, or whatever other activity that will happily fuel your good mood. When we’re happy we like doing things that make us even happier so the world is your oyster when it comes to exercising during this mood.

When You’re Angry

Boxing! You hit things while you box, what could be better for an angry mood than hitting things? (yes, yes, I know - you know what I mean!)

When You’re Lonely

Go play some intramural sports. Surprise surprise, being around people when you’re lonely has an increased effect of NOT feeling as lonely. Go be that awkward single to join a team already made up of friends!

When You’re Hungover

This isn’t exactly a mood but I guess it sort of fits the narrative here. So what kind of exercise should you do when you’re hungover? As much as one would expect to go sweat it all out, you’re not actually sweating the alcohol out the way you think you are - sure there’s a bit of it that gets mixed in with your sweat but this isn’t like those Gatorade commercials where Michael Jordan is sweating orange beads of sweat. THAT SAID - a nice relaxing nature walk should do the trick for a hangover - that is if you can actually walk? Otherwise just stay in bed and sleep and give up on exercise for the day.