When looking for a job candidate in the past, employers sought a person with a high I.Q. to ensure they hired a thinker. They also prioritized someone with high E.Q. for leadership positions because of their self-awareness and empathy. But as artificial intelligence becomes a variable in the workplace, many employers are looking at a person’s A.Q or agility quotient to determine their next hire.
Much like how I.Q. and E.Q. are measurements of a person’s intelligence and emotional management, A.Q. is a person’s agility in adaptability to change. Given how A.I. is being implemented in several workspaces to handle various “I.Q.-reliant” tasks, having an employee that can respond well to change is considered a must. A.Q. is essentially a person’s ability to find opportunity in the unknown, deal with the discomfort of change, and be okay with uncertainty.
Well before the term was popularized by author Liz Tran, workers have been displaying and earning praise for their high A.Q. If unexpected circumstances arose and you successfully improvised or pivoted to keep the flow moving, you’re considered to have a high-A.Q. Learning to use new steps, methods, or software from what you’ve been familiar with for years is also a sign of high A.Q. While others may panic or struggle, people with high A.Q. tend to stay cool and level-headed to figure things out, find solutions, and proceed ready with the knowledge that things can, and likely will, change again.
Unlike I.Q. or E.Q., which are mostly stabilized during a person’s lifetime, A.Q. can be easily learned and increased over time. Merely asking, “How can I increase my A.Q.?” isincreasing your A.Q. because you’re approaching the task with an open, growth-oriented mindset. Being open and listening to other perspectives also improves a person’s A.Q. Trying out new things, implementing new tactics, and not being afraid of failure are also indicators of a high A.Q.
A good way to cultivate A.Q. is to have established “anchors,” or routines and people in your life that ground you. This could look like writing in a gratitude journal, having a daily cup of tea, or keeping your regular Wednesday date night with your spouse. Having these anchors can help keep yourself steady while everything else at work is in flux.
Another way to achieve a higher A.Q. is to mentally adapt to what is around you without becoming too rigid. It’s not unlike Bruce Lee’s famous quote regarding being like water. Instead of fighting against problems with old ideas or putting up a wall that gets you nowhere, accepting the changes can help you think up creative solutions and workarounds to certain problems.
In terms of work coinciding with A.I., a high-A.Q. can allow you to work with or around the A.I. tools management is investing in. A high-A.Q. also provides you with an advantage for when A.I. tools fall short and a human mind or hand is needed.
At work and in life, having the skills to adapt to any kind of change can keep a person ready and steady when their boat is inevitably rocked. Knowing yourself and being able and willing to shift when prompted can get you further in your life and your career.
Many employees in the United States feel overwhelmed and burned out at work, usually because their boss keeps giving them more tasks or assignments. This can create an awkward situation in which someone has to ask their boss to lower the workload while fearing the conversation could jeopardize their job or a potential promotion. However, there’s a way to navigate it.
Business expert and leadership speaker Simon Sinek offered advice in a video on Instagram. He recommends shifting the topic of the conversation from your workload to your boss’ priorities. According to Sinek, this approach can not only help during the discussion but also create a system that prevents overwork in the future.
By saying, “Hey, could you help me prioritize all the tasks you want me to do so I know which ones are most important?” instead of, “I have too much on my plate. Could you reassign these tasks?” you’re putting the focus on the work rather than on yourself. People on Reddit have said this approach has worked for them.
Using this priority-based framing can help in several ways. It gives your boss a full view of your entire to-do list, which may help them realize they’ve put too much on your plate and prompt them to reassign the additional tasks. If not, it encourages them to rank tasks by priority, leaving less blame on you if lower-priority items aren’t finished on time.
In either case, you’ll now have a system in place whenever your boss asks you to do another assignment. Each time a new task is added before others are completed, everyone will know which ones take priority, putting the accountability on your boss instead of leaving you guessing where to focus your energy. In fact, it can help prevent work-related anxiety or burnout, since you’ll know exactly which task to do first when you start your workday.
Here are some suggestions for how to frame your response when your boss gives you an additional task:
Hey, I’m happy to take this on. Which of my current priorities should I move to make room for it?
I can take on [insert assignment], but I want to do it well. What should I pause or push back to keep the deadlines realistic?
I can take on this task, but I still have the following to complete. [Show to-do list] Could you help me organize these by priority so I can work more efficiently and meet the most important deadlines first?
Can we go over my current tasks as I take this one on to make sure I’m focused on the most important priorities?
I’m glad to do this, but I’m also assigned to [insert higher-priority task]. Which one would you like me to focus on today?
Overall, framing the conversation around priorities can give you the slack you need to do your job well without feeling overwhelmed or having your boss question your work ethic or ability.
One day, you’re awake and doing the thing you felt you were born to do and then, unfortunately, you get the call, email, or Zoom that begins with an “I’m sorry.” Losing your dream job can be devastating, and it may be hard to bounce back from the disappointment. Fortunately, there are people who have experienced this loss and recovered who can offer hope.
Many folks went on Reddit to offer compassion, experience, and wisdom to a person who lost their dream job after working there for six months. They shared encouragement, how they coped, what helped them ease the hurt, and explained how they’re no longer burdened with the loss:
How to address your mental health after losing your job. What should you do after getting laid off? Here are ways to mentally heal and recover from being laid off. Losing your job is tramatic. laidoff jobtips jobsearch mentalhealth mentalhealthmatters fyp careeradvice mentalhealthawareness
“The various stages of grief apply here and they do not happen in any kind of order.”
2. Let your feelings be felt
“What helped me was letting myself be sad without trying to solve it immediately, then slowly reframing it as data instead of a verdict on my worth.”
3. Try to avoid the “what could have been”
“Don’t fantasize and think about ‘what could have been’ because it never was. Just take it day by day and you will get through this and find something better. You will.”
4. Acknowledge that you’re hurt because you’re a good worker
“This hurt means you cared and that’s not cringe, take the lesson then go cook at the next gig.”
5. Treat it like a break-up but know you’re not broken
“Job loss can hit like a break-up, especially when it ends suddenly. Let yourself grieve it, take the lessons you can control, and don’t beat yourself up over the rest. The right next role will fit you better and you’ll show up smarter because of this.”
6. Change can be sudden, but opportunities can come from it.
“Not every storm is there to destroy your life, some are there to clear a path.”
7. Do other things you want to do that aren’t related to work or your career
“For me, it was the small things. Getting a dinner I liked, playing a game I enjoy, going for a walk, finally getting around to building the bookshelf I ordered…Do something you’ve been putting off because of work. Maybe take the time to visit family if you can. There’s always something waiting for you out there.”
8. Love your work but don’t be in love with your job
“I lost what was the coolest job I’ve ever had due to layoffs. After that my mindset around work and dealing with colleges and bosses changed, and weirdly enough, I learned to love all the jobs I’ve done since then. I realized that my work can just treat me like another gear in the machine, and that means I am by no means beholden to them or anything they say, and that’s freeing.”
9. Maybe your dream job actually wasn’t the dream job
“The love of your life wouldn’t dump you after six months. Same with your dream job. Your dream job is not the one that let you go after six months. If anything, take this in a positive stride that it only cost you six months of your life and you learned something. Now the coast is clear once again for you to stumble upon your actual dream job.”
10. Know that you’re an upgrade to the person you were before you had the dream job
“Perspective is key. You’re leaving this experience with more insight, knowledge, and awareness than you were going into it. Start by acknowledging that one job experience does not determine your worth as an individual.”
If you were fired, be grateful… Kiss the ground and thank the heavens for the opportunity to get somewhere better! This goes for jobs but this also goes for relationships in any different form. Be thankful you’re on to the next chapter ❤️❤️❤️ share this with a someone that needs to hear it. #jobsearch#jobtips#careeradvice#advice#garyvee
Career experts reached out to GOOD to offer their thoughts on how to recover after losing a dream job.
“Take time off after a layoff,” suggested career coach Ruth Sternberg. “Give yourself a few days to adjust to the shock.”
“Give yourself permission to rest and reset before rushing into what’s next. When you’re ready, this moment can offer a useful perspective,” said Paula Mathias-Fryer, Senior Director of SLO Partners. “The time between roles works best when it’s treated as a rebuild, not a scramble.”
“After processing the feelings, then we can get at what the beliefs were that were associated with a life with this job: ‘This job was my path to happiness,’ ‘I was only lovable if I had that role,’ or ‘That role made me worthy as a person,’” said psychotherapist Jamie Keaton Jones. “While motivating, these beliefs are also quite limiting. The idea that one can only live a good or happy life if one only has this one specific job is simply not true.”
“In the meantime, rebuild your foundation with structure that has nothing to do with work: a morning routine, exercise, one daily human connection with another person, and one ‘win’ that you can get done today,” suggests Natalie Spiro, CEO of Blue Fire Leadership and Drum Café North America. “That’s how you stabilize your mood and self-worth until the job search catches up with you. The point isn’t to pretend that it didn’t hurt; it’s to remind yourself that you are bigger than one company’s decision.”
When you’re ready to get back into the job hunt, experts encourage people to be proud of what they achieve that is within their control.
“Celebrate effort over outcomes,” suggested career coach Rikki Goldenberg. “Most people I talk to have a date: ‘I want to have a new role in X months.’ Great, but we don’t have control over that part of the process. We can control your input, not the outcome. So celebrate your hard work and effort, rather than outcomes you lack control over.”
If you lose your dream job, reality can hit hard, but know that you were always worthy and other employers will see that worth, too.
If you’ve ever had a job interview, you know how awkward and stressful it can be. Many people worry about saying the wrong thing or doing something embarrassing that could eliminate them from the list of qualified candidates. Still, no matter how badly you think it went, you probably aren’t the worst interview they’ve ever had.
People who have interviewed job applicants went on Reddit to share the one thing that cost candidates the job. Some of the reasons were obvious, while others were downright bizarre. Here are their stories:
“She sat down, plunked her purse on the desk and started with, ‘I need to let you know, I have issues.’”
“The person was literally running every question through an A.I. and reading the output to me (via Zoom).”
“Interviewing for an I.T. position, asked a basic question about virus removal. ‘Oh, I dunno, my husband does that.’ Well then tell him to apply.”
“She brought her boyfriend and the boyfriend was answering all the questions.”
“Had a guy show up to a design interview with my work in his portfolio.”
“He pulled his pants down to his knees, to fix/tuck in his shirt. Didn’t break eye contact with me as he stood up to do it.”
“Candidate kept boasting about how many languages he speaks even though it was not a requirement for the position. Finally asked him in which foreign language he was most fluent, and he replied Spanish. Followed up with a simple question asked in Spanish. He did not speak Spanish.”
“In a behavioral interview assessing leadership skills, etc.
Q: Did you enjoy having an intern?
A: Oh, yes, I was able to offload lots of work to him.
“Guy walked in with his application redacted. He redacted almost everything except his first name and middle initial. Under work history, he had a note saying, ‘We can talk about this during my interview.’ Yeah, no.”
“Told about how he stole goods from a store they worked at, put them in his buddy’s car, called the cops so his buddy would get arrested. Then slept with his buddy’s girlfriend while the buddy was in jail. All this in response to the question, ‘Tell us about a time when you had an ethical dilemma, what did you do, and what was the outcome?’”
“At the end I asked if he had any questions for me. He said, ‘Yeah, that sign on the front door… Is that a rule or more of a guideline?… The one that says no guns allowed on premises… I have holsters all over. For me putting on my guns in the morning is like putting on my underwear.’ Important lesson here is never mention your guns or underwear in a first interview.”
“When asked about how he had handled issues with managers in the past, he started by describing the age, ethnicity and weight of his manager. Beyond irrelevant. That’s going to be a no.”
“Brought their parents to sit in on the interview to ‘make sure I am fair’ in my decision making process.”
Some employers and recruiters who spoke to GOOD shared their own bad interview stories:
“When I explained a policy of unlimited P.T.O., the job candidate used it as an opportunity to express his feelings that such a policy was a scam,” said Steven Lowell, a career coach and reverse recruiter with Find My Profession. “Playing devil’s advocate, I just politely asked him how he thought so. And he flat out told me that if he worked in a company with such a policy he would never show up because he was getting paid not to work. That was the end of the interview.”
“I interview candidates via Zoom,” said Marshall Scabet, the founder and CEO of Precision Sales Recruiting. “One candidate for a sales position showed up to the interview while driving her car. Not parked somewhere to take the call, actually driving it. It was clear she did not have any intention of pulling over, so I ended the interview.”
Even solid professionals sometimes slip up during job interviews
One professional who spoke with GOOD, Dr. Heather Maietta of Career In Progress, shared a nightmare interview experience that partly inspired her to become a career coach. The twist in the story was that she wasn’t the interviewer at all—she was the interviewee in an all-day, on-campus job interview.
“I went shopping the day before to purchase a suit. I arrived early, feeling confident and prepared,” said Maietta. “The first round was a one-hour panel with four staff members asking general questions, followed by a 15-minute break before I met with students. I felt good about my responses and the panelists’ reactions.”
“During the 15-minute break, I headed to the restroom to freshen up,” she continued. “One of the panelists followed me in and, very nicely, let me know I still had the tags attached to my new suit. And when I say tags, I’m not talking about a single price tag, I mean a cluster of tags larger than my handprint, dangling under my armpit. When I got ready that morning, I’d completely failed to remove them and somehow missed this giant display in the mirror.”
“Needless to say, the wardrobe malfunction killed my confidence, and the remainder of the interview was a bust,” she said. “I did not get the job.”
If you’re nervous about an upcoming job interview, reading these horror stories from interviewers may help calm you down, both as a reminder that everyone makes mistakes and as reassurance that, at the very least, you won’t do that.
???If you want a corporate job you need to be taken seriously and you need to know how to act. It’s ok if you were never taught, let me teach you interview etiquette. When you are being interviewed you are being hosted so act accordingly. ?Say please and thank you, sit up straight, and participate in the conversation. ?You need to know how to shake hands. If you are uncomfortable shaking hands, practice. First impressions matter and if you give me a limp handshake I will wonder why. ❌Do NOT ask for coffee with cream & sugar, I am NOT a barista. Just ask for water or accept whatever I offer- do not make a crazy request. ❌When you walk into the interview room, do NOT wait for me to tell you where to sit. ✅Just sit opposite of me. ✅When you sit down, always put your hands on the table. If you put your hands in your lap you look nervous and untrustworthy. ✅Throughout the job interview you should be taking notes on a pad of paper in your padfolio NOT on your phone. When I ask you if you have questions, you need to have great questions prepared about next steps in the interview process. ❌Do NOT ask me “Are there any reasons why you wouldn’t want to hire me?” because no one is going to be honest with you ✅Instead tell them that you are actively interviewing because hiring managers want what they can’t have. #jobinterview#corporate#jobsearch#resume#careeradvice
There’s no one-size-fits-all tip for landing a job through an interview, but mastering the basics—being prepared, polite, and positive—can sometimes be enough to help you stand out as a good fit. Just be sure to leave your parents and significant others at home or waiting in the car.
