Top 5 Strategies for Landing a Job on Capitol Hill

Top 5 Strategies for Landing a Job on Capitol HillTop 5 Strategies for Landing a Job on Capitol HillMany young people with their newly printed political science, public policy and law degrees set their sights on Capitol Hill as a place to get their feet wet in the national political scene. They dream of working long nights crafting legislation, talking points, and press releases. They cant wait to get neck-deep in Washington politics and policymaking. But these people dont start in the thick of political drama. First, they have to master making coffee and copies. And only after performing well on menial tasks do they get to start taking on tasks theyve daydreamed about since they decided they wanted to work on Capitol Hill. Earning a job in a congressional schreibstube is not easy. The competition is stiff. Hundreds of well-qualified twenty- and thirty-somethings apply to the lowliest of jobs. So how do you emerge from such strong applicant pools? Here are five strategies you can emp loy to help you land a job on Capitol Hill. Network The best way to make your name more than just another collection of letters at the top of a resume is to meet people on Capitol Hill. Most applicant pools for congressional office jobs are loaded with people who had the quintessential college careers for work on Capitol Hill, but if you can be the one person who is a known commodity, you have an edge. And it doesnt have to be a huge advantage to pay off. It can be as simple as being the person who made an appointment to talk with the legislative director and then made a good impression. Think about who you know who knows someone important in politics. The connection can be a family friend, a professor, a former employer... anyone The trick is to find one or more paths from you to the person hiring entry-level staff in a congressional office. If you have no idea where to start, see if you can get a meeting with the district director for your congressman. Consider it both a learn ing experience and job interview. You probably wont get the job at the first meeting, but you definitely can lose it. Prepare well, and make yourself look good. Volunteer for Campaign Work To the victor go the spoils. No doubt youve heard the saying. In American politics, it means elected officials can help those who helped him or her get elected. And when a Republican ousts a Democrat or vice-versa, there is a considerable amount of churning among congressional staffers. Sure, the campaign manager is going to have his or her pick of choice jobs like thechief of staff, legislative director or communications officer, but there are many jobs to be handed out. Now, not every person working on a campaign can get a job right away, but if you prove yourself as dedicated and hardworking, you stand a good chance of at least getting a bit of help in moving your career forward. It may take working on a few campaigns before you get your opportunity at a Capitol Hill job, but keep doing goo d work, and good things will happen eventually. Move to Washington, DC Moving to a city especially an expensive city like Washington, DC is a risky move when you dont have a job. But doing so can give you an edge when it comes to Capitol Hill jobs. First, living in DC gives you more opportunities to meet people who can help you in your career. You can introduce yourself to people you meet, ask them about their jobs and tell them about your career aspirations. Who knows? They might be able to help you. And if you run into enough people, youre bound to get some help. The second reason to move to DC is hiring managers in congressional offices are more likely to interview people who already live in the area. Youre already in town, and that gives you more flexibility in scheduling. After all, hopping on the DC Metro will get you to an interview much more quickly than booking a flight to Dulles, Reagan or Baltimore. Plus, you wont incur travel expenses each time you have an intervie w. Sure, youre going to have to find roommates, and youre probably going to live in an apartment that is way too small for the number of people living there. But youre pursuing your dream, and its going to require some sacrifices. And youre going to have the same living situation once you land a low-paying entry-level job on Capitol Hill. Use the Senate Placement Office Each congressional office is its own employing entity. There is no central human resources office supporting members of Congress. However, they do have some help. In the Senate, help comes from the Senate Placement Office. The Senate Placement Office performs two key functions for senators offices and committees. One, they advertise vacant jobs. They do this through Senate Employment Bulletin. Each job posting has information about the employing senator or committee, job duties and how to apply. The other main function of the Senate Placement Office is maintaining a resume bank. Hiring managers in senators office s can ask the Senate Placement Office to refer qualified candidates. It only takes three steps to put yourself in the mix. First, you create an online profile. Second, you input your resume. Third, you participate in an informational interview. Remember, this only gets your resume into a big pile of others, so this cant be your only strategy for getting a Capitol Hill job. Use the House Vacancy Announcement and Placement Service Much like the Senate Placement Office serves particular human resources needs for Senate offices and committees, the House Vacancy Announcement and Placement Service supports House offices and committees. This placement office publishes the House Employment Bulletin and keeps a resume bank. Again, signing up to receive the House Employment Bulletin and putting your resume in the bank cannot be your only steps toward your internship or congressional staffer job. Work as many angles as you can. You never know which ones will pay off.

Robotic Suits May Transform Manufacturing

Robotic Suits May Transform Manufacturing Robotic Suits May Transform Manufacturing Robotic Suits May Transform ManufacturingWearable powered or unpowered robotic suitsmetal frameworks fitted with motorized muscles to multiply the wearers strengthare set to dramatically change the manufacturing industry.In 2003, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, created Bleex, a robotic device that attaches to the lower body to complement the users strength. Fourteen years later, variations of these devices, which go by a number of names, including robotic exoskeleton and exosuit, are used primarily in health care rehabilitation. They allow wearers to operate, for example, a paralyzed limb, and help stroke victims move limbs as they regain strength and range of motion, says Dan Kara, robotics researcher at ABI Research, a technology market research company in New York.In 2014, the ReWalk system became the first personal robotic exoskeleton to be approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration. The battery-powered robotic suit, from ReWalk Robotics of Yokneam, Israel, attaches to the legs and lower back. It contains motors at the knee and hip joints and sensors to help it adjust with each footfall. While wearing the device and holding two forearm crutches, someone with complete lower-limb paralysis can walk.The full-body, wearable exoskeleton from Ekso Bionics is used to help paralyzed patients walk. Image Ekso BionicsBecause the suits are expensivethe ReWalk suits cost about $80,000their makers have looked to uses in other industries. Manufacturing, agriculture, and construction were obvious matches because the suits could be worn to enhance strength, Kara says.In manufacturing, the exosuits augment human motion to allow for more lifting strength and for improved production on repetitive tasks like squatting, bending, or walking, Kara says. Worker wearing the suits will also be less prone to severe injuries from accidents or overwork. Worker overexertion c osts U.S. employers around $15 billion annually in compensation, he adds.When bending forward while wearing an exoskeleton from SuitX, compressed-air springs in the back of the suit take some of the lifting load off the wearer. A shoulder unit uses a similar assist-mechanism for lifting or working overhead, says Homayoon Kazerooni, chief executive officer at SuitX of Berkeley, CA, which makes exoskeleton systems for the legs, backs, and shoulders as well as a full-body version.ABI Research forecasts the robotic exoskeleton market will reach $1.8 billion in 2025, up from $68 1000000 in 2014. This year, about 6,000 suits will be sold, mainly for rehabilitation. By 2025, ABI expects to see about 2.6 million on the market thanks to adoption by the manufacturing and construction industries.Still, the suits have yet to see widespread adoption within factories and plants. Thats slowly changing as implementations begin.Audi is using the Chairless Chair from Noonee to ease production workers strain. Image Audi.Since the end of 2016/beginning of 2017, the BMW Group Plant in Spartanburg, SC has deployed 66 Airframe Exoskeletons from Levitate Technologies, San Diego, CA, which provide shoulder support, and multiple Chairless Chair units from the Swiss company Noonee.The EksoWorks Vest is a shoulder and arm support exoskeleton with a headrest designed to alleviate the strain of continuously working with heavy tools above waist level. It uses no power, but provides ergonomic upper body and arm support that makes objects seem to weigh much less than they do and enables a worker to operate in a factory line posture without fatigue, according to Ekso Bionics.The Chairless Chair locks into distributions-mix when a worker has to crouch or stand for prolonged periods. It reduces the pressure on the knee and the rest of the leg.Both the chairless chair and the should and arm support suits sell for about $5,000 each, far less than the suits mean to help those who are paralyzed walk .Eleven lower-body exoskeletons are already in use across several BMW Group plants in Germany. The exoskeleton consists of movable splints affixed to the legs or torso and locked in different positions. The leg support structure can transform prolonged standing into sitting to improve the comfort and flexibility of working conditions, says Christian Dunckern, Head of BMW Group production system, planning, toolmaking, and plant engineering.It will be possible to further reduce ergonomically unfavorable and strenuous tasks, giving workers an opportunity to apply their cognitive skills to the best effect, he says.German carmaker Audi is also using the Chairless Chain in production.We also anticipate new applications for colleagues with reduced physical capabilities, says Mathias Keil, head of industrial engineering methods at Audi AG.Parker Hannafin, Cyberdyne, Rex Bionics, and other companies currently make these suits, most of which were first created in tandem with military develope rs.For BMW Group, the exoskeletons complement other robotic and factory digitization efforts. They push robotics down to the operator level by allowing production-line workers to benefit from the robots strength, Dunckern says.BMW may bring in more exosuits in the future, after further evaluation, he adds.In the time of smart devices and digitalization, we must still keep an eye on the added value the applied technology offers to the company, Dunckern says. Nobody is better qualified to judge this than the people who actively shape our production system on a daily basis.Jean Thilmany is an independent writer. For Further Discussion Nobody is better qualified to judge this value than the people who actively shape our production system on a daily basis.Christian Dunckern, Head of BMW Group

Pros and Cons of Getting a Corporate Credit Card

Pros and Cons of Getting a Corporate leistungspunkt Card Pros and Cons of Getting a Corporate Credit Card A corporate card sounds like a great perk, but dontforget the fine print.Most importantly, you need to clarify whether youre being offered a corporate card or a business leistungspunkt card. They may sound like the saatkorn thing, but theyre actually a little different. One key distinction Where business credit cards are concerned, employees are personally responsible if the company fails to make good on the payments not so with corporate cards.Corporate credit cards are a breed all their own. They come with some pretty nice benefits, but also a few drawbacks that are worth your attention. Consider these pros and cons before going all in.Pros of a Corporate Card1. Your Personal Credit Is Out of the MixWhen you receive a corporate credit card, the monthly billgoes directly to your employer. Your corporate card activity isnt reflected on your personal credit report because your c ompanytakes full responsibility for any expenses you charge. Your only responsibility is to use your corporate card in accordance with your companys policies. (Put another way Keep all personal expenses off this card.)Keeping work-related expenses away from your personal credit history has some other benefits as well. If you were to use a personal card, work charges would increase your credit utilization ratio (a.k.a., the amount of available credit youre currently using). This ratio makes up 30 percent of your FICO Score. Translation Carrying work debt from month to month could bring down your credit score.2. You Dont Have to Wait for ReimbursementsTheres definitely a convenience factor to having a corporate credit card. Using a personal credit card to pay for business expenses means waiting for your employer to pay you back.If you are flush with cash and can just pay it off and afford to wait for your reimbursement to come in, thats not going to be too much of an issue, says Bever ly Harzog,credit card expert and consumer finance analyst for US News World Report. If youre a person who lives paycheck to paycheck, waiting for that reimbursement can get a little dicey for you.3. The Card Isnt a Concern When You Exit the CompanyWhen the time comes for you to leave your company, your employer will cancel your corporate card. This wont affect your credit, since activity on the card doesnt show up on your credit report.However, if you were granted a business card - which is connected to your personal credit history - closing down that line of credit would reduce your available credit limit and increase your credit utilization ratio. As a result, your credit score could fall.Cons of a Corporate Card1. You Wont Reap Any Credit Card RewardsUnfortunately, you probably wont be able to cash in on any rewards you accumulate with your corporate credit card.Many people want to use their own cards because they can earn rewards, Harzog says. With a corporate card, those rew ards points just get funneled back to your employer instead.Some companies might make some sort of arrangement or exception, she adds. But, in general, you should not expect to be getting those rewards if youre using a corporate card.In other words Dontplan to cover your next vacations airfare with miles accumulated from your businesspurchases.2. You May Feel Pressured to Use It - Even When You ShouldntHaving a corporate credit card in your wallet does not give you license to whip it out whenever you want. Every company has its own set of guidelines around employee spending, and straying from them could put you in hot water.Youre held accountable for your expenses, even if youre not filling out an expense report, says Harzog. If you cant justify your expenses, its going to make you look bad and could put your job at risk, so practice setting boundaries.- Corporate credit cards are nice in that they keep your work expenses separatefrom your personal spendingand leaveyour credit scor e intact. The major downside is youll miss out on earning rewards. At the end of the day, only you can decide whether thats a worthwhile trade.Marianne Hayes is a longtime freelance writer and content marketing specialist.

What we know about the big Google Docs phishing attack

What we know about the big Google Docs phishing attackWhat we know about the big Google Docs phishing attackUsers of Gmails Google Docs, the popular cloud-based rival to Microsoft Word, were struck by a sophisticated phishing attack that swept through their networks. The scam appeared to start with influential users and spread rapidly over the course of a couple of hours in the middle of the workday on May 3.

Solutions to Good Resume Objective Statements

Solutions to Good Resume Objective Statements The Appeal of Good Resume Objective Statements So, writing an objective is important and enhances your odds of selection. Each guide consists of step-by-step explanations and examples, which means you know just how to create a winning one. Objective statements ought to be customized to reflect your specific skills. It is always considered as an important part of your resume. Resume objectives can be a little controversial. Resume objectives are written in addition to your resume. Getting the Best Good Resume Objective Statements Needless to say, there are lots of discussions on whether objective are even essential to have on a resume but it wouldnt hurt if you were able to come with something thats well-tailored for the accountant position youre applying for. From time to time, youre asked a question you dont know the response to, but have enough info or observation to generate an educated guess. In lots of ways, an objective r eplaces a lot of the detail you would set in your professional experience section. The point is quite simple. When creating your supervisor resume objective, you must make sure you tailor it to both the job which youre applying for and the particular companya generic objective isnt a good idea. If youre applying for at least one different kind of job, theres a great possibility you will neglect to update your resume objective statement. No matter your degree of work knowledge, your resume structure is crucial to making your program stick out. Knowing the fundamental steps of writing a good resume does not indicate you have to write alone. What resume format to choose There are plenty of formats that a resume can be shown, and nobody is much better than the other. You may also Simple Resume Template. Resumes may look like facets of the corporate Earth, but theyre increasingly needed for all types of entry level jobs. As a consequence the resume may be put under file. The D ebate Over Good Resume Objective Statements If youre arranging a move to another city, your present address may confuse the hiring manager. Entry-level objectives can be particularly hard to write since you likely dont have loads of work experience, but you do want to solidify how you know the kind of career youre searching for. Your objective statement is the very first thing theyll see and read, as its the very first thing on the webpage. For folks that are arranging a career change, the resume objective gives the platform to talk about your story with the firm. In addition, there are job seekers that are trying to find the ideal job for the short-term. When there are times an Objective in a resume is essential, even critical, there are frequently times when it can work against the work seeker. You might think that you dont require a resume when applying for employment while youre still in high school. In addition, it can explain why youre qualified for the job, even if yo u do not own a lot of related experience. Good Resume Objective Statements Help Let your objective motivate a possible employer to read the remainder of your resume. Attempt to do a little bit of research on the organization youre applying to since the majority of the companies have various values. ausverkauf position where my abilities and experience can effectively be utilized to raise sales revenue. For instance, it might state some of your previous accomplishments, and move on to the types of accomplishments you want to achieve in the future (ideally, accomplishments you need to achieve for the organization youre applying to work for). Top Good Resume Objective Statements Choices Career objective statement has an important role in regards to creating an instant fantastic effects in the mind of the interviewer. In most instances, a resume objective is merely a couple of sentences long. In the end, stating an objective is optional, but it might help convince employers th at you understand what you need and know the business. It should tie into the job you are seeking. Many job seekers dont land the position since they did not incorporate an objective statement. You are able to pick any one of the aforementioned statements which perfectly complements the work description issued by the potential employer. For instance, a job applicant could be interested in both an overall management team position, together with an advertising job. As previously mentioned, if he has multiple objectives, then theyre going to need several versions.

Tackling high school work experience

Tackling high school work experience Tackling high school work experiencePosted October 13, 2011, by Helen Isbister Getting involved in work experience during your last years of high school can be a good way to test-drive careers. Sampling a few jobs will help you decide what you may, or may not, want to do when you jump into the workplace for real. It will also come in handy since employers look for work experience on resumes especially when it comes to newcomers who dont have much else to platzdeckchen them apart. Whether you end up pursuing the career later on or not, you will learn some valuable lessons about the big wide working world. Do your research, prepare and tackle your high school work experience with enthusiasm so that you get more out of it than a week fetching skim decaf lattes. Do your research The first step, as simple as it sounds, is to do something you think you will enjoy. Dont sign up for a week in a hospital if you hate the sight of blood, or go to a womens magazine if you dont care who Jennifer Lopez was married to last week. Scout around for opportunities that interest you. Have a chat with your school career adviser about what you enjoy doing and they will try and match you up with a job that suits your talents, interests and the subjects you are studying. Alternatively, your friends and family might have some cool contacts so do a bit of research and ask around. You can also take a bit of initiative and contact the HR department, or check the website, of a company to ask them about work experience possibilities. Some larger companies are limited to taking only a few work experience students each year and these spots can be in quite high demand. So if you know what you want to do, plan well ahead to make sure you dont miss out Be prepared Once you have locked yourself in for a stint of work, spend a bit of time preparing for what lies ahead. Disorganisation is a fatal flaw when it comes to work experience. Make sure you know exactly what it is the company that youre going to be working for does so there are no nasty surprises on your first day. Surf around on the website beforehand to get a feel for the company culture and have a good idea of the services they offer. Many students find themselves rocking up only to be shunted into the corner while everyone goes about their daily business not even knowing the work experience kid exists. Make sure its clear who you should report to that way if you find yourself in a lull, you can ask them for some more work. Being punctual and arriving on time is also crucial for work experience jobs. Its important to treat this as a real job and leave a good impression because you just never know what it could lead to down the track. So dont waltz into the sekretariat at 11 am, take a two-hour lunch break and say your farewells an hour before anyone else clocks off. This kind of behaviour will just get you branded as a slacker. On the job When you are on the job, act professi onal. Likewise, make sure you dress appropriately. If youre going to work in a corporate office, you dont want to turn up in fishnets. There are different expectations and practicalities for work clothes in different professions. As a rule of thumb, play it safe and dont wear anything too outrageous or casual. If youre in doubt about the appropriate attire, dont be afraid to ask the person supervising you before your first day begins. If you look the part, the other workers are more likely to take you seriously and involve you. No matter how boring it is, dont look like you are bored. Sitting in the corner looking less than impressed when you are given something slightly tedious to do will get you nowhere. Offering to carry out tasks will not only subtly steer you away from the less favourable ones, but also show that you are enthusiastic and capable of taking things on. Offering to do things like the tea or coffee round is an easy way to get known and liked. Dont be afraid to ask questions to get an insight into the job find out what people do, how they got into the job and what they like and dislike about their career. Learn as much from this experience as you can. Know your place Another way to make your work experience a good experience is to know your place. Dont swan into the office making demands, expecting to attend a fashion show, interview the latest Hollywood star, or start taking control of the restaurant kitchen like the winner of MasterChef. Work experience is just that experience. Sure, you wont be given loads of responsibility or the glamour jobs, but at least you are getting a feel for the industry, meeting new people and finding out what work is actually like. Everyone has to start somewhere. The employer is doing you, and your school, a favour by offering to pass some of their wisdom on to you and help you determine which career path you wish to walk down in the future. Treat them with the respect and gratitude they deserve. Who knows, if theyre really happy with you, they might agree to be a referee on your resume and help you get your next real job. Make the most of it fruchtwein importantly, learn from the experience. Even if you dont enjoy the job, at least its helping you work out what you dont want to do. Plus, work experience is extremely character building. You will have met new people, gotten out of your comfort zone and learnt how to stand on your own two feet If you enjoy your work experience stint, be sure to stay in touch. It could lead to further work experience or even a job. ResourcesMy first resumeCover letter for my first jobCareer Insider StoriesShelley Lask - Body Positive Health & FitnessInterested in becoming a?Human Resources OfficerGeneral ManagerBusiness ManagerAccountantOffice AdministratorPopular Career Searchesuni tips and trickstips for surviving university lifeyear 10 work experience sydneywork experience melbourne ideaswork experience ideas sydney CoursesBachelor of Social WorkEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Health AdministrationEnquire Online Enquire OnlineBachelor of Criminal JusticeEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Allied Health AssistanceEnquire Online Enquire OnlineHelen IsbisterRelated ArticlesBrowse moreCareer changeCareer counsellorCourses compared from the underrated to the overblownWhat do you want to get out of further study Employment prospects? A good salary? Job satisfaction? Marni looks past the hype to help you find all three.Government study loansFund your future payment options for further educationThey say studying is an investment in your future.ChristmasCoworkersWhat To Buy For Your Office Kris KringleAt this time of year, office workers around the world are racking their collective brains about what on earth to buy their Kris Kringle.

Cover Letter Examples for 2019 [+Writing Tips]

titelseite Letter Examples for 2019 +Writing TipsCover Letter Examples for 2019 Cover Letter Examples for 2019No matter what stage you are at in your career, a titelbild letter is an important document to demonstrate your experience and fit for the lokalitt you are applying. Its a way to explain specific scenarios and call out essential skills that arent already covered in your resume. When crafting the content for your cover letter, its critical that you keep it concise, even leveraging bullet points to point out key messages. The hiring manager does not have time to sit down and read a memoir, they may only have a few short minutes to review your application in its entirety.When you are a recent graduate applying for an internship or early in your career, your cover letter should contain appropriate scenarios that demonstrate your ability to perform the responsibilities listed in the job description. Refer to a time you took the lead on an important project or how you introduced a new system to improve productivity. Once you get more experience, your cover letter is a great place to call out key statistics and sales growth numbers, because youll have more measurable results to draw upon.Your cover letter is your opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition. Use this coveted space to demonstrate your experience, knowledge, and performance. Leave the hiring manager with no doubt that you could perform the job duties at the highest level. To help you craft the best cover letter, were providing you with some examples to review. Let the content inspire your own cover letter. Think about the most important things you have done in your career thus far and use these experiences to your advantage in your cover letter.Its essential that you customize each cover letter to the job that you are applying. After all, each position values different experiences and responsibilities, and you will want to showcase different situations and career highlights based on th e specific job you are seeking. This will only increase your chances of securing that coveted interview.Follow these basic guidelines and get inspired by the following Cover Letter Examples to grab the hiring managers attention and give yourself a better chance of landing an interview.

How to Deal With Catty Co-workers - The Muse

How to Deal With Catty Co-workers - The MuseHow to Deal With Catty Co-workers Second to having a terrible boss is having terrible co-workers. It makes going into your job day in and day out unappealing at best, anxiety-inducing at worst. But what about co-workers that you neither love nor hate but whom you find unpleasant for other reasons?Condescending co-workers are brutal, but catty ones arent much better. Their vicious or spiteful comments make you cringe and you wonder how no one else has elendiced how obnoxious these people are. If youre lucky, you dont have to work with these people regularly. Your interactions may be few and far between, but, nonetheless, when someone rubs you the wrong way, it can be hard to get past it. That one time you hear one of your colleagues say something insulting about another co-workers outfit is the moment that you stop seeing that rolle as a whole, imperfect human being who misspoke. Now all you see is a unhappy, one-dimensional person whos obvi ously so insecure that shes taken to criticizing someone elses choice of clothing. If you know for a fact that the offending party is really, truly hateful, and a lost cause, theres not much you can do besides avoid the mean person. Of course, if the behavior is unarguably egregious, you may want to find a way to speak to someone higher up at the company whos better equipped to handle it. This doesnt make you a tattle-tale. If the situation is toxic and you think someone will listen, you should seek that person out.But, if your catty co-workers are simply that and are fruchtwein likely harmless apart from a few inappropriate comments or insults, theres a way you can deal with it without driving yourself mad thats always worked wonders for me. What I like to do is start with a look. I call it the raised eyebrow. Know what Im talking about? When someone says something unbecoming about someone else, either to me or within my earshot, I fix him with a look that says, You did not serious ly just say that? without actually saying anything aloud. I do that and walk away, and Im telling you, I have a 99% success rate of making my point without ever opening my mouth. I started doing this because like a lot of you, I wasnt comfortable speaking up in the face of cattiness. Even now, Im still not great at it. I worry what the other person will think. Im concerned about seeming like a goody-two-shoes. And, sometimes, Im honestly happier avoiding conflict and workplace drama. And so, the easier, albeit less courageous move is silently expressing my discomfort.But, by all means, if youve had it up to here and are comfortable vocalizing your dismay, go for it. Lets say Donald and Leah are chatting over a cup of coffee in the kitchen when you walk in to get some water and happen to overhear Donald say, Yeah, Jason could do so much better. Hes so out of her league. Leah responds, Totally, shes not even that pretty.Jason is another co-worker, and youre pretty sure theyre talking about his fianc, who you all just met at the company happy hour. Youre so appalled that you stop in your tracks, turn to the offending speakers, and say, Im sure you didnt mean for me to hear that, and, truthfully, I wish I hadnt either. Its not nice.You can say this without assuming a position of authority or place on a pedestal youre speaking up because youre a compassionate person and you know those kinds of remarks have no place in your office. If you receive an apology, accept it and move on. You dont need to deliver a diatribe (have you never, ever said something about someone else that you know you shouldnt have?). More often than not (hopefully), your co-workers are only guilty of occasional cattiness. Give them the chance to show you that its not their M.O. And as for you? The next time your own insecurity creeps in, threatening to have you opening your mouth and saying something regrettable, think again. Being known as the catty person in the office whos best avoided is no t a reputation you want. Photo of catty co-workers courtesy of Martin Barraud/Getty Images.

Who Has a Right to Repair Your Farm or Medical Tools

Who Has a Right to Repair Your Farm or Medical Tools Who Has a Right to Repair Your Farm or Medical Tools Who Has a Right to Repair Your Farm or Medical Tools?Theres never a good time for something to break. But for farmers, who have a couple critical weeks each year to harvest their crops, a broken tractor can leave this years crops rotting in the field.Guy Mills, Jr., a farmer in Ansley, Neb.., owns five high-tech tractors from John Deere. And for Mills, breakdowns are a common occurrenceand a vexing and expensive headache. He has to wait for a John Deere-authorized repairman to come and fix the tractor, which can take hours or even days. With the ripe crop waiting in the field, every extra minute of delay creates the potential for lost revenue.Mills says he could save time and money if he could troubleshoot tractors himself, but he has no access to the built-in software diagnostic tools. Those are accessible only to authorized tafelgeschirr people.Ill spend somewhere around $100,0 00 a year on repair costs. About 60 percent of that is labor, Mills said, adding the expense could be halved if he could diagnose and fix problems on his own.Read ASMEs Top Story 6 Ways Engineers Heal a Broken Heart Modern tractors bristle with high-tech sensors and monitors. Repairing one typically involves running diagnostic software on in-cab displays. reputation John DeereThe problem is so widespread that Nebraska farmers have taken it up with their state legislators, hoping to gain the legal right to access unterstellung diagnostic tools. These farmers are the latestand some of the most unlikelymembers of a grassroots movement that is lobbying for what they call the right to repair. The movements goal is to give consumers the legal right to acquire parts and fix machines or devices that they have purchased, whether its a $300 phone or a $300,000 tractor.We have smart homes, we have smart farms. In rural areas we do not have the ability to drive across town to get tech support. Its important to try to bring more local repair opportunities, just like in automobiles, said Lydia Brasch, a state senator representing a district north of Omaha, who sponsored the fair repair bill with the goal to help farmers in the state.Farmers dominated the first public hearing of the bill in Lincoln in 2015, and were surprised to binnensee lawyers from Apple present, opposing the bill.Apple is notorious for limiting the ability of consumers to repair their phonesgoing so far as to use screws that required a special driver to take out. Some consumers have accused the company of forcing users to turn to Apple for repairs.Mills realized that John Deere and Apple had the same goal protecting the after-the-sale market, which can provide a lucrative revenue stream. The companies are the sole supplier of replacements parts and have a chokehold on maintenance and repairs.Listen to the latest episode of ASME TechCast Breakthrough Could Bring New Cancer Treatment Right-to-repair activi sts want to break that monopoly with a healthy repair ecosystem so consumers can get repairs and parts at reasonable cost. But they wont get it without a fight.Components are so highly integrated in electronics and equipment that they are difficult for owners to fix. Image iFixitThe underlying trend is the manufacturer wants to control what people are doing with the device, said Kyle Wiens, CEO of repair firm iFixit, and a top right-to-repair activist. Were saying, Youve already sold it to me, youve already made the money its mine, stop acting like its yours. Owner or Licensee?The right-to-repair movement is politically active in about 20 states and led by Repair.org, whose leader, Gay Gordon-Byrne, cites Apple as giving the movement legs. Apple has been accused of engineering iPhone batteries that died out every few years, and with software updates that slowed down handsets with deteriorating batteries.What Apple didnt tell anybody that all they needed was a new battery, Gordon-Byr ne said. If they cant sell you a $1,000 new phone and have to sell you a $29 battery, do the math, they are not making nearly as much money.The complications come from integralrechnung of technology into devices. The wave of digitization is giving makers more control over the hardware, with software controlling mechanical parts. Software is already becoming the brains of autonomous vehicles, controlling the cars actions, with mechanical parts more a means to an end.Increasingly youre going to have software on any given part. Youre going to need to sync it up. Even tire repair, people are having challenges. You add an aftermarket tire, and then you need the tire pressure sensor, and thats got to be calibrated, Wiens said.When manufacturers such as John Deere claim copyright and ownership on the software associated with the machinery they sell, the end-user agreements that purchasers must approve turns supposed owners into licensees. Tractor owners cant mess with John Deeres code or a ccess it in an unauthorized manner without violating of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the 1998 intellectual property law.Read ASMEs Long-form story on Robots Robots to the RescueSuch technology is a double-edged sword for potato farmer Andrew Mickelsen, from Roberts, Idaho, as it has raisednot cuthis costs. Mickelsen faces the same issues as Mills He wants access to diagnostic software to swiftly diagnose and fix problems on his 25 John Deere tractors. While no one likes to pay extra for parts, his greatest qualm is with difficulty in diagnosing the problem.Technology has helped us in drastic ways whether its the global positioning system or the infinitely variable transmission. That has helped increase our productivity, Mickelsen said. But at the same time, its made these tractors more unreliable and much more costly and expensive to fix. Some fixes that we have on these tractors cost more than a tractor would have cost 20 years ago.In old days, diagnosing tractor problems was easy, as only so many things could go wrong. For a hydraulic valve it used to be only a simple linkage assembly, Mickelsen said. Now theres a computer, electronic control valves, and wiring all over the place. When it goes bad, I almost dont even know where to start.Mickelsen says that a number of small things breaking or malfunctioning have cumulatively cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. Once he had to wait hours for a technician to come and replace a fuse the part was less than $10, but the service call cost him hundreds. In addition, he lost more than $1,000 in downtime.Independent repair geschftlicher umganges may be threatened as OEMs exert more control over the supply of parts needed to fix machinery. Image Radwell International As owners of the equipment we should be able to have access to the information on them and be able fix them, Mickelsen said. I understand they try to claim the software is owned by them and therefore were only leasing it. I am not as king to reprogram the tractor, simply to be able to do the same diagnosis the dealership does. I feel that as owners of $250,000 piece of machinery, we have a right to the same information.John Deere did not respond to the request for comment.One group trying to bridge the gap between equipment makers, dealerships, and farmers is R2R Solutions. A coalition between the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and Equipment Dealers Association, R2R Solutions promises to provide farmers the right to repair their machinery without modifying key parts by 2021.Manufacturers and dealers of farm equipment have a shared incentive with customers to minimize downtime and maximize productivity. Manufacturers have invested so much in cutting-edge technology for farm equipment, which is available to farmers, said Stephanie See, director of state government and industry relations at AEM. Technology is already revolutionizing farming, but the industry must respond to the farmers needs with tools to d iagnose and repair machines.Farmers will have access to on-board diagnostics tools via in-cab display, wireless interface, or electronic diagnostic service toolsand training on how to use them. Manufacturers and dealers will also make available manuals, product guides, and other service information.Read ASMEs Long-form story on Renewable Energy Disruptors Startup SunsA number of manufacturers already make many of these materials available. By 2021or in some cases earliercustomers should be able to expect the same type of information for their tractors and combines across manufacturing brands. It is an appropriate solution that makes so-called right-to-repair legislation unnecessary, See said.One right the farmers wont get from R2R Solutions is the ability to modify embedded software code, reset information in key parts like electronic control units, or change equipment that could affect safety compliance or emissions standards. Thats something some farmers are doing today, hacking t he firmware and swapping in code from Ukraine so that the tractors can run faster. Since the machine wasnt designed to go that fast, the engines wind up exceeding emissions standards.The California state government provides significant funding to farmers to replace their older equipment with new low emission tractors, said Nathan Green, CEO of Belkorp AG, a farm equipment dealer in Modesto, Calif. If a non-authorized modification is done under the guise of repair but is actually seeking to increase horsepower, emission levels will be sacrificed.Medical Device MaintenanceThe medical device industry seems worlds unbekannt from farm equipment, but its also grappling with right to repair issues.For decades, hospitals have repaired medical devices in-house or via service organizations. Device makers now are asking the U.S. Congress and Food and Drug Administration to add more rules and regulation around in-house and independent repairs. The impetus, they say, is concern over patient safe ty, but the result would be to lock hospitals into expensive maintenance contracts.Many smaller hospitals, which are already financially strapped, have come out supporting the right to repair for imaging equipment, robots, and other medical devices (though not implants such as pacemakers). The hospitals contend that in-house or service organization repairs will save money, which they can apply to providing better care.Read More on Looking Ahead Who Are the Engineers of the Future?For instance, according to Stephen Grimes, managing partner at Strategic Healthcare Technology Associates LLC, a consultancy in Swampscott, Mass., manufacturers can charge anywhere between 10 and 15 percent of the cost of the device for maintenance, while in-house or service organization repairs can be done at 4 to 6 percent of the cost.A DaVinci surgical robot costs about $1.5 million, and youre likely to spend anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 a year and they will not provide any service information to t he clinical or biomedical engineering staff at a hospital, Grimes said. You get locked into paying that kind of money, he added.Timeliness also matters a lot in hospitals, and the nature of medical equipment todayfew mechanical components and more electronics that allow for software-based diagnosticsmeans repairs can be made quickly once a technician arrives.Its more difficult for small and rural hospitals to have the in-house repair capability. They would hire small and independent vendors, said Danny Chun, a representative for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, which has come in favor of the right to repair. At this point in time, there is no evidence that medical device maintenance by manufacturers results in safer outcomes.Integration is KeyThe reluctance of companies to share software diagnostics and sensor data has created a barrier to trust, say some equipment owners. For instance, while advanced farm equipment is studded with sensors that collect data on soil prop erties as a field is being worked, that data goes to John Deere, not the farmer.Collected data is also being used for remote diagnostics, and that concerns farmers like Mills. Apple used software to artificially slow down the iPhone, and he doesnt want John Deere to use firmware or remote software diagnostics to degrade the performance of his tractor in an attempt to force him to buy new equipment.Software-based diagnostics isnt the issue for Radwell International, a maintenance and repair company based in Willingboro, N.J. Technicians make up 25 percent of its staff, so the right to repair is critical to their operation. In a majority of cases, troubleshooting is done the conventional wayby opening up a machine, building a test fixture, and conducting the repair.Integration is key to a lot of manufacturers business strategies, when they have their products interrelated to each other, and they are working together, they become difficult to replace inside one of these automated machi nes, said Jason Larsen, director of quality assurance at Radwell.Radwell stocks parts to tackle most repairs, but increasingly, parts have to be purchased directly from the original equipment manufacturer. In one case, Larsen said, Radwell identified a problem in a machine, but had to wait for a replacement part to arrive from a manufacturer before applying the fix.In another case, an industrial robotics company required a customer to buy a new robot, which could take eight to 12 weeks to deliver.Both incidents caused factory downtime and lost revenue.Read More on Engineering Perseverance Young Engineer Takes Great Strides with Prosthetic FootFor activists, the auto market provides a template for the right to repair that other industries could follow. In Massachusetts, the 2012 Automotive Right to Repair Law protects vehicle owners or independent repair facilities that want to diagnose and repair problems. Automakers subsequently agreed to apply similar rules across all 50 states st arting in 2018.The goal is to plug a device into a receptacle and get an error code that provides a diagnosis.The car industry is pretty good, said iFixits Wiens. You can take your car to any mechanic and they can fix it. There are other pockets of industry that are working well. In PCs and laptopslook at Dell and HPno one is having problems fixing those machines.Unfortunately, new issues are emerging. In 2017, General Motors sued auto parts maker Dorman for copyright infringement under terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, claiming that it sold an aftermarket transmission with unauthorized GM software. Self-driving cars, which would be controlled entirely by software, may one-day be subject to similar restrictions on independent repairs or upgrades.These sorts of claims, whether from manufacturers or industry lobbyists, must be squared with the traditional sense of private ownership, says Brasch, the Nebraska state senator.They are powerful, whether you are looking at the technology from your laptop, to your phones, to your tractors, she said. Were getting into autonomous vehicles. Now what? There has to be an evolution to truly assess ownership. The mindset needs to change.Agam Shah is an independent technology writer in New York City.Read Latest Exclusive Stories from ASME.org Penn Engineering Creates Super Strong Porous MetalLighter Axle Reinvents Drivetrain. Does Detroit Care?Game Theory Helps Robot Design Technology is already revolutionizing farming, but the industry must respond to the farmers needs with tools to diagnose and repair machines.Stephanie See, Association of Equipment Manufacturers