Monthly Archives: August 2018

College should be a great experience for everyone. Deciding to go to college out of a country can bring unforseen barriers that some must consider before traveling to a foreign place to get an education. Aside from obvious shifts in culture norms and learning the differences in collectivistic and individualist societies, language barriers may be the hardest thing one will face when traveling to a new place. Education is first and foremost, communication. College is a communication experience for students. For the first time students are treated as adults and such, are expected to behave and speak like adults, but for foreign students that may not know the language, the barriers they face can feel deafening to them. Not being able to communicate with people in the area one is living can bring about feelings of isolation and hurt. Humans are communicative creatures who thrive in a community setting. One of the best ways to get over this language barrier is to learn the native language of the area.

Foreign students from any country traveling to Japan must learn at least basic Japanese, whether they take classes learn Japanese online . Because Japanese is a symbolic language, it may be hard to read in the case that one does not know even the pronunciation or comprehension of the written language. Learning how to read and write in Japanese can also help in business communication. Business deals and negotiations cannot often happen if one does not possess the skills necessary to speak both languages.

Bilingual people are also often regarded as getting higher paying jobs due to the fact that they are a large asset to companies. Companies wouldn’t have to hire interpreters if they higher workers who speak multiple languages. Since english is a largely spoken language across the world, it is beneficial for english speakers to learn japanese. Although Japan is a smaller country, it is still a large economic global powerhouse. For this reason, japanese is a crucial language to learn, especially if one is a student there.

Foreign students in Japan should take extra efforts to learn Japanese as it holds many benefits to them. First, if a student wishes to order on a menu, read store prices and offers, it’s important they learn the basics of the language first. Since students already have a packed schedule with their classroom work, deciding to do online education can be greater benefit because they can learn at their own pace and on their own time. Learning online also means students can pick from a list of highly qualified instructors. Although they can pick their classes and professors in higher education institutions, they have more options on pricing and times when learning online. Many websites will show how many lessons the instructor has taught before to give students an idea of what they will be like and even includes a biography of the instructor. Online instructors often have their rates listed on their profile so students can search for an instructor that fits within their budget. Foreign students may even see that their education experience is better once they know they better understand the native language.

Although it’s an invaluable time in one’s life, university nevertheless has a very real value – for some students, that could be to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. On top of tuition, there is the matter of housing, and on top of that you have to feed yourself, entertain yourself and buy a pirate’s ransom of textbooks. It’s no wonder students worry about post-school student debt, especially given the unreliable job market waiting at the end.

It all begs the hypothetical question: what would your time at UBC be like if money was no issue? Would you be more focused on your studies or less focused? Would you be more primed to succeed, given the massive uptick in living quality, or would you lose interest in success without the pressures of financial failure (and the possibility of wealth)? It’s an interesting question, and one that has very few proper case studies.

Sure, there are students for whom tuition and university-related expenses are fully paid, but those students are still beholden to something (in most cases, the approval of their parents, who spent all that money). A better case study – albeit a much rarer one – would be students who came into a massive fortune all on their own, while at school. How did they react? What did they do? This article will look at a couple students who did the seemingly impossible, and won the lottery while in university. Then let’s speculate (or daydream rather) about what UBC would be like if you suddenly came into millions of dollars.

Consider Sarah Cockings

In an interview for the Guardian, Sarah Cockings, a UK student who won over $5 million in the lottery, admits to losing interest in school after she won the jackpot. She turned her attention to a modeling career, as well as a dog-grooming business because… well, why not? Since she won the jackpot, she’s won more lottery prizes, to the tune of around $65,000, so perhaps what she should be doing is writing a book on tips for winning the lottery – she clearly has a knack for it!

Consider Michael Garcia

Then there’s Michael Garcia, the California student who won over $2 million in the Powerball lottery. It’s actually a pretty heart-warming story, since Garcia only found out about his massive windfall while working his night shift job. He did his best to put the winnings out of his mind and focus on his upcoming exams, stating, “I keep telling my Mom that it’s still not a lot (of money), the way the economy is.” With that attitude, he’ll probably stretch that money pretty far.

How Would You Spend Your UBC Days?

If money was no issue, how would that change your university experience? For one, there wouldn’t be the constant pall of student debt anxiety around you, since you could handily pay your tuition, and still have millions left over. It’s a safe bet that many students, if money was no issue, would go away on the weekends and explore what BC has to offer, taking up surfing in Tofino, or snowboarding your Saturdays away at Whistler. There are a lot of students who would leverage their newfound money to fund passion projects, or go out partying in Vancouver.

Another consideration a lot of students would probably make is whether they would change majors. Those on the track to a very practical degree, like business, might opt to do something they’re more passionate about, like literature. Or those in a literature degree might opt to change their major to a business degree, in the hopes of learning how to manage and grow their finances, and perhaps even start a business. It’s difficult to tell how sudden wealth would affect you, and surely everyone is affected differently.

What would university life be like if money was no issue? Ultimately, it’s probably just one of those hypothetical questions that will have to remain hypothetical. You could get lucky playing the lottery, but you can’t really bank on that happening. It’s worth exploring the questions though: Would you stay in, or drop out? Would you follow your dreams or focus on growing your assets. However you answer, one thing’s for sure – everyone would be paying off their student debts.

The workforce of today is teeming with eager prospective employees and companies that want to expand on their company talent. There has never been a more substantial surplus of talent than there is in this modern era, and while that talent is seemingly leaking out of every facet and crack in society, employers are still claiming that they are unable to find people to hire. For every tale of an employer that says they cannot find good candidates, there are a dozen or more stories of qualified individuals that are fighting to even be noticed by prospective employers. However, once the lucky candidates are in the doors and become employees, one problem evolves into another. The skills gap in most companies. As companies ‘struggle’ to find the right individuals for the jobs they have available, they often hire out of necessity more than the confidence in having found the perfect person for the position. This is not to say that all confidence in their hires goes out the windows, but more that there is nearly always a lingering disconnect between who the job should go to, and who it ultimately ends up going to. This is in no way the employee’s fault, but it is something that all employers should be seeking to remedy.

Hiring the right people for the position and the company is first and foremost the key marketing strategy that all companies should invest time and money in. Companies can pay for all the training in the world, but none of it will make any difference if the employees genuinely do not want to be there. With that being said, the first (and arguably the most crucial) step to ensuring and employee’s ability to meet and exceed business goals and close the skills gap within the company relies on the employer’s ability to understand exactly what their expectations of candidates will be, how to achieve them, and how they want them to proceed should they get the job.

There is a disconnect between the expectations and needs of employers and companies in today’s economy, and the current skills of the world’s professionals. Ensuring training effectiveness requires consistent feedback models and methods and a drive from both employer and employee to better their work performance and the company as a whole. To close a skills gap in a company, employers must be willing to invest in the appropriate training to get their employees up to speed on the expectations and methods of success. This is especially important because as the world changes, so does the economy. As such, companies that want to continue to meet business goals and drive themselves into the future as relevant and stand out businesses have to adapt – and that means adapting the way that they train their people.

Employee engagement relies on company culture. Even the best companies cannot hope to be successful if the way they function does not take into account their own people. One aspect of company culture that is important in ensuring that employees meet and exceed business goals is that of open and honest communication. Just as employees must feel comfortable in being honest with their employer, employers should go out of their way to initiate and maintain a work environment that encourages and fully supports honesty – especially when that honesty is directed at them and how to improve the business. A similar approach should be taken in response to employee improvement and feedback.

When it becomes necessary to give feedback to employees and insist that they take the appropriate steps to improve their work performance, instead of simply telling employees that they need to improve their relative skills, it is crucial for employers and companies to be able to, and be willing to, outline why it is that these skills need improvement. Employers that do this find that their staff are more willing and able to adapt to feedback and better themselves and their professional performance, resulting in business goals being not only met but exceeded at times.

Shining skills are all in the lessons and training that individuals receive by their employers, but more than that, they are the key to the longevity and solidity of any company. No company can expect to continue to thrive if their employees do not have the skills to adapt to an evolving world. The skills gap in so many companies can be easily remedied by investing in adequate training tools and consistent feedback models to boost employee engagement and to ensure trust between employer and employee. Without the loyalty and dedication of the staff, even the best companies go under. For employees to achieve business goals and to close the skill gap in any given company, there must be training, determination, open and honest communication, and succession planning. If a company enlists in each of these strategies to close the skills gap and boost employee engagement, the continued and exceeding success of business goals – and ultimately the business – will be inevitable.