First Impressions: The Imperative Means to Acquire a Job Malcolm Gladwell’s The New-Boy Network is an article that describes the importance of first impressions. He first explains how several people (including himself) that interviewed Nolan Myers, who recently graduated from Harvard University, liked him after spending only a short time with him. Gladwell’s first impressions of him were that he was “smart and articulate and funny” (Gladwell 68). Gladwell also explains that when Nolan Myers asked Steve Ballmer, the C.E.O. of Microsoft at the time, a question during one of Ballmer’s speech, Ballmer was so impressed by his question that he wanted to hire him. Gladwell then explains how Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal conducted experiments to “examine the non-verbal aspects of good teaching” (Gladwell 70). They found that observers who made quick judgments of the teacher were similar to the judgments that the students made who took that class the entire semester. Gladwell states that first impressions could “matter too much” (Gladwell 72), …show more content…
In order to compete with other candidates, a potential employee must make a good first impression so that he/she can have a step over the other candidates. This upcoming summer will be the second time that I work at Federated Investors as an intern. In order to acquire these internships, I had to participate in several interviews. I knew ahead of time that there were several other candidates applying for the same internship. Not only did I have to focus my preparation towards my resume, but I also had to focus on making a good first impression. I made sure that I gave proper handshakes. I also was charismatic, competent, and easy to talk to and gave impressive answers. Even though I might have had the same qualifications as the other candidates, I believe that my great first impression helped me to acquire the
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger was implementing its tenth mission. However, the spaceship exploded after 73 seconds because the O-ring seal failed. In this technological era, countless disasters are bound to occur frequently. Malcolm Gladwell’s essay “Blowup: Who Can Be Blamed for A Disaster Like the Challenger Explosion? No One, and We’d Better Get Used to It,” suggests that people should not be surprised by catastrophes, and at the same time, they should be prepared for them to happen at any time. People often make decisions with acknowledged risks; the occurrence of a disaster is too complex; and finally, people always place too much trust in technology.
Malcolm Gladwell, in the nonfiction book Outliers, claims that success stems from where you come from, and to find that you must look beyond the individual. Malcolm Gladwell develops and supports his claim by defining an outlier, then providing an example of how Stewart Wolf looked beyond the individual, and finally by giving the purpose of the book Outliers as a whole. Gladwell’s purpose is to explain the extenuating circumstances that allowed one group of people to become outliers in order to inform readers on how to be successful. The author writes in a serious and factual tone for the average person in society of both genders and all ethnicities who wants to become successful in life.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote the book, David and Goliath and published it October 1, 2013. Around this time in 2013: Lance armstrong admitted that he was doing drugs in all of his Tour de France that he won in his cycling career. President Obama was inaugurated for his second term. There was the Boston Marathon Bombings, massive tornadoes hitting Oklahoma, NSA prism leaks, security breaching, and the Trayvon Martin case. Miley Cyrus just broke from her Disney channel appearance, Pope Francis which is the first pope from Latin America, Nelson Mandela died this year, and there were issues of the legalization of gay marriage.
Malcolm Gladwell, in order to make his argument seem credible, utilizes specific writing techniques. Gladwell frequently uses anecdotes about successful individuals as examples to further strengthen his argument. Gladwell write that, “One warm, spring day in May of 2007, the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Vancouver Giants met for the Memorial Cup hockey championships in Vancouver, British Columbia” (Gladwell 15). Frequently, Gladwell starts each chapter with a story about an individual group. These stories showcase the events and lives of successful people and are followed by Gladwell’s analysis of their success. By using specific, descriptive anecdotes, Gladwell is proving the credibility of his argument. Instead of just reciting his analysis,
Success has a different meaning for every person on Earth. The majority of people define success as an individual’s “attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence” (Success). In accordance with the rest of society, Malcolm Gladwell defines success as an individual’s accumulation of “a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities” given by the environment to help a person succeed in the business world (Gladwell 155). Advantages come in the forms of birth dates, learning styles, work ethics, demographic luck, and job needs. Similarly, opportunities given by the environment circulate around a person’s ability to complete “ten thousand hours… of greatness” (41). Before reading Gladwell’s book “Outliers: The Story of Success”, I would have complied with society’s and Gladwell’s
Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers includes a section based on the Bible's “Matthew Effect” and a self-fulfilling prophecy. This chapter elaborates on“the Matthew Effect” and how if anyone gives certain opportunities at the right time, their experiences will be furthered than others through training and more opportunities being opened to them. Gladwell touches on this using the example of hockey players given the advancement of only being born in the early months of the year and then those kids get trained exceptionally better than others for this simple reason of them being born in these months. It shows how society is simple-minded and always set to have an outcome, it’s not only random at this point, it’s always decided upon and furthered. Kids
Malcom Gladwell, is an author of numerous New York Times Best Sellers, who uses several techniques in his writing to clarify and support his argument. Gladwell’s techniques are using stories to appeal to the reader’s emotions. Using scientific facts and research to logically strengthen his argument. Also, writing about controversial issues to establish credibility with the readers. These techniques are found in “Offensive Play”, “Small Change”, and “Harlan, Kentucky”, works by Gladwell.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, Gladwell argues the true story of success. In chapters three and four, he emphasizes main factors successful people need. The intelligence of a person is not a good predictor of how well the person will be, instead, the family background and the environment a person grows up in play important roles in his or her way to success. In chapter three, Gladwell first introduces Chris Langan, a man who has a high IQ and attended the TV show one vs. one hundred. Then, Gladwell goes on to introduce an experimental “Stanford Binet” by Professor Lewis Terman at Stanford University, he tracks a group of children with high IQ scores. According to the results of Terman’s intelligence test, Gladwell points out people only
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Troublemakers” is an article in which he explores the way societies make generalizations. Malcolm explains how Ontario has banned pit bulls due to a boy being attacked and people viewing that one example to be enough to distinguish all pit bulls as vicious and bloodthirsty. He goes on to employ that all dogs even resembling pit bulls or that have some pit bull mixed into them have been banned as well, because anything that looks like a pit bull has now been deemed dangerous for the people in that society. Not only does Malcolm point out other ways societies generalize people, like racial profiling a terrorist, but he distinguishes how steps could have been taken to eliminate the threat of the pit bull but it seemed to just
“People don't rise from nothing....It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't”(Gladwell 18).
Gladwell’s chief judgement is that ranking systems, that are heterogenous and claim to be comprehensive, cannot be employed to accurately or fairly represent all parties. Gladwell’s key reasons for his judgement are that colleges, especially, cannot be ranked according to a specific set of standards because there exists no direct way to measure the quality, success rate, and the level of challenge for students.
What would happen if our world today was monotonous, sorrowful, and grey? What if no one was here to form new creations, and think of bold ideas? Would triumph have a definition? Would there be outliers in our world today? We are constantly thinking, always generating new ideas and forming new thoughts. People even proceed by creating inventions, and building objects no one would of thought would be made today. But, what we don’t perceive is how they became successful and how they took advantage of the moment that was given to them. In the novel, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, the author explains that an outlier is one who is given an opportunity and knows how to take advantage. He believes that in order for a person to be successful they need at least ten thousand hours of hard work and effort in order to succeed at a skill. It is clear to me that like Malcolm Gladwell, I believe
Once in a while, it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. Gladwell believes that cultural legacies are powerful forces. Cultural legacies are the customs of a family or a group of people, that is inherited through the generations. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, Cultural legacies is something that’s been passed down for generations to generations. It depends on what type of legacies was passed that will affect a person. If a good legacy was passed down, someone can keep that legacy going by trying hard at keeping the legacies going. If a bad legacy was passed down; I believe that cultural legacies can be altered or changed, by good working habits, determination, and a positive mindset to succeed. Culture can affect either positively or negatively, but we have the power to turn our cultural
We all understand what success is, but what allows for a person to become successful? Malcolm Gladwell wrote his book Outliers to study this topic and settle once and for all why some people are more successful than others. Gladwell uses the success stories of people throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to discover just exactly what it is that allows for one to be successful. He explains that there is much more to becoming successful than just natural talent and skill. Gladwell states in Outliers that success is the product of the time we were born, our dedication, and most of all where we come from.
First impressions are very important to your every day life. They are the basis of how relationships start and how you are seen by other people. People, based on first impressions, form opinions. The opinions could begin many things and lead towards success or these opinions could be ones that are misleading and have a negative impact on how people relate to you. First impression are very important on people’s social life, in your education and in employment. In your social life, first impressions come from your friends, family, and even new people who come into your life. First impressions for your education consists of your teachers or classmates when you are taking a class. First impressions on employment go from your current co-workers, boss, and former employers. The are very significant in job interviews. First impressions are important, but are not always the final word.