A new job is on the mind of Kelley Muir at Managing Kelley. Kelly's blog conversation has been about the first few weeks in a new job as a Project Manager. She decided a "coat of confidence" was just what she needed in the beginning. Kelly describes her second week:

The second day I realized the only way I was going to survive that week was to put on this imaginary “coat” of confidence, when I went into meetings, so I could give the perception “I know what I am doing”, even though I knew nothing about the projects, staff, or issues they were having. By the end of the first week I had been introduced to everyone, and had started to be introduced to a few select projects. I joked around with Ian that I was emulating him- as I always tell him he is cocky and he says he is just better.

I have to say the imaginary coat was definitely the trick I needed. I mean, when it came down to it (finding out after starting the projects) I do know what I am doing. I was able to pinpoint the internal issues they were having in the first week, and over the past week we have started to resolve them. People are actually looking to me for advice and assistance, and they take my advice seriously. I think I also might intimidate people slightly, which is something completely new and foreign to me. I think going into this job confident in my position has made all the difference with this job.

Nitya Narasimhan from Musings on Mobile, Technology, Media and Social Perception is talking about a book this week. The book that caught Nitya's eye was written in 1979. It is Think Like a Man, Act like a Lady, Work Like a Dog. She described the book:

I think many of the simple dictionary-like entries in the book (each defines a single word, and a couple of lines indicating its relevance to career women) provide insights that remain relevant today for women who are pursuing careers in competitive industry or academic environments.

Here's one of my current favorites, a guideline from the 'Think Like a Man' section:

“Praise. Don't expect it. Never ask for it. If you are doing a good job, you will hear nothing. If you are doing a poor job, you will hear something quite soon. If you know you are doing a poor job and you hear nothing, update your resume.”

And another gem:

“Experience. Wise people respect it. Fools rely on it. It always comes in second behind a better idea.

This book does not seem to be in wide circulation today, but if you have a library nearby -- pick it up and give it a quick read. I guarantee it will leave you with a smile on your face and more than a few new insights into what it means to be 'professional' in a work environment.”

Adrienne Doss, the conversationalist at SEO Woman, is pondering questions of ethics in search engine optimizations. She describes the dilemma presented by some of the seedier SEO tactics. Then she says:

Should I report them for spam? Should I report them for selling organic links? Should I just keep my nose to the grindstone and stop worrying about their shady techniques?

These questions keep running through my mind, but they’re a lot easier to deal with than the next set of questions:

Should I start stuffing keywords into my own pages? Should I buy their organic links? What’s the point of being a white-hat SEO when the spamgoblins are clearly not getting caught?

At UnGeek It, the site where we are all smarter than the machines, the anonymous blogger used Blog Action Day to talk about the proper way to dispose of all your old electronics. She said:

Upgraded your computer or television lately? The combination of falling prices, increasing capabilities and those cool giant screens means that many of us have.

What did you do with your old equipment? Electronic devices like these in our landfills and dumps pose a significant environmental threat:

• cathode ray tube (CRT) devices (including televisions and computer monitors;
• LCD desktop monitors;
• laptop computers with LCD displays;
• LCD & plasma televisions; and
• portable DVD players with LCD screens

Discarded computers and consumer electronics (often called e-waste) are the fastest growing component of our waste, growing almost 3 times faster than our overall solid waste stream.

Later in the article, she got into the details of where all the electronics could safely be recycled. A great conversation for Blog Action Day, from my greenish point of view.