Microsoft – Paul's Tech Talk

The Dark Side of Job Hunting: Are You Being Tricked by Fake Interviews?

PaulJuly 23, 2024

Job search by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

The Rise of Fake Jobs Listing!

There is a rise of fake jobs and even companies who have no intention of hiring anyone. CBS news did a talk about this on their website but I’m certain people still don’t know about this. It’s where companies. I am sure it isn’t being done all the time but i do think it’s something companies are doing that I have seen in the past. I’ve seen companies who do the interview but can’t find that one perfect candidate because they don’t want to have to train the potential employee.

I’ve heard all the excuses why the company wouldn’t do this but I suspect that companies are doing for one reason or another and are using potential interviewers as a way to gather data and also to try to find that one special candidate.

Job Interviews and red flags!

The real issue is understanding the red flags that are being done to tell you that it might not be an actual interview. They will do this for reasons like they want to learn from the interviewer on what it is like. I’ve had this one job where they reposted the job on LinkedIn before they even had a chance to interview me. If this happened to you then it is likely going to be like this, but it isn’t the only way to identify a company that might not be actually hiring anyone but doing this for other reason. Another way to identify if the company is having issues with employee retention is to check out the company careers page and see how many jobs are open in the company. This won’t tell you if this is a red flag but it will help you understand the chances of this interview being a real or if they are just going through the motions.

Impact to Job Seekers!

The real problem is that it impacts the job seeker by having them hope they get the job and it might be a real job but it really takes a lot out of the job seeker by doing all these interviews. If the job seeker sees a job that was reposted even before the job seeker goes through the interview process this can curb the enthusiasm and make the potential job seeker not to show the energy they are looking for in an interview. This is just a few things that will impact a job seeker from finding a job by them having too many interviews.

I could go into details about the job interviews, I’ve done that seemed like they were just going through the motions and that is one way to identify that it might not be a real job interview.

It’s really important to bring this to their attention if you think they are just going through the motions because you should make them consider that your time is valuable just like their time and maybe that will show them how interested you are to getting the job.

Have you had a job interview that you thought went really well and you got a denial letter? Why not comment and tell me your story. I’d love to her your experience on the subject matter.

The Surprising Advantage of Being Talkative in Job Interviews!

PaulJuly 2, 2024

Photo by kaushik26795 from PxHere

Be Yourself in an Interview!

Understanding is the best solution to being good talker in the interview. There are many who are saying you shouldn’t talk that much in an interview. I tend to think this isn’t really a good approach unless you want to come off as one who doesn’t want to be engage with the interviewer(s). Some would say, that you should just be yourself and I think that is good because if you are comfortable with the interviewers than it comes off as good fit for the job. If you come off as nervous or uncomfortable then you may come off as not the right fit. You might not know it or not but having the secret to keep quite maybe is the one thing that didn’t get you that one job. You should be actively listening but you should also be engaging and be ready to show them that you are the right fit for the job.

Showcase your Knowledge, Passion and Expertise

One of the biggest advantages of being talkative is that you show your passion and experience in during the interview. Some manager’s will like it and others will not, It just varies from one person to another. Some managers will want you to be concise and to the point because they are way busier and maybe don’t have the time to do the interviews. Read the room and understand when they are ready to go. Showing you have a passion will in one way or another provide them the assurance that are the right fit for the job because they don’t want to hire someone who will hate their job and just do the bare minium. Building Rapport is also good because they will want to know that you can do the job and put the customer first. Also let’s not forget that if you have the ability to build a connection with the interviewers because they will get to know you even more and They may see that you have a lot to bring to the company, which could lead you to having a job offer come your way.

Authenticity and Positivity

Both words are nouns but they have some great advantages as you are interviewing. You being authentic can help them see your personality and even see your values while at the same time measuring if you will be someone that people will come to acknowledge and being personable with. It’s only human nature to want to create connections and be social, so there isn’t anything wrong with being authentic and personable towards the interviewer(s). The real aim is that you shouldn’t talk way to long and you should keep your answers short as possible but you should also actively listen and respond to questions or show them you are the right candidate in one way or another. Just remember to address the potential concerns that the interviewers might have and by doing that you are also showing that you are concerned with their feelings.

Stories help make it memorable

Remember to be authentic but also come up with stories that will showcase why you are a good fit for the job. Understanding the job description and knowing what they are looking for can go a long way into being memorable. They created the job description for a reason and we should be mindful of that while interviewing with them. It’s definitely a two way street when it comes to job interviews, You get to know the people and make a connection with them and also learn more about them and see if the boss is someone you would like to work with in projects and other ways. Ultimately you will be working with this manager and you’d have to decide if they will be a good influence on you and vice versa. No manager is the same and as such you can tell from the interview if the manager does a lot of micromanagement or if they are more free spirited which can be a great plus in any work environment.

Have you had experiences where being talkative helped you in an interview? Share your stories in the comments below! And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more career tips and advice.

Say Goodbye to Sluggish Browsing: A Quick and Easy Cache Clearing Tutorial

PaulFebruary 22, 2024

Why should I clear my cache?

The simple answer is the most important. You have a limited amount of space on any given space. Most of the time it might not be a problem but if you like to visit sites constantly then you may get unwanted files stored on your system that could slow your system down and even slow down your browser experience. It depends on how fast your system will react to your browsing and what happens when you get some bad cache files from websites. This can help clear those up and stop all those popups that maybe becoming annoying to you. You might get advertisements and other pop ups that will cause problems while you are trying to use your computer.

How Do I clear my cache in Google Chrome and Edge?

The real questions is how you would do this quickly and easily to help you get where you can have your browser speed up and non intrusive as it should be. If you are getting popups or something that looks like a browser page then this is where you should start. Clear your cache and get rid of the potenital cache causing problems. Here’s how to do it easily and quickly:

On Google Chrome Press CTL-SHIFT-DEL, while you have Google Chrome up and running this is the quickest way to clear your cache in Chrome.

Google Chrome – Make sure you clear all the cache and click on Clear Data at the bottom to make sure you clear everything out of Chrome.

If you want to make sure you get all the data, you should select ‘All time” in Time Range and check all boxes to make sure you remove all necessary files off of Google Chrome. Once done close out Google Chrome and restart and you should have a cleaner experience with Google Chrome.

Windows Edge Browser

On Windows Edge Browser copy and past this into your address bar.

edge://settings/privacy

Once there you should see something like this:

This will be the same thing as you did with Google Chome select Time range “All Time” and make sure to check the first 4 options available and hit Clear Now as edge removes all the cache that was collected over time. Once done exit out of edge and then start it up and you should have no more problems with popups as long as you don’t have a different browser. If you have a different you should search for how to clear the cache in those types of browsers.

What if you can’t delete the cache?

In Google Chrome the best and easily way to fix this to load up chrome in incognito mode and then try to delete the cache that way. However this may or may not work depending on what might be causing this.

One Edge the easily pres Windows Key + R and type “start msedge -inprivate“. Once you do that then try to clear the browser cache and see if that allows you to clear the cache. The last part of this is that you might need to reboot your system to allow the system to complete some update or problems that might not allow you to clear cache for some reason or other.

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Unlock the Ultimate Minecraft Experience on Steam Deck!

PaulFebruary 8, 2024

Portable Powerhouse

Can you install Minecraft onto the Steam Deck? Yes you can. Having been using Steam Deck to play Minecraft, I thought I would at least talk about how to be able to play it and make it portable. Some of the ways I talk about doing this others have talked about but I have been playing around with it and It isn’t something that some people can do easily. This won’t be a Step by step but it will at least help you to understand what you might have to do get to play on the Steam Deck. You’ll need to have several things before you can do it on the Steam Deck like having a Minecraft License. I already created an ultimate Gaming Shell Script for Linux Mint which you could use if you use Linux Mint as your OS while using your Steam Deck. I’ve not really tried this but It seems like a good way to do it. Other ways to use Minecraft would be to install Windows 11 to your Steam Deck. I’ve also heard this be a possibility but I never found this to be very good. I must be one of the few who doesn’t like using Windows 11 with the Steam Deck due to it just not working properly. You can however Take your favorite block-building game anywhere with the handheld power of Steam Deck and that is where we will begin.

Install Minecraft

There are multiple ways to do it. Install something like Prism Launcher in your Linux Desktop environment. You’ll need to use the Desktop Mode, which is easy by press and Hold the power button until the power menu comes up and select Desktop Mode. You’ll probably should use a mouse and Keyboard and you can even use small dongle connection to do it temporarily so you can do what you need in the Desktop Mode. Once in the desktop Mode, You can either download Minecraft which would require some work around to keep you from having to login to Microsoft every time you launch the game or click on Discover and install one of the many Minecraft Apps available to install it. I suggest trying one of those to see if it will keep your login credentials when you launch the game. You’ll probably need to search for a work around on some of them to keep from having to login every-time. I can’t remember how I did but I think I installed the key-ring credentials to use the java version.

Adding it to Steam

You’ll want to click on Add a Non-Steam game!

Some things you will need to find out is where the Minecraft launcher is on the Steam Desktop. If you did it right it should be on your desktop. However, if you didn’t do it right, you’ll need to track down where it is on your steam os file system. However, it shouldn’t be hard to find and it should be hard to direct steam where to launch the launcher and stuff. I’ve done it on my Steam Deck and there are even instructions do it for Prism. I’ve not used Prism so I don’t know how well this will but it should work in theory.

Seamless Integration

Discover how Minecraft seamlessly integrates with Steam Deck’s controls for an immersive gaming experience. This is something you should be done before you do anything is to customize how it looks. You will probably need to add a custom Background and Custom Logo. You can easily do that by using clicking on the right mouse button and finding a background that would work for you. I typically search for a good background and save it to the Steam Deck to use. This helps when you leave the Steam OS desktop. You’ll need to also probably also look for a good Logo that you want to use as a way to identify with it as being Minecraft. This is something that can be easily done in the Desktop. Also you will need setup the control by clicking on the little COG icon and selecting the proper controller setup for Minecraft. I believe the WASP / Mouse settings work best for me and you will need to customize that to make it even more easy for you. Play around with the settings to see what works well for you.

What games are you using with the Steam Deck? Why not leave a comment and tell use what you are doing with yours and how you are using it? it can be very useful to know which games work on the Steam Deck? Don’t forget to subscribe for more Steam Deck tips and tricks.

The Best 3 Free Tools for Desktop Support Professionals

PaulFebruary 7, 20242 Replies

Display Driver Uninstaller

Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) is something that every desktop professionals should have mainly on computers that may have Graphics cards that are required for the job such as Nvidia or even AMD cards. You will find that every so often some driver updates causes a problem and this is a very good tool to uninstall the driver completely. I will say this is open sourced and is very good for every day support when you might need to use this little utility for just those occasions. You will find this free tool will be used more and more and you can even keep it on a USB drive as a way to use it offline when you need to do use it. It’s very small and won’t need a big USB drive but this is only one of the few that you might have available to use on your USB drive.

Portable Apps

Portable Apps has so many portable applications that it would be hard to talk about all them. However there are several that I will talk about that you can install on the USB drive. Depending on the size of your USB portable drive you have will depend on what you might want to install on the drive. However if you have a big enough USB drive, you could in theory install all available applications from Portable Apps and then you would be set.

Revo Uninstaller Portable — Great for those pesky programs that might not uninstall all the way or when something goes wrong with uninstalling programs.
HackthisPortable — Good for looking for viruses, and Trojans that might be on the system and gives you a run down on what might be running on any given system.
McAffeeStingerPortable and Kaserpky Task killer — These are great apps for programs that you have issues with when they want to keep running even when you need them to not be loaded or running on a system.
CPUZPortable and GPUZPortable — great ways to find out even more about finding out what drivers you might need for GPU and looking at what type of CPU might be on any given system. In case you needed to know.
Microsoft Safty Scanner — Great portable app that you can use on any Windows system in case you might have a Virus infection and is being blocked from being download or run locally.
CCleanderPortable — Another great applications to use to clean the registry and other places in Windows that might be causing problems and helps fix some of the registry problems you might have.

As you can see there are several portable apps you can install on any given USB drive and have ready at moments notice if you ever need it. So this is great tool that you can use for what ever you might come your way.

WinDirStat

WinDirStat is something that helps me find what might be hogging a system drive. It is great and showing graphically what could be taking up the space of a hard drive. It is portable and can be put on USB also but can also be download and used for many different reason but mostly when you need to find out why the hard drive is so full and how what you can delete to create space. So this is something most Desktop Support people will use at one time or another. I have used this several times in the past to find files that can be deleted, you just have to be careful what you delete and never touch anything in the Windows Directory or Program Files directory unless you want the system no run properly when you reboot.

These are what I have on my USB just in case I need them but these are only a few of them because there are even more tools that I use when I need them however this would start you on the right to having a powerful USB drive when you might need it. Do you have a favorite tool that you want to let everyone else know about? Why not leave a comment and tell people about it.

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