Being Great At Your Job Means Nothing: Why Do Recruiters Seek Technical Skills and Hiring Managers Concentrate on Personality and Charm

Being Great At Your Job Means Nothing:

Why Do Recruiters Seek Technical Skills and Hiring Managers Concentrate on Personality and Charm

Why are the most qualified candidates often the first ones rejected?

In Being Great At Your Job Means Nothing, tech veteran D.T. Crawford pulls back the curtain on the "invisible machinery" of modern hiring. Through the eyes of Dorian Caldwell and a collection of raw, real-world stories, this book exposes a system that values optics over outcomes and "culture fit" over actual capability.

From the high-speed filter of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to the disconnect between recruiters seeking keywords and managers seeking "vibes," Crawford reveals why meritocracy is often a myth. But this isn't just an exposé—it’s a roadmap for reform.

Discover the ARC Theory (Adaptability, Rigor, and Contribution), a revolutionary human-centered approach to hiring that replaces checkboxes with conversations and mirrors with windows. Whether you are a jobseeker tired of being "algorithmically ignored" or a leader ready to build a team based on true potential, this book is a call to reclaim dignity in the workplace.

It’s time to stop auditing for compliance and start hiring for character.

Click here to get

Being Great At Your Job Means Nothing

on Amazon Kindle / Kindle Unlimited 

The Canine Intervention

The Canine Intervention

by Bill Pennabaker

A self-described non-dog-lover has his life changed forever when he meets a mysterious and her special dog.

“Even if you don’t like dogs you may like this story. If you do like dogs you’ll LOVE this story.

The Canine Intervention: “Because life can change in an instant.”

Click here to get The Canine Intervention

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited

 

Welcome to Episode #003 of the Make Peace With Life Podcast: The Angry Episode

  

Welcome to Episode #003 of the Make Peace With Life Podcast: The Angry Episode

In this episode, we get real about something we all experience—anger. If you’re on a journey to make peace with life, does that mean you’re never supposed to feel upset, frustrated, or overwhelmed? Absolutely not. We talk about how these emotions are a natural part of being human and why embracing them—rather than suppressing them—is part of the process. We also dive into the importance of asking for help—something many of us struggle with. Whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional support, reaching out can be one of the most powerful things you do—not just for yourself, but for the people who genuinely want to be there for you. In our Life in the Slow Lane segment, we explore how slowing down isn’t just safer—it’s a reset that can help reduce stress and bring clarity back into your life. To close things out, we take a deeper look at life itself. Are our experiences just small pieces of a much bigger journey? Is anything truly coincidence, or do the connections we make carry meaning? Maybe it’s a little of both—and maybe that’s where the beauty lies. Be sure to visit MakePeaceWithLife.com to check out more podcasts and shortcasts, explore the blog, connect with the community, and find out how you can grab one of the coolest Make Peace With Life shirts for yourself.

Click here to subscribe to the

Make Peace With Life Podcast

Visions, Values, and Virtual Assistants; AI needs you more than you need to fear it

 

Visions, Values, and Virtual Assistants;

AI needs you more than you need to fear it

The freight train of AI is moving at terminal velocity. Are you steering it, or just sitting on the tracks?

In the rush to capture short-term margins, organizations are deploying Virtual Assistants as digital walls, unintentionally eroding the very brand equity they spent decades building. When a customer is trapped in an automated loop, or a grieving family member is "processed" by a bot, the cost isn't just a lost call—it’s a lost soul for the brand.

In Visions, Values, and Virtual Assistants, Dr. Kendall Williams provides a scientist-practitioner’s roadmap for the Dual-Environment. Drawing on over 20 years of operational leadership and a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, this book moves beyond the hype to offer a framework for Human-in-the-Loop automation.

This book will help you: • Move from fear to confidence in the age of AI. • Lead your team through AI-driven change without losing their trust. • Identify which parts of your job make you irreplaceable. • Recognize when AI helps your customers, and when it doesn’t. • Identify which customer interactions should never be handed to a bot.

Click here to get

Visions, Values, and Virtual Assistants;

AI needs you more than you need to fear it

on Amazon / Kindle 

Echoes of Tomorrow: Stories of Love, Regret, and Technology

 

 

Echoes of Tomorrow:

Stories of Love, Regret, and Technology

What if the future remembered you better than you remembered yourself? Echoes of Tomorrow is a haunting and lyrical collection of seven speculative fiction stories that explore the tangled bond between humanity and the technology it creates to soothe, preserve, or replace it.

In these pages, mothers are cloned, memories are edited, simulations replace lost sons, and sleep itself can be outsourced — all in the name of progress, connection, or survival. But at what cost?

Each story blends emotional realism with futuristic tension, offering a glimpse into intimate lives unravelling under the weight of love, grief, greed, and regret. From quiet domestic tragedies to moral reckonings on a global scale, this collection lingers long after the last page.

Poetic, unsettling, and deeply human - these are stories of what we long for, and what it costs to reach for it.

About the author:

Roxanne is a young psychologist, a teacher, and a mother living in London. She writes with urgency, tenderness, and a sharp eye for how the future reflects the most fragile parts of who we are.

Click here to get

Echoes of Tomorrow:

Stories of Love, Regret, and Technology

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited US Store

Click here to get

Echoes of Tomorrow:

Stories of Love, Regret, and Technology

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited UK Store

What Will Make Peace With Life Do For You?

  

What Will Make Peace With Life Do For You?

What if the life you've been searching for isn't waiting somewhere in the future? What if happiness isn't hidden behind a bigger paycheck, a perfect relationship, or some magical moment when everything finally falls into place? In Making Peace With Life, Dr. Rob Alex invites you to step off the endless treadmill of "someday" and discover something far more powerful—the ability to find meaning, purpose, and peace right where you are. Through humor, honesty, personal insight, and metaphysical wisdom, this book helps you see that life isn't something to conquer or perfect. It's something to experience, learn from, and ultimately embrace.

Inside these pages, you'll explore the lessons hidden within life's greatest challenges and its most beautiful moments. You'll discover why there is no finish line to chase, why comparison steals joy, how energy connects us all, and why asking better questions may be more important than finding perfect answers. Whether you're navigating change, searching for direction, recovering from setbacks, or simply trying to understand your place in the world, this book offers a refreshing perspective that reminds you your life already has incredible value. It's not about becoming someone else—it's about understanding the incredible person you already are.

Most self-help books promise to give you answers. Making Peace With Life offers something even more valuable: permission. Permission to breathe when life feels overwhelming. Permission to grow without demanding perfection from yourself. Permission to appreciate your journey without comparing it to everyone else's. And most importantly, permission to make peace with life exactly as it is while still creating the future you desire. If you're ready to stop racing, stop chasing, and start truly living, then this book may be exactly what you've been looking for.

Click here to get your copy of

Make Peace With Life

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited 

Infernal Tramps: Tales of Weird Terror

A boy discovers his father's oracular grotesque in a secret dungeon below their family funeral home. An antique spiked collar transforms Philadelphia into a city that worships a dead dog. A video game dominates the market for years and then disappears, except for one man's memories of its horrors. A mother with a trunkful of hungry, inhuman babies tracks down the family that abandoned them. The warden of a penal colony offers to pardon a murderer, but only if the inmate can find the antidote to the poison wine the warden gave him. A wealthy young woman receives a surgical implant that delivers more than just a shapely body. Step into a world of fleshly titillation and fresh terror, a dimension of blood and consequence. But buyer beware! Crack the spine and these dark tales are not so easily forgotten. Turn back now, if you can, or else become one of the... Infernal Tramps!

Click here to get Infernal Tramps: Tales of Weird Terror

on Amazon Kindle / Kindle Unlimited 

ELEVEN ELEMENTS BOOK ONE HEALING WATERS:

   

ELEVEN ELEMENTS BOOK ONE HEALING WATERS:

Science Fiction Thriller Suspense Novel:

What If Humanity’s Peaceful Future Already Exists—But Is About to Be Erased?
At a time when war, division, and environmental crises dominate headlines, Eleven Elements: Book One – Healing Waters imagines a radically different future—one where humanity has overcome conflict and built a peaceful global society.

Set in the 26th century, the novel follows Commander Maxilon Renner and a team of time travelers sent back 500 years to protect a manuscript believed to have shaped humanity’s future. But when the mission fails, operatives are lost, Renner suffers partial amnesia, the author disappears and the manuscript vanishes—threatening to erase their utopian world from existence.

The lost document, The Manifesto of Eleven Elements, contains ideas that ultimately guide humanity toward environmental stewardship, global cooperation, and lasting peace.
Early reviews have praised the novel’s ambitious vision and philosophical depth.

⭐Readers’ Favorite calls it “a brilliant start to an epic sci-fi saga.” (Five - 5-star Reviews)
📚 BlueInk Review describes it as “both exciting and intellectually stimulating.”
📰 Kirkus Reviews calls it “plans for a better Earth packaged as a time-travel SF thriller.”

Beyond its time-travel premise, Eleven Elements explores broader questions about humanity’s trajectory. Can civilization consciously choose cooperation over conflict? Are lasting peace and environmental balance truly impossible—or have people simply stopped imagining them?

The book is the first installment in Joshi’s planned seven-volume Eleven Elements saga, a speculative series examining how human decisions shape the long-term destiny of civilization.
For readers drawn to science fiction that combines philosophical inquiry with high-concept storytelling, Eleven Elements: Book One – Healing Waters is a thrilling sci-fi adventure that dares to imagine lasting peace.

📖 Now available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/5L66BFx

EBOOK NOW ON SALE $1 for a limited time.

Click here to get

ELEVEN ELEMENTS BOOK ONE HEALING WATERS:

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited / Audiobook

Also Visit the Website Below

http://www.elevenelementsbooks.com

/

Please Slow Down: Finding Presence in a World Obsessed with Speed (simple philosophies)

    

Please Slow Down:

Finding Presence in a World Obsessed with Speed

(simple philosophies)

We are obsessed with time – with speed! Life is full of “hacks” and shortcuts and efficiencies to garner more time and do things faster. But what do we do with the time we supposedly save? Often, we spend it chasing more speed. We fill the gaps with more tasks, more scrolling, more rushing. The promise of happiness through acceleration is seductive, but it rarely delivers. This short book explores some ways we can think about slowing down. It is not a zillion pages long with complex theories and filled with words that end with ´ism´ or ´ology´. The idea was to write something simple. It is mostly a reminder! because life is so full, we often forget about these things.

Click here to get

Please Slow Down:

Finding Presence in a World Obsessed with Speed 

on Amazon / Kindle

Also check out the Authors Website Below

https://simplephilosophies.online/simple-philosophies-books

Watching the End of the World from Bourbon Street: Part 1 - the Rebirth Games

 

Watching the End of the World from Bourbon Street: Part 1 - the Rebirth Games

The world didn’t end all at once. It unraveled… piece by piece. After a second American Civil War known as the Troubles, the United States has collapsed. The dollar is worthless. The government is gone. And what remains is a battlefield. Michael Carver, a sports journalist, arrives in New Orleans to cover what was supposed to be a symbol of recovery—the Olympic Games, now rebranded as The Rebirth Games. But before the opening ceremonies can begin, everything changes. In a single night, devastating attacks plunge the country deeper into chaos. Cut off from the outside world, Michael is left stranded in a city unraveling at every level. As power grids fail and communications collapse, New Orleans becomes a war zone—caught between NATO forces struggling to maintain order and an advancing Axis alliance armed with drones, autonomous weapons, and relentless soldiers. After surviving a brutal attack that destroys the Lafitte Hotel, Michael is forced underground, where he encounters a group of survivors known as the Friends of Hope. Bound together by strict rules and the constant threat of death, the group offers protection—but at a cost. As Michael struggles to adapt to a new reality where trust is fragile and survival is never guaranteed, the dangers around him escalate. Violent encounters, shifting alliances, and the psychological toll of a collapsing world begin to take hold as the group moves through a city that no longer feels like the one he once knew. And just when it seems like they may have found a moment of stability, everything is shattered once again. Watching the End of the World from Bourbon Street: Part 1 — The Rebirth Games follows Michael’s journey through the first phase of a collapsing world—where survival is uncertain, danger is constant, and every decision carries consequences. Because in a city on the brink of invasion… hope is the most dangerous thing you can hold onto.

Click here to get

Watching the End of the World from Bourbon Street:

 Part 1 - the Rebirth Games

on Amazon Kindle / Kindle Unlimited 

Music Is Your Superpower: How Music Changes Lives

Music Is Your Superpower:

How Music Changes Lives

Music Is Your Superpower, a compelling exploration of how music influences the brain, the body, and the stories we carry through life. Blending accessible science with real human experiences, Stein offers readers a fresh, uplifting perspective on why music matters, not just as entertainment, but as a fundamental part of who we are.

In clear, engaging prose, Stein breaks down the latest research on memory, rhythm, identity, and emotional well-being, showing how music shapes us from childhood throughout our lives. Alongside the science, she shares personal stories and interviews that reveal the profound, often unexpected ways music impacts everyday lives.

“Music is one of the most powerful forces we have,” Stein says. “It connects us, grounds us, and helps us understand ourselves. You don’t need training or talent to feel its effects, you just need to listen.”

What Readers Will Discover • How music rewires the brain across the lifespan • Why certain songs feel like emotional anchors • How rhythm and melody influence mood, memory, and creativity • The role music plays in identity, connection, and resilience • Practical ways to use music intentionally in daily life

Stein’s approach is warm, relatable, and rooted in both research and lived experience. The result is a book that speaks to musicians, music lovers, educators, and anyone who has ever felt changed by a song.

About Sammy Stein Sammy Stein is a respected music writer known for her insightful, emotionally intelligent work across jazz, creativity, and the human experience. With six previous books and a strong presence in the music literature world, and commissions from the Library of Congress and Reader’s Digest, she brings a unique blend of scientific understanding and narrative warmth to her writing.

Click here to get

Music Is Your Superpower: How Music Changes Lives

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited on US Store

Click here to get

Music Is Your Superpower: How Music Changes Lives

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited on UK Store

 

Esmerelda's Triumph

 

Esmerelda's Triumph

        Esmerelda, a lonely elf maid seeks to rule her own destiny in spite of a king, a wily gnome wizard, some gnolls, a dragon and worst of all, her own devilish sister or forfeit life's game. She hides in a dreary waste called the Black Moor partly due to her own shyness and partly because of the king who hunts all practitioners of magic. He has blamed the use of magic for a drought that plagues his kingdom. Esmerelda has been taught some magic by her adopted mother making her a novice and a target of the king.

Amid all this, she naturally longs for love and dreams of a childhood crush who will come and defeat the king and whisk her away to his castle. In spite of her shyness, she finally, makes the decision to take matters into her own hands and seek out her own destiny.

An obstacle, a ghost from her past long thought to be dead, has arisen from its grave to haunt her and crush what remains of her self-confidence. A clan of vicious gnolls complicates her task and have brought a dwarf-sized bundle of trouble who knows the ghost.

A pushy gnome and a scaly lizard arrive to offer her hope, but at a high price. To mitigate the cost, she commits to a brazen but risky endeavor that could prove to be fatal.

Click here to get Esmerelda's Triumph on Amazon / Kindle 

Click here to get Esmerelda's Triumph on Apple Books

Click here to get Esmerelda's Triumph on Barnes & Noble

Click here to get Esmerelda's Triumph on Google Play

Click here to get Esmerelda's Triumph on Kobo

or Visit the Authors Website at the link below.

https://www.sky-castle-world.biz/my-books/esmerelda-1

Clavius Deep: Time travel's secret: Aliens feed on human ecstacy in a lunar war across centuries

 

Clavius Deep: Time travel's secret:

Aliens feed on human ecstacy in a lunar war across centuries

A top-secret lunar base far beneath Crater Clavius serves as a hub for time travel agents who repair Earth's timelines to prevent civilization's self-destruction. Time travel agents discover a cosmic secret: invisible extraterrestrial beings called the Ezuoia are connected in real time to human male brains. The Ezuoia turn men into sexual slaves, siphoning the pleasure of orgasmic release. The narrative explores the intersection of time travel, male sexual identity, and a burgeoning lunar religious cult whose violence threatens the stability of the base. This all culminates in cycles of political intrigue, betrayal, repeating time loops, and the inevitable flow of altered fates across multiple centuries. A very wild ride not soon to be forgotten!

Click here to get

Clavius Deep: Time travel's secret

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited 

Future Realities of Workplace

   

Future Realities of Workplace

The workplace has shifted from location of work to the engine of civilization: The crucible where technology, humanity, and global systems collide. In Future Realities of Workplace, Dr. Elijah Ezendu delivers a groundbreaking exploration of how emerging forces of AI, robotics, bionics, cultural values, mobility, regulation, ethics and sustainability will redefine how we work, live, and thrive.

Drawing on decades of foresight, global case studies, and bold scenarios, this book maps the drivers of transformation and the impacts on the world system. It shows how the future of workplace will determine the following.

• The global economy and competitiveness of nations.
• The recalibration of education into lifelong learning ecosystems.
• The relevance of talent in a world of automation and augmentation.
• The optimization of industries across all sectors.
• Sustainability of the planet, as workplaces become frontline actors in net-zero and wellbeing economies.

With visionary clarity, Dr. Elijah Ezendu blends analytical depth with future scenarios and vivid case studies. Each chapter moves beyond theory, offering a rich narrative of how humans, machines, and hybrid beings will share, and sometimes contest the future workplace: A portending potpourri of asymmetry between non-human workforce integration and equitable human advancement. If a responsive global governance stoke the fire of order, fittingly structured regulation shall definitely ensure dominance and continuity of human control; conversely, slow or apathetic governance approach in the face of rapid technological innovation will be an invitation to catastrophe.

At its heart, Future Realities of Workplace is a blueprint for leaders, professionals, policymakers, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and workers who want to design the future, instead of walking blindly into its pitfalls. It calls for workplaces built on adaptability, fairness, innovation, sustainability and human-centred purpose.

The message is clear: The workplace is not a side stage of history. It is the determinant of economic prosperity, human dignity, and planetary survival. To shape the workplace is to shape the future of civilization.

Click here to get your copy of Future Realities of Workplace