December 9, 2016: Friday news roundup

Happy Friday to all! Lots of action around these parts, especially from the Udemy for Business team. In addition to ending the year with some big client wins, they launched a new website and released their 2017 Learning Index Report. Make sure that’s on your reading list this weekend!

We got 10 CEOs to tell us their one killer interview question for new hires
You’re likely to encounter some of these questions more than others. Talking about a time you failed and how you recovered—nothing shocking there. But one creative CEO in this group likes to ask people something related to a popular board game, which would be a real curveball for most of us.

Think strategically about your career development
That headline sounds obvious enough, but what does it really mean when put into practice? Regular contributor Dorie Clark offers her advice, and much of it comes down to setting aside time to clarify your goals and what it will take to reach them.

American kids dream of doing science—but sadly, they’re not that good at it
Harsh, right? Results from the annual PISA test of 15-year-olds’ academic aptitudes were released this week, and the United States did not fare well (again). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which conducts the exam, also asked kids how they’d like to spend their careers, and American students were second only to Mexico in their eagerness to work in the sciences. They’d better keep studying.

4 women describe their nontraditional journeys to tech
We continue to talk about the relative scarcity of women in tech, particularly in leadership positions, and what can be done to attract more to the field. It’s not just that we need to get more women majoring in computer science in college, as this article illustrates. Here, we meet four accomplished females who started out in fields as varied as advertising, architecture, and customer service, and learned how they carved their paths into tech careers.  

Close your own skills gap: Hire from within
Last but not least, our VP of People Lisa Haugh shares some great thoughts on why companies should consider their existing workforce to fill open jobs. Don’t worry—she’s not suggesting we all take on multiple roles! Rather, she explains why it benefits both employees and employers to let people explore their interests and gain new skills outside their job function.