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Some Thoughts on Comparison, Social Media, & Opening Up Online
Sometimes you look at someone in the pew across from you at church, or you follow someone on Instagram and think you have a pretty good idea of what their life is like, how happy they are, what sort of weight they're carrying in terms of life challenges, and how well they're handling things.
You probably compare them or their life with yourself or your life- whether you mean to or not. You probably have a warped perception of what life is really like for them. (Please note that I said warped perception- this is good news because there's a good chance that your inadvertent comparing is making you feel worse about yourself, your life challenges, and how you're handling everything! If you can realize that the comparison you're making isn't really a fair one, it may help you on that front.)
Whether we're interacting with friends or acquaintances in real-life settings or posting parts of our life on social media, we don't easily volunteer the most negative, challenging, painful parts of our lives. Those tend to be kept to ourselves and we guard them carefully, assessing when we are ready to "let someone in" enough to share those deeply difficult parts of our life with them. We're protecting ourselves and we're protecting others. We don't want to be hurt by sharing with someone who may not be sensitive to our feelings. We don't want to ruin the mood of a friendly, light conversation by taking an unexpected deep dive into the dark parts of our souls! I think we do the same with social media.
It's something I've thought about since before Instagram existed. Back in the beginning stages of my blog, a friend mentioned that she had to stop reading my blog (which focused on sharing fun activities you could do with your kids) because it made her feel bad about herself. Sadly, that wouldn't be the first comment I would hear that showed me that my online presence sometimes led to others feeling bad about themselves. I share highlights on my blog- the fun things we've done, the exciting places we've been to. I share those ideas with the intent to inspire other parents with ideas for making great memories with their families. Our life is certainly not full of fun activities and creativity and joy, though. I certainly haven't found some magical balance in my life that allows me to "do it all" and avoid challenges, laziness, failure, sadness, frustration, etc. I'm just less likely to post about the challenges.
The conversations that come up about my blog and about social media in general, and our tendency to compare ourselves to others have really made me think about this. Is there a way to help each other to remember that our social feeds are generally highlight reels? Should we be posting all of the negative moments right in there with the positive, in order to be "real"… in the name of transparency or authenticity? I've wondered about that… but then I think about conversations in "real life" and how I wouldn't want to take that unexpected "deep dive into the dark parts" during a light conversation with an unsuspecting acquaintance. I think about how I carefully decide when to let my guard down in "real life" conversations- there are times when it feels right & safe to share the things I'm struggling with, and there are times that don't feel right. I think it's the same with social media.
It's just tricky to figure this out with social media because anything you share is public. You're talking to the friend who's ready for that "deep dive" and you're talking to the unsuspecting acquaintance who just wanted to say "Hey how's it going- awesome weather we're having!" and move on with her day. I haven't figured it out exactly, and that means that I tend to stick to the lighter subjects in my posts. I play it safe.
But I do want to share a couple of things with you, because I hate the thought of anyone reading my blog or following me on Instagram and drawing comparisons between my life and theirs, and coming away from that, feeling sad.
I want you to know that yes, we went on an adventure this past year, moving to a new place, going on fun road trips, exploring, and making some great, happy memories. It was lovely in so many ways!
But also.
Also, it was one of the hardest years I've experienced. I struggled a lot- not just with the things that were going on around me (the challenges of moving to a new country, my husband's foot randomly getting injured and staying that way for months, the job that we moved for not being what we expected, my husband being gone 12 hours a day, money being tight and therefore feeling very restricted with spending on anything, etc.) but also with the things that were going on inside of me.
I struggled a lot with my thoughts and feelings. I learned that I was unhappy because of some ways that life hadn't become what I expected it to be; I was sad and disappointed, and I couldn't figure out how to deal with the feelings I was having as a result of that disappointment. I felt guilty for being unhappy with things because I could easily see that it could be so much worse, in so many ways and that there are many wonderful blessings in my life!
I struggled with these things the whole time we lived in Utah. I struggled to figure out what I could do that would bring me more happiness. I struggled to understand my feelings. I listened to podcasts, I read books, I had long talks with friends, I even went to a counselor a couple of times.
After a whirlwind of a year, here I am back in Canada and on the cusp of another new life situation. The time we spent living at the cottage felt healing and good for my soul. I had time to think about the things I was struggling with during the last year. I'm in a better place now (mentally & emotionally… we won't get into a debate about countries- ha!). I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere and can look back and see more clearly what I've been learning. It makes me excited to move forward in this next chapter of life.
I know that I'll continue to face familiar challenges and I'll come up against new and unexpected difficulties. I'll find joy in new places and have experiences and opportunities that I haven't even dreamed up yet. It's a little scary and exciting at the same time. I hope to share a lot of it and to continue in my quest to find ways to share the deeper parts of life with you in ways that feel right to me. As I am figuring that out, I want you to know that although I focus on the more positive things in many of my posts, the dark and difficult parts are here too. You are not alone in them.
Much love to each of you in your own struggles! I know you all face them and I wish I could give each of you a hug and send you some extra strength to face whatever your current difficulties are!
44 comments:
Love this, and love you, thanks for sharing! *hugs*ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you! & back at ya :)Delete
I think that's something that's really lacking on social media -- sharing our hardest moments. Though I do think "groups" can help with that. Still, I've made my strongest connections with people when I'm most raw and open.ReplyDeleteReplies
I agree. It's true- I think the trickiest thing is that you can't choose who you're sharing with, so you have to be ok with anyone/everyone seeing what you share.Delete
Thank you, my Blogging Sistah, about opening up and writing about these... comparisons and the circuits they get us into.ReplyDelete
Life is precioius. And we all want a good life for ourselves and our loved ones.
Online life is even more powerful, as we spend there the majority of our time. That life influces us; we influence many others.
I just want to thank you for this morning's good read for myself. Truly was needed.
You're welcome! Thank you for comment, I'm glad that you found it helpful!Delete
I honestly never know what to believe when people post stuff on SM. I try to keep personal stuff out of my postings.ReplyDeleteReplies
It helps to know where you want to draw your personal line!Delete
This is something that's not shown a lot on social media: sharing those tough times that we've endured. There are groups that can have some positive impact; but, I always seem to connect better one-on-one with someone.ReplyDeleteReplies
Yes, I would agree. It's easier for me to connect one-on-one too.Delete
Welcome back to canada! Thank you for opening up about your experience.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you! & you're welcome ;)Delete
Great article and so timely. My husband has been really blessed to have a great job where he can earn fabulous trips twice a year. I have stopped even sharing our travels on social media because it seems like there is so much judgement. The comparison game really does hurt so many people. I wish everyone could just be happy for each other!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you. That's so nice that you're able to take trips twice a year when he earns them- that sounds awesome! & it's kinda sad that you have to worry about sharing them because of the judgement. It's very considerate of you to be aware of the feelings others experience when you share- another reason I feel it's easier to navigate these things in "real life" because you get a feel for who you can share things with and when it's best not to get into certain things.Delete
Thank you for opening up! I often struggle with this myself and find myself keeping my guard up. I am glad you found peace and are in a better place all the way around!ReplyDelete
I love that you shared this with everyone. I've struggled a lot myself as well. I think it's great the way you talked about them. It's nice to be open with everyone.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you Kathy! I think we all face this in some way and it's something we all need to figure out how we want to navigateDelete
It's so easy to compare your own situation or life with other people's. Social media is a powerful thing these days. I love reading inspirational books and have started using meditation too, which really helps ease my mind and emotions. You are so brave for opening up your feelings like this online.ReplyDeleteReplies
Yes! I love inspirational books (& podcasts!) too!Delete
I have put myself out there on social media, I try to show more real life in my stories. I think more people can relate to show when you show it. If you want to that is!ReplyDeleteReplies
Yes, stories is a great place to share those things. Even that can be scary ;) but I find that when you start to try it, you get more comfortable with it.Delete
I keep my social media pretty selective. I have to stay grounded in reality with people I actually know.ReplyDeleteReplies
Yes- carefully figuring out who you want to follow can make a big difference. I think it's good to pay attention to how our feed affects us and "edit" our list based on that.Delete
It's so true. We must realize that there is always someone better off ( and worse off than we are). I try to look at blogs as motivational and realize that everyone has strengths.ReplyDeleteReplies
Yep. & although someone may be better off or worse off in one area, things can be totally different in others!Delete
I always try to remember not to judge a book by it's cover. Just because someone may look happy online doesn't mean they have the perfect life in the offline world.ReplyDeleteReplies
Yep. A lot of our struggles are not visible!Delete
Isn't this the truth. It's very easy to document the highlight reel. All the good moments, not because you want to boast or make the world think life is perfect, but who wants to bring out a camera on those bad times? I am trying my hardest to keep is EXTREMELY real on Instastories, because I feel that can help bring a little real life to my HIGHLIGHTS reel.ReplyDeleteReplies
Yep. It's always appreciated by me when people share the "real & messy" parts!Delete
Social media is such a tricky thing, so good for so many things but so tough when it feels like it's only a highlight reel. I think this is a tough time to find balance between honest and raw and oversharing; on the other side it's hard when you want to share about a good day but not make it seem like you're bragging/ rubbing it in people's faces. I appreciate you're honesty in this post, this is the kind if thing that I think is healthy too read about and be reminded of.ReplyDeleteReplies
" I think this is a tough time to find balance between honest and raw and oversharing" Yes!Delete
Thank you
Life is full of challenges! And life is beautiful because of this!ReplyDelete
- Toni | Boulder LocavoreJune 4, 2019 at 7:15 AM
Thanks so much for opening up this topic. Sometimes it's really hard not to compare your life with people in social media, but it's important that we remember that each of us face our own struggles.This is such a great reminder!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Toni. Yes, I think it's a challenge we face both on social and in "real life"Delete
I love when people are real on social media. It makes them feel more authentic to meReplyDelete
As you may already know, people would only want to show the good side of things. This is pretty common in social media. I really like what you shared here.ReplyDelete
Gosh, I understand this completely. It's so easy to "pretend" everything is ok online when you really arent. Being vulnerable is difficult. But I always encourage people to do so!ReplyDelete
They say that comparison is the thief of joy, and as much as I love social media, it sure steals a lot of joy. A big part of that is that we're no longer trying to keep up with the Joneses, per se, as much as we are trying to keep up with the curated version of the Joneses that they choose to depict online. There are no easy solutions.ReplyDelete
Great post, thanks for sharing. So many people get caught up in the comparison game. <3ReplyDelete
Social media has become such a depressing place for me. Causes me so much anxiety trying to live up to unattainable goals set.ReplyDelete


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The Alice Lloyd College Athletics Department has chosen junior women's volleyball player Sarrah Huber as its Female Athlete of the Week.
A native of Hazard, Ky., Huber led her team in the weekend's Spoonbread Smash Volleyball Tournament, which was hosted by Berea College. In four matches played, Huber, a middle/outside hitter, tallied 15 kills, 7 service aces, 3 blocks, and 1 dig. For her impressive efforts, participating coaches unanimously selected her as a member of the tournament's All-Tournament Team.
Huber will seek to add to her excellent stats this season as the Lady Eagles get back into action on Tuesday, September 24th, when they travel to Tennessee to face Hiwassee College.

subset: commoncrawl


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SSI's 2014 Industry Forecast: TycoIS' Jay Hauhn
The January edition of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION includes our annual industry forecast as a cornerstone of our special 2014 Industry Forecast Issue. For the piece, I interviewed 25 of the industry's most knowledgeable market analysts, business experts, security dealers, systems integrators, supplier representatives and trade association directors. Some of their perspectives can be found in the magazine article, with the balance of their assessments appearing in separate Under Surveillance blog posts.
Featured in this installment:Jay Hauhn, CTO & V.P. of Industry Relations, Tyco Integrated Security
What are the biggest technology shifts we will witness in 2014?
Jay Hauhn: In the past year, we've seen organizations increasingly turn to mobile solutions to help enhance their current security systems. The reason the mobile security management systems are so popular is because they offer business owners the opportunity to check in on their facility anytime, anywhere from their mobile devices. This technology can help prevent unauthorized visitors from entering a business, or even restrict access to sensitive areas of the operations. These tools can also help better monitor departmental activity and other critical activities relating the security and operations of an organization. In 2014, we predict that organizations who haven't already implemented mobile into their security strategy to start laying out the foundations for one within the first three to six months. Moving to the cloud is another trend we expect to see expand in the government and commercial sectors, as it offers organizations the ability to access and share resources over a large network, all the while reducing the total cost of ownership. While the federal government has historically had reservations about cloud services out of security fears, hosted services can actually improve physical security by providing a comprehensive system across multiple buildings and locations. For instance, we're seeing many organizations starting to integrate cloud-based security services, like hosted video which allows multiple users, at various locations, to view and monitor one particular site, all simultaneously. The cost-saving benefits alone have a significant impact on the bottom line for businesses, which is why we expect to see more organizations with large, global footprints looking to integrate cloud-based services in 2014.
What are the chief business and operations concerns?
Hauhn: As a systems integrator, there are a number of challenges we are faced with on a daily basis. For example, keeping employees up to date with the changing protocols and evolving standards has been one of the challenges. At TycoIS, we take every step to ensure employees are properly equipped to handle each and every situation. Some ways we do this is through annual training sessions for all technicians, conducting frequent assessments to ensure that training is fully understood and learned, as well as offering online education tools on specific security technologies that are available to all employees.
What are some overall challenges affecting the security industry?
Hauhn: Finding a way to differentiate our brand in a crowded market space is one challenge that is seen across the security industry. At TycoIS, we stand out from our competition by working closely with customers to ensure they receive the security solutions that not only meet, but exceed their expectations. This is done by utilizing world-class solutions with our sister company, Tyco Security Products, offering third-party solutions from new partnerships with companies such as Lenel Systems, and ultimately providing technology that's easy to use and by offering resources, such as the Centers of Excellence which provides organizations access to a robust source of information to enable well-informed decision making. We also make it a priority to increase awareness of our brand through tradeshow appearances and marketing efforts. For example, we communicate to our customers through traditional media channels like press releases, letting them know about new product launches, industry award wins and personnel announcements. In addition, at TycoIS we leverage social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as interactive marketing campaigns including television commercials, infographics and company tradeshow appearances.
What are some of the top political, legislative and standards issues for 2014?
Hauhn: Proprietary protocols used to be the norm in the security industry, and manufacturers were focused on setting up rules and regulations specific to their security system, rather than focusing on industry needs. As we move into 2014, we expect to see an increased demand from the end users for the interoperability of devices. End users want systems and devices that can communicate with each other, so they aren't locked into just one vendor and industry standards help solve this problem. Groups like the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance [PSIA], Open Network Video Interface Forum [ONVIF] and Security Industry Association [SIA] will continue to improve the interoperability of devices across the board. PSIA is heavily focused on promoting interoperability of IP-enabled security devices and systems across the physical security ecosystem, and ONVIF is dedicated to creating a standard for how IP products within video surveillance and other physical security areas can communicate with each other. In addition, with SIA is another organization that will continue to create standards that will have a positive impact on the security industry. While there has been many challenges in having companies shift away from the "every man for himself" mentality, we are starting to see an increasing number of organizations pushing for industry excellence through these new standards and expect it to continue through 2014.
What type of year are you anticipating overall?
Hauhn: While we can't speak for the manufacturing and monitoring industries, dealers and integrators have a positive outlook for 2014. Companies are starting to realize the larger benefit of having an integrated security system. For instance, well-designed video systems let business owners capture, save and export video segments that offer key insights into issues that need to be addressed, like whether employees are complying with corporate policies, what the busiest times of day are and do they require more staff, what time of day does theft most often occur, etc. E-mail and text alerts paired with mobile access to live video offer awareness of after-hours access, entry into sensitive areas, and the activation of video sensors. These insights are key to improving the overall operations in critical areas like loss prevention, workplace violence, and the physical security of the facility. Next year, it will be exciting to see how these trends continue to evolve, and what new innovations lie in the future ahead. Overall, at Tyco Integrated Security, we have a long history of serving agencies across many verticals and have worked hard to nurture and develop strong relationships with these customers. We are commit
ted to growing with our customers by offering security solutions that meet their unique requirements to get them through any challenges they may be facing, all while helping them plan for a positive future.
What is something that might surprise people in 2014?
Hauhn: A good thing is we expect there will be consolidation in the industry, particularly in the video space. We believe that this will be a year when video analytics begins to get more traction, emerging as a valid solution rather than a novelty. Additionally, the value of data analytics will begin to show real value to the commercial security consumer via a variety of use cases. A bad thing is active shooter and terrorism events will continue to attack soft targets around the world. This will drive investment in security equipment and countermeasures such as mass notification systems and metal detectors, but at a cost of some reduction of our personal liberties.
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Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
Am I getting this right.It's a VDR update for 0710 to get VDR to clients. Is it the hack or can I have different channels on MD's ?/Mami
Andrew - do you see extending beyong the MCE remote at any point? Specifically the Fiire, so things like the colour buttons work? Currently that is the most significant block, as so much of the functionality requires the colour buttons. Just try managing a simple recording, even just stopping it recording without them! The only way is through vdradmin, which isn't really practical for day to day use.... is there anything we can do manually to map these buttons properly?Col.
Colinjones,another idea would be, you modify the VDR remote screen using (Quick|HA)Designer, and add support for all needed action into the Orbiter UI, instead of relying on the VDR UI.rgdsOliver
possy - let me know if there is anything I can do to help!
Andrew,I want to start with those screens, that are used often. Like EPG, like a channel listing to select the channel I want to jump to. Timer is another section that might be helpful to have, to delete timers and/or abort them. I am starting with the channels list, and will see how far it gets me.Either Arkham, or success. rgdsOliver
Andrew,yes, the EPG is implented in UI2. But that won't help on the non-onscreen-orbiters, like the maemo or the weborbiter.That's my reason for digging into this.rgdsOliver
Andrew,one thing I envision is the same scenario you have right now with Video button on the main menu. Use the maemo orbiter, the display does not get turned on, until after I have selected what I want to see. And I think, that is functionality that MIGHT be of interest for the TV as well. Maybe an option to show the channel list first and upon selecting the channel I want to view, the TV gets turned on.rgdsOliver
When you select the 'Live TV' button on the UI2 menu or from the remote then plugin loads displays the Live picture.


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Journey Won't Rule Out Reuniting With Steve Perry
Even though they're doing fine as a touring act with new singer Arnel Pineda, Journey remain open to the idea of working again with original lead singer Steve Perry. In a new interview with the Huffington Post, guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain spoke about the band's decision to continue without him, and what would happen if Perry ever decided he wanted his old job back.
For Schon and Cain, Perry's decision to not tour behind their 1996 album 'Trial By Fire' due to a hip injury was the last straw. "[W]e kept calling, 'How are you doing? How are you doing?'" Cain said. "And then it was no reply and we sort of lost touch with the guy. It was almost two years that went by. A platinum record and we're not going to do anything? So we were like, let's just call him and do another album. Maybe we can just be in the studio. We called him, 'Nah, I can't do that either.' We had nothing."
The band were in New York due to the premiere of a new documentary, 'Don't Stop Belivin': Everyman's Journey,' which chronicles Pineda's rise from living on the streets of Manila to fronting one of the most famous bands in rock. When asked if they would take Perry back, Schon left the door open, but with a condition.
"I don't think there's anyway not to have Arnel at this point," he said. "Who can say never? You can never say it's never going to happen. Maybe ten years from now? Six years? Who knows? But if that situation ever came up, I think it would be the both of them. And I think it would be at the point where it's a farewell tour … and we're done. That's the only appropriate way to go about it."


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Niki Lauda has joined the criticism of the booing targeted at Sebastian Vettel following his recent race victories.
Some booing was directed at Vettel following his victory at Singapore today, though not as loudly as in Italy two weeks ago.
Lauda, a non-executive chairman of Red Bull's rivals Mercedes, said the booing was "ridiculous".
"These people don't understand what the guy is doing," said Lauda. "I honestly take my hat off at his performance because the guy was leading the race from the first lap on, out-drove everybody, he could have lapped everybody."
"And if I could choose I would give him the world championship today for this drive because he is for me outstanding."
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has also criticised the booing, as has Vettel's team mate Mark Webber.
Vettel said he took the booing as "a compliment, that's the way I take it, because they are jealous because we win in front of whoever they support".
"I think it's not worth thinking about it that much, in the end," he added. "We love winning and we achieved that today, we can be very proud of that."
2013 Singapore Grand Prix
Image ?�?� Red Bull/Getty


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text:
SSN Study - FAQ
SSN Study - FAQ
Predicting Social Security Numbers from Public Data [pdf] [html] [appendix] [Commentary by William E. Winkler]
Alessandro Acquisti (Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University)
Ralph Gross (Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, July 7, 2009.
To be presented at BlackHat Las Vegas, July 29, 2009
gratefully acknowledge research support from the National Science
Foundation under Grant 0713361, from the U.S. Army Research Office
under Contract DAAD190210389, from Carnegie Mellon CyLab and Berkman Fund,
and from the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
We also would like to thank Jimin Lee, Ihn Aee Choi, Dhruv Deepan
Mohindra, and, in particular, Ioanis Alexander Biternas Wischnienski for
outstanding research assistantship.
This is a draft document. We will keep adding Q&As as we receive or read relevant questions about the study in comments and emails. Please bear with us as we add content and work towards a final, clean version of this FAQ. Thank you!
Additional information can be found on our research blog. Belorussian translation provided by PC.
General Questions:
•Why does this matter? Why is such predictability a problem?
•How can your results be used to address the problem of identity theft? Do you have practical recommendations?
Technical Questions:
•If the algorithm only produces windows of values likely to include the correct SSN, why is this a concern?
•Have you "broken" some secret code? Doesn't the Social Security Administration publicly discloses information about the assignment scheme?
•Isn't this old news? Everybody knows that Area Numbers are associated with states (etc.)
•Can the predictability of SSNs lead to identity theft? Does this research publication instruct identity thieves on how to acquire SSNs?
•What data do you need to predict SSN? Isn't birth data hard to come by?
•From which social networking site did you find data for one of your tests?
•I posted my date of birth online. Has my SSN been "broken"?
•Isn't it cheaper to just pay a data broker to acquire SSN data?
it the case that SSNs, alone, are not sufficient to impersonate a
person? Banks and other services ask for additional information (such
as mother maiden's name, your pet name, and so forth).
•If SSNs were no longer used for authentication, what else could we use?
Executive summary
Social Security numbers were created under the Social Security Act of 1935 as identifiers for accounts tracking individual earnings. However, over time, they started being used as sensitive authentication devices, becoming one of the pieces of information most often sought by identity thieves: knowledge of a person's name, SSN, and data of birth, is often a sufficient condition to impersonate that individual and obtain access to a variety of services, leading to so-called identity theft. The current public policy in the area of identity theft suggests that SSNs should be kept confidential: consumers are urged to protect their SSNs. However, we show that it is possible to predict individual SSNs simply from publicly available data. Based on observation of issuance patterns in the "Death Master File" (a public database that contains SSNs of people who have died), we were able to use information about an individual's date and state of birth to predict narrow ranges of values likely to contain that individual's SSN. The predictions are particularly accurate for the SSNs of people who were born after 1988 (when the SSA initiated the Enumeration at Birth program, through which babies receive SSNs soon after birth) and in states with lower population. Since SSNs are predictable from public data, identity theft could occur even without events such as data breaches. Some of the implications are that 1) the SSA should randomize the entire SSN assignment process; 2) current policy initiatives in the area of SSN and identity theft should be reconsidered: most policy-making currently focuses on removing SSNs from databases or redacting their digits, so that they can still be used as "confidential information" - however, since SSNs are predictable from otherwise publicly available data, SSNs cannot be kept confidential even if they are removed from databases, and therefore those initiatives may be ineffective; 3) since SSNs can be predicted and are therefore, in a sense, semi-public information, consumers should not be required by private sector entities to use SSNs as passwords or for authentication.
General questions
Q. What is this research about?
studied the assignment scheme of Social Security numbers (SSNs) and
discovered that individual SSNs can be predicted entirely from public
data. Specifically, we found that it is possible to combine information
from government sources with simple demographic data (such as an
individual's state and date of birth, widely available from commercial
databases, voter registration lists, or online social networks) to
predict narrow ranges of values wherein individual SSNs are likely to
Q. Why does this research matter? Why is predictability of SSNs a problem?
SSNs are supposed to be confidential information - the predictability of SSNs increases the risk of vast-scale identity theft.
were originally designed in the 1930s to be used as identifiers of
accounts tracking individual earnings. However, over time, they started
being used for ``authentication'' in a variety of private sector
services - that is, to verify identity and determine whether someone is
who he/she is claiming to be. Hence, they came to be considered
sensitive information. The inherent tensions between using the same
number as identifier of an account (which may be shared with other
parties) as well as a "password" (which is supposed to be private and
confidential) has contributed to the rise of identity theft. In the US,
knowledge of someone's name, date of birth, and SSN is often sufficient
condition to impersonate that person for financial, medical, or other
types of fraud. Hence, if SSNs can be predicted from public data, the
risk of identity theft increases.
Q. What are the implications of your results?
SSNs, in their current form, are highly insecure passwords and should
not be used for authentication. If one can successfully identify all
nine digits of an SSN in fewer than 10, 100, or even 1,000 attempts,
that Social Security number is no more secure than a three-digit PIN. Both government agencies (including the SSA and the FTC) and researchers (e.g., [LoPucki, 2003], [Samuelson, 2007], [Solove, 2003]) have warned against the use of SSNs for authentication. Unfortunately, SSNs are still used (and abused) everywhere in the private sector to authenticate identities, which leads to widespread crimes of identity theft.
Current legislative and policy initiatives in the area of identity
theft prevention which focus on removing SSNs from public exposure, or
redacting their first five digits are well-meaning, but may be
misguided - because even redacted or removed SSNs remain predictable
from otherwise publicly available data.
More broadly, our findings highlight the unexpected consequences of the
interaction of multiple data sources in modern information economies.
They show how non-sensitive personal data (such as information people
reveal about themselves online) can be combined with other data
sources, also non-sensitive, leading to the inference of much more
sensitive information.
Q. Why are you publishing these results?
SSNs are very insecure passwords. However, notwithstanding warnings by numerous government agencies (including the SSA and the FTC), they are often used in the private sector both as identifiers and for authentication - this causes costs and damages of billions of dollars every year to businesses and consumers. Our intention is to show that, in their current form, SSNs are compromised as passwords; to alert not just policy-makers, but also businesses and consumers of the threats to individual identities deriving from the use
(and abuse) of SSNs as means of authentication; and to contribute to
the debate on more efficient, secure, and privacy-preserving means of
verifying identities in our information society.
theft is so widespread in the US because Social Security numbers are
incongruously used by businesses both as identifiers and as passwords
-- something they were never designed to be [Smith, 2002]. This is a practice that the Samuelson Clinic at UC Berkeley has defined as ``irresponsible'' [Samuelson, 2007] and that law scholar Daniel Solove has referred to as an "architecture of vulnerability"[Solove, 2003]. In the US, the overall costs of identity theft in 2007 were estimated at $49.3 billion [Johannes, 2006]. As Chris Hoofnagle noted [Hoofnagle, 2007],
those costs are born by all parties, but particularly by consumers,
either directly (lost time, inconvenience, and out-of-pocket costs) or
indirectly (through higher fees paid for credit services, or as
taxpayers, when financial institutions write off identity theft losses
when computing their corporate income taxes). Furthermore, additional
costs are incurred every year even in absence of fraud, because of
costs caused by attempts to defend, and exploit, the system [idanalytics, 2005]
-- consider, for instance, the investments that companies and
individuals are required to bear in order to protect sensitive data. By
showing that SSNs are predictable from public data, and therefore
inadequate as passwords, we hope to help stop the costs associated with their use as means of
verifying identities, and redirect the
attention towards the progresses of research on secure,
privacy-preserving authentication methods - from 2-factor
authentication to digital certificates.
Q. What steps have you taken before publishing the results?
other things, we have omitted sensitive details about the prediction
strategy from the published article, and we have shared our results
with government agencies prior to publication.
Q. How can your results be used to address the problem of identity theft? Do you have practical recommendations?
findings suggest a number of considerations and possible strategies for public
and private sector entities, as well as for individuals.
Government agencies
assignment scheme of SSNs could be changed to incorporate true
randomness. This would eliminate the risk of predictability for newly
assigned SSNs - however, it will not do much to protect the hundreds of
millions of SSNs already assigned. It may also make us complacent with preserving the current -- and insecure -- system where SSNs are incongruously used by private sector entities both as public identifiers and private passwords - a role that SSNs never meant to fulfill when they were designed in the 1930s. Government agencies (and policy-makers)
may instead consider incentivizing private sector entities to
abandon the use (and penalizing the abuse) of SSNs as means of authentication, and may
encourage academic and industry research on the application of more
efficient, secure, and privacy-preserving means of electronic
authentication - such as 2-factor authentication and digital
Current policy initiatives in the area of SSN protection and identity theft prevention may be reevaluated [LoPucki, 2003].
Many current initiatives in this area (see [GAO, 2008], [FTC, 2008]), as well as the 2007 President's
Identity Theft Task Force's recommendations, are well-meaning; however, they focus on removing SSNs
from public exposure (or redacting their first five digits) , in order to preserve SSNs' role as sensitive numbers and means of authentication [The President's Identity Theft Task Force, 2007].
Our results, instead, suggest that approaches solely focused on removing or redacting SSNs may be ineffective, or misguided: assigned SSNs cannot be revoked to avoid future fraud, exposed
data cannot be taken back, and the first 5 digits of an SSNs are those,
in fact, easier to infer. This leaves even redacted or truncated SSNs
still predictable and, therefore, still vulnerable.
Credit Reporting Agencies, financial, and other institutions
CRAs and financial institutions should stop using SSNs for authentication (that is, as proof of identity), and strengthen their identity matching strategies and authentication techniques. Reports from the FTC [FTC, 2004] and academia [Hoofnagle, 2007]
have highlighted how credit applications with incorrect
names or even incorrect SSN digits are routinely accepted as valid (because credit reports are known to contain errors and inaccuracies).
Such practices leave open "holes" in the identity verification infrastructure that fraudsters can and do exploit.
In fact, both Credit Reporting Agencies and initiatives such as E-Verify and SSNVS
should pay particular and heightened attention to attempts at identity
crimes that rely on 'tumbling.' Tumbling is a cyber-criminal practice that has already been
documented and that consists of slightly changing numerical details in
fraudulent applications, such as addresses and, in fact, the
manipulation of known SSNs across multiple account applications [idanalytics, 2005].
Online services
services which post or allow members to post demographic information
(from online people search services to online social networks) should
consider strategies (from choosing appropriate defaults to setting adequate security policies) that as
much as possible try to balance the need for free data flows and
exchanges with the protection against abuses of those data, putting
particular attention towards the consideration that even innocuous data can be
recombined to produce more sensitive information together with
other sources.
realizing the potential use of public documents as "breeder" documents
of more sensitive data, we, as consumers, can make better informed
decisions, trading-off and comparing the benefits of online
information sharing with its potential costs. However, the problem our paper
highlights goes way beyond users' control - it is a systemic problem due
to the exploitation of SSNs for goals (authentication) they were never
designed to fulfill. Hence, the emphasis on asking consumers to
"protect" their SSNs [SSA, 2007]
may be misplaced, if even well-meaning consumers' SSNs may be
compromised because of information other entities have revealed about
them. In other words, our results indicate that the problem of SSNs security goes much beyond consumers'
responsibility and control: it has to do with the use (and abuse) of SSNs in
the private sector for purposes (such as authentication) they were never
designed to fulfill. As consumers, we have very little control on that. At
the end of the day, this is a systematic problem that industry,
policy-makers, and of course researchers must resolve.
Technical questions
Q. What exactly does it mean that SSNs are "predictable"?
means that information about an individual's state and date of birth
can be sufficient to statistically infer narrow ranges of values
wherein that individual's SSN is likely to fall.
because this is true (in general, and simplifying things a bit) only
for individuals who received their SSN around the time of their birth
(by 2005, at least 92 percent of SSNs assigned to US citizens were
assigned at birth [SSA, 2006];
the percentages of individuals receiving their SSNs around the time of
their birth started increasing dramatically in the late 1980s as a
result of the Enumeration at Birth initiative).
of values" means that the predictions are based on statistical
inferences: in general, the first 5 digits can be predicted with a very
high degree of accuracy with a single attempt - especially for
individuals born after 1988 and in less populous states. In some cases,
we were able predict the whole 9 digits of individual SSNs at the very
first attempt. More often, the predictions produce windows of values
that are likely to include the actual 9 digits. These windows can be
very large (and, therefore, inaccurate) for certain years and states
(for instance, for individuals born in California in 1973), but can get
very narrow (and therefore more concerning, in terms of identity theft
risks) for smaller states and recent years (for instance, 1 out of 20
SSNs of individuals born in DE in 1996 in our dataset could be
identified with just 10 or fewer attempts per SSN).
Q. How do your SSN predictions work?
predictions are based on the fact that SSNs are assigned according to a
complex yet regular - and therefore predictable - pattern. The
prediction works based on the interpolation of an individual's date and
state of birth with SSN issuance patterns derived from the so-called "Death Master File",
a publicly available file reporting SSNs, names, dates of birth and
death, and states of SSN application for individuals whose deaths have
been reported to the SSA (also popularly known as SSDI or SSN Death
Index). Part of the process is described in the PNAS paper.
Certain details have been omitted from publication.
Q. How did you verify your predictions?
ran two tests. In the first test, we plotted the SSNs of Death Master
File (DMF) records versus time for data between 1973 and 2003. We
observed statistical patterns that appeared in the DMF data; then, we
used these patterns to predict the SSNs of DMF records. In a second
test, we interpolated demographic data extracted from students'
profiles on an online social network, with patterns extracted from the
DMF, and used it to predict the profile owners' SSNs. We verified the
accuracy of our predictions against the individuals' actual SSNs using
a secure, IRB-approved, anonymized protocol which only produced
aggregate statistics, without revealing to us the actual SSN of any
individual in particular.
Q. If the algorithm only produces windows of values likely to include the correct SSN, why is this a concern?
various public- and private-sector online services may be attacked to
test (using brute-force verifications) subsets of variations predicted
by the algorithm.
predictions of windows of possible SSNs do not imply, alone, that an
exact SSN will be found. However, when the range of values wherein an
SSN is likely to fall gets dramatically reduced, a number of "brute
force" attacks which would be otherwise inefficient or unfeasible
become possible and feasible. When one or two attempts are sufficient
to identify a large proportion of issued SSNs' first five digits, an
attacker has incentives to invest resources into harvesting the
remaining four from public documents or commercial services. When fewer
than 10, 100, or 1,000 attempts are sufficient to identify complete
SSNs for massive amounts of targets, attackers can exploit various
public- and private-sector online services (such as online "instant"
credit approval sites, as discussed in the paper) to test subsets of variations predicted by the
algorithm in order to verify which SSN corresponds to an individual
with a given birth date.
Q. Have you "broken" some secret code? Doesn't the Social Security Administration publicly discloses information about the assignment scheme?
No, we have not broken a secret code, and yes, the assignment scheme is publicly available.
The SSN assignment scheme was created in the
1930s and was not designed to be "secure": back then, it was not imagined that one day SSNs would start being used for authentication. The assignment scheme is
complex, and that complexity has led to the belief that the assignment,
from the perspective of the user, is effectively random (see ``SSNs are
assigned randomly by computer within the confines of the area numbers
allocated to a particular state based on data keyed to the Modernized
Enumeration System'' [SSA, 2001]).
Indeed, we only used publicly available information, and
ended up discovering, based on that information, that the randomness is effectively so low that the
entire 9 digits of an SSN can be predicted with a limited number of attempts. We also discovered that certain interpretations of the assignment scheme held outside the SSA were, in fact, incorrect.
Q. Isn't this old news? Everybody knows that Area Numbers are associated with states (etc.)
Yes, the SSN assignment scheme is well known, and yes, the existence of a link between Area Numbers and states is public knowledge - but the patterns we discovered (and the accuracy of the predictions based on them) are not.
As noted in the manuscript, the SSN assignment scheme is public knowledge (p. 1). In fact, previous work in this area used those patterns to estimate when and where a
- We discovered (p. 3) that the interpretation held *outside* the SSA about how Area Numbers are assigned was incorrect: contrary to a commonly held view about their assignment, the same AN is used for 9,999 consecutively assigned SSNs (under the interpretation of the assignment scheme held outside the SSA, the SSA was believed to rotate through all of a state's ANs for each assigned SN. Such scheme would render the AN random for states with multiple ANs, and the predictions we present in this article dramatically less accurate).
- We discovered (p. 4) that the assignment of the last 4 digits is not only sequential (as indeed stated in the publicly available information about the assignment scheme), but in fact highly correlated with the applicant's date of birth, and therefore not random (note that the SSA states, instead, that ``SSNs are assigned randomly by computer within the confines of the area numbers allocated to a particular state'' [SSA, 2001]). In various cases, we were able to predict the entire 9-digits of an SSN at the first attempt (the odds of that happening by random guess are roughly 1 over 1 billion). This is particularly the case for SSNs assigned after the onset of the EAB (1987 onwards).
- We discovered that the analysis of publicly available SSNs assigned to deceased individuals (and included in the DMF) allows the inferences of granular assignment patters that make it possible to predict the SSNs of individuals still alive. For instance, the relationship between Area Numbers and states, while public knowledge, would not be sufficient, alone, to predict Area Numbers except in very specific cases (see p. 1): low-population states (such as WY) and certain U.S. possessions are allocated 1 AN each - implying that knowledge that an individual applied for his/her SSN in that state or possession does indeed provide almost certain knowledge of the first 3 digits of his/her SSN. However, other states are allocated *sets* of ANs. For instance, an individual applying from a zipcode within the state of New York may be assigned any of 85 possible first 3 SSN digits. Therefore, knowledge that an individual applied for his/her SSN in that state provides low odds (1 over 85) of correctly guessing his/her first 3 digits with a single random guess. Those odds do not even include the probability of also correctly guessing the Group Numbers - which vary from 01 to 99 in combination with the different Area Numbers.
In short, without the discovery of patterns linking SSN digits to demographic data, knowledge of the assignment scheme would not be sufficient to predict neither the first 5 digits or in fact the entire 9 digits of an SSN with a degree of accuracy necessary to expose them to practical risks of identification. For instance, the probability of correctly guessing the first 5 digits of the SSN of an individual born in NY in 1998, even assuming knowledge that the SSN was issued within that state, would be 0.012%, and the probability of correctly guessing the entire 9 digits with fewer than 1,000 attempts would be 0.0012%. However, under the more granular understanding of the relationships between assignment scheme and demographic patterns described in the manuscript, those probabilities are 30% and 3% respectively: several orders of magnitude larger, and much more vulnerable to brute-force attacks. See Table 6 on p. 27 of the Supporting Information.
Q. Can the predictability of SSNs lead to identity theft? Does this research publication provides all is needed to acquire SSNs?
No. Aside from the fact that sensitive details were omitted from the article, to move from mere statistical predictions to actual identity theft an attacker needs to exploit holes and weaknesses in the U.S. identity "infrastructure:" the widespread availability of personal, demographic data for millions of individuals, the existence of large botnets of compromised computers, and the lax identity matching and authentication techniques adopted in the credit/financial sectors (among others). Our findings can help combat and decrease identity theft by showing why such known (yet underestimated) weaknesses in our identity infrastructure should finally be addressed; by alerting industry and policy-makers of a new exploit; and by highlighting the need to abandon SSNs as passwords and move toward more secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving means of authenticating identities.
Q. How does this differ from previous research?
research in the area of SSNs focused on detecting SSNs in public
databases, using SSNs to link data across multiple data sources, or -
in the cases closest to our study - inferring the year[s] and state of
issuance of known
SSNs. Per se, the existence of SSN issuance patterns is well known -
the SSA makes certain details available through public materials, and
others (notably, Latanya Sweeney and her "SSN Watch")
have used those patterns, plus a combination of public and private SSN
data, to estimate when and where a <known> SSN may have been
issued [Wessmiller, 2002], [Sweeney, 2004], [EPIC, 2008].
However, our work focuses on the inverse, harder, and much more
consequential inference: it shows that it is possible to exploit the
presumptive time and location of SSN issuance to estimate, quite
reliably, <unknown> SSNs.
Q. What data do you need to predict SSN? Isn't birth data hard to come by?
Data about SSNs from the so-called "Death Master File,"
which is publicly available, and demographic data (dates of birth and
states of birth) from wherever it is available. Mass amounts of birth
data for US residents can be obtained or inferred - often for free, or
at negligible per unit prices - from multiple sources, including
commercial data brokers (such as www.peoplefinders.com,
which sells access to birth data and personal addresses for ``almost
every adult in the United States''); voter registration lists (for most
states); online free people searches (such as www.zabasearch.com);
as well as social networking sites: our estimates indicate that at
least 10 millions US residents make publicly available or inferable
their birthday information on their online profiles.
Q. From which social networking site did you find data for one of your tests?
is no specific networking site which is uniquely exposed. The data can
be extracted from several such sites, as well as other sources, as
noted above.
Q. Aren't SSN in fact as available as birth data?
They are not.
is true that SSNs are widely available. They have been found in public
records of federal agencies, states, counties, courts, hospitals, and
so forth [The President's Identity Theft Task Force, 2007], as well as in personal documents, such as online resumes [Sweeney, 2006].
Companies exchange SSNs in personal information markets, and
individuals obtain ``credit reports,'' containing their SSNs, from
credit bureaus; stolen SSNs are lucratively exchanged in underground
cybermarkets [Franklin, 2007].
However, the GAO found that only few brokers offering SSNs for sale to
the general public are actually able to sell whole SSNs [GAO, 2006].
Furthermore, the GAO also found that while still widespread, SSNs are becoming harder to find in public documents [GAO, 2008].
In fact, the number of SSNs widely available may also be decreasing
because of numerous legislative initiatives in this area. Various
recent initiatives have been focusing on removing SSNs from public
exposure or redacting their first five digits [NCSL, 2007], [FTC, 2008], and [GAO, 2008]. On the other hand, birth data remains widely available, as noted above.
Q. Can you accurately predict *every* SSN?
Every SSN is issued under the same basic assignment scheme (and the
scheme, while complex, contains observable regularities). Hence, in theory, any SSN may be predicted. However, the
probability that a given SSN can be effectively predicted ranges from very
low (or zero) to very high, depending on factors such as the year and
state the SSN was applied for, how close to the individual's birth data
it was applied for, and so forth. For the tests we ran, our predictions were several orders of magnitudes more accurate than
random chance over the 1973 through 1988 period; however, dramatic and widespread increases in
accuracy were especially observable for individuals born after 1988 (the onset of the nationwide EAB program), particularly in less-populous states.
Q. How many actual SSNs can be predicted?
is no single number that can answer that question. The number is
function of many parameters, and probabilistic inferences, including -
as noted above - the availability of birth data, the accuracy of
prediction across different states and years, the availability of tools
to verify the system, and so forth. We present some possible
extrapolations in the paper, but we stress that they must be weighted
and considered under the caveats also presented there.
Q. I posted my date of birth online. Has my SSN been "broken"?
knowledge is not sufficient to "compromise" an SSN without the
possibility of attempting to find the right number among possible
variations - that is, attackers still need to succeed in exploiting
other systems to compromise one's identity. Again, statistical
predictions of windows of possible SSNs do not imply, alone, identity theft.
The likelihood that probabilistic inferences can translate to actual
SSN identification is function of several parameters. Inaccurate or
unavailable birth information, or the attacker's inability to complete
repeated attempts, will reduce the accuracy of the predictions and the
number of individuals' SSNs under actual threat compared to the DMF
estimations we present in the paper.
Q. Aren't data breaches a larger problem?
Not necessarily - although this is an oranges vs. apples kind of comparison.
First: not all data breaches involve SSNs. Estimates based on attrition.org
data at the time of writing indicate that the average breach involves
140k SSN records. However, that average (as well as most of the largest
breaches that involved SSNs) includes accidental data losses that may not
have resulted in actual information exposure, such as the 26.5M US
veterans' records stored in a laptop stolen during a burglary in 2006.
and more importantly, unlike data breaches, which are local threats
(that is, specific to the records contained within a certain database,
however large that may be), the predictability we observed is, in principle,
universal, in that it applies, theoretically (and with different degree of accuracy, depending on the factors highlighted above), to any current and future
SSNs - unless their assignment scheme is modified.
Companies can invest to protect their databases, and compromised credit
cards can be blocked and renewed. However, unlike traditional
passwords, SSNs cannot be blacklisted after failed attempts, nor
changed to avoid future fraud [SSA, 2009].
data breaches can be discovered, and the owners' of compromised
accounts can be notified of the breach. Predicting SSNs is more akin to
a "stealth" way of compromising an identity, and could be harder to
the predictability of SSNs is an issue that should be faced with
different tools than the ones used to prevent and deal with data
Q. Isn't it cheaper to just pay a data broker to acquire SSN data?
Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately), no.
the grey market (that is, excluding the market where certified and
vetted companies trade personal data), it is becoming increasingly
difficult to obtain SSNs [GAO, 2006], and prohibitively expensive: according to [Krim, 2005]. SSNs are sold in the grey markets for prices around $35 to $45. In the black market, according to [idanalytics, 2006],
stolen identities in the US can be traded in the black market for a
value of $30 to $50 per identity. However, estimates of the value of
SSNs in underground markets vary greatly (with some estimates
significantly smaller than $30), given the relative illiquidity of
these markets [McCarty, 2003], [Thomas, 2006] (ranging from $0.10 to $25 (credit cards), and full identities (comprising SSNs) as ranging from $0.90 to $25 [Herley, 2009]).
the other hand, the birth data necessary for the predictions is much
cheaper, and the availability of botnets of compromised computers
may make harvesting credentials on large scales quite easy (although
estimates vary, controlling 10,000 IPs for an entire day could cost as
little as $1000 [Lesk, 2007]).
Isn't it the case that SSNs, alone, are not sufficient to impersonate a
person? Banks and other services ask for additional information (such
as mother maiden's name, your pet name, and so forth).
the US, knowledge of someone's name, date of birth, and SSN is sometime
sufficient to impersonate that person in a variety of situations.
need to distinguish between current account fraud (somebody tries to
access a bank account you already created) and new account fraud
(somebody tries to create a new credit card under your name). While in
``current account'' frauds the attacker, to gain access to an account already
created and owned by the individual, indeed needs not just the victim's
name, date of birth, and SSN, but (most often) also additional
passwords or personal information, in ``new account'' frauds, the
attacker more likely only needs to use the victim's name, date of
birth, and SSN to create a new
account on the victim's name. Therefore, new account frauds can be
perpetrated even without knowledge of the victim's phone number, mother
maiden's name, or other pieces of personal information. Mounting
empirical evidence suggests, in fact, that providing an SSN and a date
of birth which match that SSN is sufficient to create new fraudulent accounts [Cook, 2005], [Hoofnagle, 2007], [Consumers Union, 2007], even when the name associated with that SSN did not
match, or the address was wrong, or even -
as noted above - some of the submitted SSN digits were wrong.
adding more questions to authenticate a person to an account is hardly
good security, if answers to those questions can be still inferred, or
Q. If SSNs were no longer used for authentication, what else could we use?
asking more personal questions (such as your mother' maiden name, your
pet's name, or your high school) cannot work, since that information
can also be compromised, stolen or - in this age of self-revelation -
inferred from various sources. However, plenty of research has focused
on systems which protect sensitive data while allowing exchanges of
information: work on 2-factor authentications, digital certificates,
and privacy preserving identity management systems. While there is no
foolproof system nor a panacea (as Bruce Schneier noted, "Proposed
fixes tend to concentrate on [...] making personal data harder to
steal--whereas the real problem is [...] preventing and detecting
fraudulent transactions" [Schneier, 2007]),
research in this area has made significant progresses in recent years,
and we hope that the debate will focus on systems which combine privacy
with the necessary and efficient flow of information.
National Science Foundation (under Grant 0713361) and the U.S. Army
Research Office (under Contract DAAD190210389, through Carnegie
Mellon's CyLab). We also received support from the Carnegie Mellon
Berkman Fund and from the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center.
Q. Were the tests IRB approved?
Yes, they were approved. No SSNs were harmed during the writing of this paper.


text:
A Time for Confidence: Trusting God in a Post-Christian Society by Stephen J. Nichols
As members of a society that is quickly abandoning its Christian past, followers of Christ often feel disoriented or even frightened. When human leaders and political advocates fail us, doubts arise and the road to compromise beckons.
In this book, Dr. Stephen J. Nichols points to the almighty God as the source and ground of our confidence. Though the whole world may shake around us, His kingdom is unshakable. This is a time for confidence.


text:
No matter how many you go on, job interviews can always be nerve-wracking. You put on your nicest clothes, get your resume in order, and remind yourself to smile. And just when you think everything is going well, the interviewer hits you with a curveball question you aren't prepared to answer.
Luckily, you're not going to let that happen again, and you're planning ahead to ace this interview. The best way to prepare for anything is to do your research ahead of time.
If you're preparing for a big interview, prepping beforehand with these 15 interview questions can help you get one step closer to your dream job.
1. Tell me about yourself?
Most interviews start with this question, and how you answer it can help you make a good first impression. If you stumble over the answer and aren't quite sure what to say, it may show a lack of self-confidence. If you start listing all your greatest accomplishments and talk too much, your ego might look a little too big. Try to find a balance between being confident and not pretentious.
The best way to prepare for this question is to prepare an elevator pitch about who you are. Skip your personal history and give about 2-3 sentences about your career path and how you ended up in this interview, applying for this job. You don't need to be too detailed, there are plenty more questions coming. You just want to leave enough curiosity that the interviewer becomes excited to learn more about you throughout the interview.
2. Why do you want to work for [insert company name]?
When a hiring manager asks this question, not only do they want to know why you want to work for them, but they also want to know what you know about the company. This question tests how well you know what the company does and how passionate you are about the work they do–so make sure you know the company well and can speak truthfully about your desire to work there.
3. How did you hear about this job?
When asked this during an interview, don't just say you heard about the job on a website. This is your opportunity to go into more detail about why you love this company and what motivates you to want to work there. Moreover, if you have a personal connection at the company, this would be a good time to mention their name!
4. Tell me about something on your resume.
Everyone has something on their resume that they're really proud of. Whether it's a skill or achievement you've listed or a specific place you worked, consider answering this question by calling out the most interesting thing on your resume. Don't just say something relevant to your most recent position — you're already going to be asked about that. Instead, think back to one of the older positions listed on your resume and talk about how that experience helped you grow into the person you are today.
5. Why are you looking for a job? Or, why are you looking for a different job?
This question might seem innocuous, but this is how interviewers weed out the people who are either a) just looking for any job b) were fired from their last position, or c) might have a high turnover rate, meaning you won't be sticking around for too long. Focus on the positives and be specific. Think about why you are looking for a job: did you just graduate and this will be your first real job? Are you switching career paths? Are you leaving your current job for this one?
If you are currently working somewhere, you should also be prepared to answer, "why do you want to leave your current job for this one?"
6. Why should we hire you?
When asked this question, keep in mind that the recruiter is looking to hear what skills you have that you're going to bring to the team. Don't give a vague answer, such as, "I'm friendly and a hard worker." Be specific, summarize your work history and achievements, and use specific examples when possible.
For example, say how many years of experience you have or name some of the accomplishments you made at your last company. The more specific you can be about what your skills are and how valuable of an employee you are, the easier it'll be for the interviewer to picture you working there.
7. Where do you see yourself in five years?
This can seem like a heavy question during an interview, especially when you haven't prepared for it ahead of time. Keep in mind that you're in an interview setting — so you don't need to go into all the details about what your personal life goals are for the next five years. Focus on your career goals and be realistic.
If you plan to work at this company for five years, make sure you understand who would be working above you and what potential career growth there is. The hiring manager asks this question to find out if you set realistic goals, if you are ambitious, and to confirm that the position you are interviewing for aligns with these goals and growth.
If this position isn't exactly a job with a lot of future opportunities, you can simply answer this by noting that you are not certain what your future is going to look like, but that you believe this position is going to help you navigate yourself in the right direction.
8. Tell me about a conflict you faced at work and how you dealt with it.
This question is important to ace because it helps an interviewer understand how you deal with conflict. It also helps test how well you think on your feet. Prepare ahead of time with a specific example to avoid the awkward moment of silence while you try to think of an example.
Once you have an example in mind, explain what happened and how you resolved the issue in a professional manner, and try to end the story with a happy note about how you reached a resolution or compromise with your co-worker.
9. What is your dream job?
Similar to the "where do you see yourself in five years" question, the interviewer is looking to understand how realistic you are when setting goals, how ambitious you are, and whether or not the job and company will be a good place for you to grow.
Again, try to set aside your personal goals (don't say your dream job is to be paid to take Instagram photos) and focus on your career goals. Think about how this job is going to set you up for the future and get you closer to your dream job. But, don't be that person who says, "to be CEO of this company."
10. What do you expect out of your team/co-workers?
This question is meant to understand how you work on a team and whether you will be the right cultural fit for the company. To prepare for this answer, make sure you research the company ahead of time. You can always tell a little bit about what a company's culture is like by looking through their social media profiles or reading their reviews on Glassdoor.
11. What do you expect from your manager?
Again, the hiring manager is looking to understand what kind of employee you would be and whether you will be a good fit to add to their team. In some interviews, your future manager might be interviewing you. Answer this question as honestly as possible, and pull examples from your current manager if you can show how they positively help you work better.
12. How do you deal with stress?
Answering this question will help hiring managers identify any potential red flags you might have. You want to show that you can handle stress in a professional and positive manner that helps you continue working or won't stop you from accomplishing your goals. Moreover, be specific and explain what you actually do to deal with stress — like taking a 15-minute break to take a walk outside, crossing items off on a to-do list, etc.
13. What would the first 30 days in this position look like for you?
This question helps a company understand what you will get done in your first month, to three months in the position–and how you answer it will signal whether or not you're the right person for the job. Start by mentioning what information you would need to get started and what would help you transition into the new role. Then focus on your best skills and how you would apply those to this position right away.
14. What are your salary requirements?
Some interviewers ask this question, others don't. It's always better to be prepared, especially because you want to make sure you'll get paid a fair wage for the value you are going to add.
Note that while employers can ask what your salary expectations are, in certain places it is illegal for them to ask what your previous salary was.
15. Do you have any questions?
The last question you will always be asked during an interview is whether or not you have any questions for the interviewer. This is your chance to really stand out — so make sure you have your questions prepared and avoid asking ones that have already been answered.
Keep a list of at least three to five questions in the back of your mind so there are at least two questions you have to ask at the end of the interview. Recruiters say they actually enjoy getting to answer some questions at the end of an interview.
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New Pajama wiki
- 2008-11-24: The wiki broke a few months ago, after a server change. I'll restore it someday, when I get Pajama into releasable shape.
I set up a new wiki for Pajama (interactive, continuous, web-embeddable images). Please try it out and leave comments on the wiki or email them to me.
I'm very interested in help with Pajama, particularly:
- Replacing the remaining old code from Pan (done while I was at Microsoft Research). Most of the code has been rewritten and simplified, including the complicated code motion stuff (common subexpression elimination and loop hoisting), code generation (nicely exploiting Java), and GUI construction.
- Getting it whipped into shape to be a open source project.
- Applying the (domain-independent) compiler to other domains (sound, 3D, …).
- Improvements to the wiki, including easier uploading of examples and automatic generation of galleries.
- Integration of Pajama and Eros (end-user syntax-free authoring of functional programs).
On wiki software selection: After looking around at different engines, including a visit to #wiki and WikiMatrix, I picked MoinMoin. It satisfies my requirements nicely: Java applet embedding (as generated by the Pajama compiler), free, wysiwyg page editing and a friendly implementation/extension language, namely Python. Then I started learning Python, which is a reasonably nice programming language for customizing the wiki server. My first Python program is a wiki macro that makes it fairly easy to embed Pajama effects in a wiki page.