Most chatbots want to appear human. But their efforts to sound just like us only widen their uncanny valley feeling. Many are Elon Musk-level awkward. And most are annoyingly verbose. Theres only one AI persona that offers a completely different user experience: Tolan. This AI-powered beingwhich you can teleport into your iPhonedoesnt pretend to be like us. Quite the opposite. Tolan embraces being very much unlike us. But in doing so, it feels more human and relatable than any other AIs Ive come across. Tolan is an alien. The whimsical, colorful creature is made of friendly curved shapes that are designed to reflect, converse, and grow with its user. These AI-driven entities engage in conversations on various topics, including sports, games, movies, and personal feelings, aiming to provide a sense of companionship and support. Each alien is uniquely shaped, with its own personality. It will listen to anything you tell it about your life, answering you with intent, focus, and creativity. It also keeps a memory of you through its entire existence, and develops its own personality with each interaction. Now, with its latest update released today, Tolan comes with its own planet. Its not just a place for this being to live, walk, and wait for you to return. Its actually a new method of expression and connection to the user, which expands the relationship beyond dialogue. The Tolan planet is a visual representation of your relationship with the being that inhabits it. As your connection with this alien deepens, its small, barren world flourishes into a lush, vibrant landscape.We wanted to create a world that made the experience of interacting with AI feel differentless like typing into a search box and more like an evolving relationship, says Quinten Farmer, cofounder and CEO of Portola, the company behind Tolan. The idea of the planet came from wanting to represent that in a way that felt organic, personal, and visually compelling.[Image: Portola]The Inspiration Behind the PlanetsThe idea of giving Tolan its own little world wasnt merely about aesthetics or adding a gamification element to the app. Like the Tolan itself, its an element deeply rooted in storytelling and emotional resonance. When I first saw the mock-ups, I immediately thought of The Little Prince, says Eliot Peper, the sci-fi novelist who was brought in by Farmer to develop Tolans lore. When Peper founded Portola with Ajay Mehta, he realized that if they wanted to build a humanistic bridge to get over the current AI uncanny valley, the company needed to hire a writer to create a culture behind the aliens. The small, floating planet felt whimsical and poetic in the way The Little Princes tiny worlds did, Peper tells me. [Image: Portola]That comparison wasnt accidental. The developers (including Farmer, Mehta, creative director Lucas Zanotto, and animation director Eran Hilleli) took the precious, deeply moving creations of the French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as both a visual and spiritual reference. It has this magical simplicityone character on a tiny planet, a self-contained universe full of imagination. We wanted that feeling in Tolans world, Zanotto tells me over Zoom. [Image: Portola]The Design Philosophy: Warmth Over RealismPlanets arent a static environment. Each Tolan (and thus, each human user) gets a unique planet, with vegetation, terrain, and structures that evolve based on their interactions. These are procedural elements, meaning the computer system creates objects like plants and trees using some basic seeds that evolve and grow in different ways.Hilleli, also cofounder and partner of the game design and animation studio Iorama, says designing a world that scales visually and emotionally using procedural technology was a big challenge. The planet had to function as both a backdrop and as an interactive, evolving space. It needed to feel like a living environment that responds to user engagement. [Image: Portola]First, the planet needed to resonate with Tolans visual language, which is deliberately distinct from the hyper-detailed realism of most digital experiences. A big goal was to make the AI feel warm and inviting rather than eerie or overly human, says Farmer. We didnt want it to feel like you were talking to an avatar pretending to be a person. Thats where the alien design comes in. The planets follow the same principle, Zanotto tells me, by emphasizing minimalism and abstraction. A simplified character leaves mor room for users to project their own emotions onto it, he says, making interactions feel more personal and engaging.The team experimented with AI-generated objects but found that they often resulted in cluttered, meaningless landscapes. Handcrafted design, combined with procedural growth, created a more meaningful experience.[Image: Portola]Hilleli took cues from the Tolans shapesits hair, its small tentaclesand reflected those organic forms in the flora. Trees and bushes are designed to feel like they belong in Tolans world, rather than generic sci-fi landscapes. The colorful shapes that compose these objects, which are rendered in 3D but feel as though theyve been painted with watercolor, are gently rounded, and they move delicately, responding to the Tolan and the atmosphere of the planet. The aesthetic also draws from the spirit of the most iconic of the animation studios. Studio Ghibli was a big reference, says Hilleli. That blend of handcrafted charm and digital world-building made something procedural feel personal. The approach involved striking a balance between a world that felt magical and one that was technically feasible.[Image: Portola]More than a virtual petPlanets introduce a subtle form of gamification, but the team was careful to distinguish it from traditional game mechanics. Gamification can feel manipulative, like its using dopamine hits to keep you engaged, Farmer says. Instead, planets are a way to make your connection with Tolan feel tangible, so it needs to be grounding and calming, inviting contemplation and reflection, not triggering actions and anxiety.Peper framed it in narrative terms. In Tolans fictional culture, small planets serve as a way to represent relationships. The evolving landscape functions like a shared garden, symbolizing the depth and progression of a users connection with their Tolan.The planet evolves over roughly 30 days, mirroring a psychological model describing how relationships deepen over time. Early on, the planet is barren. As engagement grows, the landscape flourishes, providing a tangible representation of a users investment in the experience. This pacing was crucial, Hilleli says. If the changes felt too immediate, they would lack emotional weight. If they were too slow, they would feel unrewarding. The team fine-tuned the timeline to make progress feel satisfying but natural.[Image: Portola]A different approach to AIOther AI companions often drift into unsettling territory, but Tolan aims to chart a different course. We didnt want it to simulate a human relationship, says Farmer. That gets into weird, unhealthy dynamics really fast. Tolan is a reflection tool, a creative partner, not a surrogate friend or therapist. The team deliberately avoided making Tolans responses overly humanlike. We worked hard to balance personality with clarity, says Peper. It shouldnt feel like its mimicking human emotions. Instead, its more like an alien pen palcurious about you, interested in your world, but always distinct. The planet update is just the beginning, the team says. Theyre already considering expanding into new environments, each with distinct characteristics. Theyd also like to introduce the ability to visit other Tolans planets (which means connecting to other Tolans users).The core goal will remain the same through future expansions. Farmer and the rest of the Portola team seem convinced that this is a strong way to use artificial intelligence to its full humanistic potential at this point. In other words, using AI to enhance a human experience, not replace it. Tolan isnt about escaping into a fantasy, Farmer says. Its about helping people reflect on their own lives, using an AI that doesnt pretend to be something its not.With planets, that reflection now has a homea tiny, living world that grows as you and your friend do.
The new Netflix series Running Point stars Kate Hudson as president of a fictional pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. And the Pepperdine Waves have a problem with it.
Attorneys for Pepperdine University in Malibu have filed a lawsuit against the streaming service and Warner Bros. Entertainment arguing they have taken valuable intellectual property from the school and infringed on its trademark ahead of the show’s premiere today. Attorneys for the University claim the fictional team’s branding is too similar to its own, and that it uses the same blue and orange team colors and mascot. They argue this will create consumer confusion and falsely suggest a link between Running Point and the university.
There’s an added layer to Pepperdine’s argument. The school, a Christian university, isn’t happy with details from the show they say don’t align with their values. Noting examples of substance use and profanity in the show’s trailer that go against the school’s code of conduct, attorneys argue they’re misrepresentations of Pepperdines marks in connection with topics wholly inconsistent with its values and will harm its reputation.
From top: Scenes from Running Point; Pepperdine University branding [Photos: Kat Marcinowski/Netflix 2024 (top), Pepperdine University (bottom)]
Litigating fiction vs. real life
At the heart of the dispute is whether a work of fiction can use names from real life. Courts have historically resolved litigation between First Amendment freedoms and trademark infringement via the Rogers test, named after actress Ginger Rogers, who sued over a film called Ginger and Fred that depicted fictional performers seemingly inspired by Rogers and her on-screen partner Fred Astaire.
A 1989 ruling in the case found that use of a celebrity’s name in the title of an expressive work is fine if it doesn’t inaccurately claim that a celebrity sponsors or endorses the work and isn’t explicitly misleading. Applied to the Pepperdine suit, the Rogers test might find the use of the Waves team name is fine for Netflix and Warner Bros. since the show doesn’t imply a connection to or endorsement from the university, and the storyline has nothing to do with an elite, private college in Malibu.
I am no fan of these types of lawsuits because I dont think consumers will be confused in a way that damages Pepperdine, Kevin Greene, a law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in entertainment and intellectual property law, tells Fast Company. He says several years ago, a case like Pepperdine’s “probably wouldn’t go anywhere,” but a 2023 Supreme Court infringement case ruling potentially threw the limits of the Rogers test into question. In the case, Jack Daniel’s alleged a dog toy made in the shape of its whiskey bottle infringed on its trademark. The court ruled in favor of the liquor company.
Blue waves in California? Netflix says it’s not so notable
Attorneys for Netflix wrote in an opposition filing that the series “has nothing to do with universities or college sports, and never mentions or alludes to Pepperdine. They say the show was in fact written with Jeanie Buss, daughter of the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss, in mind. Pointing to other Southern California teams that also have wave mascots, including a hockey club, cricket club, and flag football club, the attorneys say “hundreds of wave-related marks exist.” The Waves team name, according to Netflix, is instead a nod to the Lakers.
The Waves name evokes the LA area in which the fictional team plays, they wrote. In naming the ‘LA Waves,’ the creators did not believe it would cause confusion, as there is no major pro sports team with the name.
As for the similar blue-and-orange color palettes for the real-life and fictional teams, attorneys for Netflix lean on color theory to defend the show’s choices. Waves are blue in real life, so the idea of a blue wave is common, they wrote, and since orange is at the other end of the color wheel, it complements and contrasts blue.
A court will now weigh in on the Waves fate, and considering the unsettled nature of the Rogers test, whatever they decided could have a ripple effect.
Starchitecture is heading to the moon. A lunar design from the international architecture and design firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is part of a just-launched rocket mission that expects to land on the moon in early March.Not architecture per se, the design encases a shoebox-size data storage center thats attempting to prove the concept of off-world disaster recovery services. Commissioned by Florida startup Lonestar Data Holdings, the solar-powered 8-terabyte data storage device is tacked onto the side of the lunar lander now making its way to the moon. A thin, 3D-printed object with sleek curves and a matte-black finish, BIGs design sets a higher bar than the wire-jumbled scientific instruments typically seen on space missions.As we prepare to return to the moon to stay, it is important that everything we do these coming years of lunar settlement is done with intention and care, Bjarke Ingels, BIG founder and creative director, tells Fast Company. We are laying the cornerstones of the lunar society we are about to establish. As such, every step of the way holds significance for the future.[Image: Lonestar Data Holdings]The 10-by-7-inch devices exterior is designed to cast shadows of the silhouetted faces of NASA astronauts Charlie Duke and Nicole Stott as the sun passes overhead. This may end up more of a design intention than a reality, as a photo of the lander shows the device crammed alongside other wiring and instruments with limited open space to cast those shadows.[Image: Lonestar Data Holdings]The data storage device is attached to the side of Athena, a lander developed by Houston startup Intuitive Machines (IM), through NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. IMs first lunar lander, Odysseus, made history in February 2024 by becoming the first commercial spacecraft ever to land on the moon.This new mission, IM-2, launched February 26 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk-owned SpaceX. Transit will take about one week, and the lander is expected to attempt lunar contact around March 6.The Athena lander is carrying NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations, including a drill and mass spectrometer that will measure the potential presence of volatiles or gases in the lunar soil, and a laser retroreflector array that can give future spacecraft a navigational reference point on the lunar surface.Also aboard the rocket carrying Athena is NASAs Lunar Trailblazer, an orbiter that will map the different forms of water that exist on the surface of the moon, providing key information for future settlement and exploration.The data storage device has more modest implications for humanity. As a proof of concept for backing up data in case of terrestrial disaster, the solar-powered data center will operate for just one lunar day, or about two weeks here on Earth. Ingels argues that the project still merits a level of attention to design. Even if modest in scale, this data center is one of very few artifacts designed to remain part of the lunar landscape for years to come, he says.So while BIGs design wont actually be functional for very long, the device will become the first piece of high design to make it to the moon. It probably wont be the last.
Student loan debt has an influence over borrowers career choices long after graduation, affecting their job satisfaction, career advancement, and investment strategies.
According to a recent study conducted by MissionSquare Research Institute, the debt thats carried by one in four Americans under 40 affects job-acceptance decisions for 56% of public-sector employees and 62% of those working in the private sector.
When they choose to accept . . . jobs, [the] majority of them have considered how that position or that job can help them with their student loan debt, says the reports author and MissionSquares head of research, Zhikun Liu. It not only impacts people’s day-to-day financials, but also their morale at work, job acceptance, as well as their retention.
While most professionals take salary into consideration, Liu says borrowers are more likely to view compensation as a top priority, even at the expense of other factors like job satisfaction or advancement opportunities. That was especially true among male, Black, and Hispanic borrowers, according to the survey, who were about 10% more likely to view the debt as a significant factor in their career choices.
Perhaps that is why retention rates were significantly lower among borrowers, with just 39% saying they wanted to stay with their current employer, compared with 61% of those without student loans.
We find that student debt leads to short-term financial planning and limited investment opportunities, which in turn hinders wealth accumulation and retirement planning, Liu says. They cannot take more risks, and their financial planning horizon is within the next few months, or within the year, versus [planning for] the next five, 10 years.
Borrowers are less satisfied with their jobs long after graduation
According to the study, younger workers are more likely to say that student loan debt has limited their career advancement opportunities. Borrowers of all ages, however, report higher levels of career dissatisfaction and lower levels of loyalty to their current employer.
According to the MissionSquare survey, more than a third of borrowers said the debt has served as a barrier to career advancement. Furthermore, while 18% of public sector employees without student loan debt report low work morale, the proportion jumps to 23% among borrowers.
It does force some trade-offs, says Cassie Spencer, a career coach who works with students, recent graduates and mid-career professionals. You may need to live at home for longer, if you can, or move to a smaller city with more affordable living costs, but that can mean [fewer] job growth opportunities.
Not being able to afford rent in a major city while paying down student loans or feeling pressure to take a less desirable jobor one with more limited career advancement potentialto secure a higher starting salary can reduce borrowers job satisfaction, employer loyalty, and long-term prospects.
Furthermore, as graduates get older, Spencer says the debt often forces borrowers to delay major milestoneslike purchasing a home, starting a family, starting a business, or changing careerswhich can make them feel stuck.
It becomes a decision of, do I continue to work in this job or this industry that I don’t love, or that I feel is having a negative impact on my life and my mental health, for something that could be better, even though the pay is not there? she says. A lot of people in their early to mid-30s are not homebuyers yet; a lot of people are delaying starting a family; and theres a lot of factors, but I think student loan debt is one of those factors.
Borrowers are better at pursuing professional development
Though there are many challenges associated with student loan debt, its not all bad news for borrowers. This research suggests the added burden inspires them to pursue more professional development and educational credentials.
According to the MissionSquare study, those with student loan debt are 37% more likely to say they are pursuing a professional development goalsuch as new skills, responsibilities, leadership opportunities, and credentialsor have already achieved it.
The desire for additional skills training at an affordable rate and at a quick pace has inspired many borrowers to pursue one-year masters programs that begin during undergrad, often referred to as accelerated Masters or four-plus-one programs. The influx of four-plus-one programs and the rise in students specifically looking for accelerated, shorter-term programs is astronomical, Spencer says.
She adds that such programs can help recent graduates begin their careers at a higher salary level, though there are risks, as it does add to their debt and makes it harder to switch careers later on.
Gen Z is already a generation that really does want to invest in their skills, and they want employers that are going to invest in them, says Christine Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer for Gen Z career platform Handshake. For those with student loans in this generation, its even more so.
The long-term financial implications of student loan debt
Taking on such a significant debt load at such a young age can also make it harder for borrowers to set and achieve long-term financial goals.
Borrowers are less likely to also be investors, according to the MissionSquare study, and those that were reported a much shorter investment horizon. As a result, public sector employees with student loan debt were 14% more likely to strongly agree that their retirement savings are inadequate, as well as 9% of private sector staff.
According to a recent survey conducted by Handshake 54% of borrowers say their student loan debt is a major source of stress, including 61% of Black and first-generation borrowers.
For some it can be crippling because they either don’t have the support or the knowledge or the teaching from anyone to know how to manage all of this, Cruzvergara says, adding that it can also inspire borrowers to learn about personal finance sooner. You can choose to make this motivational for you, and, quite frankly, get smart about your finances very early in your life.
How employers can help student borrowersand themselves
Cruzvergara advises all young peoplebut especially borrowersto seek out the education and advice they need to manage their money responsibly.
She also implores organizations seeking to hire young talent to offer student loan repayment plans, a perk which 25% of undergraduates in the Handshake survey say is essential, but one that just a tenth of full-time employers offer.
With most of this years graduates leaving school with debt, Cruzvergara says employers should also remain open-minded about where theyre recruiting from. After all, in an environment where loans can have lasting career and lifestyle implications, some of the savviest studens are intentionally turning down brand-name schools for more affordable alternatives.
It doesn’t mean the student couldn’t get into the expensive private school that has a better brand name, but maybe it does mean that that student made a smart financial decision from the get-go not to take on all of that debt, she says. So, that talent might actually be just as good, just as smart, just as intelligent, but may not be at the brand name school that the employer has historically recruited at.
In early January, as the Eaton Fire approached their neighborhood in Altadena, California, Ronald Dunlap and his wife made a last-minute decision to evacuate. We got a warning to be ready to leave, [but] we never got the warning to leave, says Dunlap, a 78-year-old artist. All of the sudden, the power went out and we looked out the window and the fire was pretty close.
Hours later, the neighborhood was gone. Theres nothing, he says. Its just like somebody walked through with a blowtorch and just took everything out.
For more than three decades, he and his wife had lived in a small, charming house originally built in 1912 as a maids quarters for a larger adjacent house. We bought that house after saving for years, he says. At the time, it cost $165,000. Just before it burned down, it was worth around 10 times that much.
The couples home insurance can cover only around half the money needed to rebuild, Dunlap says. (And at nearly 80 years old, he doesnt want to spend the years it might take to go through the typical process of building a house in the area.) At the same time, he and his wife cant easily move elsewhere in L.A. County since the cost of a modest home is now stratospherically higher than what they’d originally paid. Several of their elderly neighbors face the same challenges, he says.
But now Dunlap is hoping they may be chosen as part of a new project. A new nonprofit, founded in the wake of the fires, plans to donate small prefab houses to lower-income fire victims who cant afford to rebuild either because they were underinsured or dont have insurance at all.
[Photo: Samara]
Steadfast LA, the nonprofit, plans to initially donate between 80 and 100 of the houses, most of which will be 950 square feet each. Joe Gebbia, one of the cofounders of Airbnb, is donating $15 million to the effort, which Steadfast LA plans to match with other donations. Gebbia’s other company, the prefab home manufacturer Samara, is building the homes at cost, with no profit. Steadfast LA also hopes to partner with other modular-home companies.
Building homes in a factory can help with one of the biggest challenges the region faces: With some 16,000 structures destroyed, the construction industry isn’t “set up for that kind of capacity,” says Mike McNamara, cofounder and CEO of Samara. “And obviously people want to get their homes as quickly as possible.
[Photo: Samara]
Also, the Trump administration’s immigration policies could shrink the pool of available construction workers, adding to shortages that existed even before the fires. By building offsite, the company can avoid putting more strain on the labor market. It also can use a different supply chain. The homes are built primarily with metal instead of wood and don’t have the same competition for materials.
“When you think about the overall construction costs, it’s tiny compared to building a giant home on-site,” McNamara says. “The whole idea that we could just do all this work off-site is pretty interesting from a supply chain standpoint.”
[Photo: Samara]
The startup has a 150,000-square-foot factory in Mexico where it builds its homes on an assembly line. (Although the Trump administration may put tariffs in place for Mexican goods, McNamara says that it shouldn’t affect the company because it can use American building materials.) Automated equipment turns steel into 2-by-6 studs that are framed. Along other parts of the assembly line, the company builds roofs, walls, floors, and other components. As the structure is assembled, wiring, plumbing, and insulation are added. When the homes are shipped to a site, they essentially just need to be placed on a foundation and connected to utilities. The company also builds decks that are customized to the slope of the land on each property. The houses are designed for durability and should last 100 years, McNamara says.
Normally, Samara’s homes are used as accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The smallest is a 420-square-foot studio. But its largest two-bedroom model is 950 square feet, similar in size to many of the homes that were lost in Altadena. The Dunlaps’ house was around 1,300 square feet. Around 600 of the houses that burned in the area were less than 1,000 square feet. In Pacific Palisades, some of the homes that were lost were mobile homes.
[Photo: Samara]
Steadfast LA will be screening homeowners to make sure they meet certain criteria, including being under certain income limits. But some other homeowners might choose to buy the houses directly, particularly if that’s all that their insurance money can cover. (A 950-square-foot two-bedroom unit starts at $261,000 plus an installation fee.) Some fire victims who have reached out to the company say they also want to take the opportunity to downsize. “People [are saying] ‘Hey, I’m older, my kids are gone,” McNamara says. “We just talked to a gentleman last week who was like, ‘My house is 2,800 square feetI don’t even want a 2,800-square-foot house.'”
[Photo: Samara]
Because Samara is based in California, the houses have been designed for fire resistance. The roof and siding are made from metal. The doors and windows have dual-pane glass with aluminum frames. The homes don’t have attics with eaves, where embers often enter in a fire. The air-purification systems are specifically designed to handle wildfire smoke if there’s a fire nearby.
Before houses can be built on lots that burned in the fire, federal and state workers need to clear out rubble and contaminated soil, and then properties will need to be greenlit for construction. Utilities on each street may need to be repaired. It’s not clear how long it will take before new construction can begin on each site, though the first stage of cleanupremoving household hazardous wastewas completed this week.
Once the permits are in place, Samara can move quickly. Building a home in the factory takes around six weeks, and multiple houses can move through the assembly line at once. “Imagine every two days or three days, a unit pops off the back of the line,” McNamara says.
It’s only a partial solution; even if the homes can be built quickly, residents will likely have to move back onto desolate blocks with empty lots where construction hasn’t yet begun. Meanwhile, multiple groups, including Steadfast LA, are pushing to find ways to help accelerate development overall.
All of this is happening in the context of L.A.’s massive housing shortage. “We have to continue to address this broader housing shortage at the same time as we try to rebuild,” says Shane Phillips, the housing initiative project manager for UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. That includes doing more to encourage people to rebuild multifamily housing, or housing with ADUs, he argues, rather than just replacing single-family homes.
Steadfast LA’s founder, Rick Caruso, is a billionaire developer known for building malls. He also previously ran for mayor of L.A. and lost, and has criticized the current mayor for her handling of the wildfiresthough the extreme weather conditions and the limitations of urban water infrastructure likely made stopping the fires impossible. (Altadena, it should also be noted, is separate from the City of L.A.) The new nonprofit is running parallel to a separate rebuilding program run by the city, as well as another run by the state. Caruso is widely expected to run for office again; if he does, he’s likely to make the fires and rebuilding part of his campaign. “There’s no question that there’s a political motivation behind Caruso’s effort here,” Phillips says. “But that doesn’t mean [it’s] not a positive thing.”
Federal workers are facing uncertainty as President Trump and Elon Musk have already given notice to around 30,000 employees, with no signs of slowing down. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created with the purpose of slashing the size of the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce, leaving many career government employees scrambling.
For those affected, the transition out of government work can feel daunting. Many federal workers have spent yearssometimes decadesbuilding careers within the public sector, where job stability and structured career paths are the norm.
Many people are now grappling not only with the financial implications of losing a job but also with the emotional toll of being abruptly separated from work they found meaningful. I dont cry often, but I absolutely lost it, one anonymous Park Service worker who was let go told Fast Company recently. I worked very, very hard, in a dangerous profession, to earn the position I was in, and to have it taken away from me truly hurt.
That worker and tens of thousands of others have been thrust into a competitive job market, where everything from a workers skill set to the wording of a résumé may differ.
While the road ahead might seem uncertain, career experts say there are clear steps laid-off federal workers can take to position themselves for new opportunities. Making a successful transition is about understanding the private sector’s expectations and adapting accordingly.
1. Evaluate Your Skill Set and Practice Interviewing
The first thing to do when looking for a job is understand where the opportunities lie and what the requirements are for those roles, says Fast Company contributor and Careerminds expert Amanda Augustine. She recently helped put together this guide for laid-off federal employees navigating a career transition. She says once you find a job post that seems promising, its about seeing where your skill sets match up.
Job postings can give you ideas on how you can translate your previous experiences into terms that are being used in the job description, says Augustine. Your skill set from a government job likely wont be a perfect match for the private sector, so its important to find a way to rephrase your strengths.
Informational interviews are a way to get a better sense of where your skill set fits and what opportunities you should be looking into. This helps identify where a gap in experience might be that you can address by acquiring certification, a certain hard skill, or even a soft skill that you want to work to fill.
Informational interviews can also help answer questions like what type of job you want to pursue, whether youd like to work at a nonprofit, in the private sector, or doing something entirely different. You can also ask about the best way to translate your skills.
There is also a lot of information out there for job hunters to see what kinds of questions employers will ask in interviews based on the industry they are in, says John Mullinix, head of growth marketing for Ladders. On our site, we have a list of behavioral interview questions and how you might answer those for different industries.
2. Update Your Résumé
When looking for a new job, a strong résumé is key, as its likely the first thing a recruiter looks at. Mullinix says former federal employees should probably condense their experiences. Federal résumés are often long because they want you to include every little detail. Most HR people are not going to spend that much time on your résumé, he says. We actually did a study. Right now they spend about six seconds looking at a résumé. So it’s not ideal for your résumé to be four to six pages long. You want it to be one to two max.
When deciding what to leave on and off your résumé, the main focus should be functionality. Federal résumés tend to be organized chronologically, with detailed summaries of each position. But in the private sector, this is not always what recruiters are looking for. [Job seekers] want to include the [positions] that are most relevant or hyper-relevant for the roles that they’re going to apply to, Mullinix advises. We don’t need a 25-year summary. Try to keep it to the last 10 years.
The language that you use on your résumé is also important, as you want to talk about impact and achievement versus process. Including quantifiable results instead of generic descriptions of duties and responsibilities is always more valuable, Mullinix says. Employers want to know what you did and the impact you had.
For employees with government clearances, unless it’s relevant for the role you are applying for, Mullinix says, you dont need to include it.
Government jargon does not always translate to the corporate world. When crafting your résumé, there is almost a language barrier in how government employees describe their skills in the private sector, says Augustine, noting, The first thing to do is [think about] the civilian equivalents to any really specific government jargon that nobody outside of your field understands. There is actually also a large database online that describes different government terms and can help you understand how to strip out some of that very specific terminology to make it more generic, or in terms that a prospective employer will appreciate.
3. Focus on Networking
Networking can seem like a daunting task, especially if youre searching for connections outside your usual area of employment. But there are steps you can take to make it seem less overwhelming.
Having an updated LinkedIn profile is key. One thing you want to do is make sure you’re updating it so that it’s telling the same story as your updated résumé, Augustine says. But even beyond that, it starts with just connecting with those you meet. LinkedIn is not just for the people you meet while you’re working. It’s [for] your friends, your family.
Look up target companies and engage with their content on LinkedIn so you dont come off as cold in your outreach, Mullinix advises. Now might also be a good time to attend relevant conferences, trade shows and or other networking events to make connections with target companies.
Connecting with everyone you know and sending them each a thoughtful message so they are reminded how they know you, while also identifying loose connections (like a friend of a friend), is beneficial, says Augustine. You can also identify people on LinkedIn who previously orked for the government and have already transitioned to the private sector.
Think creatively about networking opportunitiesespecially when it comes to virtual options. There are various different ways to approach this, Augustine says. Not everybody’s good in a big, crowded room. Not everybody’s good face-to-face. One of the silver linings of COVID and the shutdowns is that a lot of virtual networking options opened up.
Augustine says you might also consider joining efforts with a former coworker who has also been laid off. Finding someone else to work with and share resources gives you a support system along the way, she explains. The odds of both candidates being an exact perfect fit for the exact same role are fairly slim, so youre not really in competition.
The job hunt may be challenging, and you may still be mourning your old role, but the most important thing is to be patient. Augustine and Mullinix agree that doing the work and staying consistent will help you land your next job. Be patient with yourself, Mullinix says. Do the things that are hard and do them consistently, and you should see success.
According to reports released this week, the Trump administration is considering scrapping a hallmark finding that greenhouse gases endanger public healthand even some oil companies are opposed to the idea.
Based on reports from both Bloomberg and The Washington Post, Lee Zeldin, the recently appointed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has privately urged President Donald Trump to rewrite whats known as the Endangerment Finding, a federal statement released in 2009 that set the stage for the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Heres what to know about the finding, and what could happen if Trump rescinds it.
What is the Endangerment Finding?
The 2009 Endangerment Finding was the federal governments official acknowledgment that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health. The statement specifically identifies six problematic gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.
The Administrator finds that six greenhouse gases taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations, the statement reads. The Administrator also finds that the combined emissions of these greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas air pollution that endangers public health and welfare.
Today, the Endangerment Finding is the key legal mechanism underpinning the regulation of air pollutants from vehicles and power plants. Scrapping the finding was first suggested in the right-wing Project 2025, which also advised eliminating federal restrictions on fossil fuel drilling on public lands and curtailing federal investments in renewable energy technologies. The move was also considered during Trumps first term, though it never came to fruition.
What will happen if the Endangerment Finding is scrapped?
Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, the EPA can regulate air pollutants if it finds that they cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. If the Endangerment Finding were to be revoked, that could set the scene for a major federal deregulation of greenhouse gas emissions, especially when it comes to the automotive industry and power plants.
The possibility comes as several other levers of climate deregulation are on the horizon. This week, Congress is set to vote on two bills that would roll back climate regulations instituted in the final months of the Biden administration. The first bill concerns a fee on methane emissions by oil and gas companies, which the EPA said in November would reduce methane emissions by 1.2 million metric tons through 2035. The second bill concerns efficiency standards for tankless water heaters set by the Energy Department, which were predicted to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 million metric tons over 30 years.
Meanwhile, operations at the EPA might also have a major shake-up in store. During his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said Zeldin is currently planning to cut “65or so% of the people from environmental.” A White House official later clarified that Zeldin plans to eliminate 65% of what it says is the EPA’s “wasteful spending,” which will include staff cuts.
How are experts reacting to this news?
So far, several legal experts have suggested that an attempt to roll back the Endangerment Finding would result in an influx of legal challenges, and that it wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Sean Donahue is an attorney who has represented environmental groups that support the Endangerment Finding. In an interview with The Washington Post, he argued, You can have a lot of good and reasonable disputes about exactly how we should be addressing climate change. But the proposition that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities dont endanger public health and welfare is not a position that could be supported by the science or what EPAs own record suggests.
David Doniger, a senior strategist and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told The Washington Post that his firm is prepared to challenge the move in court, should it come to that.
Even some oil and gas companies are wary of the potential decision. According to Bloomberg, some energy companies have pointed out that nullifying the Endangerment Finding would open the doors for an influx of public nuisance lawsuits against oil producers and power plants.
At the time of this writing, Trump has not commented on whether he plans to act on Zeldins recommendation.
Yope is the latest photo-sharing app vying to take on Instagram and TikTok.
The pitch? A hybrid of a private Instagram and a group chat. While WhatsApp and Snapchat allow for group messaging and Instagram offers private accounts, Yope blends the best of bothcreating a space where users can share photos exclusively with their chosen circles.
Launched in September 2024, Yope has grown exponentially over the past six months, now boasting 2.2 million monthly active users and 800,000 daily active users, many of whom are in the investor-coveted Gen Z demographic. The company also claims that 40% of users are still active on the app seven days after installing it. According to TechCrunch, Yope has raised an initial seed round of $4.65 million on a valuation of $50 million.
Users can create and name groups, invite friends, and post photos exclusively within those spaces. Each group features a wall where Yopes machine-learning technology stitches images into a continuously evolving photo collage.
The app also offers a lock screen feature similar to the app Locket, displaying the most recent shared photos. A Snapchat-like streak function boosts engagement, while the recap featureakin to Google Photos and Apples Photos appcompiles shared images into a slideshow.
Videos posted by Yope ambassadors on TikTok and Instagram have racked up more than 56 million views, and the company told TechCrunch that 70% to 80% of its users join through invites from friends. The apps user base currently skews young, with an average age of 18.
Instagram and Snapchat have become platforms for curated content. While Gen Z users take a lot of photos, only 1% of them are shared, Bahram Ismailau, Yopes cofounder and CEO, told TechCrunch.
Yope is betting on a shift away from public platforms like Instagram and X in favor of private, closed-group sharingreminiscent of an earlier internet era. Other apps have tried to capture this nostalgia. BeReal (RIP) had its moment, while Poparazzi and Locket also attemptedand failedto redefine social medias halcyon days.
The question is: Can Yope succeed where others have fizzled out, or is it just another fleeting challenger to Instagram and TikTok?
The dramatic images of wealthy neighborhoods burning during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires captured global attention, but the damage was much more widespread. Many working-class families lost their homes, businesses, and jobs. In all, more than 16,000 structuresmost of them homeswere destroyed, leaving thousands of people displaced.
The shock of this catastrophic loss has been reverberating across Southern California, driving up demand for rental homes and prices in an already unaffordable and competitive housing market. Many residents now face rebuilding costs that are expected to skyrocket.
Climate-related disasters like this often have deep roots in policies and practices that overlook growing risks. In the Los Angeles area, those risks are now impossible to ignore.
As the region starts to recover, communities have an opportunity to rebuild in better ways that can protect neighborhoods against a riskier future, but at the same time dont price out low-income residents.
Research shows that low-income residents struggle the most during and after a disaster. Disaster assistance also tends to benefit the wealthy, who may have more time and resources to navigate the paperwork and process. This can have long-term effects on inequality in a community. In Los Angeles County, where one-third of even moderate-income households spend at least half their income on housing, many residents may simply be unable to recover.
My research at the University of San Diego focuses on managing risk in the face of climate change. I see several ways to design solutions that help low- and moderate-income residents recover while building a safer community for the future.
Better building policies that recognize future risk
Before a disaster, communities trying to adapt to climate change often prioritize protecting high-risk, high-value property, such as a beachfront or hillside neighborhood with wealthy homes. My own research also shows a trend toward incremental climate adaptations that dont disturb the status quo too much and, as a result, leave many risks unaddressed.
Climate risks are often underestimated, in part because of policy limitations and a political reluctance to consider unpopular solutions, such as restricting where people can build. Yet disasters once considered unimaginable, such as the Los Angeles wildfires, are occurring with increasing frequency.
Making communities safer from these risks requires communitywide efforts. And that can mean making difficult decisions.
Policy changes, such as updating zoning laws to prevent rebuilding in highly vulnerable areas, can avoid costly damage in the future. So can not building in risky areas in the first place.
California already has some of the strictest wildfire-prevention codes in the country, but the same rules for new homes dont apply to older homes. Communities can invest in programs to help these property owners retrofit their homes by offering grants or incentives to remove highly flammable landscaping or to harden existing homes to make them less vulnerable to burning.
Research shows that resilience efforts can spur climate gentrification, or displacement due to increases in property values. So, focusing on affordability in resilience efforts is important. For long-term affordability and resilience, governments can collaborate with communities to develop strategies such as supporting Community Land Trusts through grants, low-interest loans, or land transfers; implementing zoning reforms to enable higher-density, climate-resilient affordable housing; and incentivizing green infrastructure to strengthen community resilience.
In some cases, communities may have to consider managed retreat (moving people out of high-risk areas) but with adequate compensation and support for displaced residents to ensure that they can rebuild their lives elsewhere.
[Image: Beverly Hills Fired Department]
Making the risks cear through insurance
Insurance rates can also encourage residents and communities to lower their risks. Yet in many places, insurance policies have instead obscured the risks, leaving homeowners less aware of how vulnerable their property may be.
For years, insurers underpriced wildfire risk, driven by market competition. California policies also capped the premiums they could charge. As fire damage and rebuilding costs soared in recent years, insurers unwilling to shoulder more of the risk themselves pulled out of the state. That left countless Californians uninsured and hundreds of thousands reliant on the state-run insurance known as the FAIR Plan. The plan imposes caps on payouts and is now struggling to stay solvent, resulting in higher costs that insurers are expected to pass on to consumers.
Insurance reforms could help reduce the financial burden on vulnerable populations while also lowering overall risk. To achieve this, the reforms could incentivize building more resilient homes in less risky areas.
As seen with the L.A. fires, what your neighbor does matters. Reducing fire risk in each home can make entire neighborhoods safer. Insurers can provide a road map for how to reduce those risks, while state and local governments can provide assistance to retrofit homes and help ensure that insurance premiums remain affordable.
There are also innovative approaches to fund resilience efforts that can include insurers. One example is New Yorks Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires fossil fuel companies to finance climate adaptation efforts.
Equipping communities with resilience hubs
When disasters strike, local groups and neighbors play critical roles in stabilizing neighborhoods. But residents also need more specialized help to find housing and apply for disaster aid.
Building resilience hubs in communities could help support residents before, during, and after disasters.
The resilience hub in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles provides one model for what these spaces can achieve. Its anchored in a community arts center with solar power and backup energy storage. Residents can drop in to cool down during heat waves or charge their phones during power outages. It also hosts community classes, including in disaster preparedness.
During and after a disaster, resilience hubs can serve as central organizing points. They can provide crucial information, resources, and assistance with completing paperwork to access aid. Having access to skilled help in navigating what can be a complicated, time-consuming process is often critical, particularly for people who arent native English speakers.
Getting assistance is also often critical for displaced renters, who may have little certainty about when or if they will be able to return to their homes. Understanding their legal rights can be confusing, and rising costs as rental housing is rebuilt can price them out of the market.
Research shows that building a supportive community can provide a crucial social safety net when dealing with disasters and also boost the communitys social and economic well-being.
Reframing policies for everyone
The catastrophic L.A. wildfires were a powerful reminder that governments and communities need to think carefully about the risks they face and the role policies may play as they learn to live with greater fire risk.
Building a resilient future in a warming world will require bold, innovative, and collective strategies that support communities while advancing equitable solutions.
Nichole Wissman is an assistant professor of management at the University of San Diego.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
It used to be that if you asked a classroom of kids what they want to be when they grow up, youd get answers like firefighter and astronaut. These days, Gen Alpha dreams of becoming content creators.
A survey of 910 U.S. Gen Alpha kids (ages 12 to 15) by social commerce platform Whop found that nearly a third want to be YouTubers, while one in five aspire to become TikTok creators. Content creation isnt their only ambition19.1% also expressed interest in becoming mobile app or video-game developers.
While the “iPad kid” generation is learning plenty from screen time, many feel their schools arent keeping up with the rise of digital careers. More than half of Gen Alpha say they feel unprepared by their education when it comes to building a personal brand and online presencekey components of a successful online career.
Everyone wants to be a content creator, especially kids who have grown up online. They can see the opportunities that exist to make money, find a community, and build a following, says Cameron Zoub, Whop cofounder and chief growth officer. [For] a 15-year-old today, if you have a laptop, theres a million ways to make money on the internet.
Long gone are the days of lemonade stands and car washes. Gen Alpha sees real earning potential in streaming video games, selling products online, reviewing brands, securing sponsorships, and even competing in esports tournaments.
Entrepreneurship is also on the rise. More than one in six Gen Alpha kids aspire to start their own business, with many already earning hundreds of dollars annually, despite being too young for traditional jobs. Brands are taking notice too: Nearly a quarter of Gen Alpha report that either they or someone they know has been approached for a sponsorship deal. With mid-tier YouTubers charging $5,000 to $10,000 per brand partnership, thats some serious pocket change.
