Zachary and Cody Vichinsky have sold just shy of $1 billion (£77.5 million) in property since launching their company, Bespoke Real Estate, in 2014.

They also happen to be brothers.

Together, they represent the top five most expensive rentals and five of the top ten most expensive properties in the exclusive holiday destination of the Hamptons in Long Island, New York.

"All of our negotiations are based on want, not need," Cody told Business Insider.

"Our average sale is around $25 million (£19 million), and our average listing is around $27 million (£21 million), so we deal in a space that is completely emotional."

The brothers admit they are lucky, because working with a family member isn't always a good idea. Cody said he has seen businesses rip families apart, because for some people, mixing your personal life with your career just doesn't work.

"It takes a very strong team, a communicative team to compartmentalise the segments of their life," Cody said. "When you've seen a lot of people who have been families working together in business, it's not so much the business that collapses, I think it's inequitable portions of how that business gets divvied up, but it's also the personal elements that creep into the business world."

However, he told Business Insider that working with his brother has helped them get ahead in the real estate world. Here's why:

They use their differences to their advantage

Firstly, although the Vichinskys share DNA, they have different personalities, skills, and perspectives, which lends them both to different areas of the business.

"We've mastered the good cop/bad cop by now," Cody. "We definitely have different ways of negotiating a deal, or strategising with a deal, and our personalities are also very different. I'm a little more aggressive, and a little more verbose. My brother is a little more to the point and elegant."

Cody deals with a lot of the buyers and the market intelligence side of the business, whereas Zachary handles the listings and corporate management.

"My brother is a very meticulous, calculated person, and he measures five times before he cuts once, whereas I'm a little more of a quick shooter than he is," he said.

Rather than falling out over their differences, the Vichinskys use them to their advantage. For example, if Cody is struggling to close a deal, Zachary comes in at the end with a different voice.

"We like to say our two brains in one give us the perfect business human," he said. "Our spectrum is completely covered."

They tell it like it is

Zachary and Cody put their success of working together down to being very close. The disadvantages you might encounter, such as arguments about a deal or client, can be mitigated "if you are real with each other, and you have a deep bond with each other."

"There is no pulling of punches. We can speak really authentically, even if it hurts. That's the benefit of having somebody you don't have to be political with," Cody said.

They split everything down the middle

"My brother and I split everything 50/50. There's never an argument over money — money will never come in between us."

In fact, if Cody makes a big sale, he says the first thing he does is give his brother half of the earnings.

"I think that's the fundamental element that often gets in between people in these type of scenarios — it's who's getting what."

The brothers came from a small, tight-knit family, which is the reason Cody gives for having such a close relationship. He says their father used to remind them all the time that all they had was each other, so it was a dream early on to have a business together.

"It's somewhat uncommon to be splitting your life, but we feel that two brains are better than one," he said. "It's a good lesson, and it's a rare one. We often meet a lot of our clients who have brothers or sisters, and they tell us all the time 'I wish we had your relationship.'"

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NOW WATCH: Why being awkward makes you more likely to succeed

Thanks in part to email, Facebook, and Twitter, mail carriers may be all but obsolete in the not-so-distant future.

By 2024, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 28% decline in postal service jobs, about 136,000 fewer positions than 2014.

But mail carriers aren't the only ones whose jobs are disappearing. Technology and market shifts have affected a variety of fields.

Based on the BLS's occupational outlook data, here are nine jobs that could be on their way out.

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Building stuff from Lego may be a pastime you left behind when you became a teenager. 

But if you're longing to go back to the days when you created magic from tiny coloured bricks, then Brisbane Airport might be advertising the perfect job for you.

The Australian airport is looking for a new "artist-in-residence" to start in July for a 12-month period.

The successful candidate will be responsible for putting together at least two large-scale pieces to put in the airport terminals.

They will be expected to be available for workshops with the public, as well as "the occasional coffee, planning sessions or even corporate appearances."

The hours you're required to work will be flexible, and you will have to undergo police background checks first.

"This is not a full-time position but rather an opportunity to receive a payment for something you love to do," the advert reads. "Experienced brick builders will be preferred."

What exactly constitutes an experienced brick builder is unclear, but the advert specifies you need to bring your own Lego, or at least know people you can borrow some from.

If you are interested in the role, you can find out more about the application process here. Applications close June 15. To apply, send an email answering a set of questions to sponsorship@bne.com.au.

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NOW WATCH: Here's how you can use math to find your soul mate — and why we're so resistant to that idea

The INSIDER Summary:

• The food industry employs much more than just waiters and chefs.
• Bizarre jobs such as egg peelers and frozen food taste testers are all part of the industry as well. 

Have you ever wanted to work in the food industry, but wasn't sure what was out there? Here is your one-stop shop for finding the unique and full of food culinary career that you've always dreamed of....maybe.   

Fortune cookie message writer

Can you see the future? Maybe this job is for you! When cookie companies produce fortune cookies, they hire writers to create the short phrases that dictate our life. 

Want this job? You must be creative, have knowledge of grammar, and must love cookies.

Chewing gum tester

Have you ever chewed fruity gum for 20 seconds and then spent another 30 minutes chewing tasteless gum? If this is one of your pet peeves or just love chewing gum, become a chomper for your favorite gum brand!

Dog food taster

Yes, you read that right! Because our pups are so important to us, this culinary career exists to make sure that what they're eating is somewhat delicious. Since the chow is made with high-quality proteins, grains, and veggies, it's completely safe and FDA-regulated. 

$$$: Starting salary is $30,000 but can go up to $117,000 

A startup in South Korea is making headlines for only hiring staff that are aged 55 years and over.

Channel NewsAsia reports the founder of content monitoring company EverYoung established the rule to prove the futility of age discrimination – a phenomenon that’s reportedly prevalent in modern Korean corporate culture.

Employees at EverYoung monitor blog content on Korean web portal Naver and detect sensitive information on Naver Maps, as well as perform other IT tasks, including running coding classes for school students.

The Seoul startup, which has 420 seniors from a variety of career backgrounds working for it, mandates a 10-minute break for every 50 minutes of work, and staff are rostered on four-hour shifts.

Manager Kim Seong-Kyu told ChannelNews Asia that older employees have an attention to detail not as common in the younger workforce, with distracting mobile phones stored away during work time.

“They are full of passion. The time that they have, and their interest in this work, are primarily why they come to work,” he said.

Read the full article at ChannelNews Asia »

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NOW WATCH: 9 jobs that are quickly disappearing in the US

On paper, getting paid £50,000 to be a live-in nanny in a scenic, historical property in the Scottish Borders might sound like a good deal.

However, with added paranormal activity, you might think twice.

This is the offer of a family of four in Scotland, who have had their last five nannies quit on them due to "supernatural incidents" like strange noises, broken glass, and moving furniture.

The advert appeared on Childcare.com at the end of May, and states the family is searching for an "exceptional live-in nanny to join our friendly family."

The nanny duties include preparing breakfast, getting the two children aged five and seven ready for school, dropping them off and picking them up from school, helping them with homework, and getting them ready for bed.

It also says the ideal candidate will be trusted to be in sole charge of the property when both "busy professional" parents are away, which happens up to four night per week.

The job offers 28 days of holiday a year, and you will be provided with your own room with en-suite bathroom and private kitchen. Private, that is, apart from potentially having to share with Casper.

"We have lived in our home for nearly 10 years. We were told it was 'haunted' when we bought it, but kept our minds open and decided to buy the house regardless," the advert reads.

"We haven't personally experienced any supernatural happenings, as they have been reported only while we've been out of the house, but we're happy to pay above the asking rate, and feel it's important to be as up-front as possible to find the right person."

If you're not put off by poltergeist, then you can apply for the job here.

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NOW WATCH: Tony Robbins explains Stephen Curry's incredible 100% free throw record in the first 3 games of the series

The INSIDER Summary:

• Pizza delivery workers shared their scariest experiences in a Reddit thread.
• Delivery workers say a surprising amount of people open their door without clothes on.
• They also say that they often put their safety at risk.

Getting a pizza delivered is arguably one of the greatest joys in life. All you have to do it sit back, relax, and wait for cheesy goodness to arrive at your doorstep, no matter the time of day or night.

But what about the people doing the delivering? A recent Reddit thread revealed that pizza delivery workers have a much more stressful experience. In fact, they are risking their lives every time they knock on a stranger's door.

Here are some of the scariest things pizza delivery workers have experienced on the job. 

Nudity

Key103 said that people answering the door in the nude is a frequent occurrence. "Never a nice experience," Key103 said. "We had a list of inappropriate addresses due to it happening quite often..."

Several Redditors agreed, saying that they have also seen various customers sans clothes.

One of the most shocking posts in the thread, however, came from simonfenix who claimed to have been greeted with a customer's genitalia sticking out of the mail slot on the door.

"Police were involved, and my manager was actually upset I didn't leave the pizza and get the money for it," simonfenix said. "I busted out laughing. I thought it was fake until it moved... thought about smacking it with the pizza box. Instead, I took pic and called the police." 

Violence

look_ma_nohands claims to have been hit in the face and robbed on a delivery.

"When I fell back, I landed weird and it crushed all my metatarsals, which are feet bones. I'm sure they didn't intend to hurt me that badly, but I did have them all replaced with metal rods, which rejected twice. So it turned into a whole big 18-month, 3-surgery ordeal over less than $50," look_ma_nohands said.

Coderbuddy was also robbed on a delivery. 

"I knocked on the door and they came up with what looked like a Colt 1911," Coderbuddy said. "They beat me up, stole my cash, and threatened to kill me and my family if I told on them. They pushed me through the door and told me to never come back."

Heartbreak

Rupispupis said the scariest thing that happened to him on a delivery was when a little boy asked if he was his father. Rupispupis confessed that his heart was "broken" and that he was "shocked into silence."

Redditor edave22 said that "Several delivery workers delivered to a guy three weeks ago at a hotel. Six hours later the cops raided his room and shot him. I fed him his last meal."

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NOW WATCH: Here's how LeBron James reacted when he learned Kevin Durant was joining the Warriors

Taking time out of work to travel can be seen as a risk. While everyone else is climbing up the career ladder, you might feel you'll get left behind if you spend a few months or even years seeing the world.

However, according to new research from the hostel booking site Hostelworld, gaining worldly experience might actually make you more employable.

1,000 people from each of eight different countries — the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Brazil and South Korea — were asked to complete an online survey.

For those in chare of employing others, they were asked whether or not their hiring decisions were based on candidates' current employment, and they were all asked whether they believed travelling made candidates more employable, as well as the reasons why. In the survey, "travelling" was defined as being in another location for at least one month.

The results showed that nearly two thirds of UK adults (64%) believed that travelling the world made you more employable. The figure was even higher among employers, at 82%.

38% of people surveyed thought travel boosts confidence, 37% believed it increased people skills, and 35% said it helps you adapt to new situations well. Other reasons cited were improved communication skills (31%), providing a more global view (20%), and teaching you to be better with money (19%).

Out of the people who had travelled themselves, 62% said their experiences helped them understand what they wanted to do with their life. 61% said they did work abroad that looked good on their CV, and 46% made connections while travelling who helped them get their foot in the door at companies.

The study also suggested that people who travel tend to be more entrepreneurial. 34% of people who had explored the world were self-employed compared to 14% of those who hadn't.

Out of those who haven't taken any time out to travel, 37% went straight into work, 50% thought they couldn't afford it, and 29% regret it. This feeling doesn't seem to disappear either, with nearly a third of UK adults considering going travelling overall. This number rises to 58% of those aged 18 to 24.

"We know that for some people employment can be a barrier to travel — whether it be young adults wanting to get on the career ladder, or those further down the line with mortgages to pay — but our research shows that this doesn't have to be the case." said Feargal Mooney, Chief Executive Officer at Hostelworld.

"Travelling is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have, and those who ignore the desire to see the world often regret it... Whatever stage of life you're in, there's really no excuse not to get out there and meet the world."

According to figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 73% of students graduated with at least a 2:1 degree last year. That's out of over 1.5 million students who enrolled for their first degrees in 2016, so it's getting harder and harder for graduates to make sure they are noticed by employers.

"Thousands of young adults will be graduating this summer and thinking about their next steps in life — but with growing competition in the jobs market, candidates are finding it harder and harder to stand out," Mooney said.

"Travelling not only allows people the space and time to think about what they want to do with their lives and ignite their passions, but also provides you with invaluable skills including increased confidence that will help you to stand out from the crowd."

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NOW WATCH: Buy vs. rent — a finance expert weighs in on how you should decide

We're all a little guilty of zoning out during meetings. It's difficult to concentrate the entire time, especially when you have other important things to be getting on with.

However, the impact of this on a business might be a bit more detrimental than a few minutes of lost concentration. According to a poll reported by BPS Digest, $37 billion (£29 billion) could be lost every year thanks to unproductive meetings.

New research from Wacom, an interactive pen, tablets, and displays company, showed that 57% of UK office workers felt their meetings were not productive.

1,000 people were asked to participate in a poll over the course of a week earlier this month.

Here's what the research revealed:

• 43% of those surveyed said they switched off in meetings.
• 34% admitted to not concentrating in meetings and often working on other projects when in them.
• 21% of those surveyed admitted to falling asleep in a meeting.

One major distraction that the workers brought up was laptops and phones.

• 37% of those polled agreed their meetings would become more efficient and engaging if laptops weren't taken in.
• 63% also felt that taking notes by hand would or does enable them to be more creative and productive.

"Meeting organisers and presenters worldwide are constantly competing with laptops and mobile devices for the attention of attendees," said the spokesperson of Wacom, Jeroen van't Hoofd, in a statement. "While most people use the devices for note-taking, the temptation to multi-task is just too great."

He added: "These distractions have a negative impact on stress levels, productivity, company culture and ultimately the bottom line. We can all benefit from fewer, shorter, more productive meetings. A more mindful meeting starts with smarter, distraction-free note taking."

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NOW WATCH: Buy vs. rent — a finance expert weighs in on how you should decide

I am losing interest in my current role and thinking of moving on. The obvious starting point would be to engage a recruitment consultant, but my colleagues tell me they are (at best) a necessary evil. What protocols and etiquette do I need to know to get the best out of them?

Recruitment consultants occupy a special place in many people's minds. They are often regarded with the same degree of contempt as estate agents, perceived as middle men who earn fees for being a broker. What people often forget is that, like estate agents, they are working for (and paid by) the vendor, or in this case the employer.

If you have reservations about using an agent, you can look at other options first. Ask yourself if you need to move at all? Perhaps you can reshape your current role in a way that might tempt you to stay.

If you are dead-set on moving, you still don't have to use an agent. In fact many people go through their entire career this way. Some companies will advertise a vacancy themselves, while a recent estimate suggested that 80 per cent of jobs are found through networking.

Expand your professional network by going to industry events and develop your online profile on business networking sites.

The real advantage of using a recruitment agent is that they can dramatically speed up the process of finding a new role. If you do use a recruiter, there are three ways to give yourself the best possible chance of success.

1. Be honest

First, be honest with the recruiter about why you are seeking a new role. If you are not, the chances are that the real reasons will emerge later on in the process and you may damage your relationship with the recruitment agent and burn bridges with a potential employer.

2. Brush up on your CV

Your CV is undoubtedly the first thing the recruitment agent will ask for. Don't be afraid of asking for feedback on it, but don't expect the recruitment agent to rewrite it for you line by line.

It is possible that you will be asked to reshape it for a particular role – just make sure that what you say is honest, as any untruths may come back to haunt you.

3. Respect the recruiter

Third, treat your recruiter as you would a potential employer. If you're invited to a meeting, dress as if it were an interview. Be on time, be courteous and keep your ego in check. The recruiter will want to be as certain as possible that you are the complete package before they put you forward.

Many candidates fall out with a recruiter when they discuss their worth in the market. Regardless of how highly you value your earning potential, the recruitment agent is the expert and they get to call the shots.

Very simply, they won't put you forward for a role that they consider to be above your pay grade, however much you disagree with their assessment.

Next steps

Once you get to the interview, you are not finished with the recruitment agent. Remember that you are representing the recruiter as well as yourself, so do them justice. Do your research beforehand and don't ask questions in the interview that the recruiter could have answered.

Give the recruiter a call after the interview even if you think the process was a car crash. This will help them to help you and others, and will serve to build your relationship. Finally, if you don't hear anything after an interview, get in touch but don't hassle the recruiter.

They will let you know as soon as they know anything. If you don't get the role, ask for feedback and take it in good faith even if you disagree with it. If you can take it on board, you should get another crack of the whip. Good luck!

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NOW WATCH: 'Melania needs to get with the program’: Ian Bremmer explains the biggest takeaways from Trump’s first foreign trip

Not everyone decides to have children, but by a certain age there's a good chance you'll start thinking about having a family.

Something that comes up a lot is how the parental duties are divided, and how women are often the ones who are expected to give up work.

In a recent blog post on Fortune.com, co-founder of Airbnb Nathan Blecharczyk spoke about the importance of parental care, and how men should be offered leave as the norm when they have children, as well as their female partners.

According to the Office for National Statistics, nearly 80% of men were employed in the UK in 2017, compared to about 70% of women.

Also, according to data from 2013, men with children are more likely to be in work than those without, but it is the opposite picture for women.

The employment rate for men aged 25 to 34 is around 90%, whereas it's just over 60% for women.

In the Fortune post, Blecharczyk says that he has been the sole caretaker of his young daughter for the past two years, while his wife worked as a doctor. He said that as well as having improved his relationship with his children and wife, it has also made him into a better worker.

"While it may seem counterintuitive, having the responsibilities of parenthood can actually help you more effectively prioritize your time," he wrote. "While I spend less time overall working now than before, I find myself making better use of it."

For example, he has learned to prioritise tasks more carefully, and is less likely to spend a long time arranging meetings or writing long emails if a simple phone call will do.

He added that when employees have the freedom to balance their professional and personal lives, they are more likely to be their best selves at work.

"When the employer plays a role in helping employees achieve that goal, their employee's loyalty will increase, and the culture of the company will benefit immensely,"Blecharczyk said. "These days, a soul-sucking company is simply no longer sustainable."

Blecharczyk described the first time he became aware of the facts that fathers need parental leave. In 2010 he interviewed Stan Kong for the position of controller in the finance department, and Kong said he would need time off when his son was born, and flexibility about when he would return.

"I really admired his commitment to his family," Blecharczyk said. "His commitment to the company turned out to be no different. For these reasons, I'm an advocate of providing more benefits to parents, including paid parental leave."

Airbnb now provides all new mothers and fathers with 10 weeks of paid leave, as well as the option to have four-day weeks for eight weeks after that.

"I think it's incumbent on those of us in positions of leadership to create a supportive environment that empowers our employees," Blecharczyk wrote. "I'm calling upon corporate leaders to embrace paid paternity leave. This is not just an investment in our collective future, but also a benefit that leads to a strong workplace culture."

Shared parental leave was introduced in the UK in 2015, but a study shows only 1% of fathers take advantage of it.

The study, by First4Lawyers, also showed that 28 countries have better paternity leave and pay schemes than the UK, including Iran, Congo, and Burkina Faso. Currently, dads are entitled to 10 working days off at 80% of their salary as paternal leave. However, the law firm suggests that an increase to four weeks at 100% pay would be more favourable.

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NOW WATCH: Here's how you can use math to find your soul mate — and why we're so resistant to that idea

Searching for jobs is always a bummer. You put in so much effort into your résumé and cover letters and no one seems to get back to you.

One way to make it fun — and to stand out from the pack — is by turning it into a creative project.

But it's tricky. You need to display a sense of fun and creativity while at the same time showing that you're a smart, dedicated worker who takes their job seriously. Ideally, you'll come across as someone who'd be a valuable addition to the team, as well as someone who everyone in the office will want to be friends with. It's risky. But if you execute it well, the dividends can be huge.

Here are 11 examples of people who took the creative route:

Pretend to deliver donuts to the business you want to work for.

It sounds zany, but it's the strategy used by Lukas Yla. In around September of 2016, he moved to San Francisco looking to work in marketing for a tech company. Within a month, he'd pretended to be a food delivery person and delivered donuts to 40 companies he wanted to work for.

Inside each doughnut box, he included the message, "Most resumes end up in trash – mine in your belly," as well as a pitch and link to his LinkedIn profile. According to his LinkedIn, he's now the head of marketing at a company called CityBee Car Sharing.

Make a Snapchat filter for the company you want to work for

Graham Allgood wanted to work at Horizon Media, an ad agency, so he made a Snapchat filter set at their headquarters asking them to hire him.

It got more than 1,000 views and landed him an interview the next day.

Snapchat's geofilter is useful with this kind of strategy, because you can make a custom filter that works only in certain locations. Drawing the "geofence" around the office headquarters makes sure you stand out.

Use your résumé as the wrapper for chocolate.

Designers get to have more fun than most people while applying to jobs. Jessica Wen went the Trojan Horse route: She sent people chocolate bars and used her résumé as wrapping paper. The inside of the wrapper included her skills and experience. She then left the chocolate with recruiters at her college career fairs.

Leaving school and entering the workforce can feel overwhelming.

Chances are, your college didn't offer classes on how to negotiate your salary, deal with a micromanaging boss, or confront annoying coworkers.

But there's still something you can do to prepare yourself for the tricky world of work: read.

Here are 28 books we think every young professional should read before starting their first job:

SEE ALSO: 23 books Mark Zuckerberg thinks everyone should read

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'What Color is Your Parachute?' by Richard N. Bolles

If you're only going to read one book on the list, you may want to choose this one. Why? It covers a little about everything. 

Bolles writes in the first chapter, "In today's world, he or she who gets hired is not necessarily the one who can do that job best; but, the one who knows the most about how to get hired." 

The first half of the book talks about how to create an eye-catching résumé and cover letter, as well as how to improve your networking, interviewing, and negotiating skills — while the second half focuses on how to find your ideal career.

BUY IT HERE»

'Never Eat Alone' by Keith Ferrazzi

"Never Eat Alone" is about using relationships to reach success. In other words, it's about who you know, not what you know.

Ferrazzi, a master networker, talks about how he used connections to get into Yale for his undergraduate degree, Harvard for his MBA, and later, to land a number of top executive positions. 

Based on his experiences and additional research, Ferrazzi claims that networking is the difference between average and super successful people. To help others achieve their dream life, he lays out his exact steps for reaching out to people in his network, as well as networking tips from the most well-connected individuals in the modern business and political world. 

These tips have helped him connect with Washington power players and Hollywood A-listers, so they should definitely be able to help you. 

BUY IT HERE»

'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' by Robert B. Cialdini

This book will teach you how to make people say "yes."

No matter what field you're in, you need to know how to get others to agree with you and help you out.

Cialdini explains the science behind doing just that based on his 35 years of research, as well as his three-year study on what makes people change their behavior. 

Not only does this book teach you how to become a powerful negotiator, it also teaches you how to resist one. 

BUY IT HERE»

When a magician is on stage, they are the most honest person you'll ever meet. They tell you they are going to fool you, and then they do.

This is the observation of the famous stage magician James Randi, who has made a career out of exposing con-men and "quacks."

In a new book "Spellbound," magician and puzzle master David Kwong explores the ideas of illusion and persuasion, and gives the reader tools with which to help them get ahead in their lives. However, he is clear from the beginning that it is not a handbook on how to deceive people.

"I think these principles can be used in a dark way," Kwong told Business Insider. "And I try to arm the reader against con-men like that."

Whereas fortune tellers, tarot card readers, and evangelist prey on people's emotions, Kwong aims to show that there is a way to do everything above board, without lying and cheating.

"I hope people can use these principles to increase their own control in their own lives to get a few steps of everybody else," he said.

There are several ways the tactics of a magician can be used in your career to get ahead. Kwong had a chat with Business Insider about how you can do this and gave us 6 pieces of advice. Here they are.

1. Don't box yourself into one outcome.

If you're about to do a presentation at work, Kwong suggests thinking about having five different versions of that presentation. That way, you can base how it goes on the feedback and response from the people in the boardroom. You've given yourself a "tree of options," by giving the illusion of free choice.

"A magician does this all the time — we don't tell you what the end of the story is going to be on the outside," Kwong said. "If we were to do that, we would be boxed in, so this allows us to take different options to get to the most impactful ending for the performance."

There are many tricks that Kwong performs that have a dozen different endings based on the card that somebody says, or based on the word that somebody gives him. For example, he once hid 52 cards in a colleague's garden for a trick, because he knew nobody would suspect that he'd gone to that much trouble.

"It might flicker in their minds — maybe this magician came to our house and hid 52 playing cards — but who would be so crazy as to do that?" he said.

2. Choose which secrets you want to keep.

Whether you disclose that you were over-prepared or not is up to you. If you keep it a secret, then you may be applauded for such a successful presentation. However, you could also choose to tell people you prepared for five different outcomes, which will give you a different sort of credit. If you choose to keep your cards close to your chest, this is similar to the art of misdirection.

"During the presentation, you are able to seamlessly move through the presentation as if there were only one outcome," Kwong said. "Magicians never tell you I'm going from point A to point B. We never limit ourselves to a single path. We start at point A and we say something amazing is going to happen, but we never tell you what that amazing thing is going to be."

3. Load up.

Magicians over-prepare to the extreme. David Copperfield, for example, is known for spending two years perfecting a trick that only takes a few minutes to perform.

"We might spend a thousand hours on a set of hand moves for a trick that only takes ten seconds to perform, but to us, it's worth it," Kwong said. "We will go to such extreme lengths of preparation because the audience will dismiss it as the explanation."

In the magic world, this is called "loading up," which originally meant when magicians would stuff their pockets full of props and have strings running up and down their sleeves. Kwong says you can use this tactic in your careers, such as if you have a job interview coming up.

"You're loaded up as you walk into someone's living room to work miracles, but nobody is aware of what you're loaded up with," he said. "In a job interview, you can read all the books that may have influenced your interviewer, and you can research their favourite scotch, you can know all of these things going into it."

4. Remember you can catch up.

A story which inspired Kwong to write Spellbound was how Richard Branson started up Virgin Airlines. It involved something called "sleight of time," which basically refers to how magicians extend themselves and take risks, while all the time knowing it is something within reach.

Branson was flying to the British Virgin Islands but the flight was cancelled. Instead of going home, he got ahead of himself and hired a plane from a charter company. Then, he borrowed a chalkboard and started selling one-way tickets to the stranded passengers at the airport for $39. He made the money back, and so caught up to the initial risk.

"This is something that magicians do all the time — we know we'll be able to catch up," Kwong said. "So I might claim that a trick is finished before it's actually finished, and I get you all to believe that something amazing has happened, and then as you are all applauding my success for pulling off a feat, I then finish the trick."

Similarly, the CEO of Walker & Company Brands Tristan Walker emailed Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley eight times when he was looking for a job. Crowley finally agreed to meet when Walker said he would be in New York the next day. Little did Crowley know Walker hadn't actually bought a ticket yet.

5. Command attention only when you need to.

Magicians command attention during on-beats and off-beats, Kwong said. On-beats are when they want you to watch the trick, such as when the bird appears or the card changes from one to another. The off-beat though, is where all the secret moves happen.

"The offbeat is when I look up and relax my shoulders, or I tell a joke, or I go and get a drink of water from a glass on a table," Kwong said. "This is in between the tricks, but this is when all the side moves actually happen."

In business, you can imagine executing your secret moves when no-one is paying attention. For example, your off-beats could be while you're at home at the weekend, when you decide to do the heavy lifting of an assignment, and come back to the office and appear to finish the project in a very short space of time.

6. Inspire action with empowerment.

Famous CEOs and leaders like Elon Musk, Tim Took, and Warren Buffet are people who know how to command people's attention. They also know how to get people to follow them.

Kwong said they know how to get their employees to willingly and happily participate towards the end goal, and they do this by empowering them.

"When you can empower the person on the other side of the table in a negotiation rather than strong arming them with a hard sell, or forcing them to make certain decisions, you'll have more success," he said. "They'll be more obliging, and they'll be more emotionally invested in the outcome of the product. And I think these are very positive uses of illusion."

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Mike Steib, CEO of American media company XO Group, has a fair bit of experience of changing roles over his career.

His first job out of university was as a business analyst at McKinsey. Since then, he has been a digital business leader at NBC Universal, and a managing director of emerging platforms at Google.

He now runs XO Group, a company that helps people plan the biggest days of their lives, such as a wedding. It's fair to say he's had a diverse career journey.

Speaking to Business Insider, Steib set out three questions you should ask yourself when you're thinking about changing jobs. Here they are:

1. Am I motivated?

The first thing you should think about, Steib said, is what's important to you, and the impact you want to have.

"It's really important that you're in a job that is helping you to have an impact," he said. "So if you work someplace, you're not motivated by what you're helping to build, or what you're contributing to it, you should be working somewhere else."

Through XO Group, Steib said he gets to help people plan the most important days of their life, and that's really motivating.

"I really love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything," he said. "Work on something that is important, that is aligned to your values, and important to you. If you're not doing that make a change."

2. Am I learning and developing?

The second question is all about leverage, and whether you are in the right place at the right time. There was a moment for Steib where he knew he wanted to work with the best minds in technology. That's when he went to Google.

"There was no substitute in my personal career for becoming an expert in how technology companies are run," he said. "You want to work in a place that will give you high leverage on the things you need to learn, and the experiences and skills you need to develop in your career."

3. Do I have a good manager?

There's a theory that says people leave managers, not companies— and Steib agrees. He's told family and friends that if they don't have a manager who is being a good coach, a good mentor, or a good supporter, it's time to consider jumping ship.

"Whenever someone asks me how to fix a broken situation with a bad manager, my advice is always the same," he said. "The only way to fix having a bad manager is to find a new manager."

Bad managers, he says, are people who don't care about their team. They also fail to take responsibility when things go wrong. On the other hand, good managers hire good people, and spend a lot of time coaching and developing them.

"Being a manager is a really hard job. It is a sacred responsibility, because you're responsible for the success of other people," Steib said. "You find me anyone who hates work, who says they had a bad week at work, the reason is always their manager. That's a huge responsibility for someone who takes on management."

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Exam results come out in August, making it a stressful month for students to say the least.

Many will be wondering whether they got the grades to get into the university they wanted, and it can feel like the end of the world if you don't do as well as you thought you would.

However, whatever your results, you can still have a great career and a well-paying job. In fact, figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 29% of graduates earn less than those who entered the workforce straight from an apprenticeship rather than getting a degree.

Student fees are currently capped at £27,750 for three years of study, which has left many young people wondering over the past few years whether a university education is really for them or not.

New data from Indeed— the world's number one job search site — shows there are many roles which don't require a degree that pay more than the UK average wage.

"Our figures suggest there is still a 'graduate premium,' with graduates frequently earning more than those without a degree," said Mariano Mamertino, an EMEA economist at Indeed. "But while having a degree typically increases your earning potential, the cost of gaining one is substantial. As a result many school-leavers will be asking themselves whether the sums of doing a degree add up."

The site analysed the salaries offered by tens of thousands of job adverts and came up with a list of five which pay substantially more than the UK average salary of £28,000.

Here they are, ranked in ascending order by average salary.

5. Pilot — £32,691.

To learn how to fly a plane, you need to get a Airline Transport Pilot's Licence (ATPL), and you'll also need good physical fitness, good hearing and eyesight, and colour-normal vision.

The training can be quite pricey — £60,000 and £90,000 in total — but the most experienced airline pilots can earn £140,000 a year.

The National Careers Service website says being a pilot requires excellent hand-to-eye co-ordination, great communication skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills, and the ability to remain calm and focused under pressure.

4. Executive assistant — £33,150.

Having a personal assistant role at a senior executive level is a lot more than organising a CEO's diary. You'll also be in charge of travel arrangements, email management, and a few accounting responsibilities such as financial management and client billings.

Some positions even require you to speak several languages.

The executive will likely rely on you to sort out the majority of their life, so it's no surprise it pays quite well. Depending on the position and who the executive is, you could earn upwards of £50,000.

3. Fitness manager — £34,374.

Fitness managers are responsible for overseeing the administration and organisation of a gym or fitness club. This includes both employees and visitors to the gym, so you need to have good personal skills.

Different gyms and clubs have many different activities and facilities, so the job can range quite a bit. Some will be in charge of a spa and pool as well as the gym floor, whereas others are making sure the exercise classes are running on time.

Either way, you're working behind the scenes of the club and making sure everything is running smoothly, so it's a lot of responsibility.

Jeff Reynar is a director of engineering and New York site lead at Facebook. He interviews between 50 and 100 people annually for various technical roles. Since Facebook regularly lands near the top of lists of the best companies to work for, we asked Jeff what it took to land a job at the massive social network. Following is a transcript of the video.

JEFF REYNAR: We're looking for people who are bold, who are willing to try and tackle difficult problems that customers face, or solve particularly gnarly technical challenges that allow us to build new things and do so by taking some risks.

We're looking for people who are focused on having impact, which is sort of another way of saying that people should prioritize things really well, and focus on solving big problems rather than little ones because the sooner we solve some of the big problems, the more we can build on those results.

We've hired people from all manner of different backgrounds. It's well known that Zuck dropped out of college
and started Facebook, and we hired a number of people who haven't finished college, but we've also hired people who have Ph.D.s in computer science and other disciplines. And we've hired people who are self-taught software
engineers, and people who've spent lots of time in academia.

And what we're looking to do in New York is to ultimately hire a diverse workforce that's really reflective of the level of diversity that exists in New York City as a whole. We think this is really important because not only is it the right thing to do, but it also allows us to build products for almost everyone by bringing a diverse set of perspectives to the teams who are building these products for people.

And we want people who want to move fast. And that doesn't mean being reckless, but it means being biased toward action and getting going on a solution rather than spending a lot of time talking about it upfront.

And, people who have those traits are often the ones who do the best in the interview process, as well as do the best once they get to Facebook as well.

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In her book "Radical Candor: Be A Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity,"Kim Scott explores finding the sweet spot in management, somewhere between obnoxiously aggressive and ruinously empathetic. She details the traits a person must have to be a successful leader. Following is a transcript of the video. 

So I would say the most successful bosses don't have a personality type, right. There's not traits or attributes, but there are things that they do. Being a boss is not, it's not a value judgment, it's a job, and here are the things that great bosses do. They start by forming relationships with each of their employees. And they form these relationships not by schmoozing after work but in the way that they fulfill their three key responsibilities. They create a culture of feedback. They build a great cohesive team. And they achieve results collaboratively. And the most important thing that bosses do in all three of these areas is to be a partner to each person on their team. Not to be a micromanager and that gets a lot of talk, sort of, it's pretty common knowledge that you shouldn't be a micromanager, however one mistake I see often especially new managers but even some experienced managers make is in the effort to avoid micromanaging they just become absentee bosses. They sort of disappear from view and they don't really help people who are working for them achieve success and if somebody comes to work for you it's because you've got something to offer so you owe them your thought partnership.

Produced by Sam Rega

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Jeff Reynar is a director of engineering and New York site lead at Facebook. He interviews between 50 and 100 people annually for various technical roles. Since Facebook regularly lands near the top of lists of the best companies to work for, we asked Jeff how to make a résumé stand out. Following is a transcript of the video.

JEFF REYNAR: So, what kinds of things can you do to make your résumé really stand out? So, you want to make sure it's proofread carefully, it's not formatted in a strange way and it just tells a really clear story about who you are and what you've done.

The myth about buzzwords is a thing that kind of needs to be dispelled. I think the best résumés are one that just showcase what you've done and what we tend to look for is people who are passionate about an area, technology certainly for software engineers and who've done great work.

And it doesn't really matter how you describe what you've done, as much as that it comes across really clearly that you've done something important that's impactful, and done it well and that you're eager to bring those skills to Facebook.

If you've got more time, like you're thinking about applying for a job maybe in a couple years, after you've gained some more experience, then there are a number of things you can do. You can contribute to open source projects, you can attend or even host meetups, you can do a lot of things that just demonstrate that you're very passionate about, as well as adept at the area of expertise that you have that you'd like to bring to Facebook.

So — hackathons, another great way, starting an open source project, an amazing thing publishing papers, if that's something that relates to the way that you tend to work all of these things will make you a little bit special compared to a lot of candidates who've just done the basics of getting a computer science degree, having an entry-level job.

But, if you can differentiate yourself, we're more likely to notice and bring you in for an interview. 

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Once they are released, 45% of all inmates from prisons in England and Wales re-offend within a year.

Among inmates serving sentences of under 12 months, the number rises to 60%. However, this drops to 50% if the inmates have stable employment.

While this is obviously still a high number, considering nearly 75,000 people were released from prison in the year ending in June 2016, there could be over 7,000 people not being thrown inside again.

This is all according to a new report by the think tank The Centre for Entrepreneurs, which suggested that the answer could lie in helping to support ex-prisoners start up businesses.

The report "From inmates to entrepreneurs: how prison entrepreneurship can break the cycle of re-offending" found that 80% of prisoners are interested in starting their own business. This is compared to about 40% of the general population.

The report says former inmates display many traits that make them suitable for an entrepreneurial career, such as scoring highly on the need for self-achievement, personal innovation, and the desire for independence.

It also points out that a criminal record won't get in the way of being self-employed, and no formal qualifications are required — you just need a good idea.

Enterprise Exchange, which specialises in helping people with additional barriers become self employed, runs self-employment courses in prisons. It has also teamed up with Choirs Beating Time, which runs choirs inside prisons, to help support ex-inmates become entrepreneurs. The organisations are launching what they're calling an Opportunity Fund together, and are approaching businesses and entrepreneurs to contribute.

Inmates will have to show entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to work hard to receive help.

Joe Davis, for example, is a former inmate who developed a business plan for his South American restaurant, Panama Joes, with help from Enterprise Exchange.

He currently employs five staff, has a 4-star rating on TripAdvisor, and could be only a year away from making a profit.

"The past is the past," he said. "My future is different and much better."

Phil Ashford, Director of Enterprise Exchange, said the fund is what's needed to turn people who have served prison sentences into societal assets, rather than liabilities.

"I have worked with many people who are determined to rewrite their future. That's where the 'choir' element of the course really helps," he said. "In addition to a well thought through business plan, we will have had the chance over a 10-week period to see how well candidates cope with new challenges, interact, collaborate, and network. We'll see how committed they are."

He added: "We'll put them under the pressure of a performance and know how they react to that. Building a business is about more than a good idea and a business plan. Our investors want to know who we are investing in, not just what."

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