Keeping Tabs #15: Discriminatory job ads, solopreneur secrets, Jameela Jamil and the slow death of SEO
A weekly dose of news, views and things I’ve learned
Fun fact: 15 is my favourite number. Is it weird I have a favourite number? Do you have one? If so, what is it?
This week I’m writing this at The Chedi Al Bait, Sharjah. It was a stressful week – personally, professionally, and regionally – capped off with seven days of solo parenting, so I took myself off for a two-night solo staycation. (I am very aware of and grateful for the privilege I have that allows me to do this when things get tough.)
What a beautiful property. It’s in the Heart of Sharjah, the old town that’s been carefully restored and spreads across several heritage houses, just steps away from some of the emirate’s most fascinating museums. For such a stunning hotel in the UAE, I thought the rates were quite reasonable – just over AED500 per night, including breakfast and AED150 spa credit. Honestly, I’m tempted to plan a Desert Prose writers’ retreat here one day – especially as they have a lovely library with a conference table in what used to be an old post office.
The pool is small and there’s no private beach – although they offer transportation to a nearby shoreline – but I wasn’t bothered by this. I’m not really a pool and beach person – I wanted calm, quiet, coffee, a comfortable bed, and you better believe I utilised that spa credit.
Highly recommend.
Now onto the online stuff…
🌱🧠 I got the opportunity to meet a fascinating entrepreneur and business coach this week, called Evelyn Kimani. She’s created her own seven-pillar method to growing your own business and on Friday she was part of an interesting live discussion online about the realities of hiring – and being hired – today. Watch the recording here.
Excitingly, she’s agreed to do a virtual workshop for the Desert Prose community (paid subscribers only) on how you can grow and thrive as a “solopreneur” (I know a lot of you will hate this word, but it’s the most relevant in this case!). Vote in the poll below so I can get an idea of interest, please!
🚩👀❌ Speaking of hiring practices. Two job postings caught my attention this week. Firstly, this one, clearly written by AI and not proofread, considering the first sentence begins: “At [Your Company Name]”. Then there’s this clearly discriminatory one, shared with me by fellow Substacker and Desert Prose subscriber
, as one of the necessary “qualifications” is that you are “40 years old or below”. It’s a reminder that while freelancing isn’t always easy, some of the hiring practices out there are frankly worse.✨ I stumbled across the second print edition of Huntr at the hotel this week and thought it was really beautifully done. A great idea in terms of content and membership model, with thoughtful curation of genuinely excellent things to do and see in the UAE. I signed up for a membership (testing the “tourist pass” first) – will let you know how I get on. Anyone else a member?
👠 A real shocker in the media world this week – Dame Anna Wintour stepping back as EIC of Vogue after nearly 40 years! I do not envy whoever steps into those shoes. Anna will be staying on as Conde Nast’s chief content officer, so she’ll likely be choosing her own successor, it seems.
🎙️💬🤯 I’m forever discovering new writers on Substack and this was the week I realised
has one! I found this recent post about how she no longer wants to be interviewed by women interesting. The writer in question was the straw that broke the camel’s back – and I get it. Shame on her. I’d have loved to have interviewed Jameela one day! That said, I can imagine if it were for another publication, it may well be edited in the way she hates, even if I didn’t write it that way to begin with. I have a newfound appreciation for editors who are sensitive to writers’ words and meanings, making it a collaborative process instead of a hatchet job.⚰️🔍 I’m not a fan of The Atlantic as I don’t appreciate its blatantly biased reporting on our region, but I did read this article this week (with the rather clickbaity title “The End of Publishing As We Know It – I was baited). I find the debate on the disappearance of SEO in favour of GEO (generative engine optimisation) and how content licensing plays into it all to be pretty interesting. Also love this quote: “Business Insider was built for an internet that doesn’t exist anymore.” So true.
🤖🗨️ In other AI news (because this is all there is now), apparently people are starting to talk like AI now, too, according to this article I read on TechRadar. Considering LLMs like ChatGPT were trained to mimic humans and predict what they might say, this seems a bit backwards. I’m not convinced. Also the fact that the article title begins with, “Are you worried about AI?” 🙄 What about you?
💡🌍💻 I liked this article from Inc. on 25 online business ideas you can launch from anywhere (in case anyone here needs some entrepreneurial inspo). Most of them aren’t particularly new, but I was intrigued by the growing need for online event planning. I’ve seen a few call-outs for virtual assistants lately who can help run webinars, keep track of questions coming in, etc.
📆 Speaking of online events… I love this kind of content – I attend lots of online workshops myself and always take something away. As I plan our first Desert Prose workshop with Evelyn Kimani, I’d love to know: What other topics do you want to see covered in this way? And would you want to run one for the community yourself? Comment below!
The Chedi Al Bait is lovely! And a writers' retreat there sounds like a fab idea.
My favorite number is 17!