Thursday, January 29, 2009

HOW A JOB SEARCH IS LIKE FISHING


Looking for a J.O.B.?

You are not alone. Unemployment is increasing and more people are competing for the open positions that remain. 


Are you using the right bait?

Think of employers as fish.  Use the bait that appeals to the fish you want to catch.  Firms need employees to replace people that have left or to increase firm capability in sales or some other function. Proper keywords will attract leads for jobs. 

Using a single fishing pole from shore is a less than optimal way to catch fish. Stop doing it in your job search. Firms and the managers that are hiring are just like fish. They will bite with the right bait. There are still many in the sea.


Do you know of GPS?
GPS is a Global Positioning System. It is a guidance technology. It uses satellites to get to a specific location. If you want to catch fish, you have to get where the fish are. Use tools to locate fish and to get close to them. Jobs are like fish. Find them and reel them in.


Send out lots of boats
Continuing with the fishing analogy. Use multiple fishing poles or send a fleet of boats out on your behalf. If you are looking for work you must tell your family, friends and network specifically what you are looking for. They are the crew of the boats you are sending out. More boats equals more fish.


More than boats, nets are key
The boats your network is using should be equipped with large nets that will haul in the fish you seek. Better nets are part of how specific you are in telling people what you are looking for in a job [career] opportunity. Give them five through ten keywords. These words will light up their radar screen when they come upon them. 


ACTION & COMMUNICATION
Once someone in your network brings in a load of fish, job leads, take immediate action. Follow up immediately. Make sure that you thank the captain and crew for bringing in such a wonderful catch. 



What else do you think is important in catching good jobs?



Monday, January 26, 2009

SHORTY AWARDS GONE WRONG?





The images above are screen shots from after nominations concluded. Below is a partial list of Shorty Awards rules. At the end of the nominations the votes will be counted and the top five candidates will move on to the finals. In the case of a tie, in nominations, a sixth nominee will be included.

There were no ties between any of the top six contestants. This being the case, only the top five nominees are eligible in the finals per rules set out before the competition. Inexplicably, the startups category somehow had six contestants move into the final round. 

Rules are from http://shortyawards.com/about/ and retrieved on Monday January 26, 2009.

How do the finals work?
The five (or in one case of a tie, six) people with the most nominations in each official category have gone on to the final voting round.
All finalists are encouraged to register ASAP to get free guaranteed admission to the awards ceremony and to be notified if they win.
The people with the most votes in their category will be the winner of the Shorty Award in that category.
The finals round lasts from Monday, January 12 through Friday, January 23 at midnight (Pacific time).
The Shorty Awards' 26 winners will be offered $1,000 grants to travel to New York and attend the awards ceremony, thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Winners must attend the event to claim the grant.
We will do a final audit for spam, hanging chads, and other shenanigans, before announcing the winners.
Follow @shortynews or join the mailing list for updates.

Ed: Color and bold added to aid the reader.


The contestant @hanniversary had 23 votes in nominations originally. You can see that Shorty Awards has recently changed the nominations results [past few days]. They removed 2 votes from @orgsync to make it appear that @hanniversary was #5. @orgsync had 24 votes in nominations [see screen shots above]. They appear to be covering their tracks as to why an ineligible nominee was allowed into the finals in the startup category.


QUESTIONS:
  • Why were the nomination numbers not accurate before finals voting started?
  • Why were the vote numbers for @orgsync changed?
  • If the numbers for @orgsync were wrong and only recently noted, how did nominee number six [@hanniversary] make it into finals? 

These questions, left unanswered, undermine the integrity and fairness of the entire process known as the Shorty Awards. 


Thursday, January 22, 2009

Godin on the Five Pillars of Succcess


Seath Godin often has some great blog posts. Relevant, succinct and on the money.
Today is no different except that it sparked something unknown.
The five pillars of success

  1. See (really see) what's possible
  2. Know specifically what you want to achieve
  3. Make good decisions
  4. Understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds
  5. Earn the trust and respect of the people around you
It sure seems like we spend all our time on #4.

Thoughts:

  1. You have to go do something and give 100% effort to getting it done. Too many people see failure as the only possible destination for what is possible. It is not so. If you believe so strongly in your IDEA, product or service you owe it to yourself to "make it happen."
  2. The focus on what the goal is needs to be precise. Get a cocktail napkin and if you can get create a business plan on a 5" by 5" napkin you likely have a specific goal. You have to cut all the fluff when you only have 25 square inches of space.
  3. Good decisions are critical, maybe more important than that is making them fast and sticking with them. Think about US Airways Flight 1549. The captain was told to go to a nearby airport. He made a decision for a water landing and did so immediately. Good decisions are good for you just as they were for all the passengers on captain Sullenberger's plane that day.
  4. All the tools and technology for how to get things done. Communicating with people, influencing them that such and such product or service is best for them...
  5. Trust and respect are values you need to earn. They are not gained overnight either. This is a measure of Patience, persistence, and authenticity. If you are trustworthy and respectable over time the skeptics are won over. 

Read the original Seth Godin post on The five pillars of success and write out your perspective and thoughts.

Comments?




Wednesday, January 21, 2009

JOB SCAM EMAIL 1/21/2009


Another Job Scam Email is below. DO NOT RESPOND TO IT!



fromTamra Nice 
toswift2@msn.com
dateWed, Jan 21, 2009 at 11:41 AM
subjectResponse to your vResume
hide details 11:41 AM (1 minute ago)
Reply
Hello.

Sometimes companies feel there is a need for them to improve upon their customer service and we help them to achieve their goals.

Payment: There is two variants of the payment:  $1400 per week or $5000 per month.

Requirements:You must be adult and live in USA.

After your hire us like usual customer to research and analyze your customer service, our agent will collect actual information about customer service, because your customer service will serve him during their normal daily routine. You suppose as like ordinary client, so after observations you can compare your own opinion and that what is indeed without disguise truth.

As soon as we get a contract, you would be given the funds you need to do the job.

After you need to write a detailed report contains:

- Terms to get served.
- Politeness.
- Customer service professionalism.

Sometimes you need to upset the attendant, to see how they deal with difficult clients.

Founding on your report, we inform the company executives and they will carry out their own duties to improve their services.

Please send us following information in this Email: friedman279@gmail.com

Full Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone Number:
Age:
Occupation:


Thank you,
Michael Friedman
WA Surveys
4140 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105






Monday, January 19, 2009

TWITTERLOCAL & ADOBE AIR


Internet security has been in the news a bit lately. Above is a screen shot for TwitterLocal for the Adobe Air platform. When warning signs like this appear, it is a major roadblock or should be. 


What are your thoughts?

Thursday, January 15, 2009

MORE JOB SCAM SPAM


The unsolicited email below looks like a Spam scam. Be aware of such.

Did find a WordPress blog that uses dql.advertising as part of the address.  http://dql.advertising.wordpress.com/

Love the misspelling and poor grammar in the message. "Branding startegy" is a good one.
Watson Murphy
tocrevette_228@hotmail.com
dateThu, Jan 15, 2009 at 8:48 AM
subjecthJob for You
hide details 8:48 AM (23 minutes ago)
Reply
Hello !

Our Advertising Agency have adman vacant position.

We need in candidate, who possess:
 - skills in sales
 - excellent communication skills
 - computer and internet skills.
 - Webdesign skill are welcome

Admans in our company play following roles: answering calls, develop and undertake advertising action, work with all type of clients, client payment leading, create branding, Working as a team with fellow colleagues to achieve team performance aims.
Also ensure: completion of the booking form,  related paperwork is completed clearly, there is good communication between fellow colleagues.


Main specialization of our Company: Logotypes, Graphic Design, Webdesign, Company Branding, Search Engines Optimization, Wide Format Printing, Screen Printing, Branding startegy, Offset Printing, Embroidery Services, Multimedia Presentations, Logotypes, Commercial Photography, Outdoor Displays, Rollerposters, Vehicle Wraps, All Kind of Signs, Promotional Products. Internal and external communication strategy ,Live Streaming media, Buying Media & Air Time, Press, Magazines, Newspapers. Special events planning, Company image monitoring… .


Prospects by working as adman at us:
- Perspective job with a good salary (5000.00 USD per month).
- We work in a wide area of advertisment, that is why we will find you suitable work.
- You will be working for one of the most well respected advertising agency.
- Communication with sister companies.
- You have the opportunity to advance within the company and all of its partners.
- Get satisfaction from job.



This is a greet job with good salary and wide prospects!


If you would like to apply for the above role please email: Daniel Moreno

Thank you.
Daniel Moreno
Have you seen this one already?
Add a comment or two if you have seen this or a variation of it.



Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Books Completed in 2008


Below is a list of books I completed reading in 2008. Some are better than others. All these are 3 stars or above. All are in my personal library. 

The titles are linked to either the Google Book Search™ results page or to an Amazon.com sales page for the one book that is not in the Google Book Search™ results. Check them out, and if interested, take immediate action.


NAPOLEON HILL

MARCUS BUCKINGHAM

JEFFREY GITOMER

FRED CRAWFORD & RYAN MATHEWS

ROHIT BHARGAVA

RANDY PAUSCH with JEFFREY ZASLOW

ROB WALKER

DAVID COTTRELL

STACY AARON & KATE NELSON

DAVE RAMSEY

JEFFREY GITOMER

ALAN KELLY

WILLIAM H. MARQUARD

Passion VIA Gary Vaynerchuk


Web 2.0 Expo NY: Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library), Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape

Caution: There is some offensive language.



Get some paper and a writing instrument.
  • Take Notes
  • Take Action
  • Make it Happen

HUSTLE!
PASSION!


Thoughts?



Wednesday, January 7, 2009

LUCKY STARTUPS HITS THE BIG TIME


Nice to see the Lucky Startups folks get some media attention. See embedded video nearby. They are making something remarkable.



 

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

TWITTER FAIL



Not sure why, but Twitter messages are delayed 30 minutes. A little while ago it was 20 minutes. This is creating problems where tweets are time sensitive. See screenshot nearby [click for larger view].  

Following nearly 600 people should keep the stream flowing rapidly at 2 pm EST on a weekday.

Looking forward to hearing why this is happening and if it is related to the phishing and hacker attacks from the past few days.


SETH GODIN GOOGLE PRESENTATION





This is really good content from Seth Godin
  • Watch
  • Take notes
  • Learn

TAKEAWAY
The Purple Cow: Be Remarkable

What are your thoughts after viewing the video?


Sunday, January 4, 2009

ZAPPOS $50,000 T-SHIRT



Zappos has a t-shirt in their online store for $50,000. Put one in my cart. See screen shot nearby [click for full size].

It's a bit beyond my current credit limit so I was unable to complete purchase to see if this for real. Probably part of the personality that makes Zappos culture so unique.





  • What are your thoughts on Zappos? 


Friday, January 2, 2009

GOALS 2009!


Personal Mission

Goals must be  S. M. A. R. T.  in order to be accomplished.
  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic
  • Time-bound

Better Health = 160 by August 31, 2009 Was 179 on 1/1/2009
Run (2) or more races / 5k or longer in 2009
Read more books: 2008 was 13 books. Goal for 2009 is 15 books completed

Might add a few more to this post later.
  • More total blog posts + increase traffic > 100% from 2008
  • Cut the cussing 95%. This is almost a total elimination from vocabulary.
  • ?
  • ?
  • ?
What would you add to the list for better living and increasing success?

LUCKY STARTUPS: PRsarahevans

This is one of the interviews that really got me into Lucky Startups. Guy Kawasaki was the first one. This one closed the deal. Have been a fan ever since this one with @PRsarahevans

The main site for Luckystartups.com
Watch the embedded video nearby. USTREAM.TV




Twitter page for guest @PRsarahevans


Watch the show and leave some comments here. Thanks.