Archive for April, 2006

Linked In Growing

April 29th, 2006

I’ve been impressed with the new additions LinkedIn has released recently.  One of them is the new dashboard when you login that tells you things going on in your network.

It has been interesting to me noting who of my connections are actively adding people to their networks.  As I have been passively watching, the number of people who seem to be grooming their connections is going up.

To me, this is yet another sign that the marketplace is responding to the tighter job market.  Many of the talented people that have been cocooning* over the last few years are actively out there, seeing who they know (and who knows the people they know) and pinging the waters to see what thenew boundaries are.

If you’re not actively grooming your network, you should be. No matter if you are looking for your next move, or looking to hire a superstar, your network is growing around you.  This is not the time to be eating alone!

* "holding tight" at a job you may not want, because the market isn’t right for you to move.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Extending An Offer on Friday?

April 29th, 2006

I want to dig into this article more, but one point really jumped out at me:

[this] has led us recently to a new policy of not extending offers on Fridays. The extra time over the weekend leads to unnecessary complications as friends, relatives, and neighbors weigh in on the details and give what amounts to bad advice.

Incredible comment and incredible thoughts.  There ar, of course, two sides to this opinion, but I am weighing on the side which limits the amount of time to let other people chime in on a candidate’s decision.

Yes, spouse/significant other should be involved (duh) but they’ll be involved even if its Wednesday morning.

In my branch, thanks to training by my sister company Devon and Devon Executive Recruiters, I do a considerable amount of exploration and prep work with the candidate before an offer is possible.

I don’t personally like "fisherman" who constantly test the waters to see if there’s a bigger fish out there.  Those candidates don’t do well for my clients, hence don’t do well for me.  Corporate Philandering is not appreciated in my book.

In my opinion, by the time an interview occurs, my candidate better be ready to ship out if the opportunity is right.  The shaping up period is over.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Job Post vs Search Trending

April 29th, 2006

Dennis Smith at talent bloggers mentioned this worthy bookmark to peek into what jobs people are searching for there these days on the jobster network:

The jobster folks look at all the people searching on Jobster.com over the past 7 days and summarize the most popular keywords and locations. Risers are the search terms that have increased the most over the previous week’s score. Decliners are search terms that have decreased the most over the previous week’s score.

The Jobster Trend Tool is some cool metadata about what their view of the jobsearch world is.  Interesting.

Similarly, see trends of what companies are hiring for (or at least posting about) at Indeed.com’s graphical job trend tool.  Interesting to look at the two sides of the coin.

I punched in the top six entries from jobster on what people are looking for and compared them to indeed’s judgement of what companies are looking for. 

Here’s the outcome:

Jobster’s Top Six:

  1. engineer
  2. customer service
  3. sales
  4. receptionist
  5. part time
  6. human resources

Indeed’s Results (Click the image to go to the trend tool)

Job trends graph

  1. customer service
  2. sales
  3. part time
  4. engineer
  5. human resources
  6. receptionist

 

Popularity: 3% [?]

What’s Under Your Nose?

April 28th, 2006

There’s something going on behind your back that you should know about.

And, unfortunately, by the time someone in the Executive Suite notices, it will surely be too-late.

If you’re having a hard time recruiting right now, there’s good news and bad news:

  • The good news is that your competitors are, too. 
  • The bad news is that your competitors are, too.

Why that’s good for you is probably obvious.  Hey, they’re the bad guys.  I hope they have it 10 times worse than I ever have.  They deserve a run of bad luck.

Why it is bad for you wont hit you between the eyes until one of your superstar employees walks in your office with that look on their face:

I’m giving my notice.

Brand X gave me an offer that I simply couldn’t refuse.  It’s not personal.  It’s just a better opportunity, and if I don’t take this chance now, I may never get it again.

You can’t blame her.  That’s what superstars do.  In fact, you kindof knew all along that she was biding her time until xyz opportunity in your company became available to her.

  • Maybe you didn’t push for that enough?
  • Maybe you thought you would get as much out of her production as you could.
  • Maybe, if you had done a few things different, she would still be on your team and not firing up your competitor’s team with her energy, excitement, and brilliance.

With an unemployment rate this low, you are right now in direct competiton not only to find great talent, but to keep it.

I suggest that you clear your schedule, meet with your top-performers ASAP, and ask for their help…. and then LISTEN.

… or, you can wait until they come in, single file, with resignation letters.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tech Radio – April 22, 2006

April 23rd, 2006

Option 1: Click the PLAY button to stream the Tech Radio show.

Option 2: Subscribe to the Tech Radio podcast. When you subscribe to the Tech Radio podcast, you’re guaranteed to automatically receive the latest edition of the show the very second it’s uploaded on the Square Planet Productions website.

Option 3: Left click on the "MP3 File"link and the show will automatically begin playing on your Windows, REAL or iTunes audio player.  MP3 File

TECH RADIO FOR APRIL 22, 2006

We covered a lot of ground on this week’s Tech Radio show.  Matt Reinbold from mutednoise.com and bloomburst.com and a regular on Tech Radio flew solo this week and did a great job.  Rob Merrill with UtahTechJobs.com took the week off because of prior commitments.

Here’s a portion of the things we discussed during this week’s show:

HP:  Hewlett Packard has initiated a recall of some 15,700 battery packs installed in the company’s HP and Compaq notebook PC machines, warning that an internal failure can cause the batteries to overheat.  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that HP has received 20 reports of batteries overheating and one minor burn injury.  To see if your notebook is part of the recalls, visit this web site or call (888) 202-4320. 

Apple:  Apple announced they were cutting the price of their iPods.  They also announced they were creating a version of Adobe Photoshop that will run on MAC computers based on the PowerPC and Intel chips.  It will be available in the first half of next year.  This is great news if you have an older MAC computer or a new Intel based machine.

Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD:  The companies backing competing formats for next-generation DVD technology will never again talk about forming a unified standard.  That’s according to Kazuhir Tsuga, an executive at Matsushita.  (Just in case you didn’t know, Matsushita is best know for the Panasonic brand.)  Panasonic is the leading supporter of Blu-Ray while Toshiba is supporting the other format called HD-DVD.  To bring you up to speed on this issue, at the core of the competing formats is a blue laser which have a shorter wavelength that red lasers used in current DVD equipment.  The blue laser enables discs to store data at higher densities.  The two sides held talks last year in the hopes of avoiding a prolonged format battle similar to the one between Betamax and VHS videotapes in the 1980′s.  May the company with the deepest pockets win.  Our advice, wait to see which which company out-muscles the competition before purchasing your next DVD player.

Alltel:  Alltel, the number five wireless carrier in the country, plans to shake up traditional cellphone billing by offering an alternative for customers who exceed their monthly allotment of minutes.  Subscribers who sign up for rate plans that cost $59.95 or more a month can make unlimited free calls to any ten phone numbers, wireless or land-line, anytime of the day and the calls won’t count against the subscriber’s monthly bucket of minutes.  Our opinion, A FANTASTIC IDEA.  Way to go Alltel.

  • Some industry analysts are saying that cell phones will make significant inroads against PCs for surfing the Internet.
  • One report suggests that cell phones will become "mobile wallets" instead of just a communications device.
  • If you have Sprint cell service, this year’s NFL draft will be televised on your phone.  Reggie’s going #1.
  • The number of people who filed their taxes electronically grew to an astonishing 54 people as of March 31.
  • Phillips Electronics has invented a device that blocks DVRs from skipping ads (Our opinion:  This is a bad idea.)
  • Google is testing a new look search results page.
  • Google also announced that it could bid on U.S. licenses for wireless radio spectrum in order to offer Internet access services.
  • Panasonic said it will sell a flat-panel TV with a 103-inch screen by the end of 2006.  The biggest screen on the market.
  • Dutch researchers claim they can track the "mood" of Internet bloggers.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Drawing Control Specialist

April 21st, 2006

Job Title: Drawing Control Specialist

Job Category: N/A

Location: Murray, UT

Job Description: SOS Technical has an immediate need for a Drawing Control Specialist to work for one of our great clients. The job duties for this position include:

Construction Drawings

Vendor Drawings and information (e.g., O&M Manuals, Specifications, etc.)

Backup for receptionist area

Drawing Transmittals ? Sent out daily to customers- on Access Database

Working with a variety of copy machines, preferably Xerox Scanners

Proposal drawings ? kept electron, PDF or Tiff format

Design Calculations (Piping/Mechanical, Civil/Structural, Electrical & Instrumentation)

Engineered Equipment Specifications (Piping/Mechanical)

Equipment Specifications (Electrical/Instrumentation)

Projects using Access and Excel

Vendor Catalogs

Technical Manuals

Qualifications: The ideal candidate should be familiar with most Word programs.

Minimum Education Level: N/A

Career Level: N/A

Job Type: Contract-to-Permanent

Job Status: Full Time

Compensation: Up to $17, DOE. SOS Technical offers a full range of benefits.

To learn more about SOS Technical, visit us at www.sostechnical.com!

To apply send a word formatted resume to: apply066@sostechnical.com

SOS Technical ? Uniting Talent with Technology

SOS Technical is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Job location is Murray, UT
Compensation: Up to $17/hr. DOE
no — Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
no — Please, no phone calls about this job!
no — Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
yes — Reposting this message elsewhere is OK.
yes — OK to repost to Job Developers for Persons with Disabilities.

153352333

Popularity: 4% [?]

InRoads Designer or Drafter

April 21st, 2006

Job Title: InRoads Designer or Drafter

Job Category: N/A

Location: Murray, UT

Job Description: SOS Technical has an immediate need for an InRoads Drafter or Designer to work for one of our great clients.

Qualifications: The ideal candidate needs to be Skilled with InRoads.

Minimum Education Level: N/A

Career Level: N/A

Job Type: Contract-to-Permanent

Job Status: Full Time

Compensation: Up to $28, DOE. SOS Technical offers a full range of benefits.

To learn more about SOS Technical, visit us at www.sostechnical.com!

To apply send a word formatted resume to: apply066@sostechnical.com

SOS Technical ? Uniting Talent with Technology

SOS Technical is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Job location is Murray, UT
Compensation: Up to $28.00/hr. DOE
no — Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
no — Please, no phone calls about this job!
no — Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
yes — Reposting this message elsewhere is OK.
yes — OK to repost to Job Developers for Persons with Disabilities.

153352010

Popularity: 3% [?]

Now Hiring Several PHP and MySQL Web Developers and Programmers

April 13th, 2006

Job Title: Now Hiring Several PHP and MySQL Web Developers and Programmers

Job Category: Information Technology

Location: Utah

Job Description:

We are immediately seeking to fill several excellent PHP/MySQL development position in Orem, Lindon, American Fork and Lehi areas of Utah County. We are looking for junior, mid-level and senior level LAMP web developers who are ready to make their next move, jump-in and make a difference. These are not your typical programming positions. All our hiring clients are top-notch in their fields, innovative, and are ready to hire brilliant minds.

Apply now if you are a motivated, self-starter who likes working with smart people and interesting client businesses, and you like solving tough web-development problems.

Qualifications:

(All Positions) Strong working knowledge of PHP4 or PHP5 & MySQL, using standard, team-based web development practices

(All Positions) Must demonstrate (X)HTML & CSS ability

(All Positions) Javascript skills necessary

(Mid-level and Senior Positions) Demonstrated ability/experience working on mission-critical, enterprise applications

(Senior Position) Understanding of XML & related technologies important

Also:

Linux and Apache management experience a big plus

Good communication, team player, customer support experience

Minimum Education Level: N/A

Career Level: N/A

Job Type: The junior position is contract-to-hire, while the mid-level and senior positions are direct-hire, permanent-placement positions.

Job Status: Full Time

Compensation: As part of an overall compensation package:

The junior-level position is paying between $11-$13/hr, possibly more for the right person.

The Mid-level position is paying between $35-$40K/yr.

The Senior-level position is paying between $50-$70K, more for right person.

To learn more about SOS Technical, visit us at www.sostechnical.com!

To apply send a word formatted resume to: apply056@sostechnical.com Please include a code-snippet showing some of your recent work. Also, cover-letters, letters of recommendation, and salary expectations are very appreciated (but not required).

SOS Technical ? Uniting Talent with Technology

SOS Technical is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Job location is US-UT-Utah County
Compensation: DOE
no — Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
no — Please, no phone calls about this job!
no — Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
yes — Reposting this message elsewhere is OK.
yes — OK to repost to Job Developers for Persons with Disabilities.

150875330

Popularity: 3% [?]

Utah .NET User Group – April 2006 Meeting

April 13th, 2006

From Aaron Zupancic:

We have the opportunity, tomorrow night, to attend a Utah .NET User Group Meeting (please forgive the site for it’s horrendously slow performance or outage – we’ve almost got the new site up which should be MUCH better in so many ways).

Tomorrow’s presentation will be by yours truly as a continuation of the last presentation in a series for the Component Developer. This one is focused on ASP.NET Controls whereas the previous presentation was targeting Windows Forms. It should be a lot of fun.

If you have any particular requests and questions, please post them here and I’ll see if I can’t dedicate some time in my talk to answer those questions – it will give me a little more lead time too :)

Time: 6:00 PM, Suite 300 (3rd floor)
Place: Neumont University, 10701 South River Front Parkway, South Jordan, Utah

Here’s to hoping it’s a good one! They usually are.

Source: http://blog.devstone.com/aaron/archive/2006/04/12/1560.aspx

Popularity: 4% [?]

Now Hiring Several PHP and MySQL Web Developers and Programmers US-UT-Utah County

April 13th, 2006

We are immediately seeking to fill several excellent PHP/MySQL development position in Orem, Lindon, American Fork and Lehi areas of Utah County. We are looking for junior, mid-level and senior level LAMP web developers who are ready to make their next move, jump-in and make a difference. These are not your typical programming positions. All our hiring clients are top-notch in their fields, innovative, and are ready to hire brilliant minds.

Apply now if you are a motivated, self-starter who likes working with smart people and interesting client businesses, and you like solving tough web-development problems.

More details and application instructions here

Popularity: 6% [?]