Job Hacking

Tools that matter

Recently, I've added some responsibilities to my role at Smith & Tinker, and have encountered an important point for startups and small companies (again).

The point: There are a plethora of GREAT technology business tools out there for a very low price which can really help you achieve your goals.

These tools all tend to have some key similarities:

• Hosted service using a web front-end. Which leads to...
• Low implementation costs and process
• Highly scalable
• API for integration (and an active effort to integrate into other tools that meet the needs of their customer base)
• LOW price. I'd actually say ridiculously low price.
• The provider is listening to everyone using their product, and they make rapid changes to it; they all tend to be using Agile development methods.

Here are some of the tools I've encountered that fit the bill:

• Zendesk - Helpdesk Ticketing
• Mailchimp - Email Marketing
• Lighthouse - Bug Tracking

There are others, of course. For example, Zoho has a host of business applications including a reasonable ATS for recruiting. And I don't know of any on-line marketer that doesn't use Google Analytics (which is free).

This is great stuff for startups and small businesses. These tools make us ever more able to meet the needs of our business, and they also make us more nimble, too. Not a bad time to be doing the startup thing!

Let's say it's that time when your computer starts acting funny...

Computers, and more importantly, the software that runs them, do odd things from time to time. Even the best Hardware and Software Engineers sometimes shrug their shoulders, turn the device off, then on, and hope for the best.

Currently, this solution gets recommended for all kinds of strange Computer  behavior:

• Software freezes
• Program slows way down
• Device slows down or freezes
• Data transmission fails
• Operating System seemingly stops

Now this is all well and good, so far as it goes. But what if this solve-all doesn't work?

Head scratcher, huh? Especially after you've performed various maintenance tasks like deleting files off the hard drive, defragging, etc., etc.

How about checking the date and time on the device? More than one PC has been fouled up by the battery dying that controls the system's clock, let alone a clock that has gotten set forward into the future or backward into the past!

CRM for the little companies

Once upon a time, companies paid A LOT of money for CRM systems. And, these costs were prohibitive for startups. So, if you ran a Sales Team, you usually cobbled something together with Act or Goldmine, and if you ran Tech Support/Customer Service, you maybe even created your own thing.

Don't need to do that anymore.

I've been putting together the necessary infrastructure for Customer Service/Tech Support at my current employer, and have been highly impressed with a new entry in the CRM space, Zendesk. It is very functional, highly customizable, scalable and incredibly inexpensive ($19/month per agent, all in!). Oh, and I should also say very, very easy to implement, e.g. you don't need to hire consultants for the deployment.

According to this post, a lot of other people have signed on, to the tune of about 1,000 other companies, with 700 or so of those being in the U.S.

Zendesk. Check it out if you need a Customer Service or Technical Support system (and if you have customers, you do).

New Wireless Service!

Looks like a great new wireless product from Google. Looks like they're giving some of the other consumer pipe vendors a run for their money...

Email Security

I use Gmail for my work email. There are so many reasons as to why, but principally it's because it's highly reliable, and it works.

One of my buddies over at Google informed me today that Google recently introduced a new security feature to this service of theirs, 'Always use https'. More detail as to how to enable this from Google here.

For those who use their gmail account via public wireless, this is a definite plus. No security is perfect, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Guess who made it to Alltop?

Yup, Job Hacking is now to be found on Alltop in the Careers section!

Do you need someone to fix your computer?

Ever have one of those life events that reminds you of the need for basic services?

For example, getting your computer running again, or your network sending those IP packets, or getting a new computer set up just so?

Then you need George Thompson,             I.T. Consultant/Owner, Executive Technology Solution in the greater Seattle metro area.

George is a really, really good IT Consultant for people in need. So, now you know who to call!

I bet you're innovative... right?

There was a recent post by Thijs Spangers at KREM Corporate Social Networking on LinkedIn Answers, "What is the most creative of (sic) innovative case of successful recruitment in LinkedIn and other public networks?"

Curious about the answers? So was I.

Unfortunately, the answers were neither creative nor innovative. Possible reasons why: 1) nobody has done or seen a very innovative campaign via linkedin, or 2) they have but are keeping the secret under wraps because it blew their socks off (and they probably don't understand why it happened, but are working to do so).

But all this misses the point, really. The point is that on-line social networking tools have given everyone who does recruiting, and what CEO, CTO, COO, VP of Engineering isn't recruiting at least part of the time, a new tool to find people for their team. The mere existence of the tool IS the innovation. But, timing-wise, he's probably on the nose in asking what innovative strategies & tactics that people have discovered.

But you're not reading this to find out what you already know, are you?

While I don't have 'the' innovative answer Thijs is looking for, my guess is that the amazing recruiting story about using social networks to great success will revolve around one of the following:

• Someone will utilize social networking as part of an overall recruiting campaign that crosses multiple recruiting methods. Key aspects of this will be: Common language and/or themes; Common look & feel; Quirky, catchy - for the target audience; multiple media formats and vectors. For example, everyone's seen a billboard next to a big company with a message from a competitor to come over to their side. So, the on-line social networking & YouTube add to this is to post a LinkedIn ad with the same language on the same day the billboard goes up, and couple it w/a YouTube video that is aimed at people in the target company.
• Not using the ad for the ad: The recruiter will post an ad that's not an ad. It will be the start of a scavenger hunt, or a technical mind bender, or an outright skill-based challenge.
• Branding Integration: The company in question will ask all their officers to post recruiting-themed text in their profiles for purposes of drumming up talent. This text will underscore the company's brand, and will help support their overall recruiting efforts.
• Old School Combination: Use the social networking tool to source names, and then send those people both a LinkedIn job ad and nice letters or gifts (real, not virtual) to nudge them from passive candidate, to interested candidate. Or, maybe it's a timing issue, like sending recruiting-aimed items into a company that's 2 days away from layoffs. One of the great poaching stories I heard a while back was sending in a Russian-doll gift, w/a personalized iPod to all the best engineers at a competitor. The iPod came pre-loaded with a personal message from the CEO or CTO to give them a call on their direct line to talk about a special job opportunity just for them.

Innovation... it just keeps happening (even in recruiting)!

Wanna advertise your age?

Many candidates are concerned about ageism. Either they think they are too young and won't be taken seriously, or they think that they are too old and won't be taken seriously.

One thing that I've seen candidates do that really screams "I'm N years old" is to use an email address along the lines of the following format: [email protected]. Why would anyone think to put 1949 in an email address? Could it be that it is their birth year?

If you're concerned about your age being a factor in the hiring process, remove it as an issue. Take the hit and change your email address!