Going Virtual

16. May 2012 by admin.

Just think of it! Sipping a frosty drink while sitting in a lounge chair on the beach - and on your lap sits a computer with an aircard. Your “virtual office”.

When I first starting dreaming about working from home full time, visions of a clean house, on-demand gourmet lunches, and selling my car clouded most of my reasoning.

While the benefits of going virtual are obvious, how to get your boss to see those benefits can often be less-obvious.

But the truth is, this move does have to benefit your company or boss in some way for them to agree to let you work remotely. So before you ask for a meeting with your superior, sit down and compose a request by answering the following questions:

1. First and most importantly, will working from home actually help you do your job?

Unless you’ve done something to personally insult yours, bosses make decisions based on job performance and productivity.

If your job description involves the physical supervision of employees in their cubes or work spaces, you probably need to consider a career change rather than going virtual. If, however, your position requires a high level of creativity and focus and you spend most of your day alone, bring that up.

Working in a loud, booming office environment can make it hard to concentrate, and sometimes even to get things done. Emphasize that working virtually will allow you more control over your environment and allow you to focus on providing high quality work. What’s not to like about that?

2. Does your company’s communication structure support going virtual?

Does your company already include several virtual folks. Are meetings held on Skype or GoTo Meeting conference calls, or do you spend the day with your eyes glued on the Microsoft Outlook home screen.

This is an ideal situation for going virtual, but perhaps it is not your situation. If you can be patient, take the long-term guerilla approach by slowly suggesting best practices and different technologies that can build toward a more virtual business structure six to 12 months down the line.

3. Do you have comfortable and relaxed communication habits with your supervisors and teammates?

Maybe you use Skype and are well-liked on your team… but could you shoot a text to someone who does graphics or pick up the phone and call your editor without extreme awkwardness?

The state of your current team interaction can either be a hindrance (Uhh…why are you calling me?) or a blessing (Hey, what up?). Strong relationships that will encourage cooperation and teamwork regardless of where you work is what makes a team shine, virtual or not.

If this does not describe your current situation, put your time and effort into building those kinds of relationships rather than crafting the perfect thesis on working virtually. Because without this vital piece, your transition probably won’t be smooth anyhow.

4. Have you proven yourself to be a resourceful, passionate and dedicated employee?

Here’s a wake up call: if you’re new to the company (six months or less), you’re wasting your breath with this request and possibly harming your reputation.

Working virtually is about trust. If your boss, HR or the CEO doesn’t trust you without hesitation to work the hours you say you have worked (and even sometimes, honestly, if your boss/HR/CEO doesn’t like you), virtual will never happen for you. Work on being likeable and give it time.

5. Do you have a dedicated professional working space at home?

Make sure you let your boss know how you’re going to do your work. Speak up about your reliable internet, scanner, printer and dedicated phone line. If you have a full-on home office, all the better.

The goal here is to give your employer the picture of an idyllic, calm and controlled workspace that just happens to be in your house instead of in a cube.

6. Finally, don’t make demands.

You’re asking a big, fat favor. You’re asking for a gift, for trust and for someone to help you make your life easier. The last thing your proposal needs is a tone of entitlement.

Give your boss every reason to say yes by suggesting it as a suggestion. Offer your reasoning, ask for permission, and ask for it to happen on a trial basis.

Try a closing line like this on your written request:

If you would allow me to try this schedule on a trial basis with room for feedback and flexibility to attend important meetings and events at the office, I feel that this venue would enable me to reach my best potential at this company.

A little groveling with a lot of logic and reasoning will pass on the perfect tone.

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15 Unique Job Boards to Help You Find Your Candidate

4. April 2012 by admin.

Whether you want a candidate in tech, television or typography, there’s likely a specialty job board out there designed to meet your specific desires. Here are 15 unique job boards to help jump-start your next candidate search:

1. Escape the City (http://escapethecity.org/) - Talented 20-somethings looking to ditch the 9-to-5 and “do something different.”

London-based founders Rob and Dom believe there’s more to life than doing work that doesn’t matter to you. More than 50,000 corporate professionals around the globe use this site to make their next career move.

2. 37signals Job Board (http://jobs.37signals.com/) - Programmers, designers, business types and iPhone developers.

Since 2006, this no-frills website has connected job candidates with industry leaders like Apple, The New York Times, Facebook and American Express.

3. Krop (http://www.krop.com/#!/) - Creative job-seekers from art directors and copywriters to web designers and developers.

This site works double-duty as a portfolio host and receives more than one million visitors each month. We love the Pluck-t portion of the site, which profiles a daily hand-picked peek at a portfolio.

4. Mediabistro (http://www.mediabistro.com/) - Anyone who creates content – whether you’re an author, blogger, writer or editor.

Frequently updated job boards keep job-seekers coming back, but it’s Mediabistro’s bulletin boards, classes (both online and in real life) and in-depth “how to” informational pieces that create community.

5. Tweet My Jobs (http://www.tweetmyjobs.com/) - Anyone who’s tired of filling out long (and exhausting) applications on online job boards.

It’s like Mad Libs for job-seekers. Type in your desired role and industry and how you wish to receive job leads (via email, mobile or Twitter) and matches are sent directly to you. Heavy hitters like Starbucks, UPS and Verizon all use this hiring tool.

6. Glassdoor (http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm) - This little black dress of job board sites offers resources for a wide variety of fields – from customer service and clerical positions to health care and human resources.

It includes lots of employee-generated content, which means an insider peek at anonymous salaries, company reviews and a sneak peek of interview questions and protocols.

7. Talent Zoo (http://www.talentzoo.com/) - Advertising, creative, digital, marketing and new media folks.

This easy-to-navigate site not only connects qualified individuals with clients, but also offers helpful blogs and columns from industry thought-leaders.

8. Job Postings (http://www.jobpostings.ca/) - College students looking for practical job-hunting advice, who want to connect directly with employers.

This one-stop career resource offers a wealth of information, including articles, blog posts, a monthly e-advice column and a quick and easy “dream job” search engine. Its magazine is Canada’s largest career lifestyle magazine for university and college students.

9. Indeed (http://www.indeed.com/) - Anyone who seeks a more efficient job-application process.

With a few clicks of a mouse, applicants can narrow down job possibilities by position, salary, title, location and job type.

10. Chef2Chef (http://www.chef2chef.net/) - Culinary art students, chefs and hospitality industry types looking for positions in culinary field.

Whether you’re a baker, bartender, restaurant manager or sommelier, this site features jobs across the country, as well as resources for those still in school, just starting out or looking for a career change.

11. Journalism Jobs (http://www.journalismjobs.com/) - Anyone involved in publishing and media.

Not only does this site offer extensive job listings, it also features fellowship, internship and online contest opportunities. We love its savvy industry commentary and event listings, too.

12. Think Beyond the Label (http://www.thinkbeyondthelabel.com/Job-Board/Job-Board.aspx) - Workers with disabilities.

Job results are prioritized to first list those companies that are actively recruiting qualified job candidates with disabilities. The site also provides tools to employers so can they hire people with disabilities and seamlessly integrate them into the workforce.

13. Law Jobs (http://www.lawjobs.com/index.jsp) - People looking for careers in the legal field.

Job-seekers can browse by category or location for everything from contract work to in-house positions. The site offers many resources, including connecting workers with temporary legal staffing agencies and legal recruiters.

14. Public Relations Society of America Job Center (http://www.prsa.org/jobcenter/) - Public relations, communications and marketing job-seekers.

The site offers handy education and professional resources from entry to senior level, as well as a tool for those considering a career change to public relations.

15. Mad Jobs (http://jobs.mad.co.uk/) - Design, marketing and advertising types.

This UK-based creative firm has its finger on the pulse of the new media industry.

Posted in Strategies, Techniques | Print | No Comments »

Do Your Passwords Suck?

8. March 2012 by admin.

The only person you can rely on to keep your password secure is yourself. You’re probably not doing enough to keep number one safe. The reason: Your special lump of letters, numbers, and symbols are likely spread over too many sites, are not long enough, and are probably too personal. Most of our passwords suck. And it’s kind of a big problem.

 

The thing to understand is that the biggest threat to your security isn’t some creep sitting in front of your email login screen, randomly bruteforcing his way into your account. Nope, you’re up against computers that can run thousands of encrypted passwords by dictionaries of several languages, everything in the World Fact Book, and Wikipedia in a matter of minutes.

 

Numbers substituted for letters is really, really bad. Most password applications will try that before they do plain English. Patterns on a keyboard are bad news, too. It doesn’t require much to fell some 6-character entry made from your dog’s name with some digits tacked on. People will use their birth year. If there are four digits at the end, it’s not a remarkable coincidence that most start with 19.

 

What can you do about it? The most important thing you can do to a single password is to make it long. Adding one more character makes it exponentially more difficult to break-even if you don’t use silly characters. Focusing on length, Appppppppppple with 11 ‘P’s,’ is actually really good. Size does matter - suggest a password 12-14 characters long.

 

Storing your passwords in a spreadsheet or email is also a BIG No-No. One breach means access to your whole life.

 

One trick is to start with a line from a favorite song. Pull the first letter of each word in the line and stick them together for something that’s easy to recall but very difficult to crack. This trick provides length—which stifles brute force attempts—and randomness—keeping clear of anything that would pop up in a dictionary.

 

Or try using every tool you can on your keyboard. You can use parentheses in your password. Letters, numbers, special characters, and upper case—if you’re allowed to, you should use them all.

 

Keeping track of the dozens of passwords you’re required to remember is pretty daunting. There are just so many other things we have to keep straight. Get yourself a password manager service. These will allow you to create crazy-secure 14-character, dictionary-search proof, symbol-using passwords for every site you visit, without relying on your brain to remember all the gibberish. Here are some to consider:

 

LastPass (https://lastpass.com/) - manages all of your passwords, as well as additional data in a simple, easy-to-use interface

Price: Basic for Windows, Mac, Linux: Free. Premium (includes mobile) $1/month

 

1Password (https://agilebits.com/onepassword) - desktop versions of the client will also sync via a Dropbox account with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad versions

Price: $50 after 30-day trial. $10.00 (iPhone and iPod Touch) and $15 (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch).

 

KeePass (http://keepass.info/index.html) - open-source application with a sizable user base behind it

Price: Free

 

Clipperz (http://www.clipperz.com/) - online password manager that doesn’t require you to download any software

Price: Free

Posted in Strategies, Tools | Print | 1 Comment »

I Finally Found a Purple Squirrel

11. February 2012 by admin.

Here is my proof!!!
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4

Posted in Musings | Print | No Comments »

Top 10 Strategy - Spam Avoidance

8. February 2012 by admin.

There are easily-avoidable problems that can make your email look like junk mail, the first being sloppy design.

This includes writing in ALL CAPS or random bright colors, using spammy keywords, and creating one giant image and pasting it in, instead of creating real content for people to read.

Broken HTML code can also cause spam filtering issues, which is why you should test, test, and then test again before you send your campaign. Make sure everything works.

Sending too often or not often enough can also be a problem, so respect your list. Think about how much stuff you’d like to receive. If you decide to change your frequency, do it with fair notice to your list, and expect some unsubscribes due to the change.

For even more detailed tips, read the How to Avoid Spam Filters guide by MailChimp.

Posted in Strategies | Print | No Comments »

10 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips To Get You Started

6. January 2012 by admin.

1.       Monitor your search standings.

2.       Be conscious of placing appropriate keywords throughout every aspect of your site: your titles, content, URLs, and image names.

3.       Integrate internal links into your site (link back to yourself) — it is an easy way to boost traffic to individual pages.

4.       Add a site map — a page listing and linking to all the other major pages on your site — makes it easier for spiders to search your site.

5.       Make your URLs more search-engine-friendly by naming them with clear keywords.

6.       Flash and AJAX all share a common problem – you can’t link to a single page… Don’t use Frames at all and use Flash and AJAX sparingly for best SEO results.”

7.       Spiders can only search text, not text in your images — which is why you need to make the words associated with your images as descriptive as possible.

8.       Content needs to be fresh — updating regularly and often is crucial for increasing traffic.

9.       Distribute links to fresh content on your site across appropriate social networking platforms.

10.   Direct more traffic to your site by developing relationships with other sites.

Posted in Strategies, Techniques | Print | 3 Comments »

How to Access the Free Monthly AIRS Sourcing Report

29. December 2011 by admin.

To get your report sent directly to your email address, you will need to register with AIRS (reports are free) at: http://www.airsdirectory.com/mc//training_news_newsletters.guid

The AIRS Sourcing Report offers free monthly tips, tricks and groundbreaking technologies to help you find the best talent online.

If you want to first evaluate the content of these free sourcing reports, go to: www.google.com

and put in this search string:

site:airsdirectory.com “AIRS Sourcing Report”|”Sourcing Report” Current|recruter|guide|solution|”press release”|training inurl:*2011*

From these results, you can quickly view, print out, or save the AIRS Sourcing Reports from Sep - Dec 2011, and other earlier ones as well.

Posted in Strategies, Tools | Print | 1 Comment »

Making Simple & Easy Choices to Creating a Secure Password

23. September 2011 by admin.

There is no such thing as a perfect password. A committed hacker can crack any password, given enough time and the right “dictionary” or “brute force” tools. But just like breaking into a car, if the protection is strong enough, the hacker will become discouraged and pursue an easier target.

 

1. Start With a Base Word Phrase.

 

A good password starts with a base word phrase. Choose a memorable catchphrase, quotation, or easy-to-remember saying, and take the first letter from each word. Choose a phrase that is memorable to you.

 

Examples of some base word phrases:

 

    * Can’t See the Forest Through the Trees:  cstfttt

    * Put Up or Shut Up:  puosu

    * If the Shoe Fits, Wear It:  itsfwi

    * You Can Lead a Horse to Water:  yclahtw

    * The Last Mile Is Always Uphill: tlmiau

    * I Think, Therefore I Am:  ittia

    * Oh Say Can You See:  oscys

    * My Dog Quinnie Loves Mystery Suprises: mdqlms

 

Suggestion: try this list of acronym phrases you could use for inspiration

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/internetglossary/a/glossary-of-internet-jargon-and-abbreviations.htm

 

Suggestion: try this list of famous quotations and catchphrases

http://forum.digital-digest.com/f41/famous-cliches-quotes-1-liners-etc-86123.html

 

2. Lengthen the Phrase

 

Passwords start to become strong at 6 characters long. While a long password can be annoying to type, a long password really helps to slow down brute force hacker attacks.

 

Tip: lengthen your password by adding the website name or computer software name to the base phrase. For example:

 

    * cstftttGmail

    * puosuVista

    * itsfwiEpinions

    * yclahtwWin7

    * tlmiauMac

    * ittiaAboutdotcom

    * oscysPayPal

    * mdqlmsEbay

 

Tech tip: passwords that are 15 characters and more are extremely strong, because Microsoft Windows will not store scrambled passwords in hidden files once they are 15 characters or longer.

 

3. Scramble the Phrase

 

Scrambling does not necessarily mean rearranging the letters. Rather, scrambling your password can effectively be achieved by swapping one or more of the password letters with a non-alphabetic character, and then purposely including uppercase and lowercase letters within the password. Scrambling creatively uses the shift key, punctuation marks, the @ or % symbols, and even semi-colons and periods. Using numbers as substitutes for letters is another strong scrambling technique.

 

Examples of scrambling:

 

    * CstftttGm@il

    * Puo5uVista

    * 1tsfwiEpinions

    * Ycl@htwWin7

    * 7lmiauMac

    * ittiaAboutdotcom

    * o5cysPayPal

    * mdqlm?!Ebay

 

4. Lastly: Rotate/Change Your Password Regularly

 

At work, your network people will require you to change your password every several days. At home, you should rotate your passwords as a matter of good computer hygiene. If you are using different passwords for different websites, rotate portions of your passwords every few weeks. Note that rotating parts of the password, not the entire passwords, will help deter hackers from stealing your phrases. If you can memorize three or more passwords at the same time, then you are in good shape to resist brute force hacker attacks.

 

Examples:

 

    * mdqlm?!Gmail

    * CstftttVista

    * Puo5uEpinions

    * 1tsfwiWin7

    * Ycl@htwMac

    * 7lmiauAboutdotcom

    * ittiaPayPal

    * o5cysEBay

 

5. Advanced Password Tips

 

There are several other resources for building strong passwords.

 

    * See more samples of strong passwords here.

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/lockdownyourpc/a/examples_of_good_passwords.htm

 

    * See other personal password suggestions.

http://netforbeginners.about.com/u/ua/lockdownyourpc/user_suggestions_creating_strong_passwords.htm

 

    * A FREE online password generator.

http://javascript.about.com/library/blpasswd.htm

 

    * There are multiple drag-and-drop software tools that help you bypass hacker keylogger software.

 

Free tools like:

 

KeyWallet Password Manager

http://www.keywallet.com/kw_download.php?id=4

 

KeePass - a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way.

http://keepass.info/download.html

 

Roboform

http://www.roboform.com/dist/RoboForm-Setup.exe

 

work well because you can avoiding typing your passwords entirely, and just let your mouse do the data entry.

 

    * You can also employ a digital vault like Password Safe. This kind of software creates personal “lockers” to keep all your passwords locked under a master password.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/passwordsafe/files/passwordsafe/3.26/pwsafe-3.26.exe/download

 

    * Or try phrasing tips for password generation.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/a/passwords.htm

Posted in Strategies, Techniques, Tools | Print | 1 Comment »

Pros and Cons of a Virtual Career Fair

29. July 2011 by admin.

Cons:

 

Distractions. Virtual job fair recruiting booths are staffed from the comfort of a hiring manager’s computer. That also means the possibility that recruiters or hiring managers may simply forget to sign in during the ‘live’ hours of an online job fair. To overcome this limitation, virtual job fair organizers need to obtain the buy-in of hiring managers and recruiters including blocking short spells of time on their calendars.

 

Overly Objective. The virtual career fair misses the combination of eye-contact and other body language that allow a job candidate to make a good first impression, or a recruiter to obtain first impressions. This is the biggest limitation of a virtual career fair - the absence of face-to-face contact, the absence of softer aspects that go into forming first impressions about a job candidate or a hiring organization’s culture. To counter this objection, one must remember that the virtual career fair is designed primarily to serve as a powerful pre-screening mechanism rather than an interview tool. Recruiters who may have at their disposal tools such as web-cams to bridge the distance, are still hesitant to use them in a virtual career fair. That is because of the gray area of repercussions relating to matters of equal employment opportunity, should a candidate not make the first cut after a virtual web-cam session. A virtual job fair is for recruiters to make instant contact with the best job candidates, no matter where they are physically located. Often, job candidates might be busy at work or located in faraway places. The virtual job fair wraps itself around their schedule, allowing them to log in and directly talk to hiring managers from the privacy of their computers for the initial screening.

 

Inertia about New Technologies. Recruiters and hiring managers may have an apprehension about learning to use a new tool for recruiting, no matter how simple it may be to use. This is a normal human reaction to any form of change. Look for technology that allows recruiting booth owners to add and manage their own content. A highly responsive technical support team hand-holds even the novice user. With repeated use of the platform, this issue is easily overcome.

 

Pros:

 

Incredibly Convenient. The single biggest advantage of virtual job fairs in the minds of recruiters as well as job candidates and organizers that we have heard over and over again is that it is ‘extremely convenient’. A virtual booth can be set up typically within an hour. It may take some time to plan out the content in the virtual recruiting booth. However, after that it is simply point-click actions, requiring no special software downloads and no special knowledge of software programming.

 

No Travel. When job candidates from the military plan their return to civilian duty they can use a virtual job fair platform to connect live with recruiters even before they return home. Overseas job candidates, many from the U.S. Military, can now apply from various remote locations. Only a virtual job fair makes this possible.

 

Quick Turnaround Time. Change the job listings in your virtual booth with a couple of clicks, then instantly publish and preview your virtual recruiting booth. Now you are ready for your next virtual job fair. Only in a virtual job fair is such a quick turnaround time possible. Market it and promote it in any part of the world you desire using the power of social media and the Internet. With a virtual career fair, rinse-and-repeat is probably easier than doing laundry in a modern washing machine.

 

Virtual job fairs are definitely worth a try, and you might even be able to weave it into your regular recruiting program without straining your budget too much, because they are highly cost-effective.

 

+++++++++

Some Virtual Recruiting Providers

Unisfair
UBM Studios
CareerArc Group (TweetMyJobs was acquired by them)
iTradeFair (see there YouTube Infomercial)

Posted in Strategies, Tools | Print | 1 Comment »

Top 10 Tool - CraigsPal Free©

13. April 2011 by admin.

CraigsPal Free© (Craigslist Reader Pro) is composed simply of the search screen from the CraigsPal© member software, with NO search limitations. It is free to use, and gives you tremendous power to search and browse Craigslist. It also gives you an idea how the search section of the CraigsPal© organizer software works.
Download free version at: http://craigspal.com/Download-CraigsPal

Features:

- Personally selected search parameters
- Custom multi-city, multi-state, multi-country - Craigslist Nationwide Search
- Advanced keyword interface(positive/negative keywords, OR, AND, phrase, group)
- Craigslist preview browser screen
- Browsing, filtering, flagging with keybord shortcuts
- Sort results by price, date, location
- Unwanted ads/spam flagging feature

Posted in Strategies, Tools | Print | No Comments »