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• Utah Tech Jobs -- Technical and Professsional jobs, recruiting and job-hunting advice, information, tips and tricks
• Good Recruits -- Information, tips and hints for recruiting the right people and developing a great business
• Utah Tech Talent -- A new blog, written for anybody, for any purpose...

Speaking Thursday at SLCFUG

Quick reminder that I will be speaking to the Salt Lake Cold Fusion User Group about the high-tech job-market in Utah from my perspective as a recruiter.� Maybe I’ll see you there?

http://www.slcfug.org/

Congratulations On Your New Job!

Getting the job is only the beginning.� Career thinking � long-range thinking as opposed to day-to-day, job-to-job thinking is of the utmost importance.� Apply career thinking by doing your job well.�

• Small thinkers don�t like to work hard � they think it benefits the employer too much if they do.�
• Big thinkers � career thinkers � work hard because they know that they themselves are the prime beneficiaries of that work.� Hard work brings higher pay and promotions.� It also makes your work more interesting, fun and educational.�

Put in a good full day�s work, use your ingenuity to help solve company problems, maintain enthusiasm, and work well with other staff members.�

Always Give 110%�

Please read the following as you embark on this new journey in your career:

• Waiting To Leave — How to get from your current job to your new job in the best way possible.
• Giving Notice — How to resign, things to watch out for, template resignation letter.
• Tips for Starting your New Job — Proven measures to ensure your success!

Customer Loyalty At A Carwash

Off 9th South and State Street in Provo is a carwash. Considering that I’m not a clean-car freak, I’ve spent a fair amount of money there over the last few months, especially after campouts. Today, I realized I am a loyal customer–of a carwash.

How It Happened:

1. The facility is well-lit and clean.
2. When the first carwash I went to was crowded and hard to get into, this one was easy.
3. When you use cash, you buy tokens you can’t use anywhere else (I don’t like this, per se, but it does make me loyal)
4. Here’s the GOLDMINE: I can’t get anywhere near the premesis without a guy with a great-big smile checking on me, giving me a free air-freshener and asking me, if I am all-set, or if anything is confusing.

Bottom-line: ANY business can go the extra mile (no automotive pun intended) and create lifelong customers. Today, I passed no-less than four other carwashes when I took my car in.

OFCCP Internet Applicant Definition Causes Concern

I�learned about this�last night�thanks to�Landed.fm, and today find that criticism is beginning to really pour in.

For me, I know that if my company needs to be compliant, we will be. Period.�One thing I love about my employer is that we will jump through the hoops in order to reduce the transactional costs to our employers wherever possible.

I think the outcome will be two-fold:

• Companies wil be forced to post the EXACT job they’re hiring for.
• Applicants must be exact about the job they’re willing to be hired for.

Clarity can only be good in the long-run (especially since the number-one piece of feedback I hear from candidates with respect to recruiters is “I never know if a job is open, or even real… and then I never get feedback at all….”)

…and, if I may be so bold, it may actually create a Long Tail-ish�effect on job-markets.

Open Letter to Google: Please, STOP being EVIL!

It’s getting a little testy out there–Google, who used to be the darling of the whole Internet–is getting a bad-rap faster than you can spell e-v-i-l.

But the worst part–and most-dastardly of all–is that there seems to be NO RESPONSE AT ALL from Google on the matter.

• Staunch supporters of Google are publicly stating their displeasure, and wondering if Google is the new Evil Empire.
• Google adds more ads to their search results�and limits payout requirements on their own adsense affiliate program.
• Mid 2005, Google was sued again for click-fraud
• A new website, evilornot.info�has emerged (slanted, of course) allowing Internet users to vote on Google’s evil-ness.� Today, for example, google is apparently 75% evil.
• A search for “google becoming evil?” yields 2 Million English results on its own engine (who knows if they have removed any of the really damaging results)

This morning, a Dow Jones analyst claims that “Google’s Action Makes A Mockery Of Its Values” with the following explaination:

It was less than two years ago that Google Inc. (GOOG) co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin thumbed their noses at the U.S. investment banking community with an auction-based IPO and their pledge not to cave in to the short-term demands of Wall Street.

Their mantra was “do no evil,” and the company’s statement still says Google’s goal is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Even with one of the largest market valuations of any U.S. company, Google tries to set itself apart from its rivals - Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) MSN and Time Warner Inc.’s (TWX) America Online - by underscoring its high-minded philosophical goal to “resist the temptation to make small sacrifices to increase shareholder value.”

It passionately claims that “Google has steadfastly refused to make any change that does not offer a benefit to the users who come to the site.”

Yet Google’s announcement Tuesday that it will comply with China’s repressive laws by doctoring its search results in that country makes a mockery of those values. [more]

With all of the flamethrowing going on, the Official Google Blog just sits there… doing… absolutely… nothing.� They post things about their current releases (yay) and how to watch NBA games on Google Video (ooooh), and how Gmail FINALLY has delete buttons! (sheesh!), but there is nothing, nope, nadda, zilch about the things that matter to the users, the bloggers, the netizens…

P.S. Google, we’re the ones that click the oh-so-valuable clicks that bring in the oh-so-valuable Billions of Dollars in revenue you made last year.� So, even though your advertisers pay the bills, they’d be nothing without the mouse-pointers that we, alone, have control of!

Is Google becoming evil?� Here’s my take: I don’t care about the extra ads (hey, I have ads all over my blog). I don’t care about the click-fraud charges.� I don’t really care about all the hype.�

What I want to know is, “WHAT IS GOOGLE’S OFFICIAL RESPONSE??”� And that is something I have yet to hear a dang thing about, other than “Google doesn’t care about you” evidenced by their blatant lack of customer-service and general decency when there’s a complaint.

It’s well known and established that the best way to ruin your company’s Public Relations is to hide and hope it all goes away, while the best way to Avoid PR Disasters is to tackle it head on.��The Harvard Management Communication Letter has this to say:

A lousy earnings report, a product recall, a lawsuit, or an industrial accident can send even the most battle-hardened executive scurrying for the Maalox, especially when the media, shareholders, vendors, and board of directors all want to know what happened�and now.

A company’s public relations department is supposed to be in charge of damage control. However, events often take on a life of their own that no amount of spin can make go away. Companies that try to figure out how to respond to a crisis after it’s occurred will find themselves playing catch-up long after everybody stops caring. With some careful planning and preparation, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Bad news is part of the cost of doing business. But plenty of companies, through their actions or inaction, make the situation worse than it needs to be. [more…]

Please, Google.� Share with us what you’re doing.� Share with us your goals and your dreams, not just your holiday party pics. Share with us your vision as you conquer the web and grow up into this new, incredible decade of the Internet. I want to buy your stock, but give me reasons to trust you!

WE�WANT YOU TO WIN, but we also want you to play fair on this playing field that, if you recall, you helped to level out for all of us.

Tags: google evil PR publicrelations rants openletter adsense adwords SEO

It's Heating Up Around Here

Some interesting notes about the economy.

While it is noted that the Commerce Department says the economy slowed from 4.1% to 1.1% in the 4th quarter of 2006, I’m of the opinion that its a shift in when dollars are being allocated, as opposed to an overall slowdown of the�economy.�

The same analyst posted another report two hours later explaining that “sales of new U.S. homes increased a surprising 2.9% in December”, with “new home sales [rising] 6.6% to a record 1.282 million” for all of�2005.� Interestingly, “The median price [of a new home] for all of 2005 rose 7.4% to $237,300.”

A lot of my clients began searches for new employees last month, knowing they would fill them this month, with new budgets and a fresher outlook.� Sales are up across the board for my clients, it appears and, while nobody’s heads are swimming yet, and everybody’s making carefully executed moves and watching their dimes, the clear indicators, to me are that it’s heating up around here:

• Open job orders are up.
• Salaries for open positions are up.
• Positions are harder to fill (people like where they’re working).
• Talented candidates are not available long (it’s easy to find good jobs).

Google Becoming Evil? Apparently...

Google has always been a little mysterious about their adsense program… not being clear about credits from clicks, etc.� Now, it seems like they’ve played a little bait-and-switch on their user base by changing the rules on their adsense referral program payout structure–adding a 90-day limit for a qualifying referral to earn the required $100.00, a feat few�SEO and adsense�newbies would achieve.

Jensense gives us the rundown:

A thread over at DigitalPoint points out that Google AdSense has quietly added a new term to all AdSense referrals generated by a publisher. They have now instituted a 90-day time limit on that referral, meaning a referred publisher must earn the $100 within the first 90 days, before the referring publisher is eligible to earn that $100 for a completed AdSense referral.

Sundance, Eat Your Heart Out

File this under the category of “very cool”

Blastyx just launched, a�product of�Provo Labs that just cranked up the cool-meter big time when it comes to where I think the Internet is going.� Similar to the incredible Channel9 phenomenon coming out of Microsoft, Blastyx looks at cool companies across the spectrum (not just inside Microsoft, like Channel9 does).

In a recent interview for the Salt Lake City Weekly, Phil Burns,�a�director of the site, talks about the renegade approax Blastyx is using:

“There are people who, like myself, believe that the world needs to see what they see�not just what the chief marketing director of some corporation thinks we should see,? he said, adding that high-speed Internet connections help fuel the Web�s increasingly participatory nature. “Not even a year ago, it was difficult for most people to download your blog. It would take two days for it to pop up. Now, you�re talking five minutes to download that thing.?

The need for virtual self-expression also stems from a current shift in online culture known informally as Web 2.0. While no one seems able to agree on one definition for the phenomena, it�s generally described as the transition from a commerce-based Internet to a socially-oriented Internet, meaning people directly contribute, rather than simply consume, ideas and opinions through blogs and other user-generated content.�

Cool! How do I get on there?

Tags: blastyx vlog vlogging channel9 renegade provolabs devutah cool tech utah companies

Speaking Engagement

On February 9th, I will be speaking to the Salt Lake Cold Fusion User Group about the high-tech job-market in Utah from my perspective as a recruiter.

I’ll be talking about what technologies I see are ramping up, along with others I see that are remaining constant or slipping from usage.� I’ll also share do’s and don’ts about landing your next gig, how to manage your next recruiter, and how to posture yourself to take full-advantage of the huge economic wave that is beginning to knock on our doors right now.

Any other topics you’d like me to discuss?

Filed Under: speaking job market utah salt lake cold fusion devutah career

The Apple Looks Delicious

The new iMac has had a brain transplant.� Now that the�Intel-processor-based Macs�are here, and I am really thinking about getting one.� Could this be for me what XBOX 360 is for every other male geek I know?

Apple has released their Marketing content with the classic “PC’s are boring” theme (that works so well). See an ad here�(Quicktime required).

More than that, Apple just leapt over what I think has been the Great Divide keeping the Mac and PC worlds from colliding.� I am excited to think that the Intel-powered Mac might do for personal computing what 37Signals has been doing for application development–making everything easier.

Apple’s website promises to stay true to their model:

Mac computers have always done amazing things in the most uncomplicated ways. That�s certainly not about to change now. While iMac and MacBook Pro are now powered by the revolutionary Intel Core Duo, moving to the new generation is � you guessed it � as easy as using a Mac. Whatever software you choose to use in your new Mac, it just works.

I hope the future of computing follows suit–easier and easier for the user.� Remember, it is the experience people are looking for almost more than the utility of the product.

Tags: apple mac imac intel processor

Web Developer Position

SOS Technical is immediately seeking a 3-4 good HTML developers who are familiar with at least one server-side processed scripting language (such as Java, PHP, PERL, ASP, etc…).� Also, a basic understanding of HTTP (requests, posts, etc) is needed.

This position is a 2-3 month contract in/around Orem, Utah, with the potential to be hired long-term.� This position is paying between $8-$10/hr, DOE.

To apply, send your Word-formatted resume to apply056@sostechnical.com along with your salary expectations and how soon you can start work.

"One stupid mistake..."

A person was just in my office who can not work for me because of a mistake he made some time in his past where he was issued a misdemeanor.� He looks like a good person, and I can tell he’s trying to right his wrongs, but no matter how much he wants to, I can’t change the past.

“I can’t believe it.” he said, “It was just one, stupid mistake, and now I can’t get a job anywhere.”

Unfortunately, he’s right.

Today, corporations are tighter than ever when it comes to background checks, screening and selection.� Internet-enabled technologies allow me to know more about you 5 minutes after you walk in my door than some of your best friends.� Some companies even make hiring decisions�based on your credit score.

I know I might sound like your father saying this, but don’t let a so-called “stupid mistake” derail your entire career… possibly for good!

Position Yourself For Success--NOW!

The pundits are talking, and they’re saying that 2006 will be the greatest year for the job-seeker since 1999.�

Are you ready?

David Perry recently co-authored a great book titled “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters: 400 unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics to Land Your Dream Job”, divulging great insider advice, tips and tricks for landing your next gig in the 21st Century.

Unfortunately, I meet many people, well-qualified, but lacking the understanding or belief that finding the dream-job is possible.� I am telling you it is possible.� This book could be a huge part of actually bringing that to reality.

I enjoy how Perry “postures” the job-seeker–executive level to mail-room intern–for understanding how the job-search process has changed and where it is going.� The Internet is a big part of this.� See how he helps you move forward.�

• Listen to a recent podcast with David Perry on Landed.fm talking about his book and sharing ideas.
• LinkedIN, mentioned in the book (and I highly recommend using it) is Giving away 77 pages of it (electronic download)
• Buy the book from Amazon, other retailers, on BookCrossing, or look for it at your local library

ERN Gives Future of Recruiting Blogs

I like ERN’s finger on the pulse of recruiting.

Today, they posted their thoughts on the future of blogs in the recruiting space. I love it.

I think I fit in with their #4 and I am rapidly working on #6 and #7. Hmmm…. now I am thinking!

Thinkpad Battery

All I know is, I would really like a new battery for my IBM Thinkpad R40e. This one died (lost its charge) after just a few months.

Dodgeball -- Mobile Meetups Made Eay

Phil Burns of ProvoLabs mentioned this again at last night’s (sweet) geek dinner, so I had to find out more.

I found this review of the software, but still no download link, yet:

A pair of tech-savvy twentysomethings named Dennis Crowley and Alex Rainert created a solution to [the problem of finding friends and interesting people to meet up with on the fly]. They call it Dodgeball. The service is a mix of social network tools (� la Friendster), simple cell phone messaging, and mapping software. Dodgeball has a playful, hipster veneer, but the underlying premise behind the service gives a fascinating glimpse of the way mobile wireless computing promises to transform city life. [Discover.com, September 05]

Tweaking my search query revealed that Google bought the company back in May. Cool. Google describes the service as “a networking service that helps coordinate location-based social interactions between mobile users.”

From there, I clicked the link (”huh, dodgeball.com, I hadn’t thought of trying that…”) only to find out that it isn’t yet available in Salt Lake City. Hmmm… what’s up with that?

Oh well, the sleuthing was fun anyway…

Utah Tech Jobs: New Entry

Due to continued growth and expansion, SOS Technical is currently seeking a Technical Recruiter to work from either our Orem or Salt Lake Technical Utah offices.

This exciting opportunity encompasses all stages of the recruiting process including definition of recruiting strategy, resume screening, candidate targeting, negotiating, and closing top technical talent. It includes implementing effective recruiting strategies and best practices to source, screen, attract and retain quality technical associates for key positions in the Utah market.

Required:

Technical aptitude related to information technology or engineering. The ability to make extensive use of recruiting software, search tools and utilities. The ability to meet deadlines and interface with all levels of staff and management are required. The ideal candidate must have excellent communication skills and be able to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment while contributing as part of a team in order to deliver on key recruiting initiatives.

This position is salary with commission incentives and bonuses. As an SOS Technical employee you will enjoy a full range of benefits including medical, dental, vision and a 401k program with employer contributions.

To apply, send your word-formatted email to apply056@sostechnical.com.
Visit us at www.sostechnical.com.

SOS Technical � Uniting Talent with Technology

Reverse E-Commerce

In classic geek fashion, this greasemonkey script for firefox lets you browse the Amazon.com website and, if the book you’re browsing is at the Salt Lake City library, it shows you a link for it. Another such script is available if you live in Seattle, and I am sure there are others for your local library.

Geek Dinner Not Just For Geeks

I’ll been geeking it up tonight at the

DevUtah Geek Dinner (catered by Panache Catering). Cost is just $7. RSVP online.

A note from Phil Burns, president of DevUtah:

The Geek Dinners are not just for geeks � they�re for anyone with an interest in business and in networking. In fact, the primary point of the dinners is to network and make new contacts. So, we hope to see all walks of people � Executives, recruiters, business people, VCs, Angels, coders, lawyers, techies, etc. Most people in business need a way to connect with geeks and the dinners are a great way to do it! So come on out and have a good time! (oh yeah, and blog about it!)

[Tonight�s] dinner is going to be especially educational. We have 2 lawyers coming � a patent attorney and a business attorney � who will be speaking to us for about 15 minutes each about some of the legal aspects of starting and running a business. We will, as always, have open discussions as well where anyone can bring up any topic they would like the group to discuss. We also give everyone a chance to talk about job openings and if they are looking for work. See more details here.

If you�re planning on coming, PLEASE RSVP on our wiki. It�s very easy � just click on the edit button on the page, add your name to the list (look at how the other names are listed, they�ll have a # by them, this tells the wiki to list it by number) and a link as well. Then click save page and you�re done!

Bound To Happen

A programmer from Orem has officially made fun of one of my job-postings.

J.I.T. Recruiting -- Just In Time

I am excited to announce the launch of a new service aimed directly at helping companies find and locate excellent technical talent — fast.

Announcing the Utah Technical Talent Database.

The idea here is very simple. My talent database is designed, specifically, to share the best technical consultants I have with anyone on the Internet interested in hiring them.

There are a few reasons I think this will be valuable:

• The people selected for posting to the talent database are hand-picked by me, or my recruiting team. This keeps the quality at its highest.
• Each candidate will have “Interviewer Insights”, a summary from their interview with us, telling you why the candidate could be considered.
• The candidate’s resume is posted for you to review in detail, without personally identifiable information in order to protect privacy
• Key skills or tools the candidate uses are tagged and grouped in to more than 100 categories, allowing you to quickly slice, split or join the data in various ways. For example, finding all resumes of people who knowMicrosoft Excel skill is a snap. Locating someone able to use Adobe Illustrator is just as easy. From there, it’s only a skip-and-a-jump to find people who know both excel and illustrator.
• Feed Heaven: One thing nice about Wordpress (the software I am publishing this with) is that almost everything has an RSS/XML feed. So, subscribe to the feed so you’ll know the moment another MySQL guru is posted. Or, simply drop the whole feed into your feedreader and download some of the best tech talent in Happy Valley with hardly any effort at all!

More than anything else, I am using this tool to share the people I know with my partners, to assist them in quickly finding the immediate solution to their needs. Companies who I am not doing business with are welcome to tap into these resources as well.

It feels good to buck the system

I look forward to your comments!

50 Millisecond Cou....

Too late.

If I didn’t catch your interest yet, you’re already gone. I know this thanks to new research suggesting that web visitors make up their mind about your website in about 50 milliseconds. [via Blink by Seth Godin]

Lead By Giving

I received a great thought by email this morning.

“Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear, tired of leaders we love, and most tire of leader who let us take liberties with them. What we need for leaders are men [and women] of the heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away.”

–Admiral James B. Stockdale, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient

Eat That Frog

When you’re looking at your day and difficult things are staring you in the face, it’s easy to push them back and do other things first. Take my advice, passed along from Brian Tracy, that you should swallow your fears and Eat That Frog.

IT job growth strong in 2005

The January 13th edition of the IT Services Business Report by Staffing Industry Analysts Inc. validates what we’ve been seeing in Utah for at least a year–Excellent IT workers are in very high demand:

There were 32,000 more computer experts on the job at the end of 2005 than at the end of 2004, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The strongest demand was in computer programming, computer facilities management and the category called “other computer-related services.? Full Story (login required)

Are You An Experience?

Recently, I referenced a portion of Paul Allen’s review of CES wherein he commented that, “a few years back Comdex started dying and all the computer hardware and software companies seemed to want to turn into consumer electronics companies.” Paul and I talked about how Americans seem to be, as the book is titled, Amusing Ourselves to Death.

But reading a section of Tim Sanders’ Love is the Killer App today helped me realize that the draw toward games and entertainment may be a natural progression of economics:

“According to [Joseph Pine and James Gilmore’s The Experience Economy,] there have been four phases of economic progression.”

• First was the commodity phase, where raw resources were extracted and sold
• Next came the goods phase, where value-added was first introduced, refining natural resources into products
• Third came the service economy, which almost killed great old manufacturing companies like IBM, until (or, unless) they came back as service providers. This phase is now ending.
• “The fourth phase of the progression, which is just beginning now, is organized around the experience. ” Pine and Gilmore says companies taking advantage of this shift are beginning to “use their products as props and their service as a stage to deliver a compelling experience.”

Sanders continues explaining these economic shifts by commenting:

“Commodities were measured by their characteristics, goods by their features, services by their benefits, and now experiences by their sensations.”

A local example of this is the Megaplex Theatres in Jordan Commons. I had not been there before the December Geek Dinner. When I walked in the theatre, looking for The Mayan (an experience of itself), I was literally blown away at the experience presented before my eyes.

Joseph Clay wrote the following description for CitySearch:

The Scene
Meticulously re-created, for your nostalgic pleasure, are the facades of the great movie palaces of Salt Lake’s past. Bask in the neon-marquee warmth as you make your way to comfortable, and oh-so-functional stadium seating. The Commons is a great place to kill two birds with one stone: feed the family and enjoy a good flick at the same time. Real food (beyond the nacho and popcorn mainstays) is sold and may be eaten in the theatres.

In fact, the very first word you read on the Megaplex website after the name of the theatre is “Experience”

But, I don’t think the experience economy means you have to amuse people all the time. It’s just that people are looking for good experiences in what they do and what businesses they patronage (or the people they hire). I do this to a fault! [I may never go to another fast-food asian resturaunt again, but I can’t wait to get back to Pei Wei in Sandy (thanks Graham for taking me!) because of the experience I had. ] Coffee drinkers may note here that the experience of their local cafe is why they spend $5.00 on a cup of joe. This is why I may never buy a suit from another place than Men’s Warehouse in Orem (thanks, Vanice, for making suit-shopping fun!).

But, though I’m looking for experiences around me, that’s different than wanting to play all the time. For example, I don’t play video games, I don’t really care about Video on my cellphone, and I don’t like watching TV Dramas or the nightly (bad) news. I don’t value these experiences enough to spend my energy on them.

I think, if people are exposed to your singularly exhilirating experience, you’ll have no shortage of success, be that in the form of clients, contacts, relationships, and opportunities.

Develop Your Experience
Sanders contends that, to differentiate yourself in the experience economy you need to mimic this idea. Make doing business with you a thrill. You can do this by becoming a lovecat (read the book) and sharing your knowledge, influence and your network with others.

“When you represent knowledge, opportunity, selflessness and intimacy, you are not just a service provider or a product. You are fun, you are interesting, you are valuable; you take people places they have never been before, you show them books they’ve never heard of, you introduce them to people they never dreamed they would meet–in short, you are the equivalent ofa human theme park.”

This is the essence of the Special Sauce I speak of at-times when I come across a truly, absolutely exceptional candidate. You know these people. They’re the ones who seem to get truly and honestly better every single day. It’s not that they’re better than you, they just create a better experience.

So, here’s the question: If you’re working with co-workers, business partners or clients (or hiring or interviewing to be hired), when the other people you interact with leave your presence, how are they different?

• Did your presence give them a lift?
• Did you set their mind’s wheels in motion toward solving that very complex problem they’ve been struggling with?

Author Will L. Thompson penned the following query in verse (which was later put to music) titled “Have I done Any Good in the World Today?”

Tis noble of man to work and to give,
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live,
To God each good work will be known.

Get out there and create an experience for someone today!

January 17th Geek Dinner Update

DevUtah’s next Geek Dinner will be held at 6:00 this Tuesday night at the Miller Business Innovation Center on the Salt Lake Community College campus (9690 South 300 West, Sandy).

We’ll have two short educational presentations by accomplished attorneys who will discuss legal topics for geeks. Nathan Nelson will talk about legal aspects of selling your software concepts, starting your own software development company (code shop), or becoming an independent developer. David McKenzie will discuss popular myths about software patents and copyright ownership relating to contractors.

We will also have a brief mini-presentation by Dave Turnbull from SoftwareFor.org, who will talk about some of the successes and failures of the last release of “Software for Starving Students?, which had over 25,000 downloads in just a few days.

The event will be catered by Panache Catering. Each attendee is required to contribute $7 to help cover the costs. Attendees are strongly encouraged to prepay via PayPal, although cash and checks will also be accepted at the door.

RSVP and Prepay Here

Tags: devutah utahgeekdinner

Geek Dinner -- January 17th

The next DevUtah Geek Dinner will be on Tuesday, January 17th at the Miller Innovation Center

See the DevUtah Wiki for details

Miller Business Innovation Center @ SLCC
Miller Business Innovation Center
9690 South 300 West
Sandy, Utah 84070
(Interactive Google Map)
801-957-5201

What Job Board do you use?

Dear geeks of the world,

What job board(s) do you use–if any–when you want to post your resume out there? Please leave me a comment and let me know your opinions…

Remember The Bloggers

Steve Rubel points out another example of how the blogging web is, collectively, demanding more transparency–and better quality–from corporations:

Here’s yet another shining example of how the blogosphere helps drive the news agenda. Last week Verizon Wireless introduced a music service for cell phones called V Cast Music. Shortly thereafter, word began to bubble in blogs that the included software would disable users’ ability to play their own MP3s on these phones. A couple of days later, it’s on AP and now everyone knows what started as Verizon’s “dirty little secret.? Ignore the blogs at your peril.

Tags: Verizon Wireless VCast mp3 blogosphere

Relationships vs. Transactions

Paul Allen’s review of CES mentions his worry that hardware and software companies are all turning into entertainment companies:

Neal Postman worried about the death of public discourse in the age of television. His book “Amusing Ourselves to Death? offers a very thoughtful warning. He suggested that those of us in the modern world could not sit through the Lincoln Douglass debates (which were several hours long) because all we can handle is small sound bytes.

What happens to logic, reason, conversation, and the human experience when media consumption fills almost every waking hour of every day. (I think many people are averaging 8-12 hours a day already.)

I�m not wringing my hands in despair; I�m just wondering myself as I contemplate the sweeping changes that I am seeing here at CES and trying to foresee where the world is heading.

I was not there, Paul, and I don’t claim to see the future. But, I do feel that at-least two forces are at work here.

First of all, I believe we are in the age Ralph Waldo Emerson called “the Age of Self-Reliance” where every person must choose for themselves the things they accomplish in their life. Nobody is going to hand you a silver platter laden with opportunities.

There will be many who keep complaining about their job and their boss and their families and the (insert social,political or economic system here) they live in, and–to wrongly cope with it–enter their entertainment-induced comas every night thanks to the never-ending supply of media. The problem here is that benefits will continue to shrink, and taxes and inflation will continue to rise, until people who don’t take care of themselves now won’t have the capacity to take care of themselves any longer.

“The school of Hard Knocks gives a great education”, my father used to tell me, “but always charges the highest tuition.”

That tuition, I believe, is climbing steadilly–mercilessly.

Second, because our media is spoon-fed, and we are constantly barraged with SPAM emails, 30-second-commercials, and a steady diet of sound-bytes, highlight-reels, instant-replays, on-demand, 24/7 shopping, round-the-clock customer-service, we naturally focus on the transactions in our lives rather than the relationships in our lives.

• It’s easier to say how many minutes your Cell-phone plan has than to explain the last truly exceptional, down-to-earth, change-my-life, valuable conversation you had with someone.
• It’s easier to quote the number of emails in your inbox than to quote the number of letters you sent to a friend in-need of encouragement.

At the end of the day, when we reduce our lives to a series of transactions, no-wonder entertainment comes to the forefront. We feel like we’re “giving, giving, giving” all day long. When we finally have some control over the things we do, we have nothing better to do with our time than spend it amusing ourselves.

Transactions remove the need for on-going commitment and responsibility. They reduce relationships from a tactile, feeling thing to a cold, sterile process. That is an existence, but not a rich or fulfulling one. No wonder we turn to media to lull our conciousness to sleep through the day and night — it’s because we can’t stand the screaming from our hearts that “living like this sucks”.

I know many men who, a few years ago, would have camped out all night on the concrete for the newest XBox game-system or whatever. Now, they have more-important matters to attend-to, especially the ones who want to call them by their most-important title: “Daddy.”

The up-side here is that people will burn-out faster than ever on the transactional-living-treadmill. That is good because they may then awaken to a greater sense of the purpose of their life. They may begin actually searching for the answers this time around.

My fear is that our current society prescribed medication more often than solutions. Many people will never escape this.

But I am optimistic. I believe more people will honestly search out truth. More of them will determine to have a meaningful career rather than a j-o-b. More of them will decide that, if the people around them are not important and really valuable to them, then they need to get around better people — as Les Brown says, “In your quest to live your dreams, there are some people you must count on, and others you must count out”

Above all, I believe this will actually drive people to not repeat the mistakes of our generation and take pride and give real value to family and community.

Why not start today?

Your Resume Stinks

Well, I got your attention!

www.Manager-Tools.com has incredible information for becoming a better manager. This is now one of my favorite podcasts.

The following podcast explains how to use your resume to help you manage your career.

October 31st, 2005 — This week�s podcast addresses a topic that many of you might be surprised about: your resume. Your resume, regardless of the baggage associated with it, is probably your most critical career management document. While it�s not something you ought to leave laying around on your desk (or on monster.com, for that matter), that doesn�t mean you ought to treat it like something you dust off only when you really need it. It needs to be reviewed quarterly, believe it or not.

So, in this cast we�ll teach you how to prepare it, and how to maintain it. We won�t talk about cover letters, or how resumes are used in the job search, because job search is only one use of your resume.

The Sample Resume we refer to on the show is here.

Download and Listen to the show on Resumes.

Freezing Cold In New Delhi

Reuters reports that a severe cold wave is sweeping Asia right now. Global warming is showing form, and well I bet it only gets uglier in years to come.

I'm Certified!

Five minutes ago, I achieved my official certification as a Talent Consultant for SOS Technical. I have been here for eight months this week, and I am now about 80% “trained” on our processes and implementation. A few things I have learned:

• SOS has been #1 Professional Recruitment Agency in the Utah Business Book of Lists for several years in a row–now I know why. Our absolute commitment to exactness, quality and service on all sides of a placement are second-to-none!
• There is no substitute for attention to detail.
• Nationwide, it takes a recruiting firm nine interviews to find the correct candidate. Our top-achievers have a one-of-two success-rate. Our standard is one-of-three, still more successful than our competition by a factor of three!
• No wonder I’ve had to be more creative in locating quality candidates: “The people you’re looking for aren’t looking for you…” Unemployment in some of our areas is lower than it has been in 5 years. People that don’t want to work are working because the opportunities are so good right now.
• Recruiting and Placement are transactions, but my company is not a transactional company. We are a relationship company, and we won’t do business with companies unwilling to at least meet with us and create a professional relationship.

Above all of these things, I am more passionate and devoted to what I am doing today than I have been since I began.

Let’s get to work!

Web Designer - XSLT/XHTML -- US-UT-Orem

Front-end web designer needed to help “facelift” existing web application. This is a long-term position, although there is urgency with this project as there is a sales conference coming up in a few weeks. FAST work is required!

Candidate must have:
- Skills with Advanced HTML/XHTML/DHTML design/coding.
- Experience with XSLT styling.
- Good visual design experience.
- Graphic design skills valuable, but not required.

To Apply, send your Word-formatted resume to apply056@sostechnical.com noting this job-title in the subject-line. Please also note your availability and your salary-expectations.

Tags: XHTML HTML DHTML CSS Stylesheets XSLT Front-end web developer development job career work orem utah provo lindon

Technical Writer PT/Long Term -- US-UT-Orem

Our client is immediately looking for a technical writer with an understanding of the Web to help with two projects:

1. Edit and update existing technical documentation for client’s web application.
2. Help to write new documentation to facilitate creation of new online web-based Help documentation.

This is a long-term, but PART-TIME position. Hours may vary from week-to-week. This may be perfect for students or others interested in a flexible work opportunity. Centralized location in North Orem/Lindon area, easily accessible from anywhere in Utah County, especially BYU or UVSC campuses, or via UTA busses. Pay Rate: $10-13.30/hr, DOE

To Apply, send your Word-formatted resume to apply056@sostechnical.com noting this job-title in the subject-line.

Please also note your availability and your salary-expectations.

Tags: technical writer job career orem utah BYU UVSC part-time work

Manager Tools: Delivering the Performance Review

Found a great new Podcast last week from Manager Tools. Their latest podcast is relevant to consider at this time of year:

Delivering the Performance Review - Part 1

Over the next two weeks we�ll be concluding our discussions on Performance Reviews, focusing on actually DELIVERING the review.

The sample of the memo we suggest sending to your employees before their performance review meeting is located here.

In addition, as we discussed on a previous show, we suggest you send to each ratee SEVERAL weeks in advance of the review, an email or memo soliciting input from the ratee. As promised, a sample email/memo is available here.

Download and Listen to the show.

You can also get their podcast feed in iTunes, Odeo, or just raw RSS 2.

Tags: hirepower management managing performance evaluation review annual HR tools SHRM @public talent people humanresources human capital resources

Giving > Getting

Personally, the last few weeks of reflection have been powerful and deep.

Now, the books are closed, the records written, and the reports generated on 2005. It is forever done and gone. There is nothing we can do with it now but learn and create more from the struggles, hardships and opportunities it brought.

For me, I was able to step back a pace from the hurried business of my recruiting and talent management here at work. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s description of our modern-lives as “digital… rushed, rapid-fire, and relentless” has been ringing all-too familiar to me. I had time to consider… to ponder… to change some things.

I’ve also been reading through Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders (great gift, mom!). It’s timing at this moment of my life seems providential. It has helped me re-evaluate, refocus, re-energize my purpose and my plan here, working as a recruiter to help talented people find the right problems to solve.

Sanders clearly reveals that compassion in work situations–bizlove, he calls it–is absolutely essential to success in the new new economy:

How we are perceived as human beings is becoming increasingly important in the new economy. There was a time when people could sit back and play head-games behind closed doors… The new economy doesn’t allow for this.

And

No matter how technical our work situations may be, because we’re all human, the network is at its best when compassion underlies our motivation.

So, here’s my commitment: I will give more, share more, and trust more. It has already begun with this blog, but there are things up my sleeve that I think will make heads turn–not because I want the attention, but because I have a purpose to fulfill:

To enable excellent teams to acquire and retain brilliant talent, and to assist many people in connecting to their deepest-held values

If you can think of ways I can be more open with you or your team, please let me know. I’m officially listening.

Book: Love is the Killer App

How to Win Business and Influence Friends, by Tim Sanders

Available at Amazon (book), Audible (instant audiobook download), your local library, BookCrossing, and other locations.

I’m reading this book right now, and loving it–pun fully intended.

It’s timing at this moment of my life seems providential. It has helped me re-evaluate, refocus, re-energize my purpose and my plan here, working as a recruiter to help talented people find the right problems to solve.

Sanders clearly reveals that compassion in work situations–bizlove, he calls it–is absolutely essential to success in the new new economy:

How we are perceived as human beings is becoming increasingly important in the new economy. There was a time when people could sit back and play head-games behind closed doors… The new economy doesn’t allow for this.

And

No matter how technical our work situatins may be, because we’re all human, the network is at its best when compassion underlies our motivation.

Publisher’s Summary:

Are you wondering what the next killer app will be? Do you want to know how you can maintain and add to your value during these rapidly changing times? Are you wondering how the word love can even be used in the context of business?
Instead of wondering, listen to this audiobook and find out how to become a lovecat - a nice, smart person who succeeds in business and in life.

How do you become a lovecat? By sharing your intangibles. By that Tim Sanders means:
Your knowledge: everything that comes from all the books that he’ll encourage you to devour.
Your network: the collection of friends and contacts you now have, which he’ll teach you how to grow and nurture.
Your compassion: that human warmth you already possess - Sanders will convince you that you can show it freely at the office.

What happens when you do all this?

• You become a rich source of information to all around you.
• You are seen as a person with valuable insight.
• You are perceived as generous to a fault, producing surprise and delight.
• You double your business intelligence in one year.
• You triple your network of personal relationships in two years.
• You quadruple the number of colleagues in your life who love you like family.

In short, you become one of those amazing, outstanding people to whom everyone turns, who leads rather than follows, who never runs out of ideas, contacts, or friendship.

Here’s the real scoop: Nice guys don’t finish last. They rule!

Get the Digital Download

At Audible.com

Book: Love is the Killer App

How to Win Business and Influence Friends, by Tim Sanders

Available at Amazon (book), Audible (instant audiobook download), your local library, BookCrossing, and other locations.

I’m reading this book right now, and loving it–pun fully intended.

It’s timing at this moment of my life seems providential. It has helped me re-evaluate, refocus, re-energize my purpose and my plan here, working as a recruiter to help talented people find the right problems to solve.

Sanders clearly reveals that compassion in work situations–bizlove, he calls it–is absolutely essential to success in the new new economy:

How we are perceived as human beings is becoming increasingly important in the new economy. There was a time when people could sit back and play head-games behind closed doors… The new economy doesn’t allow for this.

And

No matter how technical our work situatins may be, because we’re all human, the network is at its best when compassion underlies our motivation.

Publisher’s Summary:

Are you wondering what the next killer app will be? Do you want to know how you can maintain and add to your value during these rapidly changing times? Are you wondering how the word love can even be used in the context of business?
Instead of wondering, listen to this audiobook and find out how to become a lovecat - a nice, smart person who succeeds in business and in life.

How do you become a lovecat? By sharing your intangibles. By that Tim Sanders means:
Your knowledge: everything that comes from all the books that he’ll encourage you to devour.
Your network: the collection of friends and contacts you now have, which he’ll teach you how to grow and nurture.
Your compassion: that human warmth you already possess - Sanders will convince you that you can show it freely at the office.

What happens when you do all this?

• You become a rich source of information to all around you.
• You are seen as a person with valuable insight.
• You are perceived as generous to a fault, producing surprise and delight.
• You double your business intelligence in one year.
• You triple your network of personal relationships in two years.
• You quadruple the number of colleagues in your life who love you like family.

In short, you become one of those amazing, outstanding people to whom everyone turns, who leads rather than follows, who never runs out of ideas, contacts, or friendship.

Here’s the real scoop: Nice guys don’t finish last. They rule!

Get the Digital Download

At Audible.com

Book: The Power of Full Engagement

Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

Available at Amazon (book), Audible (instant audiobook download), your local library, and other retailers.

For me, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz hit an absolute home-run with this book, which I found by accident–it had been mis-placed on a shelf at my local Office Max. I will not be shy about this: I love this book. I will be talking about this book for the rest of my life.

The introduction electrified me:

We live in digital time. Our pace is rushed, rapid fire and relentless. Facing crushing workloads, we try to cram as much as possible into every day. We�re wired up, but we�re melting down. Time management is no longer a viable solution… Managing energy, not time, is the key to enduring high performance as well as to health, happiness and life balance.

I found this book at a time in my life where I had accomplished an incredible feat–losing 126 pounds and regaining my health. Never before that transformation had I ever considered that my nutrition and my exercise affected so much of my life.

Prior to that, I worked as a programmer for a few companies during the late-90’s dot-com gold-rush. That was a thrill, but at the end of the day, I was worn-out, tired, and practically useless.

By the time this book found me, I was doing some incredible work, but I was fearful of falling back into the repetetive, life-killing routines I had so recently escaped.

Even working as an Herbalife coach–helping others understand the power of wellness, I was running into barriers again. Not so much with my health as much as with my ability to keep focused on what was really important to me in the long-run. I was feeling empty and drained after long coaching sessions or trainings. The couch was becoming my friend again, and I knew that needed to stop.

This book, especially the audiobook version, gave what I felt as practical, sensible advice based on reasonably good science, and enough real-life scenarios to really help me see how it could fit me. Sure, not everybody likes this book (as you can see from the comments on Amazon), but those people seem to be looking for a list of ingredients (like the label on the side of a cereal box) rather than real-life case-studies. No problem–we all learn differently.

The first differences I found after I began devouring this book were the perception changes I realized about my day–the habits I had, the routines I had created (and the ones I fell victim to). I also realized more of the connection between our physical-selves and our mental, emotional and spiritual ones. I loved how simply they walk through the leap from understanding how to strengthen you physical muscles to strengthening your emotional, mental and spiritual ones.

What I eventually discovered from the book was a new zest for life. Everyday things suddenly had a newness about them–a texture that I hadn’t noticed before. Time with my family was more fun, I felt really useful to my community and connected with my neighbors, and finishing a great work day was as exhilirating as ever. It was like I had been slowly suffocating through my life because I wasn’t truly, deeply connected to the things that my inner-self knows are really most-important–my deepest-held values.

Thanks Tony & Jim!

Learn more about the business Loehr and Schwartz run, the Human Performance Institute, at www.thepoweroffullengagement.com