The Advantages of a Virtual Workplace
While the recession runs its course around the world, it is good to know that companies are taking advantage of the virtual workplace. For many industries, it makes sense to have people work from home for at least part of the week. It saves companies money and helps retain their employee base at the same time. As a contractor myself, I wonder about some of the companies I worked for in the past. While I am glad that my assignments with them are complete, I know there are those who would have liked to continue with our past employers on some level. Instead, they call people to come in for a short period of time, let them go, and then call them back several months later, if they are still available. I understand the need for seasonal contractors, but when I have observed how much some of these companies have lost money on completely superfluous expenses, it boggles my mind at how willing they are to let go of talented people as a consequence.
Companies like IBM and Sun Microsystems seem to know how to make their virtual workplaces work for them and their productivity. What I see as the ideal virtual workplace is one in which the employer and employee have trust in one another, and have no desire to abuse that trust. It is where an employee works hard, but knows when to stop each day, and the employer gives freedom to the employee to have a personal life, without compromising the work flow. I also see a good virtual workplace as one that allows employers and employees to have face time with one another, and that doesn’t include web conferences. It is easy to feel disconnected from others you work for or work with if you never see them.
So while some people might think being in a virtual workplace lacks structure and growth for a company, I saw they are wrong. Virtual workplaces are here to stay, and will continue to grow throughout the economies around the world.
What are your thoughts on the virtual workplace?
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5 Tips to Getting Hired in a Recession
The Wall Street Journal article, Only the Employed Need Apply, says that unemployment is a 9.4% (I think it is closer to 20% based on the number that I have been reading) and it is a buyers market for employers that are hiring and employers are only looking to higher those who are currently working. There is a perception that if you are still employed in today’s economic climate, you are “strong performer” or on the “A team” or have significant value. Employers would rather fill openings with candidates who are working elsewhere.
A lot of what the article says is true, however, I know, through our organization and through all of the networking and connecting that I do, there are a lot of very talented people out there that are not currently working through no fault of their own. They ARE top performers. They ARE the “A Team” and were either down-sized, or their divisions were eliminated or their employer went out of business.
I have worked with loads of people prepping them for their next interview and have had great success and my advice to them is always - If you want to land the job that you are looking for and are currently unemployed, you had better have a very compelling story as to why you are unemployed and looking for a job.
Here are 5 tips to getting hired in a recession
- If you are looking for a job you have to be 100% buttoned up. From your resume, to speaking about your work experience, to highlighting your accomplishment, to showcasing your personality and your fit into their team, everything has to be well thought out and practiced.
- Your resume has to be spot on perfect. Tell a very compelling story about your work history, your experience and skills and it has to standout from all of the other candidate’s resumes
- Your interview technique has to be practiced and practiced again and again…rehearsed so well that you can make all of your responses seem spontaneous.
- You have to have your trigger words down so you have a number of responses at the ready for any question that the interviewer might throw at you. Trigger words like teamwork, leadership, stress should trigger anecdotes that you can share or experiences that you can point to.
- Your anecdotes need to tell a story about you. Highlight something about your experience, be relevant to the opportunity and you have to be able to tie them into how you will impact the bottom line for your potential employer’s company.
Just remember, the person hiring or recruiting wants YOU to be the successful candidate…the recruiting and the hiring process is expensive in both time and money…they can stop looking for candidates if you are the right fit.
Good luck and start practicing…
If you read the WSJ article, also read some of the comments in the Comment Section to get the full picture of the sentiment out there.
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Inspiring Women of the Web & Technology
In light of March being women’s history month, I thought it was time for us to take a break from the recession and quickly reflect on great women who have made strides in the web industry. May these women motivate and inspire you to create cutting edge technology, leverage the web to create a new business, or continue to strive for excellence every day.
Naomi Simson - Founder and CEO, Red Balloon Days
From marketing to entrepreneurship, Naomi has taken her passion for pleasure seriously as a career option, creating the #1 Gift site in Australia and New Zealand four years running.
Marissa Mayer - VP Search Products and User Experience, Google
Ten years after becoming Google’s first female engineer on staff, Marissa now leads product management on all search related products - web, maps, desktop, earth and more. Marissa is an example on how sticking with a company willling to groom and train their employees can create shining stars.
Esther Dyson - Independent Investor and Entrepreneur
From writing for then flipping EDventures to CNET (thought reclaimed the name for personal business), becoming the founding chair of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to publishing a book on how the Internet affects individual lives, she has influenced a lot of people on the web. She now dabbles in many different companies, often becoming an early investor or board member of online startups, which have included Flickr and del.icio.us.
Alex Beauchamp - Independent Consultant, Girl at Play
Alex is noted to be one of the first females to create a personal web site back in 1995. She now owns a prosperous design company, having completed projects for many well known brands, including Disney, Washington Post and Anthropologie.
Lynne D Johnson - Director, Social Media, Fastcompany.com
Lynne is a professional journalist and blogger, having won numerous awards for her work, including the 2006 Black Blogger Achievement Award. Before Fastcompany she held the position of General Manager of new media for SPIN, VIBE and VIBE Vixen.
Who are other Women of the Web Leaders who, famous or not, creating the technology supporting it or leveraging the web in new ways, have inspired you?
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Tips to stay ahead and keep a job in these fast pace times
While catching up on some industry reading over the weekend, the usual “Top 10 X for Y” normally peak a bit of interest. This weekend included a report from PayScale, the “Ten Careers in Demand for 2009” - of course that really peaked my interest.
The usual medical jobs (nurses and technicians), along with some new ones like career counseling or public relations professionals who can handle crisis communications, software developers were also noted to be in the top 10. But with one caveat - software developers who can stay on top of change with the rapid pace we are going through for technology convergence and new device deployments around the world.
So how do you not just accept change as part of your career, but embrace it with everything you do? Here are some tips to stay ahead and keep a job in these fast pace times.
1. Stay On Top Of Industry Research
Stay in tune with new channels for communications, and the particular industry vertical you serve - be it manufacturing, retail, energy or something else. There are many ways to get information now, from the heavy hitting research firms (with heavy hitting prices - ask your company if they have a subscription you can tap into) of Gartner and Forrester, to online data sources like CNET, to individuals who have a passion for blogging on tech, like GigaOm and Guy Kawasaki. (and of course the Webgrrls blog!)
Make it a habit to stay on top of different writers and points of views either by scheduling a daily catch up on your calendar in the morning or evening, or, focus on catching up on the weekend.
2. Write
Volunteer to write white papers for your company, for a reputable provider of content online or your own blog. This will force you to continue to do your homework while getting your name out there for being knowledgeable on the next cutting edge widget.
3. Your Process to Develop Software
How “agile” is your software development process? You don’t have to adopt full blown agile approaches like scrum, but you can modify parts of your process to be more open to change as you learn more about the goals and objectives of a project you are working on. While you may kick off a project today that is due in a year, you may find along the way that there are 4 more devices that are coming out you need to support, and 2 being sunset. So make sure you can, at a minimum, adjust for changes along the way.
How are you planning to embrace change in 2009?
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Four Tips to Keep Rolling In the Business
Be it landing the next great project to work on internally, promoting your work as an independent consultant, or selling your company wares, you need to find ways to continue to promote talent and cultivate relationships on a shoe string budget in 2009. But how? Here are some tips:
1. Thank Yous
It’s what mom taught us…thank yous….but not the verbal kind, SMS text, nor with an eGreeting. It’s the old fashioned, pull out a pen and note card, and write someone a thank you note. When was the last time you sent a personal thank you card to a client, co-worker or industry colleague? Here are some tips on how to save time writing personal thank you notes.
2. Pitch 3 Things
What three things make you stand out above the rest? Remind colleagues, your boss and prospects what 3 things you and/or your business are great at doing and why they need to keep you around.
3. Incorporate Asking for Referrals Into Different Processes
When someone registers for your website or newsletter, do you ask them to refer others? What about networking internally or within your industry networking group?
4. Reconnect with Someone Once a Week
Has it been a while since you chatted with a highly respected former boss? Senior executive you have a relationship with? Someone else you enjoy partnering with? Make it a habit to re-connect with someone once a week to continue fostering relationships within and outside of your business.
So who are you sending a thank you card to today?
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