INTERESTING: Adding my Yahoo Answers

Friday, May 4, 2007

Three are best in show.

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Posted by reinkefj

LINKEDIN: LINKEDIN changing their rules a little

Friday, May 4, 2007

>I have to give LinkedIn credit for a really excellent solution to this

Well, I would NOT call it excellent. And, I recognize that it LinkedIn’s “ball” and they can take it home any time they want.

However, if I was them, I’d have went at this a little more sensitively. I’ve been on LinkedIn for a long time. If I wasn’t in the first wave, I was in an early one. When they were trying to get recognition, it was “upload your address book and get connections”. Now, like a reformed prostitute, they want to move “upscale”. No more “connection sluts” wanted. (Sorry if this is too graphic.) They are saying “we used you to get our buzz; now buzz off”. I’d have communicated with people, everyone, what was changing, why, and an attempt to build a community agreement of “best practices”.

I get upset with heavy handed approaches. FWIW I have 60 invites left. And, have been rejected for an increase. As an alumni ezine publisher, I have over 2k or active readers and a rolodex of 6k “live” alums. (And, some dead ones too. RIP! Whose families use their email account to keep in touch.) I also have professional rolodex of 10k from my consulting days. I can’t guess at the percent I know personally, but it is high. But LinkedIn doesn’t seem to see that as a legitimate use of their service. But, their “group” group just accepted LinkedInJaspers as a valid group. Like most organizations, policy and procedures aren’t uniform.

Like Digg just learned the hard way, the community can revolt. If LinkedIn doesn’t recognize that they have a tiger by the tail, then they should. Assume that one of the movers ‘n’ shakers gets annoyed at some tactic or other, LinkedIn could be faced with a competitor. If some one had the time and inclination, you could use them as a model. Do it better based on the mistakes they have made. And, poof, NIDEKNIL is born! All the Open Networkers move. Followed shortly by all the Recruiters. Followed shortly by all the JobSeekers. Followed shortly by all those employed but scared. LinkedIn will have its employees, those too lazy to move, the clueless, and the “strawmen”. Since NIDEKNIL is coded from scratch and knows the volumes, it can be better, faster, and cheaper than LinkedIn. Heck, it can even do an export / import from LinkedIn like those bozos at Jigsaw did. They sucked every public source of profiles, turned it into a db, and started selling it. They’re still there so I assume they are making money.

So, gazing into my crystal ball, I see that there is a path that LinkedIn could take to their doom. Hope they don’t take it, but they seem to be very oblivious to just how fickle the marketplace can be.

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Posted by reinkefj

YAHOO ANSWER: Another Job after being fired?

Friday, May 4, 2007

*** begin quote ***

Is it true that once you’re fired from a job, it’s hard to get another one?

People tell me that, but my nephew stole from a job & got another job at a manager’s position. How can that be? I was told I can be fired for having a depressive-crying episode, & employers don’t care if I’m mentally disabled or not.

*** end quote ***

It depends.

There’s a saying on Wall Street that if you haven’t been fired that you’re not pushing hard enough. I like to say I have been fired 4½ times. ;-) It all depends upon why you were fired. In today’s economy, getting fired may have nothing to do with you, your performance, or your value. Take Enron for example. Anyone who worked there “got fired” when the place went belly up. And, they were tarred with the stigma of having been there. Fair? Nah, life’s not fair.

Your nephew’s alleged theft? It depends if he was charged and convicted. And, theft of what? Everyone takes the boss’ pencils. In some places, the office supply folks don’t give out pens and pads at back to school time. Or ration them. It depends upon what is on the record. What the old boss will say; most places on a reference check will only say that the person worked there from this date to that for fear of litigation. And it depends about what kind of story one can tell. Lastly it depends upon the perceived need that he will fill.

As far as you and your medical, most states are “at will” states. Meaning the boss can always fire you. They can always do that. It’s about what you walk away with. Various gooferment laws may give you “rights” that can give you a big club to extract a better settlement. To say that employers may not care is probably true, but their CFO, legal department, and HR types sure do. You on the other hand share an interest in keeping stuff quiet since a legal action can be found by a future employer. So, if your current employer nukes you, run to a lawyer. Say nothing; sign nothing! Absolutely don’t sign ANYTHING period. One Wall Street firm “made” you sign a mini severance agreement to get your last check. If you signed it, you basically agreed to waive your rights. If you can play poker like the guys on TV, you too can get “paid off” to go away. You have to realize that once they decide to fire you, you’re gone. The only question is what you get to go away. It usually in both sides interest to keep it quiet.

Hope this helps,
fjohn

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Posted by reinkefj