JOBSEARCH: Does anyone have a job vacancy?

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070430063518AAOYrrm&r=w&
pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMhjNcVBC1clhWONCqtpS.eyBLEGYC4XifGrzOFa3JzBsEGqU
ehxT3UvPUN3DxkEMGVQ–&paid=answered

http://tinyurl.com/2cwefy

FROM A YAHOO ANSWERS QUESTION BY MANDEE_00:

*** begin quote ***

Does anyone have a job vacancy?

I am really desperate for a job. I am 21 years old, I currently do swim teaching but im getting bored of the job. Does any1 have a business where they would like to employ me to work for them? Im very reliable. Or does anyone know of anywhere that is employing staff? Preferably Admin/Secreterial work

Thanks

***Begin Quote***

Dearest Mandee,

>Does anyone have a job vacancy?

Sure, depending upon where you are, depending upon what value you can create, depending upon what you are motivated to do, and depending upon how hungry or headstrong you are, I looking in my crystal ball, can state unequivocally, that there is a perfect “job” for you nearby!

> I am really desperate for a job. I am 21 years old,

Doesn’t sound “desparate” to me. Not even deperate! Ahh to be twenty one again, sigh. What “job” would make you jump out of bed in the morning and run to get to work? (OK, maybe not jump and run, but arise with joy; walking briskly in with a skip in your step. To quote Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 “if u wake up in the morning and all u can think about is singing first then girl u suppose to be a singer.” Great advice!

> I currently do swim teaching but im getting bored of the job.

Well, I’d say that being bored is the Universe signaling you that you are not where you are supposed to be.

>Does any1 have a business where they would like to employ me to work for them?

Wrong question, imho. What do you propose to do for someone that they should pay you for? What is your Unique Value Proposition? What are those things that are unique to you that others value enough to strike a deal? Answer that and you are more than half-way to your “dream job”. So you have to do some “heavy lifting” now. Sit down in a quiet place and write out every single thing that you can do, want to do, have been asked to do, dreamt of doing, or your parents wished you’d do. What is your uniqueness.

>Im very reliable. Or does anyone know of anywhere that is employing staff?
>Preferably Admin/Secreterial work

Every major enterprise, probably except the car industry and the airlines, is looking for people willing to solve problems and exploit opportunities for them. To ask here on Yahoo Answers for “a job” is akin to “the drunk looking for his keys under the lamp post, even though that’s not where he lost them, because that’s where the light is.”

You haven’t mentioned geography (i.e., where do you want to work), compensation (i.e., of the value you generate how much do you want to retain), or form (i.e., employee, consultant, or contractor).

>

OK time for more “heavy lifting”.

Make a list of everyone you know. A real paper list. Name, address, phone number.

Then, GO and talk to each one about (1) what they did at your age; (2) any opportunities that they know; (3) ask their advice; (4) get — don’t leave until you do — the names of two people that they think you should talk to adding that to the bottom of your list.

Take detailed notes. Write a real USMAIL thank you note. (No joke; get in the habit early.)

Continue until the list is exhausted. (Yeah, I know it never ends. Now you are getting the picture. The search never ends especially when you get a job.)

You can stop when you have gathered enough information to answer all the questions above. ;-)

See your first real job is figuring out how the whole “job” process works and how you fit into it. You’re the CEO, CFO, and janitor for “You Incorporated — the Me, myself, and I division”. Now how are you going to make your payroll? Think like an owner of your own services business. That’s what we all really are.

Let us know how you make out.

***End Quote***

Easy after my last best answer.


PRODUCTIVITY: What is the one small step you can take within 24 hours?

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

http://www.legalandrew.com/2007/04/24/
get-your-motivation-moving-with-small-steps/

http://tinyurl.com/ytar45

Get Your Motivation Moving with Small Steps
productivity ideas, blog consulting – focused on the legal world
by Leagal Andrew aka andrew flusche

***Begin Quote***

Now think back to that nagging goal or project you’ve put off. Come up with one small step you can take within 24 hours. Don’t just put it on your trusty GTD action list. Go do it!

***End Quote***

Interesting productivity tip.

BTW in one of my projects at work a while ago, which wasn’t going well, the exasperated honcho directed me to assume the role of devil’s advocate. I was to, for every problem itemized, record who reported it (hurting) and who was to solve it (stuckee). Every day, I was to talk to every stuckee and get a status. BUT, not just any old status. The stuckee had to three choices:

* {#1} solved (which was to be immediately verified with the “hurter”;

* {#2} what was done in the last 24 hours to solve the problem and what would be done in the next 24 hours to solve the problem; OR

* {#3} a project plan to get to the solution.

Anything else, was to be escalated to him in real-time while the stuckee was on the phone.

Needless to say, stuff started being solved with AMAZING hustle.

For my part, every time one of these was “declared”, I just went to outlook and set up a five minute meeting at 730AM Eastern (I like to get an early start!) and sent it. People could propose a new time, which was fine with me.

He also added one more rule at the following week’s project meeting. When some problems didn’t “belong” to the stuckee, they could be relieved if the proposed replacement accepted the assignment. And, no throwing it over the transom. He officiated at the “wedding” (i.e., do you joe give this problem to sam? And, sam do you accept this problem from joe to have and to hold from this day forth?). If he was unavailable, I was allowed to sub in but I had to prepare a “wedding announcement” copying everyone involved. Needless to say, replacements were hard to find. The stuckee had to PROVE that it was the replacement’s problem.

Now those were some fun problems. Capacity, intermittent, bugs, blunders, suppliers mistakes, anything, and everything. As I recollect that when we shut the implementation down as completed, we had about 800 items all total led. MTTR was all over the place. But, there was a trail of “notes” about actions. The maintenance team used that as “as built” documentation.

I’ve never forgot that lesson. Attention and a 24 hour clock.


TECH SERVICE:Testing WORDPRESSDOTCOM — test #2

Monday, April 30, 2007

TECH SERVICE:Testing WORDPRESSDOTCOM — test #1
April 30th, 2007

Try to get data for the WordPress support staff. (They’re the best.)


TECH SERVICE:Testing WORDPRESSDOTCOM — test #1

Monday, April 30, 2007

Try to get data for the WordPress support staff. (They’re the best.)


RANT: Serfs! Clear the road for his highness the Guv!!

Monday, April 30, 2007

DRUDGE: CORZINE MOTORCADE CAUGHT SPEEDING — ON ROAD TO RECOVERY!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/nyregion/30cnd-corzine.html?
ex=1178596800&en=823e9355881c338b&ei=5099&partner=TOPIXNEWS

http://tinyurl.com/2ofcmy

Corzine Leaves Hospital After Accident
The governor of New Jersey acknowledged today that he was negligent in not wearing a seatbelt.
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Published: April 30, 2007

*** begin quote ***

No one in the motorcade used emergency lights, as his driver had been doing at the time of the accident. They kept to a pace of about 70 miles per hour, even though the posted limit is 55 on the stretch of Interstate 295 that leads to Drumthwacket, the governor’s official mansion in Princeton, where Mr. Corzine will spend the next stage of his recovery.

*** end quote ***

What a joke! Hope everyone remembers this when they get their next fund-raising invitation labeled seatbelt or speeding (aka a ticket)!


LINKEDIN: Why some people conceal their connections

Monday, April 30, 2007

>the underlying theory behind the concealment of connections to invitees.

Here’s a swag:

I believe I have seen (can’t prove it) a recruiter create “strawmen”. A fake online identity in LinkedIn. The profile was relatively complete. But, when you ping the person, you get no response. Since this particular “strawmen” and I were relative tight when we worked together. And, I’m kind of distinctive (gobble gobble big fat old turkey are easily identified), I’d have expected a response. There was no other introduction path to him other than thru this recruiter, the recruiter had contacts cloaked (so I couldn’t confirm others), and nobody responded to an inmail. Eventually the profile was deleted. So there’s one reason, “fraud”.

My lawyer has a LinkedIn persona, but cloaks his clients for fear of violating privilege.

A VC I know cloaks lest he give away anything accidentally

>It seems that the purpose of networking is to get and give contacts.

I don’t agree with the premise.

My purpose in networking is to “learn stuff”. That maybe to give and receive contacts, but not necessarily.

I believe that the PRIME DIRECTIVE of networking is to first seek to understand “stuff” (i.e., what can I do that others value; wisdom in using it to achieve my goals; how to establish the “weak ties” that are so valuable), then to be understood (i.e., let me tell you what I think I need).

The law of weak ties says something like “people are generally good; if they can help you, then they will; sometimes you need a spider’s web of “listening posts” around the globe that when trigger get you the needed information; that gets you a new job”. So, if I know what you want, say via a networking profile, (mine is at http://home.comcast.net/~v2y2r0n27rhj6y/DATA/Reinke_2005_networking_profile.htm), and I hear something that “fits”, then I’ll contact you.

So for example, when I am networking with a newly axed turkey, I get his networking profile and put it on my wall by the phone at work and my home office. (I use it as a reminder that I too will soon be out of a job and to pay attention to what is important!) We may never talk again, but as long as that profile is on my wall, that turkey has a chance of hearing from me.

That’s what I think networking is about.

Now some people will do nothing, but most will try to help. (In all the time I have been doing this, I have only had 4 people tell me to “buzz off”. Of course, I have put them on my “S” list. … … “S” is for “Special”!)

As long as you’re “easy to do business with”.

In terms of LinkedIn, even the Zero Help people, by the fact that they connect, even if those connects are hidden, they have made their contacts findable by you in search. You can connect to them with an InMail for a few bucks. So, unlike the old days, where Zero Help could frustrate you from looking their rolodex. With LinkedIn, that can’t happen. So Zero Help IS valuable, in that, his network is in LinkedIn!!!


TECHNOLOGY: My “ftl” idea

Monday, April 30, 2007

It’s no secret that http://www.freetalklive.com is may favorite podcast. It’s the number one podcast on podcastalley. At least it was last month.

And, we don’t get their radio broadcast here in Central Jersey. It would be a good libertarian outreach and may we could change some minds about big Gooferment.

As a EE, I know that the FCC allows low power local radio. So I had a vision of FTL everywhere on low power boxes.

When FTL was live, the inet feed would be passed to the transmitter. Other times, it would play a loop of the weeks shows.

6 nights a week times 3 hours = 18 hours of live content.

7 days per week times 24 hours equals 168 hours. Minus the 18 live hours. Equals 150 hours of rebroadcast. So about 8 rebroadcasts in a week.

You’d have to figure the schedule so that each time block played a different section:

FTLSCHED

So, now I need an appliance that will, given a stream, transmit it at a low power. I’m assuming that a pc properly setup could either pass along the live feed or create a stream from the downloaded mp3 files.

Maybe FTL could put some “special commercials” in the feed. Like, “You are listening to a (live / recorded) broadcast of FTL over low power community radio from your neighbor who thought this was entertaining.”

?


MONEY: Retirement risks

Monday, April 30, 2007

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/04/26/
ten-years-left-for-social-security/

Ten years left for Social Security
By Michael Hampton
Posted: April 26, 2007 3:01 am

***Begin Quote***

By 2017 Social Security will begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes and will have to begin redeeming bonds from the Social Security Trust Fund. Worse, Medicare is expected to cross the same line later this year, resulting in a massive fiscal crisis.

***End Quote***

Well, this certainly has to be added to the list of risk that the retiring baby boomers face.

Inflation is always the number one risk. You have to worry about a “wealth tax” that simultaneously devalues your savings, reduces the buying power, raises prices, and (usually) decreases your Social Security Insurance (a Ponzi fraud on a mammoth scale) earnings (i.e., the Gooferment calculates the inflation rate that it has to pay you based on?). Now you have to throw on the concern that you’ll get nothing for your SSI “contributions”! Look for lower benefits, increased taxation of benefits, means testing, making it more into a welfare program, and — when the Ponzi scheme breaks — the Gooferment walks away from the obligation.

That might be the thing that brings out the pitchforks and torches. Like during the French Revolution, that might not be a good time to be an aristocrat.

“Let them eat cake” might be superceded by “the Social Security trust Fund is broke”!


TECH SERVICE: WORDPRESS DOT COM comments off

Monday, April 30, 2007

It’s come to my attention that for some reason “comments are off”. I don’t think I did anything to close off communication. This has turned into a real “monologue” I just thought no one had anything to say back. The last comment was entered 21 April 07. I have feedback into the operators. It’s free so one cna’t complain. Argh!


TECH SOFTWARE: Joomla is content management that covers a lot of ground

Monday, April 30, 2007

http://www.joomla.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Cutting Edge Content Management

***Begin Quote***

Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable.

***End Quote***

I think the blogging metaphor was a good first step.

But when one thinks of the web as a personal tool, you need more. Sometimes you need a simple blog, sometimes forums, maybe a wiki, and of course there are always websites and webpages.

What attracts me to “content management” is that it is sort of the web version of the “unified field theory”. You can pull all you ever create into it, never lose a bit or a byte, and reuse it as you see fit. You can’t be held hostage to an ISP by free space (space is now so cheap), a WSP (that induces you to use its free tool that locks your data, or any number of lesser lockins by client-side software (i.e., Publisher, FrontPage).

It’s more work than a free blog at WordPress. But, as I am learning, free can be very very expensive.