A friend passed me this video link. Its heartwrenching as it happens to more people all the time.
http://www.yahoo.com/s/1046721
How can we help our family and friends back up out of this global recession?
Regards,
Rick
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Starbucks
Clarke Quay MRT Station/Central
10 am - Noon
Agenda
Intros/How Can the Group Help You Today?
Elevator Speech
Topic: How to dig deep with networking relationships to by pass the recruiter trap!
Open Networking
Clarke Quay MRT Station/Central
10 am - Noon
Agenda
Intros/How Can the Group Help You Today?
Elevator Speech
Topic: How to dig deep with networking relationships to by pass the recruiter trap!
Open Networking
Everything must change! When the Global Market Contracts, Regional Markets are Needed. So is Hiring on Merit rather than "FIT"
Each day the global economic results set new record lows, market by market. The unemployment figures rise at the same time. Whether I am chasing consulting business or a "permanent" role in a corporate enterprise, I adjust my expectations to the market. Fact of life. During a recession, everything must change.
What amazes me is how many "Sales Prevention" questions I am asked by recruiters and hiring managers who are seeking a perfect local "FIT.". My age. My family situation, My real estate assets in Singapore and USA. None of these questions have anything to do with my ability to provide the very best sales and service to customers anywhere, anytime. It is time wasted in finding out about the business plan of the firm and how I can add real value from day one of the engagement or my hiring into the firm.
Yet, local recruiters and hiring managers tell me its all about "FIT". In the USA those questions are illegal. The so-called "Fit" questions are really nothing more than "Sales Prevention" questions". If you fill your head count based on those questions, your enterprise will be bound to fail at meeting its performance/sales goals, globally or regionally.
Local government and business leaders acknowledge an over-reliance on trade from the EU, USA, and Australia, and point toward new markets that are regional in nature. To make that change, recruiters and hiring managers will need to be more tolerant and inclusive of expats (including regional expats) to move beyond local "FIT" questions and to rid the office of "Sales Prevention" techniques.
The recruitment process here is handicapping itself using its "FIT" profiling rather than real accomplishments of each candidate. To imagine that 20 to 30% of annual salary is paid to the agency by the hiring manager for this "service".
If you do what you did, you will get what you got....
What amazes me is how many "Sales Prevention" questions I am asked by recruiters and hiring managers who are seeking a perfect local "FIT.". My age. My family situation, My real estate assets in Singapore and USA. None of these questions have anything to do with my ability to provide the very best sales and service to customers anywhere, anytime. It is time wasted in finding out about the business plan of the firm and how I can add real value from day one of the engagement or my hiring into the firm.
Yet, local recruiters and hiring managers tell me its all about "FIT". In the USA those questions are illegal. The so-called "Fit" questions are really nothing more than "Sales Prevention" questions". If you fill your head count based on those questions, your enterprise will be bound to fail at meeting its performance/sales goals, globally or regionally.
Local government and business leaders acknowledge an over-reliance on trade from the EU, USA, and Australia, and point toward new markets that are regional in nature. To make that change, recruiters and hiring managers will need to be more tolerant and inclusive of expats (including regional expats) to move beyond local "FIT" questions and to rid the office of "Sales Prevention" techniques.
The recruitment process here is handicapping itself using its "FIT" profiling rather than real accomplishments of each candidate. To imagine that 20 to 30% of annual salary is paid to the agency by the hiring manager for this "service".
If you do what you did, you will get what you got....
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Job Lead
Accounting Manager at Thai Beverage Can Ltd.
Qualifications -Bachelor' s Degree or higher in Accounting -At least 5 years experience in accouting function -Responsible for overseeing all aspects of accounting activities ( A/P, A/R, G/L, inventory, tax, VAT and monthly close ) Send your resume to recruit@ yourtbc.com
You may also want to view my friend Ben Thaiaporn's profile on LinkedIn.com who sent this lead to me from Thailand Connection.
Qualifications -Bachelor' s Degree or higher in Accounting -At least 5 years experience in accouting function -Responsible for overseeing all aspects of accounting activities ( A/P, A/R, G/L, inventory, tax, VAT and monthly close ) Send your resume to recruit@ yourtbc.com
You may also want to view my friend Ben Thaiaporn's profile on LinkedIn.com who sent this lead to me from Thailand Connection.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
14 things to do if you are laid off from a tech job
by Rafe Needleman
I saw a great piece of advice in a recent story on U.S. News & World Report called 10 things to do on the day after you're laid off: "Write a thank-you note to your former boss." I like that. It can't hurt, and if your boss hears of openings elsewhere, you're now that much more likely to get the referral.
Geeks and other tech employees are a little different from the vanilla workforce, though, so I wanted to put together a list of specific things that people in our part of the economy might want to consider if they're let go. Here's the rundown.
Quoted passages in this story are from other CNET employees, many of whom, like me, have spent time among the alternatively employed.
1. Get involved in an open-source project- It's where the most interesting and influential products are being developed, and more importantly, many open-source projects are filled with people who are also connected to companies that pay their engineers. Plus, obviously, working on a development project will keep you sharp and expand your skill set.
2. Go to start-up fairs- Wherever people are pitching new businesses, be there. They're all hiring. If not now, then soon. I am partial to the Under the Radar series (I helped start them and moderate at many of them), and there are several a year. Update: I just talked with the organizers of the next UTR event, which focuses on mobility startups, and they've created a special pink slip discount: $200 off admission, includes entry to the opening night reception for even more networking. There are 20 tickets at this rate.
3. Get project work - You may not have a daily gig, but you still have your skills, and there are people who need them. Head over to a project marketplace like oDesk or eLance and pick up some work.
4. Update your profiles - Go to your pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc., and let people know you are available for new projects. While you're at it, proactively send out notes to your trusted associates that you are looking for work. As we say here at CNET: "duh."
5. Learn some new skills - No, I don't mean to learn Rails if you're a Java guy. That's obvious. I mean cooking, rock climbing, riding a motorcycle--something that you didn't have the time to do while you were an FTE.
6. Answer some questions - Scan Friendfeed and Twitter Search for people asking questions in your areas of expertise, hang out in message boards on things you know stuff about. You'll see what's going on in the industry, you might be able to help people out (always worthwhile), and you might also land a tip for a gig.
7. Get a girlfriend or boyfriend - Don't let the fact that you have no job, per se, slow you down. You can still earn some dough. You will have more control over your schedule. And you can spend some of your newfound time with your new friend, assuming this friend doesn't have his or her own 18-hour-a-day engineering job.
8. Campaign in a swing state - Hurry up, though.
9. Take some time off - Invest a little and travel to a seaside town in Mexico, even if it's just a few days. Mexico is easy to get to, it might be cheaper to live there, and lying on a beach is certainly not a bad way to contemplate what you want to do with the rest of your career. At the very least, you'll see people who get by on a lot less than we make."
10. Move out of the Bay Area- Just a thought: This is a very expensive place to live, and the economy is heavily tilted to tech. If you have other skills, you might find a better market for them elsewhere, and it will be less expensive to maintain your lifestyle. Plus, you can continue to do project work.
11. Buy a new rig- Yes, you're going to have to do the obvious and odious task of taking a financial inventory and cutting back on your expenses, but you will also need current tools to pick up projects. You'll be more positive about working on those projects if you're doing it on a shiny new system configured just the way you like.
12. Take pictures- Put your $1,500 dSLR to use by selling stock-art pictures of household objects to Fotolia, ShutterStock, iStockphoto, StockXpert, etc. "It's cheap for people to buy images compared to the traditional stock (photo) market, but it can be lucrative over time because images sell over and over. I've made money without trying too hard. But quality standards are going up, so you can't just upload any old crap. Brush up on your model releases."
13. Volunteer- "It can build new skills (like leadership), a new portfolio. Someone capable of making their kid's Boy Scout troop turn a profit suddenly looks a lot more proactive than the shlub who catches up on reruns while waiting for Craigslist to pay off."
14. Start your own company- If you have some savings and can afford to work for peanuts (or less), it's a great time to start a company. Without the annoying distraction of a booming economy, you can focus on building a product to solve a problem you know people will have again when the economy loosens up. There is still funding, even, for early-stage companies. What should you build? We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
I saw a great piece of advice in a recent story on U.S. News & World Report called 10 things to do on the day after you're laid off: "Write a thank-you note to your former boss." I like that. It can't hurt, and if your boss hears of openings elsewhere, you're now that much more likely to get the referral.
Geeks and other tech employees are a little different from the vanilla workforce, though, so I wanted to put together a list of specific things that people in our part of the economy might want to consider if they're let go. Here's the rundown.
Quoted passages in this story are from other CNET employees, many of whom, like me, have spent time among the alternatively employed.
1. Get involved in an open-source project- It's where the most interesting and influential products are being developed, and more importantly, many open-source projects are filled with people who are also connected to companies that pay their engineers. Plus, obviously, working on a development project will keep you sharp and expand your skill set.
2. Go to start-up fairs- Wherever people are pitching new businesses, be there. They're all hiring. If not now, then soon. I am partial to the Under the Radar series (I helped start them and moderate at many of them), and there are several a year. Update: I just talked with the organizers of the next UTR event, which focuses on mobility startups, and they've created a special pink slip discount: $200 off admission, includes entry to the opening night reception for even more networking. There are 20 tickets at this rate.
3. Get project work - You may not have a daily gig, but you still have your skills, and there are people who need them. Head over to a project marketplace like oDesk or eLance and pick up some work.
4. Update your profiles - Go to your pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc., and let people know you are available for new projects. While you're at it, proactively send out notes to your trusted associates that you are looking for work. As we say here at CNET: "duh."
5. Learn some new skills - No, I don't mean to learn Rails if you're a Java guy. That's obvious. I mean cooking, rock climbing, riding a motorcycle--something that you didn't have the time to do while you were an FTE.
6. Answer some questions - Scan Friendfeed and Twitter Search for people asking questions in your areas of expertise, hang out in message boards on things you know stuff about. You'll see what's going on in the industry, you might be able to help people out (always worthwhile), and you might also land a tip for a gig.
7. Get a girlfriend or boyfriend - Don't let the fact that you have no job, per se, slow you down. You can still earn some dough. You will have more control over your schedule. And you can spend some of your newfound time with your new friend, assuming this friend doesn't have his or her own 18-hour-a-day engineering job.
8. Campaign in a swing state - Hurry up, though.
9. Take some time off - Invest a little and travel to a seaside town in Mexico, even if it's just a few days. Mexico is easy to get to, it might be cheaper to live there, and lying on a beach is certainly not a bad way to contemplate what you want to do with the rest of your career. At the very least, you'll see people who get by on a lot less than we make."
10. Move out of the Bay Area- Just a thought: This is a very expensive place to live, and the economy is heavily tilted to tech. If you have other skills, you might find a better market for them elsewhere, and it will be less expensive to maintain your lifestyle. Plus, you can continue to do project work.
11. Buy a new rig- Yes, you're going to have to do the obvious and odious task of taking a financial inventory and cutting back on your expenses, but you will also need current tools to pick up projects. You'll be more positive about working on those projects if you're doing it on a shiny new system configured just the way you like.
12. Take pictures- Put your $1,500 dSLR to use by selling stock-art pictures of household objects to Fotolia, ShutterStock, iStockphoto, StockXpert, etc. "It's cheap for people to buy images compared to the traditional stock (photo) market, but it can be lucrative over time because images sell over and over. I've made money without trying too hard. But quality standards are going up, so you can't just upload any old crap. Brush up on your model releases."
13. Volunteer- "It can build new skills (like leadership), a new portfolio. Someone capable of making their kid's Boy Scout troop turn a profit suddenly looks a lot more proactive than the shlub who catches up on reruns while waiting for Craigslist to pay off."
14. Start your own company- If you have some savings and can afford to work for peanuts (or less), it's a great time to start a company. Without the annoying distraction of a booming economy, you can focus on building a product to solve a problem you know people will have again when the economy loosens up. There is still funding, even, for early-stage companies. What should you build? We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Leadership Exercise from Phil Johnson, Leadership Lecturer and Coach
As a metaphor of an Authentic Leader’s journey you might want to try this exercise ...
take a piece of paper and calculate the result each day of a penny doubling for 31 days. The Authentic Leader has a passionate vision to reach day "31."
Watch how the results increase along the way. Each day represents a "lesson" that will be repeated until mastered.
Once mastered, the next lesson appears and the lessons never stop. At some point along the journey the leader's actions begin to "appear" and are seen by others.
Note that it does not take any more effort to go from day 1 to day 2 than it does to go from day 30 to 31 but you must stay the course to achieve those results and reach the vision.
Some of us become managers but I would suggest we all need to be Leaders. Whether conscious or unconscious we make this choice in every moment of every day. In the space in between stimulus and response is where these choices are made.
take a piece of paper and calculate the result each day of a penny doubling for 31 days. The Authentic Leader has a passionate vision to reach day "31."
Watch how the results increase along the way. Each day represents a "lesson" that will be repeated until mastered.
Once mastered, the next lesson appears and the lessons never stop. At some point along the journey the leader's actions begin to "appear" and are seen by others.
Note that it does not take any more effort to go from day 1 to day 2 than it does to go from day 30 to 31 but you must stay the course to achieve those results and reach the vision.
Some of us become managers but I would suggest we all need to be Leaders. Whether conscious or unconscious we make this choice in every moment of every day. In the space in between stimulus and response is where these choices are made.
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