Where's the break I have been looking for?

After 5 months of forced unemployment due to an unfortunate economic situation at my past company, I have finally found a full time job. It's not a permanent job, by which I mean one where I plan to work for this company for many years to come. I accepted a contract position where they would like for me to stay for 6 months, but are not able to offer me the security of a full time employee position. Even this type of situation has been hard to find over the past 5 months, so I am grateful to be back to work and gaining more experience.

I am still looking though for that full time employee position. I am doing the best job I can at this contract job, but I cannot lay down roots and expect to earn a future from it. I am eager to start working for a company where with hard work I can plan to be there for many years, and continue to grow in my career there. Because of the scarcity of jobs and the hundreds of candidates hiring manager must see now for an open position, it is not uncommon to have them scrutinize your experience and exclude you for something seemingly minor. Hiring companies have the luxury now of trying to find the 'perfect candidate' .

I for one am tired of being overlooked because I am missing experience with an application I could probably learn quickly, or perhaps I have just under the required number of years experience in a particular position. I challenge a company to hire me because I will be a long term employee, because I will be dedicated to the job, and because I want my career to grow with the company. Finding a model employee who will stay for year is worth it's weight in gold. Give me the break I have been looking for, the break I have earned, the break I have YET to earn - and you won't regret it!

A Really Goode Ride

They announced the Top 10 for the Murphy Goode Winery's "really goode job" today, and I was not on the list. :-( It was an honor to be supported, publicized, and encouraged by my friends, colleagues, family, and people they know - so thank you all for the support. I realized though, realistically, that the odds of being on that Top 10 list were against me. However, I was quite proud to have made the Top 50 out of nearly 2,000 applicants, and I believe the show of support I had from people helped. Wow, what an honor! Thank you!

Reflecting on the process to reach the Top 10, there was a huge focus on the video itself however I think there came a point in the process where it was not all about the video. The video got you noticed (and provided a barrier to entry for the 'not so sure' applicant or the technically challenged one), but your experience got you further in this process I believe. I definitely have the technical and professional acumen for the job, which likely carried me into the Top 50 - but probably lacked in media and culinary/wine industry experience to make the Top 10. It's not clear what Murphy Goode is looking for in a candidate exactly, but since it is a job process and not a contest - I imagine the most well rounded applicants in their eyes prevailed in the Top 10.

C'est la vie as they say! I had a great time being creative, making the video (thanks again Brent & Estella for creative input), breaking down personal barriers, and meeting people via social networking. I still think it's possible that my work & experience here could lead to something. Like, maybe I'll get some calls from people about something or other, eh? o_O

There were certainly some noteworthy people when it came to votes and views, like Martin Sargent ~the overall vote leader with thousandSSSS of votes and views (who wasn't selected to the Top 50 somehow :-/ )~ but I thought I'd mention that the shortened link to my video that I created and publicized (http://tr.im/goode) received over 1,000 clicks as of this post! I had some big days too; like ~300 clicks on May 21st when I launched my video, ~100 on May 29th after a little self-promotion, ~125 on June 26th when I made the Top 50! People viewed my video mostly in the United States; but also in Sweden, France, Germany (@AndysGoodeLife?), The United Kingdom, Slovenia, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, China, Mexico, Georgia, and Taiwan! (Whoa!) -- As of this post YouTube shows my video received over 1,100 views! Not too shabby, if I can toot my own horn for a sec! Hey, it is my blog afterall. :-)

But Craig, what we really want to know is -- who do YOU think is going to get the job? Well, I am not going to be politically correct here, say something cheesy like "they all should get the job", and pretend I don't have a pick in mind on who I think is going to get the job! Based on what I've seen of people online, I'd put my money on Todd Havens with Hardy Wallace a close toss up. Good luck fellas. Of course though, Goode Luck to all Top 10 candidates!

What's Your Testimonal?

I am in the process of working with a technology consulting firm on being placed in a contract position for a large, well branded company you have probably heard of (more details later perhaps). One of the things they asked me to do was to help them write a short but pointed "testimonial" about my experience in 3rd person, as it pertains to the contract at hand.

I didn't think much of this process, until I completed it. It's actually a valuable thing to do if you are in a job search. Not only do you think of your qualifications, but you write them down as if someone was reading an article about you. I think it's a good mental tool before an interview, and also a good tool in helping create objective statements. Here's what I came up with. What's your testimonial?

Craig is a proven web application development professional, having 7 years experience in Quality Assurance, 7 years experience in Project Management, and a Masters Degree in Information Systems. He recently led the QA team at a small software company through the testing phases and successful launch of a new web application built from the ground up. Craig also has experience working on web application development teams for large companies such as Verizon Wireless & AT&T. He has a solid understanding of SDLC methodology in both Agile and Waterfall environments, and practical experience in creating a web application quality assurance strategy. He has a good-natured personality and will quickly earn respect from the rest of the development team.

Trailside Networking

A few days ago, my buddy Chris Simpson called me and asked if I would be interested in helping start up a group he had been thinking of. The basic premise of the group is to get out from behind the computer, and get outside for a hike!

Like me, Chris has recently found himself looking for new work. There is a lot of pressure involved. It may seem dreamy, like we have a lot of time to do whatever we want on our hands, but fact is there is constant pressure to do everything you can to find new work. This means spending many hours a day in front of the computer reading job posts, sending out resumes/cover letters, connecting with people, etc. It takes up a lot of time. Chris found he was walking a lot less than he should be (I knew I was, he proved it by wearing a pedometer).

So, Trailside Networking was born. There have got to be hundreds/thousands of people like us given the poor economy, plugging away daily looking for new work. We'd like to meet some of you, use our gift of free time to get outside and go for a hike, and talk about what we've been up to in our job searches. The first hike is in Marin but I can see future hikes in SF or the East Bay perhaps. I can even see the idea of this spreading to other areas.

Join us for the next hike. Even if you are working, you may be able to join us at lunch or at an upcoming weekend trip.

http://trailsidenetworking.com
@TrailsideNet
Trailside Networkring on Facebook

UPDATE 6/14/09:
Photos from our inaugural hike! Looking forward to a bigger turn out on our 2nd hike downtown along the SF waterfront.

SalesForce!!!

Just got a bunch of great job leads for SalesForce.com that I am excited about. I was networked in to emailing a recruiter at SalesForce who has 14 positions open in her section. At the same time, I got an email from my old boss David Mosher (who was the CEO of my past employer Embark Corporation), telling me of an open position he had heard about that he thought I would be a good candidate for.

This is exciting. It means that there are certainly opportunities at SalesForce, and to be in contact with a recruiter from there makes it even more promising.

SalesForce is a definite leader in CRM and cloud computing. The sales team at my former employer, Embark, used to use it to manage prospects and they all raved about it. I've consulted for The Green Zebra, where we used it to manage client information that is to be published in their coupon books. I wrote a PHP middleware program to interface their front-end data gathering web form to SaleForce, so that the staff at Green Zebra would not have to enter client information in manually as they had to do in previous years. It would go from the client, to the web form, and then directly into SalesForce. Brilliant!

Looking forward to hopefully talking to SalesForce more about their open positions!

Web 2.0 Marketing Strategy

I thought it was about time I posted my idea of a good Web 2.0 marketing strategy. It's a process I have followed in the past with consulting clients of mine, including Peas of Mind and Dr.David E Smith. I thought I'd also tailor this posting to show what my plan would be should I be selected for Murphy-Goode's Lifestyle Corespondent position.

1. Blog: First and foremost, there must be a BLOG. The blog should be updated at minimum once a week, but more often if possible. I would aim for 3 postings per week, with at least one of them having some substantial writing to it (as opposed to just posting a video clip or some pictures). Everything else will revolve around the blog. The blog will be the main focus of the strategy because it is a forum that we can fully control. I'd recommend subscribing to a premier blogging service such as TypePad. Allowing readers to Digg content can expand exposure as well. Having other company websites feed into the Blog is also helpful. It's no easy task to maintain a blog by writing interesting articles, frequently!

2. Twitter: There must be a Twitter account. Update often with things that are current and going on around the business and in the industry. It is important not to always plug products though, or else followers will become wary. Sharing links to new information is important, and linking to the Blog is important. Take pictures often via a mobile device and post them in real time via a service such as TwitPic, so that followers can easily see the photos from their Twitter client.

3. Facebook: Personally, I am not a big fan of Facebook and could do without it - but it is such a big part of social networking that we can't ignore it. Maintain a fan page, and link it to Twitter so that updates on Twitter will automatically update the status on Facebook. This will save you from having to post something twice. Periodically, we should upload photo albums and/or videos. We can also periodically send messages out to followers to announce new products or events. If a budget exists, we could create ads very easily to help increase the page's exposure and the fan base.

4. Flickr: In addition to the occassional TwitPic shot, I'd like to take lots of still photos and have them upload to a Flickr photo stream. This will just add a little more photographic documentation than TwitPic is able to offer, and the content can be presented in different places or referred back to for historical purposes. If possible I'd like to be able to have the photos I take simply upload in real time by using an eye-fi card, so there is no need to wait until I can get to a computer to upload them.

5. YouTube or Vimeo or Seesmic: In addition to taking photos, I have really started to taken an interest in video. I'd like to be able to upload both candid and edited video pieces from special events, occasions, or even just fun times in the tasting room (where I'd plan to spend a lot of time pouring so I can talk to and meet customers). I'm still torn on which service to use to post the videos. I like Vimeo better than YouTube, but YouTube is more widely used currently. I like Seesmic b/c people can respond and interact (video conversation). I may have to use a combination, where videos that I don't expect responses on go to Vimeo/YouTube and ones where I want followers to interact I use Seesmic.

6. Webcam: Gotta have a webcam!!! Maybe a tasting room webcam, or a production webcam, or a harvest webcam? Whatever is going on, if I am going to be there for a long period of time, I'd like to set up a webcam. To be successful it is something that has to be set up for at least several hours, or preferably throughout an entire day. Having a real time video feed can be an awesome supplement to Twitter updates. If something going on with the webcam is worthy enough, we could even tape it for future submission to YouTube or Vimeo.

7. Bandwidth: For Murphy-Goode's position specifically, there will need to be WiFi in most of the company locations; if it is not there already. In addition to WiFi, it would be a good idea to have a reliable service that can connect me to the Internet from almost any location. I would choose Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband. This will allow for almost anywhere updates.

8. Respond to People: Finally, and most importantly, it will be necessary to spend time responding and interacting with people. Although there is opportunity to do this while "out in the field", to be truly comprehensive one will need to be able to sit down every day or every other day and respond to inquires, thank people for support, and make sure no one has been ignored. Spend time on other people's blogs and spread relevant information from them to your followers. If possible, try to secure a place as a 'guest poster' on a written blog or an interview on a video/audio blog. Sharing content from others helps you 'make friends' in the web 2.0 world, who will usually reciprocate by helping spread your messages.

As time goes by, and as technology and trends advance, it is necessary to continually re-evaluate your strategy. Staying ahead of the curve is also part of the plan.

Be frequent, be interactive, be real!

Muprhy-Goode Job Applicant - @cgiven

Ok it is done. I submitted my application and video for the Murphy-Goode Winery's, A Really Goode Job. I saw the opportunity first on either sfgate or Twitter, the day they had the kickoff event in downtown SF. I thought about it half wittingly, but really became inspired when I saw some of the boring videos that were being submitted! There are definitely a lot of requirements for a mere 60 second video, but the one requirement I thought people were missing the most was, "It should be entertaining". "Put up, or shut up", I thought to myself. So, here it is:

Some interesting facts about my video:

• I wrote, produced, directed, and starred in this video. Other than valuable feedback from friends and family on draft videos I created, I did everything myself. (see feedback credits below)
  
• The equipment I used to shoot was a Canon Powershot SD770IS Digital Elph and a stand (pictured below with my niece). I used iMovie software on a Mac to cut the video.
  

• The idea for this came to me in a dream. I dreamt I made a video of me downing a full, huge glass of wine as quick as I could while spilling it all over my shirt.
  
• I actually tried to down a huge glass of wine as part of the video, but I could not do it fast enough. (I used water instead of wine to time myself)
  
• To not waste wine, I replaced the wine in some shots with watered down apple juice that I painstakingly compared in appearance to Murphy-Goode's Fume (which I drank later).
• I needed another wine bottle as a prop, and noticed unknowingly and conveniently; an empty bottle of Murphy-Goode Fume in my sister-in-law's recycling (she lives downstairs from me). Score!!!
  
• My cat Lucy is usually a royal pain, always begging for food or attention. However, she slept the whole day I shot the indoor scenes. I had to wake her up for her cameo appearance. She wasn't happy.
• The vineyard shots were at Ksyrahsyrah Vineyards in Napa,CA (with permission from the owners - special thanks to The Osgoods)
  
• I had to shoot the vineyard shots on 2 different days, b/c the shots I took on the first days were sub-par in draft feedback from friends. After some tips, I went back for a 2nd day of shooting and battled sun and wind. I took over 50 takes for several hours for about 15 seconds of video.
• I found out later that the vineyards were sprayed the night before. No wonder I felt light-headed afterwards.
• The indoor shots were all done in my flat in San Francisco.
• The music is "Grateful Dawg" by David Grisman & Jerry Garcia (purchased legally from iTunes specifically for this video, b/c I could not find the CD I thought I had of it.). The song also came to me in my sleep.

There was definitely a lot of project management involved. Before even picking up the camera, I wrote a detailed script with each scene getting a specific amount of time so I would properly plan for exactly 60 seconds. I even timed myself saying a bunch of different lines to see how long it would take me to say them. The planning definitely paid off, as it makes shooting much easier when I had an idea of what to shoot and the time constraint for the particular scene I was shooting.

After I made my first cut, I put it up on my own website and invited a select group of friends and family to view it and give me feedback. The final cut did not change much in context from the original, but it definitely got fine tuned. This was one of the most important phases. Not only did it give me validation in what I was doing, but some corrections and creative ideas came out of it. I am definitely a big advocate of not working in a bubble for just this reason. Special thanks to @craisin, @brentium, Julia, Suzanne, Noel, Dad, Aunt Janet, Alice, Cathy, Rupert, & David for all your feedback.

Ok now it's time to talk some smack! Some people submitted some really, really bad and boring videos. So, for all of you people who didn't even try, here is The Murphy-Goode Job Applicants Video Fail Guide, featuring a list of trends and observations I noticed in other people's videos that drove me nuts:

• Hand held cameras (this isn't the Blair Witch Project) - FAIL!
• Noticeably reading from a script (you can't memorize a little or wing it?) - FAIL!
• Drinking wine on camera and giving a cheesy expression of satisfaction afterwards (the most boring 10 seconds your audience ever watched) - FAIL!
• Talking about how much you love wine (uhh, DUH!) - FAIL!
• Using less than 60 seconds (Really? You couldn't fill up 60 seconds?) - FAIL!
• Not including a *video* of yourself in your video (they didn't ask for a Powerpoint presentation) - FAIL!
• Saying something cheesy and inspirational, like you are reading it off of the back of a wine bottle (Even wine makers laugh at some of the things that get put on the back label) - FAIL!
  
• Putting credits with links at the end of your video (Did you also give them these links in your application? I bet you did. You just wasted 10 seconds of video on something no one will read) - FAIL!
  
• Not being entertaining, at all - FAIL!

That's all folks. I really enjoyed this as a project, and I really REALLY hope to make it into the next round. The video competition is starting to heat up as compared to the first few weeks, as I'm seeing much more creative content submitted. If at the minimum with this experience, I learned a lot about making a video and how to better operate my camera. Now I want to start taking more video than photographs! May need a bigger hard drive, as my materials for this 60 second video alone were close to 1GB!

Update 5/22/09:
Go on over to Andrea at Andy's Goode Life Blog, who was kind enough to feature a guest posting from me about my video! Thanks Andrea!

3 Ring Circus

So the other night, in a dream, an idea came to me for a potentially great video for the Murphy Goode Winery's A Really Goode Job contest. I had a video in mind already, but it was boring...just me talking about my qualifications, personality, blah blah blah. I think the video I dreamed about will be much more entertaining. Afterall, the idea here is to get noticed!

The "Goode dream video" as I call it, is currently in production. There are a number of videos already on YouTube from applicants. Most or plain and boring, like my original video idea, so I hope the "Goode dream video" will be far superior.

As they say, PUT UP OR SHUT UP!
(Give me a few days to complete it)

I like Hardy Wallace's video. At first I thought this was the stupidest video ever, but Hardy kinda grew on me -especially his catch phrase and how he says it "It's Murphy Goooooode!". Hilarious! What a goof ball! I bet Hardy would be a hoot to meet! Of all the videos submitted to date, I liked his the best.

Web 2.0 vs Web 3.0

After sending a perspective employer my resume for an open job opportunity, they responded by asking me to answer a few questions via email. This seems to be more common these days as it's happened to me a few times. The next step after sending a resume to an employer used to be a phone interview, but now there seems to be an "email question" phase between the "initial resume" and "phone interview" phases.

Most of the time, the employer is asking for more information about your experience pertaining to the position - however, they sometimes throw in a curve ball question. One employer asked me for a funny story. Another asked me what I've been reading lately. And today I am faced with another curve ball question, one that I have enjoyed thinking about and answering: How would you describe Web2.0 and what is your vision of Web3.0?

Before giving my answer, I of course did some research to see how other people have answered. Of course, there is a lot out there on Web2.0 as it is now a pretty widely used term. To my surprise though, there are not a lot of people (after a quick and simple search) who have tried to define Web3.0. Here is my shot at a definition:

Web 2.0 is the proliferation of interaction between user and web app. Prior to Web 2.0, web applications were a one way street. Web apps posted content for users to view, but there was no way for the user to interact with what they were viewing. People have used Web 2.0 capabilities to build communities and to become more transparent over the Internet.

Web 3.0 is commonly thought to be the process of using the information already provided by users in Web 2.0 applications to create new information. However, I see Web 3.0 differently. I see Web 3.0 as the proliferation of mobile Internet technology. Web 3.0 will be the ability to use the Internet from any location reliably and for this ability to become more accessible to the public.

Part of what has made Web 2.0 applications (for example; Twitter) so popular is the ability to use it from a mobile device. Mobile Internet technology, though, is still “clunky”. It is expensive, it is not available everywhere, it is slow and unreliable, it requires special hardware, and the capabilities are limited compared to that of a laptop or a desktop computer. Web 3.0 will be the widespread availability of the Internet from any location, and where the lines between using the Internet from a mobile device or a “fixed” device are blurred.

I know I dream of a world where I don't have to wait until I get home to my desktop computer and my Internet connection (or walk around looking for wifi with my latop) to do what I need to do. The iPhone doesn't always cut it.

Web 2.0 Map image courtesy of Markus Angermeier (11/11/2005) based on the article "What is Web2.0" written by Tim O'Reilly (9/30/2005).

Update 1/8/10:
Great Web 3.0 slideshows here:
Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English

Consulting Keeps Me Going

Something that has really helped keep me going during this downturn in the economy is independent consulting. Since my day job dried up in January, I've been spending more time consulting. It has handed me a wide variety of projects and introduced me to many new people. While consulting probably won't ever replace the security and benefit of working a day job, I thought I'd take a moment to list some of the projects I have been working on as an independent consultant since my last day job freed me up.

1. Peas Of Mind (peasofmind.com): Jill and Kelly continue to think of creative ways to market their products. Aside from the monthly Recipe updates and occasional Press updates I post to their website - some of the more exciting things I've gotten to do for them include creating a custom CMS, a Widget, adding a Podcast, and linking them to Facebook. We are already working on some new social networking enhancements that I am excited about. They certainly keep it fresh! (A note about their products; my nieces and nephews love Puffets - and frankly, I do too. I ate a whole box of Carrot Risotto Puffets over the course of a few days. Add a Puffet to a little arugula salad and you've got a gourmet vegetarian lunch!)

2. Pacific Shaving Company (pacificshaving.com): Stan at PSC throws me more technical curve balls than most. We've created data forms that gather information into a database, added new products (The Nickstick), and most recently changed web hosts - but we handled it so seamlessly and professionally that downtime was minimal. I don't think the website users even noticed. I also learned a valuable lesson with Stan about only taking on the "right" projects - that not every project is right. While it is easy to want to say yes to everything and to please the client, sometimes as a solo consultant you have to know your limitations and seek help early on. Stan was a great guy about this, while I learned the hard way. (A note about their products; shaving oil works just as well, if not better, than shaving cream ! I especially like it because the small bottle of oil goes a long way and is small enough to be TSA approved at airport security.)

3. The Green Zebra (thegreenzebra.org): Anne and Sheryl have a great idea and a mindset dedicated to improving awareness of the environment. They are on their 3rd annual coupon book and they seem to be growing, as I am dealing with new staff members all the time. They are probably one of my most challenging clients as their website is very graphic but we've been able to do amazing things with PHP, MySQL, and Salesforce. (A note about their product: Their annual coupon book is not only informative and fun to read, it easily pays for itself in coupon savings. I've been able to get discounts at restaurants, carpet cleaning, yoga, & groceries - just to name a few.)

4. *anonymous*: In probably one of the more interesting projects I've worked on, I helped a website owner deal with hacking...yes, HACKING...on his website. Someone was using SQL Injection via PHP to access the back end databases of this website and delete content, change content, and otherwise cause havoc. I needed to perform a security audit of his website which included changing all of his host and FTP passwords to something more secure, adding server side password protection to his Admin UI, and adding code to prevent SQL injection to all database facing web forms. That, along with creative and tactful communication with the hacker solved the problem. (Note: I decided not to link to this website to protect his identity and prevent him from being targeted again. He gets plenty of hits so he doesn't necessarily need my link.).

5. Dr.David Smith: I'll preface talking about Dr.Dave (founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic) by noting that he is my father-in-law. However, he has a small army of projects that he is working on at all times. I am helping build out PlazaHouse.org (not ready yet as of this post), have built FreeCC.org for a 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love event in 2007, and most recently cataloged, organized, and copied dozens of DVD's about drug addiction or the 60's for future use, as well as documented (with images and video) construction on several building he has an interest in that are undergoing renovation. Dr.Dave is hoping to one day build a 60's culture museum on Haight Street and I look forward to helping him fulfill that dream.

6. Adam's 100% (mangosteens.com): Adam is the guy who introduced me, and probably many others, to the mangosteen. I had never even heard of one until he and I were introduced. We are continually trying to find ways to present an increasing amount of information on his website in a clear and concise manner. The product continues to make its way into more and more store locations, all of which get listed on the website. (A note about their product: A small glass of Mangosteen juice a day is very good for you. I add a small amount to smoothies and other drinks. A single bottle is big and a little expensive but it goes a long, long way)

There are several others I could mention, but these have been the most interesting consulting projects - and all of them are great products (or people) that I recommend. It definitely helps to work on a website for a product you can get behind - and the people behind them are all innovators. It's inspirational to work with them, and they are helping to keep me going during these tough times on many levels.

Project 1 - retain website loyalty

I began working with some friends on a website called clubgwagen.com. My friend Mike has owned this Mercedes G-Wagen enthusiast website for over 10 years, and it gets an impressive amount of traffic from all around the world. The problem is that it has fallen into code-disrepair, and he would like to monetize it - as currently it is a free website community. This is a problem that a lot of websites have today (ie: Twitter?). How do you monetize a website that has become popular BECAUSE it is free?

We have thought of some obvious solutions, like charging users for enhanced services or other subscription fees - but decided that could potentially erode our single greatest asset - our user traffic! Rather than penny pinch the people who use the website, we are working to improve the services and experience that bring them here in the first place. We want to KEEP them here and ATTRACT more people. From there, you have a captive audience from which to launch your monetization strategy. (We have a plan, but I prefer to keep that quiet right now as we have competitors.)

My role in this is to enhance the classifieds pages (and to fix bugs wherever we find them). The classifieds are one of the biggest draws to clubgwagen.com. Some of these vehicles are hard to find and hard to sell, so clubgwagen.com provides a central location for both buyers and sellers. It is FREE to review and FREE to post. It is wildly popular, as a result.

The classifieds in place now are very manual for the web administrator. A form is filled out by the user, an email is sent to the web administrator with the details, and the information is transferred manually by the web admin from email to html and then uploaded to the site. Boooor-ing!!!!, tedious, and not very timely.

I created a new frontend/middleware/backend system using HTML, PHP & MYSQL that stores new classified ad requests into a Database. From there, there is a backend Administration user interface (UI) application that will allow an administrator to approve a new ad or not. Upon approval, the ad will appear on the website. I'm enhancing the Administration system so that all classifieds can be managed through a web browser so that no technical skill is required by the web admin to manage the content. Even if the web admin does have technical skill, it will be a time saver to use the UI as opposed to having to login to backend components.

There will be 3 separate classified applications, each with Admin site support: Vehicles, Parts, and Wanted. I'm very excited to get this off the ground and see it in action. At current, we are testing it and making adjustments but it is almost ready (it even allows uploading of images, which I am proud that I managed to code myself :-) ). Also, the data in the database looks so clean and organized - I could cry with joy!

This project has kept me sharp in many areas that I will need in my future job: project management, product management, requirement gathering, requirements documentation, estimation, development, quality assurance, and release management. It has been the perfect project to keep my skills sharp, and something I look forward to discussing with a prospective employer when asked "What have you been doing since you were laid off?".

Job Search | Plan B

Well the economy must *really* be bad. I am still without work after nearly 7 weeks. Any illusion that (because of my experience and education) I was somehow immune to this downturn and would find a job quickly has faded. Granted, I am still looking for a job that I deserve - one that I am suited for - for the right compensation. I have not yet resorted to looking for something that I am over qualified (and under compensated) for.

During my first 5 weeks of unemployment I kept myself busy networking, looking for work the traditional way, and participating in LOC (see previous posts) as a sponsor liaison. LOC was a great success, but now it has moved on to other cities. Looking for jobs the traditional way and networking has turned into a part time job instead of a full time job, because eventually you get to the point where you are ahead of the curve and don't have to spend everyday on it.

What now? MORE PROJECTS, that's what! I am finding new things to get involved with that will help keep my skills sharp and ready for the next opportunity. Some of the projects are work related, but others are personal endeavors that I've always wanted to do but have not had the chance. These are the things I plan to blog about, as I move from Plan A to Plan B.

Barely made it to LaidOffCamp

So I tried to extend my trip to NY as long as possible before coming back to SF to attend LaidOffCamp yesterday (3/3/09). Plan was to arrive late the night before. Unfortunately, there was a huge nor'easter in NY and I was not able to get a flight out until the morning OF the event. I was definitely a little disappointed, as I had been looking forward to it and had put a lot of effort into getting sponsors to support the event (and I wanted to meet these people in person!). Long story short, I did what I could and managed to get to LaidOffCamp by ~2pm. Whew...what a day of travel that was!

Even though I missed half of it, I was still able to meet a few people who I had spoken to on the phone about sponsorship. I also got to attend a few sessions. Some sessions that were particularly interesting to me were sessions about personal branding and how to market yourself - both of which I am trying very hard now to do. An "ah hah!" idea I got from LaidOffCamp was to create a video resume. Need to work on that!

Overall, this was a very positive event. Talking to my friend Vikki who is a recruiter and who attended the event as a 'hiring company' representative, she mentioned how traditional job fairs that she has attended have this feeling of desperation and urgency about them. People are frantic, frazzled, and desperate to show their resume to anyone. She called them "depressing". LaidOffCamp was anything but! LaidOffCamp had a more collaborative and innovative feel to it. I did not spend my time there handing my resume out. Instead I learned from other people about what they are doing to find work and cope with unemployment, I made new connections with people, and spent a productive day investing in my job search.

Similarly to how when you are employed, your employer might send you to a workshop to improve your interpersonal skills or some other type of soft skill - LaidOffCamp was the equivalent for an unemployed or non-traditionally employed person.

Took some photos:

Very cool space at Temple for LaidOffCamp

The session board
(made up that morning by attendees)


Sponsors and Hiring Companies


Founder Chris Hutchins working the crowd


The crazy snow that made me miss my flight

Fun video about LaidOffCamp.
There was also lots of Media coverage

LaidOffCamp keeping me busy

Since I have been laid off, I have actually been anything BUT bored. I spend a considerable amount of time daily networking with people, looking for my next employer, and spending quality time with friends and family (I write this from NY where I am visiting my brothers and their families, whom I don't get to see very often).

Additionally, I have decided to help out by joining the planning committee for LaidOffCamp - who is hosting a San Francisco Event on 3/3/09. It's a pretty loosely defined group, where the membership requirement is only that you have something positive to contribute. I went to a planning meeting the other night and found the planning committee memebers to be young, tech-savvy, educated, ambitious, determined, positive, and fun. I need to surround myself with MORE people like that! :)

So, it seemed to me that LaidOffCamp needed help contacting potential sponsors, so I took up helping out with that. We collaboratively created a template email to send out, and targeted specific companies who we thought might be interested in attracting the attention of "enterprising and resilient...young entrepreneurs". (Also, the fact that everything for LaidOffCamp is on a wiki is brilliant. Anyone can contribute or refine, and everything we do becomes part of a "knowledge base" which can be referred to in the future)

So far the response to sponsorship requests have been pretty good! Other people have been bringing in sponsors as well, not just me but I've been talking with a few different companies interested in sponsorship, and the first to agree to sponsor the event due to my efforts was oDesk. Josh, Director of Marketing, was very generous and I am looking forward to meeting him at the event. He plans on setting up a demo of his product, which is exciting and I am looking forward to seeing it!

For me personally, it is nice exposure to be able to meet/talk to Directors and CEO's of companies. Granted, I am in touch with them as a volunteer looking for sponsorship - but you never know how that connection could turn into a job for me in the future! It's exposure I would not be getting otherwise, so LaidOffCamp has already helped me as far as I'm concerned.

It felt great to help make a difference for this event. I have high hopes for a successful event, and plan on doing what I can to help with logistics. I hope LaidOffCamp helps a lot of people connect, potentially find leads for new work, and also serve as a support group (Its not easy finding work right now!)
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2/25/09 Update:
LaidOffCamp Press Release
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2/26/09 Update
Thanks now to Duncan at Workstir and Kathy, John, & Hendrick at Plaxo for being LaidOffCamp SF sponsors!
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2/27/09 Update
Thanks to Vikki at Apex Systems for sponsorsing LaidOffCamp SF! (Psst! They're hiring!)

Thanks Twitter, but maybe no response would've been better?

Over a month ago, I applied for a position with Twitter as a "Business Product Manager". Well, I just got a response back saying the usual rejection stuff - we found another applicant, we'll keep your resume on file for 6 months, thanks for your interest, etc etc etc blah blah blah...

How nice to get a response, right? Usually blindly sending a resume for a job posted on a company's website falls upon deaf ears. How nice indeed, but it needs to be done correctly!

The poor HR gal from Twitter copied all 186 applicants in the CC: line of the nicely crafted rejection email, for all of the other would-be applicants to see! Oops!!! I think you meant to use BCC!?!?

A nice save-face response from Evan Williams though (below). Evan, don't fire the poor girl. She made a mistake and I'm sure she'll never make this mistake again. In fact, I appreciated the effort of a response!

----------------

It has just been brought to my attention that we just sent this note about this job with everyone's address exposed in the cc line.

This is obviously a big mistake, and I sincerely apologize on behalf of Krissy, myself, and Twitter, Inc. We really appreciate you expressing interest in Twitter, and I can only imagine that this type of move adds insult to injury.

To be clear: Not everyone on this list even applied for this job. Some were recommended to us and entered into our applicant tracking system by employees here.

Whatever the case, I regret this mistake. Please help us reduce the impact of this error by respecting each other's privacy.

If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know.

Evan

--- Update:
Thanks TechCrunch for the shout-out. Lesson learned: Working for a communication website that caters to highly connected people means making sure you don't make mistakes in your communications - or everyone finds out about it (case in point - especially when these people are unemployed with nothing better to do). Now, everyone move on...
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ValleyWag posts a story about it now too.
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The Competitors Want To Talk

Some people from my old work who were also laid off (or are about to be laid off) are feeling bad about talking to the competition. They think it is shady, or unethical in some way. I am here to say that it's just business.I hold no animosity toward my old employer, even though they handled the layoffs poorly. However, the FIRST thing I thought of doing was continuing my work and contacting the competition, and guess what - they are interested! I may not be able to share confidential information with the competition but that does not exclude me from coming up with "creative solutions".

Here is an email sent out by my former boss and former company's CEO, David Mosher to some people who were feeling "shady" about talking to the competition:

Note that given (the former company's) bankruptcy filing, it is not unusual or inappropriate for competitors to hire laid off workers. If you think about it, they are going to pickup clients that (the former company) is no longer able to service so they are going to need more staff. You have valuable experience that they would like to capitalize on.

Most companies when they lay off this many people arrange for local companies or recruiting firms to come in and help people find a new job. You owe no allegiance to people that treated you this poorly. Your old exec staff has taken on this responsibility of setting this up for you. Note in California non compete agreements are not enforceable. So long as you don't take anything in paper or electronically you can use what you have learned at a competitor.

Contract or FTE?

It's been about a 1.5 months since I started my job search, with the last 2 weeks being the most intense as I was unemployed during that time (I had seen it coming). We all read the 'doom & gloom' reports about the economy everyday. Whether it's the actual economy or just the fear of a bad economy, companies are generally not hiring full time. If they are, they are probably inundated with applicants. There are too many applicants and not enough full time employee jobs - and I am finding it hard to get noticed, even when I network my way in.

There are organizations out there that still need to hire people even though they are in a hiring freeze. They hire employees on CONTRACT then, because technically that does not count as a new hire. I am finding that in this economy, it may be easier to get a contract position than an FTE position - and maybe that is a good way to keep working and ride out this horrible situation.

I've always snubbed contract work. Everyone knows you don't get benefits, its short term, and they can let you go at any time. You just don't get all the perks that regular FTE's get. When I was an FTE, I'd always feel bad for the contractors. But you know, I am starting to take a look at the upside of contracting.

• You get paid by the hour, which means you qualify for OVERTIME. OT? OMG! As an FTE I was always putting in OT, but of course you don't get paid extra for that.
• You get paid MORE by the hour than FTE's. I am looking at about a 20-25% mark up in my hourly contract wage versus my hourly FTE wage.
• The reason you get paid more is because you have to buy your own healthcare and other benefits, but I still believe you can come out on top (especially if they have you work OT).
• You don't accrue vacation time or get paid for holidays, but you may still be able to accrue sick time (by law in some places).
  

Typically, a company will work with an outsource agency. You work for the agency, and the company pays the agency for your work (and the agency then pays you). That agency may offer you benefits (like health or 401k) after 3-6 months. Types of contract work:

• W2 contractor: Taxes are withheld and payroll taxes are paid for you (good for full time).
• 1099 contractor: No taxes withheld generally (good for part time)
• Corp to Corp: You form an LLC and then bill the company for your time (meh, thinking 1099 is just as good but with LLC you at least get liability protection)
  

Before you head into contract work, make sure you have good agency representing you. One that offers you some benefits after 3-6 months is pretty good. Also make sure the contract length is worth-while. For example, I am looking at a 6 month contract now with the option to stay on longer (up to a year or more). I like that it is for at LEAST 6 months and I could possibly continue if things are working out. This could be just the time I need to let the economy recover, find FTE employment, and earn a living in the process.

If anyone who has done contract work in the past has words of advice, please comment...

I search, I apply, and I wait

It's tough not to expect immediate results when searching for a job. As I've said, looking for a job is a job in itself and when I spend all day looking for a job - I expect some results from all my hard work. However I have to remember that these things take time, and I am facing an unprecedented economy where there are probably more job seekers than there are jobs. I imagine HR departments across the country are trying to find a way to sift through the deluge of applicants coming in for their open positions.

Aside from researching and sending "blindly", I have been networking with people I know - but honestly that is just a small fraction of the amount of time I spend on a daily basis searching for a job. What really eats up the time is researching, getting cover letters ready, and applying for jobs outside of my network. Is it worth it to continue spending that time and effort when I am probably not going to find a job that way? I'm not sure, but I am going to continue doing it. I have yet to get a response from my efforts, but I believe (and hope) one will be coming shortly.

UPDATE: 2/13/09
I have yet to get a response from my "blind" efforts of sending out resumes to companies who are posting jobs or companies I have targeted. I am however, having some interest from recruiters and for contract positions. I am also meeting with competitors of my former employer, along with some of my former co-workers who were also laid off. I am thinking that sending blind resumes is fruitless, but as I have time - I will continue to do it - b/c you never know where that opportunity is going to come from. In a tight economy, the "blind resume market" may dry up some.

Layoff Resources

I got laid off, so I started this blog

I've been meaning for some time now to start a blog, but have just not found the time. I often think of random topics to write about that I would like to record for my own reference, and for the reference of others via the Internet. Well, I still never found the time but the time has found me.

I was laid off 3 days ago. It is the first time my professional career that I am experiencing a lapse in employment. Given the current state of the economy (100,000 laid off this week alone nationwide), and the fact that I went through 1 round of layoffs a month earlier already - it was not a total surprise but there was still that initial shock. It is important, if this happens to you, to let that initial shock subside quickly. Mourn over your loss for an evening or a day, and then get moving - because there's a lot of WORK to do!

Keeping in touch with your recent colleagues is important. They serve as additions to your network, and also as a support group. I remember in the past leaving jobs, and scrambling around for people's personal phone numbers and email addresses. Over the past 2 years though, may people (me included) have become more involved in social networks. With almost everyone in my (past) company on either Facebook, Linked In, or Twitter (follow me: cgiven) - I did not need to worry about losing touch with anyone. In fact, we used these websites as a way to communicate in mass immediately following the layoff. What was a novelty one day, turned out to be crucial to my ability to communicate the next.

Linked In is a good professional contact website. There are just some people who want to keep it strictly professional. Facebook can serve as both professional and personal. My Space is too low-brow, I don't recommend it. Twitter, for me, tied it all together. There are some people in life you want to keep in touch with (ie: former work colleague) but who you do not talk to everyday. One day you may want to contact them, and if it has been months or years - it could be awkward. Why are you calling them, only because you want something? If you have been following this person on Twitter and they following you, it breaks down that barrier. If you are not using social networks, consider this as an argument in favor of starting to.

One of my co-workers posted helpful hints that we collected as a group, via email and via social networks, on her blog (Craisin's Blog) - to preserve it for future reference. In summary, these are the important things to consider:

1. Apply for unemployment immediately (it takes time to process)
2. Find health insurance immediately (a lapse in coverage is not good)
3. If you've been offered a severance package, read it carefully. Signing it means giving up many rights (thus you should be compensated nicely). By law you have 21 days to consider it before signing, and 7 days to re-consider after signing.
4. Change your spending (cut out the unnecessary and/or cut back)
5. Communicate with people. Chances are you will find a job via networking vs sending out resumes blindly.
   
6. Make a plan for your days, everyday. Include time to search for jobs. Finding a job, is a job in itself.
7. Consider volunteer work in your community until you find another job. It's good for society, good for your state of mind, and good for your resume.

If you find yourself in this situation good luck - and don't panic! I hope these resources help.