Owner: New Workforce - The Weblog of New Equities URL:http://newequities.typepad.com Join Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:41:05 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: New Workforce is a weblog that covers workforce trends in the 21st century, especially in the IT industry and the IT consulting marketplace. Site statistics:Click here
Removing all doubt 2007-02-07 18:23:05 ResumeHell is a blog devoted to "dumb stuff I read on resumes". From the blogger's profile:Recruiter, somewhere, innappropriately laughing at resumes. Do I make them up ? Why do I need to. C'mon, you know people like this.Hopefully none of us are memorialized here, as we have had the good sense to avoid groaners like this:I have a wide variety of skills and experience, some of which I have taken for granted and cannot readily recall. If considered for employment, I believe I will be an asset to your reputable organisation.Lots of examples much worse (and funnier) on the site, accompanied by amusing commentary.
Mark Twain is famous for saying: "It is often better to keep one's mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt
." Nowhere is this truer than when writing your resume.
Retro PC dreams 2007-02-02 21:29:12 Remember Atari and Commodore? The Apple II and the original IBM PC (and its hapless successor, the PS/2)? Now, you can relive the TV commercials that sold us all on the dream of owning our own personal computer, thanks to the folks at Downloadsquad, who have meticulosly compiled them in one nostalgic post, "The history of the personal computer in TV commercials".
It's all here, including Apple's famous "1984" superbowl ad introducing the Mac, and the early IBM campaigns incongruously featuring a Chaplin lookalike. Plus, classic Microsoft ads ranging from the Rolling Stones to a bizarre performance by Microsoft's own Steve Ballmer hawking Windows 1.0. Not to be missed!
Hat tip: Pajamas Media and James Hudnall
Whither Microsoft post-Vista? 2007-01-29 17:03:25 On his blog at Information Week, Alexander Wolfe muses that, with the release of Visa, Microsoft
may have reached its upper limit:In software terms, there are two interesting trends, which underscore Vista
's probable place as Microsoft's high OS watermark. First, Vista has essentially -- and at long last -- brought most of the features of Apple's Mac OS X to the Wintel platform. (Widgets/Gadgets, anyone?)
Secondly, Linux has effectively disintermediated expensive software vendors like Microsoft (much like bloggers have in some sense cut the rug out from under not quite as well compensated journalists such as myself, though I'm running hard to catch up :).
For Microsoft, it seems to me that the only real question going forward is, will the company's fate mirror more closely that of DEC (Digital Equipment Corp., to readers under 40), or of IBM?Funny, people were making the same kinds of assessments about Apple a few years ago.
UPDATE: CNET's "Vista for the Masses" is a veritable
Is Web 2.0 dead? 2007-01-25 21:24:09 No, says Steve Rubel, the market is just thinning the herd.
Yeah, what he said! 2007-01-16 22:49:28 Over at CharlotteRecruiting.com, Jim Durbin says some very nice things about New Equities and this blog (and yes, our ears are burning):Who is our favorite recruiting blog? Why, it was and always has been the New Equities Weblog. While the rest of us were chatting through the Recruiting.com community about theory and practice and goofiness, New Equities was learning how to use their blog to hire people in their local community.
The whole reason I chose Charlotte as one of my local sites (I also write StlRecruiting, KCRecruiting, and SeattleRecruiting) is because of New Equities.
Their model is based on community, the building and sustaining of them as candidate pools for New Equities clients. In a world where everyone is decrying the lack of quality consultants, New Equities is the only company I've seen take the step to doing so.Jim was formerly a top recruiter for kforce and now works as a consultant specializing in online media and employment branding, so it'
They all scream for iPhone 2007-01-12 17:59:43 Lots of buzz at MacWorld over Apple's new iPhone
though somewhat less at CES. The general consensus is that it's pretty damn cool, even as some question whether it's ready for enterprise use. Meanwhile, Cisco is suing Apple for copyright infringement over its use of the iPhone name.
Google's quest for the elusive talent algorithm 2007-01-03 17:31:53 The folks at Google
are working to craft an algorithm
that helps them predict which prospective employees will thrive in the company's often-chaotic corporate culture:Google has always wanted to hire people with straight-A report cards and double 800s on their SATs. Now, like an Ivy League school, it is starting to look for more well-rounded candidates, like those who have published books or started their own clubs.
Desperate to hire more engineers and sales representatives to staff its rapidly growing search and advertising business, Google — in typical eccentric fashion — has created an automated way to search for talent among the more than 100,000 job applications it receives each month. It is starting to ask job applicants to fill out an elaborate online survey that explores their attitudes, behavior, personality and biographical details going back to high school.
The questions range from the age when applicants first got excited about computers to whether they have ever tu
And a Happy New Year! 2006-12-31 20:36:00 2006 is heading for the finish line -- hope it's been a good year for all of you. To all our readers, thanks for your continued support and interest. And especially to the consultants who make up our talent communities, our special thanks for making it a great year.
Happy
New Year and best wishes for further success in 2007 from New Equities and Analysts International. Read more:Happy New Year
Coming in 2007: the VR internet 2006-12-29 22:09:40 In his now-classic 1981 short story True Names, author Vernor Vinge imagined a worlldwide virtual reality network in which users could assume alter egos and manipulate data with techniques similar to wizardry and magic. Many computer users, particularly gamers, embraced those concepts wholeheartedly, as attested to by the success of Second Life and other online environments (including World of Warcraft and similar MMORPGs). Now a non-profit group is building a new type of internet specifically for VR games and applications:Neuronet, which is separate from the Internet, "will evolve into the world's first public network capable of meeting the data transmission requirements of emerging cinematic and immersive virtual-reality technologies," according to a Wednesday announcement from the Vancouver-based International Association of Virtual Reality Technologies.
The first-generation Neuronet is scheduled to go live in 2007, the group said. Consumer applications are expected as early as 2
"This is Unix, It's Easy" 2006-12-29 21:27:08 Usability guru Jakob Nielsen offers an amusing take on the movie industry's 10 most egregious UI bloopers. You've seen them in film after film: the hero walks up to a completely strange (or even alien) computer console and, after guessing the password in 3 tries (the screen flashes "Access Granted" in overlarge characters), masters a complex user interface within seconds. In particular, Nielsen singles out one of the all-time great LOL moments for techies:In the film Jurassic Park, a 12-year-old girl has to use the park's security system to keep everyone from being eaten by dinosaurs. She walks up to the control terminal and utters the immortal words, "This is a Unix system. I know this." And proceeds to (temporarily) save the day.He also observes:Films are littered with so many other unrealistic plot details: you'd imagine, for example, that the ability to shoot straight might actually be a primary job requirement of Imperial Stormtroopers. Yes, it's just entertainment, Nielsen s
The wild, wild Web 2006-12-20 22:28:56 Read/WriteWeb weighs in with predictions of the important Web technologies and trends of 2007. Topics include, Microsoft vs. Google, enterprise collaboration, the proliferation of Amazon-like Web services and the rise of rich internet and mobile apps.
Great expectations 2006-12-18 23:05:20 Information Week looks ahead to the 2007 IT job market. Read more:Great
Survey: IT pros are "job flirts" 2006-11-27 21:57:14 A recent UK survey found that a large percentage of IT professionals are constantly on the lookout for the next opportunity:The "Work in Progress: Jobseekers survey", carried out by polling firm Loudhouse Research, surveyed over 1,000 UK workers across the UK and found that nearly half (48 per cent) of workers in IT have applied for a job or registered with a recruitment agency in the past 12 months. Despite this, over two-thirds (68 per cent) reckon they will still be in the same job 12 months from now.
According to the study, IT employees are knowledgeable about what they look for in a new job and are intent on finding companies that can offer the best deal. However, money was not necessarily the main priority for job seekers.
Top factors that attract job seekers to a new company or role are interesting or challenging work (89 per cent) and friendly environment (84 per cent).This is consistent with our own findings at New Equities, based on surveys and roundtable discussions with c
Humanity 2.0 2006-11-22 17:34:26 Technology futurist and author Ray Kurzweil offers a thought-provoking vision of the not-so-distant-future:Kurzweil told a keynote audience at last week's SCO6 supercomputing conference that nanobots will roam our blood streams fixing diseased or aging organs, while computers will back up our human memories and rejuvenate our bodies by keeping us young in appearance and health.
The author of the book The Singularity Is Near, Kurzweil says within a quarter of a century, non-biological intelligence will match the range and subtlety of human intelligence. He predicts that it will then soar past human ability because of the continuing acceleration of information-based technologies, as well as the ability of machines to instantly share their knowledge.
In an interview with InformationWeek, Kurzweil said people and computers will intermix with nanobots, blood cell-sized robots, that will be integrated into everything from our clothing to our bodies and brains. People simply need to live
Vista security seen as child's play 2006-11-13 16:21:34 From Information Week, news that your data will be far more secure under Windows Vista
than it has been under XP...assuming, of course, you're still in grade school:Windows co-president Jim Allchin has said that Windows Vista, which met its release to manufacturing milestone earlier this week, is so superior to Window XP on security
that he feels safe letting his own son run a PC without anti-virus software.
A prominent security analyst countered that that attitude would be fine as long as everyone using Vista was a seven-year-old. Read more:child
India's IT skills gap 2006-11-07 20:53:55 Think offshoring jobs to India
will address the coming IT labor shortage? Think again:Business leaders have warned that India's information technology (IT) industry is heading towards a severe shortage of highly-skilled manpower.
They say India will not be able to achieve its targeted growth rates if the issue is not tackled immediately.
Young engineers and college graduates lack necessary skills, a conference in the city of Hyderabad was told.
Software industry body Nasscom has warned that India faces a shortfall of half a million skilled workers by 2010. More evidence pointing to the development of a strong and persistent job market for career IT professionals.
Open source Java vs .NET 2006-10-23 21:48:24 With Sun finally announcing that Open Source Java will be here in 2007, ZDNet's Dana Blankenburg asks the relevant question, "Should you care?" He considers Sun's move to be purely defensive in the face of the rising star of .NET.
What do you think? Is Sun's announcement too little too late? Does .NET have the momentum? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below.
10 biggest computer flops of all time 2006-10-23 20:20:48 Miguel Carrasco's Real World has compiled an amazing (and amusing) top 10 list of computer industry losers, some of them beautiful losers, some just plain dogs. Among the case studies in this walk down memory lane are the the Xerox Alto, the Apple Lisa, IBM's OS/2, and Steve Jobs' NeXT machine. And don't forget that old classic, CP/M:In 1980, IBM finally realized they needed to put a home computer out on the market extremely fast. However they could not find the time to wait around to build their own operating system. They wanted to buy one, and the best one at the time, Gary Kildall's CP/M operating system. Where was Gary Kildall on this fateful day that the IBM suits came knocking? Out of office flying a private plane. IBM went back to the office's and looked up Microsoft, which they thought had a broad license to sell CP/M. Microsoft came in and negotiated a per licenses model to sell the operating system at 50 dollars per machine. Bil
DB2 - the home version 2006-09-25 23:34:00 For novice SQL/DB2 enthuasiasts, IBM is offering a free tutorial in the form of The DB2 Business Game:If you're a beginner with IBM® DB2® and SQL, you may wonder how the technical skills you're learning are used in the "real world." Here is a chance for you to put your DB2 SQL skills into play in this interactive game! Jump into a "run your own business" scenario, where your company's future depends on a key report needed to secure funds for a critical upgrade. Use your relational database skills to build this report.This is part of an ongoing series of SQL and DB2 tutorials currently offered by IBM. Read more:version
The once and future Google 2007-02-09 20:52:53 Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for the year 1997. We're going to pay a visit to a young Stanford University graduate student named Sergey Brin and take a look at his pet project, a new search engine called Google
.
Hat tip: Freakonomics and Pajamas Media.
Keeping the lines open to talent 2007-02-09 18:57:19 itzBig Blog comments on an age-old conundrum in the relationship between candidates and recruiters: "Why don't you call me anymore?"Most of us have been there before. You know you're right for the job, you've done the prep work, you've communicated with the recruiter every step of the way, and you even hit it off with the hiring manager. Then, as though you've become contagious, no one wants anything to do with you anymore.
Understandably, this leaves many candidates feeling baffled. It also goes a long way in furthering the "Us vs. Them" attitude that many candidates take on their searches. They accept the belief that recruiters and hiring managers are simply out to get them.What happens? The post goes on to explain that it can be due to changes in the hiring company; or that they're just not ready to hire; or, more likely, another candidate walked through the door who was a better fit; or hey, maybe they're just not that into you.
But these explanations all
Being interviewed by an idiot 2007-02-12 23:48:02 And what you can do about it. (Via Recruiting.com)
Previously: When the idiot is the interviewee.
Read more:interviewed
Open source Coca Cola? 2007-02-19 18:58:20 Or Pepsi, or something very much like it, used to promote the concept of open source software:If you've been to a computer show in recent months you might have seen it: a shiny silver drink can with a ring-pull logo and the words "opencola" on the side. Inside is a fizzy drink that tastes very much like Coca-Cola. Or is it Pepsi?There's something else written on the can, though, which sets the drink apart. It says "check out the source at opencola.com" Go to that Web address and you'll see something that's not available on Coca-Cola's website, or Pepsi's — the recipe for cola. For the first time ever, you can make the real thing in your own home.
OpenCola is a brand of cola unique in that the instructions for making it are freely available and modifiable. Anybody can make the drink, and anyone can modify and improve on the recipe as long as they, too, license their recipe under the GNU General Public License.The company who devised this promotion has long sinc Read more:Coca Cola
When did Project Management come about? 2007-04-09 18:45:00 Being a history buff has always led me to wonder about how things got started. Being in the ProjectManagement
field has driven me to inquire from time to time about just what are the origins of Project Management
, the simple questions, when and why? In searching I came across an interesting article on www.1888articles.com written by Carol Meyer that I would like to share with you.Could the Crusades have been launched and the soldiers armed and fed without effective project management? Could the Great Wall have been built with ingenious natural materials and a team of millions over a span of a thousand years without project management? It is possible to say that the concept pf project management has been around since the beginning of history. It has enabled leaders to plan bold and massive projects and manage funding, materials and labor within a designated time frame. What leaders from the distant past managed to accomplish is amazing and without the project management tools ava
When did Project Management come about? 2007-04-09 11:45:00 Being a history buff has always led me to wonder about how things got started. Being in the ProjectManagement
field has driven me to inquire from time to time about just what are the origins of Project Management
, the simple questions, when and why? In searching I came across an interesting article on www.1888articles.com written by Carol Meyer that I would like to share with you. Could the Crusades have been launched and the soldiers armed and fed without effective project management? Could the Great Wall have been built with ingenious natural materials and a team of millions over...
Open source Coca Cola? 2007-02-19 11:58:20 Or Pepsi, or something very much like it, used to promote the concept of open source software: If you???ve been to a computer show in recent months you might have seen it: a shiny silver drink can with a ring-pull logo and the words ???opencola??? on the side. Inside is a fizzy drink that tastes very much like Coca-Cola. Or is it Pepsi?There???s something else written on the can, though, which sets the drink apart. It says ???check out the source at opencola.com.??? Go to that Web address and you???ll see something that???s not available on Coca-Cola???s website, or Pepsi???s... Read more:Coca Cola
Being interviewed by an idiot 2007-02-12 16:48:02 And what you can do about it. (Via Recruiting.com) Previously: When the idiot is the interviewee. Read more:interviewed
The once and future Google 2007-02-09 13:52:53 Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for the year 1997. We're going to pay a visit to a young Stanford University graduate student named Sergey Brin and take a look at his pet project, a new search engine called Google
. Hat tip: Freakonomics and Pajamas Media.
Keeping the lines open to talent 2007-02-09 11:57:19 itzBig Blog comments on an age-old conundrum in the relationship between candidates and recruiters: "Why don't you call me anymore?" Most of us have been there before. You know you???re right for the job, you???ve done the prep work, you???ve communicated with the recruiter every step of the way, and you even hit it off with the hiring manager. Then, as though you???ve become contagious, no one wants anything to do with you anymore. Understandably, this leaves many candidates feeling baffled. It also goes a long way in furthering the ???Us vs. Them??? attitude that many candidates take on their...
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