Archive for November, 2007

Archives for Perfect Job

In a piece called The Worst Jobs in Science, Popular Science magazine takes us places the angels at the Discovery Channel would refuse to tread. After reading this list, to which I have added some commentary, tell us about your worst job!

10. Orangutan-Pee Collector

Apparently an analysis of Orangutan urine is a leading indicator of their stress levels. But a follow up study is needed to determine the following: Does chasing after primates to collect to their pee add to the primate’s stress level? Pee collectors understand the inherent risks. Our advice: don’t hang out in the jungle if you can’t take a little spillage.

9. NASA Ballerina
To test a robot on its ability to dance with the stars NASA hired a brave ballerina and apparently outfitted her with steel-toed slippers. Here’s where to check it out. You thought I was making this up, didn’t you?

8. Do-Gooder (Eco-volunteers)

“Every year thousands of desk jockeys sign up with the nonprofit Earthwatch Institute and pay as much as $3,000 a week to pitch in on scientific expeditions,” says Popular Science. Recently one do-gooder as they put it was bit by some critter that put a “golf ball size welt on his forehead.” According to the article, Eco-volunteers are asked to shovel dirt, test dirt, measure frost melt. Cool. The best part of it is killing mosquitoes.

7. Semen Washers

This happens at a sperm bank. Enough said.

6. Volcanologist

“Let us count the ways you can get offed as a volcanologist: There’s the magma, of course. There are also pyroclastic flows-incinerating clouds of gas, rock, ash, trees and other debris-sulfur dioxide gas, and volcano-melted glaciers called lahars that descend down a mountainside like an avalanche of quick-dry cement.,” says the article. Dozens of Volcanologists have died in these types of accidents in recent years. Who knew?

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Archives for Career Advice

In the burgeoning marketplace of self-actualization gurus no one is hotter than the ubiquitous Tim Ferris. For someone who purports to only work four hours a week, he apparently classifies the other 36 hours of self-promotion as rest and relaxation.

I was skeptical, but on the advice of a respected comrade I tuned into a video presentation by Mr. Ferris that was taped at Google headquarters. While he dominated the hour long appearance with fellow author Marci Alboher he talked sensibly about time optimization and outsourcing unsavory parts of your life.  

Granted, you have to be willing to see beyond Ferris’ bluster; he asserts that languages can be learned in a couple of months, kickboxing championships won with half a year’s training. I could go on about him, but there is an exploding field of Ferris literature available to you with a Google search.

On the other end of the spectrum, meet Rich Moran, like Ferris a renaissance man – venture capitalist (Venrock), author & wine maker – who last year released his sixth book, Nuts, Bolts & Jolts. A close observer of startups, management (he’s on lots of boards) and the Silicon Valley scene, Moran favors work/life balance but is clearly more conventional than the younger Ferris.

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Archives for Social Media

If my friends hear me utter the word Facebook one more time they are going to excommunicate me from their buddy lists.

I’m adding to the noise only because Facebook demands the immediate attention of all 30 million of us members. Today’s poll reads: Which brand is the best toothpaste?

Frankly, if I could entice 30 million people to take a poll, that wouldn’t be it. At first glance, it may seem improbable that a site serving up this kind of fluff could advance your career or put you back in touch with a funny former co-worker, but there you have it.

Sometimes I feel that Facebook is AOL on steroids, or that I’m having a Prodigy flashback. Weren’t there about 30 million AOL members back in the dial-up days?

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Archives for CV/Résumés

Would you create and distribute a video résumé or hire someone who sent you one?

Video résumés can be more revealing than a job seeker intends. That hasn’t stopped a few thousand mostly young job candidates from posting them on You Tube or e-mailing them to recruiters and employers. Most of the early video résumés have been criticized by corporations and recruiters who not only dislike the uneven content and quality but concede that they are ill-prepared to work with them.

You can’t screen a video résumé using today’s candidate tracking software.

Worse, hiring managers are concerned that seeing a candidate’s photo or video may bias their judgment and possibly result in more discrimination. 

Still, Alexsey Vayner exceeded his wildest expectations: his infamous “Impossible is Nothing” video résumé has received nearly a half million streams on You Tube. Much more typical is this sub-minute effort by Chrissy Harvey. One impatient wag commented back to her: “Great, tell me how many offers you got so far?”

Where do you stand on video résumés? Is it yet another disruptive technology or a set back for diversity and fair employment practices? If you know of a good video résumé, send us a link.

Archives for Biggest Employers

Until recently, Gap Inc. was on my short list of leading socially responsible corporations in this country. This is a company that has trailblazed new paths in how it treats employees, the community and the environment.

How many companies produce reports that ask What Is A Company’s Role in Society? How many companies have an SVP of social responsibility? Well, the Gap needs this executive now more than ever.

Although the Gap’s credentials as a progressive employer are unassailable, the company has consistently failed to enforce its own policies with regard to managing its outsourced manufacturing suppliers around the globe. On Sunday the UK’s Observer broke the story about underage workers toiling in a New Delhi sweatshop run by one of the Gap’s outsourced manufacturers – a subcontractor. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time this has happened.

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Archives for Employment

Startups are finding it harder to launch with world-class talent and that is putting qualified job candidates in the catbird seat.

“Startups aren’t the destination employers for top talent anymore, and it’s a candidate’s market right now,” writes Dave Lefkow, CEO of talentspark, a Seattle-based talent management consultant. I followed up with Lefkow to find out why startups have lost their Mojo. Things have changed, he assured me: “It used to be the opposite – startups could take their pick of top talent.”

While I could find little consensus about what’s causing some startups to struggle for talent, the experts I interviewed agree that the fundamentals aren’t getting much better for startups despite several recent high profile acquisitions (You Tube and MySpace in a class by themselves) and the recent influx of venture capital and private equity investment. Salary surveys indicate that startups pay lower wages than established firms and big riches are mostly elusive.

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