Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms

Career Management With The Help of Technology: Networking Wed 28 Jan 09

This is the second in a series of four posts regarding managing your career with the help of technology.  I've chosen the title words very carefully as I wanted to talk about the life-long process of career management not to be confused with the job search process.  Oh for sure, the job search process is a part of this but the management of your career should not start and stop with each job search you go through.  I am eager to learn what has worked well for you.  Please leave your comments and suggestions. 

We've all learned that the 3 major keys to successful career management are networking, networking and networking.  The good news is that technology can help in this.  Technology can't replace personal face-to-face networking on a big scale but it can supplement it.

If you ask an arborist when the best time to plant a tree the stock answer is "10 years ago".  Okay, so what's the second best time? - "Today".  The same holds true for networking which is why it is so important to think of it as part of your on-going career management rather than the short period of a particular job search.  And just like a tree growing your network takes time and you have to cultivate it and nurture it for it to prosper.  I'll discuss in this and future posts how technology can help in this.

The first and most obvious technologies are the networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.  These are designed for the purpose of making network connections.  They allow you to keep track of our friends and associates and they also provide a way to connect with their friends and associates.

The 12for12K Challenge Sun 25 Jan 09

You may have noticed this banner in the right sidebar.  The concept behind it is really very simple.  As it states on The 12for12K Challenge website:

The 12for12k Challenge is the brainchild of Press Release PR owner Danny Brown. Inspired by the way that social media has changed so many lives for the better already with various charity promotions, Danny wanted to do something that was both easy to take part in and have the potential to change as many lives as possible.

The 12for12k Challenge started taking shape.

With statistics showing that the easier something is to remember and support, the more likelihood of people taking part. If a buzzword or catchphrase can be short and punchy, people remember it - this was the genesis of 12for12k, the acronym for the 12 for 12,000 Challenge.

The concept is simple:

• 12 months of the year
• 12 charities, 1 chosen every month
• 1200 people
• $10 donation per person, per charity, each month for 12 months, a total of just $120 per person over the year
• The goal - $12,000 per charity, $144,000 raised overall by December 31 2009

The hope is that by keeping the donation amount small but the donating numbers high, the 12for12k challenge will not only be simple, but doable. $10 per month should be an easy amount for most people to give. One less beer; one less pizza; one less magazine - is it too much to ask for so little that can benefit so many?

Let’s make history together.

You can find out more at 12for12K.org plus Danny Twitters about this (Twitter dannybrown) and of course there is a 12for12K Challenge Facebook group.

Give what you can.  Give what you think is right.

Make a difference today.

Obama's CTO: Great Expectations Wed 21 Jan 09

Will the first national chief technology officer have real power in the new administration?

With the presidential inauguration behind us, the IT world eagerly awaits the promised appointment of the first ever national chief technology officer. Fueling the anticipation, lots of people (including me) have been either making suggestions on what the job and its priorities should be or who should be named the first CTO. At this point, however, it is hard to say exactly what the role will be, how influential it will be and who will be named.

The job description, as listed on Change.gov, is short, somewhat vague and a mix of traditional chief information officer and CTO duties. According to the site, the first CTO must

"ensure the safety of our networks and lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices."

 

Interesting and Useful Links - January 19, 2009 Mon 19 Jan 09

Some interesting and useful links I've come across recently.

12 CIOs who Twitter on NetworkWorld

How a Job Search Led Jason Alba to Start JibberJobber on CIO.com

Two Sentences That Don't Help on LeanBlog.org 

3 Secrets That Oil Companies Use To Run A Great IT Department on TheBusinessofIT.com

e-Textbooks vs. Traditional Textbooks on CIO Corner

"Liquid Links by ~Dezz~

Career Management With The Help of Technology: Who Are You? Wed 14 Jan 09

This is the first in a series of four posts regarding managing your career with the help of technology.  I've chosen the title words very carefully as I wanted to talk about the life-long process of career management not to be confused with the job search process.  Oh for sure, the job search process is a part of this but the management of your career should not start and stop with each job search you go through.  I am eager to learn what has worked well for you.  Please leave your comments and suggestions. 

Let's start with who you are.  A resume is the classic way of communicating this but it has 2 drawbacks.  First, it overtly screams "I'm looking for a job" which may not be true at this time and is probably not something you want to let your current employer know.  Career management is more about letting people know who you are and what you can do than it is about the occasional "hire me" sales effort. 

Second, a resume doesn't say enough about the intangibles.  One of the most important aspects that someone will consider about offering you a new job or new role is "Will he or she fit with the culture of the organization?"  Your resume says very little about you as a person.  What you're like, how you think, what's your passion, what you think about the critical issues in your field -- all important factors in how you'll be evaluated and all are something a traditional resume doesn't address.

Privacy Policy Mon 12 Jan 09

Since I've started using third-party advertising on my blog I thought I should state my privacy policy to let everyone know about the information collected on this site.  You can find the privacy policy link at the bottom of every page.

You are encouraged to read the policy if you have any specific concerns but the heart of the policy is conveyed in the first two sentences.

"I'm not a lawyer so I'm to try to keep this simple and to the point.

First, I value your privacy as much as I value mine and I will not violate this trust."

"Privacy" photo by rponsaj

Twitter Overload Mon 12 Jan 09

I've got a problem with Twitter overload in a couple of different ways.  I recently started using Twitter but because of these various overload issues  I'm still undecided about how much (or if at all) I want to use it.

The first issue is with Twitter itself.  They've been growing at a very rapid pace, reportedly up 752% in 2008.  It shows.  Along with this they are having scalability and performance issues.  This past Thursday the system was so bogged down that when I replied to a tweet it did not appear to "take" and I restarted Twitter and tried again only to later find out that I ended up sending the same reply 3 times.  That night performance was so bad that it was for all intents and purposes unusable.

In addition, in the 2 weeks I've been using Twitter I've received the "Too Many Tweets" screen about a half dozen times.  Fortunately, the system came back quickly but disturbing nonetheless.

The other overload issue has to do with the number of Tweets.  This is not an issue with Twitter performance but in what I'm using it.  I'm only following a couple of dozen or so people right now and a couple of them are big names in the IT field and get a lot of tweets directed to them and about them and they use Twitter extensively.

Nurturing IT Wed 07 Jan 09

In a recession, keeping your IT staff happy is critical.

"People, Process and Technology" is the cliché about what you have to manage to be successful in information technology. We often focus mainly on these in the reverse of the order listed because it is easier.

Technology is cleaner, it's factual, it's quantifiable and it's not personal. Dealing with people involves all the things technology isn't. It's messier and much more difficult. However, People are what will make Process and Technology work.

Unfortunately, the recession is going to highlight our People issues and make our jobs more challenging in oh so many ways. As CIOs, you have a number of specialists you heavily rely on because of their technical expertise and institutional knowledge.

It is difficult to imagine how you can cut these positions if called upon to make staff cuts. At the same time, it is difficult to keep these same people motivated and engaged if you have to cut back on new projects and need to have everyone pitch in to help with day-to-day activities.

Like all the other C-level executives, we are challenged to "do more with less." It will require us to make some hard decisions and to be creative with how we manage our most important asset--our employees. Here are some areas CIOs should focus on in 2009.

Staff Retention: First, let's put aside the knee-jerk reaction of, "In times like these they should be thankful they even have a job." It really isn't very helpful. If you've had to make staff cuts, the people you have left are the best and most valuable, and you probably have had to sacrifice bench strength. In this situation you really can't afford to have a key person leave.

Also keep in mind that the recession will impact other companies and industries differently. So although you may be operating in a tight environment, someone down the street may be hiring.