I’ll be attending the Accelerate Madison Job Fair as an attendee, not an exhibitor. Feel free to hail me down if you see me. If you’re an IT person or someone looking to network, it looks like a promising event. Check it out for your self.
AGENDA: 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. – INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FAIR and NETWORKING SOCIAL (open house format)
VENUE: Metro Innovation Center
LOCATED AT: 1245 East Washington Ave., Madison, WI
ADMISSION: Free!
This is a go for the fall semester.
It will be held on Monday nights. Prerequisites would be 2nd semester Java or .NET, or consent of the instructor. I don’t know cost. It will be in a Mac lab, of course, and students will have access to iPod Touches for testing their applications.
Staffing firms can have a different concept of time than clients. We typically interview 10 to 20 IT candidates a week with all different types of skills and experience. That doesn’t necessarily mean we interview 10-20 .NET developers or 10-20 help desk analysts. Each person is different. Ten percent of those candidates are exceptional. Exceptional is having a great, marketable, skill set, good experience, and someone that can be of value to a company. They can actually save time or money for a client. These people do not hang around on the market forever. Many can be registered with multiple staffing firms to ensure they’re covering ground. These folks may not be as networked as some of the heavy hitters. A ‘heavy hitter’ could have offers in one day from multiple sources and usually doesn’t need a firm to help them find something. Many candidates have many irons in the fire. They are continuing their search even after they’ve registered with a firm, most encourage this. Why? Putting the burden on one firm can weigh heavy on a recruiter that doesn’t deliver. After all, firms are just an additional resource, not a be all end all. I have seen people get jobs because a client drags feet on making a decision. It happens, and it sets the whole process that lead up to the ‘yes, we’d like jane/john to start’ backwards.
We typically ask ‘how soon do you need someone in the role?’ This gives us a sense of urgency. You can’t imagine how many IT managers will say ASAP. ASAP has meant as soon as possible to me for as long as I can remember. It’s not until I ask if we have the right person can they start at 8am tomorrow morning do I find out what ASAP means.
I was listening to the Web2.0 podcast that featured an interview with Yammer founder, David Sacks. I had heard of Yammer as a buzz word, but after listening to the podcast it really intrigues me.
In brief, Yammer is very similar to twitter. Some may argue that it is a direct rip off of the microblogging web app. It’s a microblogging app. You can post up to a certain amount of characters. Twitter is geared towards anyone talking about anything. Yammer is trying to appeal to the business side of the world. The model is to register with your business email. You then become part of that domain’s group. This allows you to set up groups, and ultimately share corporate ideas and communique.
As mentioned in the podcast episode, had Yammer come before email I think it would have been more accepted. And lets keep in mind that Yammer is not to replace email, but compliment it by reducing mass forwards/replies and uncertain group emails because you’re not sure who would cover the subject at hand. It can also be administered with better control. Email can be sent to anyone. Have that corporate secret in the body? Guess what, that can be sent right out the door with very little knowledge from executives. How’s that for scary? Yammer is for the corporate users and is not ‘sent’ anywhere. It’s almost like a bulletin board system with groups. More static, without the message being flown all over the web-o-sphere. Liability itself would be more controlled. Something inappropriate gets posted and you can delete it. Try recovering that email and you’ll see the benefit.