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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

The reason some girls stay single - very funny!

http://melodymaker.posterous.com/the-reason-some-girls-stay-single-very-funny

This guy is a "class" act!


READ BELOW BEFORE LISTENING

The story is this: a girl was out with friends having drinks on King St (in Toronto ). This guy approaches her and won't leave her alone -saying how cute she is. She finally gives in and hands the guy her business card to get rid of him.
The attached is an MP3 file of not one, but TWO voicemails this guy left. This goes down in the history books - especially the second voice mail.
After hearing them you can clearly see why she didn't call him back - instead she called in to the Z103.5 morning show & had them play this on the air.
Ladies: He is out there... :)


Thursday, September 17, 2009

Windows 7 availabe for $30 for College Students

http://www.win741.com/

Microsoft today announced students would be able to purchase upgrade versions of Windows 7 for a significantly reduced price until January 3, 2010 at 12:00am CST. A valid e-mail address given by a college or university must be used. An e-mail will be sent telling the student if he or she qualifies for the discount. Eligible students are allowed to purchase one copy of either Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional from the online store. The discount price applies to the following countries: the UK (£30) and the US ($30). More information is available at win741.com, a site just launched today that is dedicated to advertising Windows 7 to students.

"In the US, students can pre-order their copy of Windows 7 beginning September 17th and can download the OS beginning on October 22nd (general availability)," a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed with Ars. For US students, we checked and saw that they need to have a .edu e-mail address or be attending one of the 158 schools Microsoft lists. "Students in the UK can pre-order their copy beginning on September 30th for download on October 22nd. Students in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, and Mexico can participate in this offer on October 22nd. In most markets, the offer ends on January 3rd (in Australia the offer is available until March 31st)."

Many college and university students can already get Windows 7 Professional for free through the MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) but this is offer is aimed at those who cannot. This deal reminds us most of the Ultimate Steal discounts for Microsoft Office the company also offers to students.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Free 7 day offer

SiriusXM satellite radio is free for 7 days, listen to online internet radio, I'm loving it!!

http://www.sirius.com/freetrial/register

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mini-MBA Programs Grow in Popularity

Brushing up in a down economy
David Buckner talks about a course he developed called "The Bottom-Line Mini MBA," which gives an overview of business concepts . These types of programs have seen a spike in interest

Monday, August 24, 2009

How to Protect Your Online Reputation

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-how_to_protect_your_online_reputation-922

The good, the bad, the ugly ... anything that's posted about you on the Web will likely come up in an online search or with a little digging. And that can mean trouble.
Erik Kopelman, a business development professional for a New York City Internet company, was haunted by an accusation that appeared on the Web in 1997, when he was on the board of the student association at the State University of New York at Binghamton. "It was an accusation printed in the student paper about the misuse of funds," he says. "I knew I could explain it away if it ever came up, and nothing ever came of it, but for the first two years I was job-hunting, I was worried."

Kopelman says over time he fretted less about the blip. "Today, my resume speaks for itself, and in the intervening years, no one has ever mentioned it."

Twelve years later, the post doesn't rise above the second page of search results when Kopelman is Googled. He didn't actively do anything to get rid of it, but there are ways you can build a positive reputation for yourself online and crowd out negative search results that potential employers might find off-putting.

Your Search Results

The best way to manage your online reputation is by generating positive search results that will rank as highly as possible in a Google search and edge out anything negative on the list of search results.

Some of the top hits for Erik Kopelman now include his LinkedIn profile and items connected to his involvement with charities including the American Cancer Society and American Liver Foundation.

According to Andy Beal, co-author of "Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online," personal pages on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all rank highly in Google searches. LinkedIn especially sends a positive message to potential employers, since it's widely viewed as a highly professional network. Beal says that 78% of recruiters use search engines in their research when they screen new candidates.

Jason Fleischer, an executive recruiter with the Abacus Group, says he finds networking sites like Facebook and, to a larger degree, LinkedIn useful in some of the searches he handles. "Your resume is usually your first impression, but Facebook can help turn a cold search into a warmer lead, if you have a shared interest or a mutual friend. And LinkedIn offers even more specific professional information," he says.

In addition to signing up for social networking sites, Beal advises a series of actions that will help you protect your personal brand and online reputation. Much as you would protect your credit, check for activity connected to your name. Set up a news feed for your name so you can monitor when and if you pop up on blogs or in news stories. He says you should do that even if it's the only thing you do.

Branch Out

But it shouldn't be. Also register your name as a domain name, and sign up for every social network that you can think of. Those moves will ensure you have a presence and won't be mistaken for someone else.

Then, take seriously what you post on the Web. Often enough, the negative item about you can be something you published yourself. "Just because you can tell the world what you're doing doesn't mean you should," Beal says. He adds that a startling 35% of recruiters say they have eliminated a candidate because of something they found on the Web. Fleischer says he hasn't seen anything on LinkedIn or Facebook to disqualify a candidate, except when they've clearly not taken networking seriously and have been sarcastic about their jobs and experience. Still, some people use the Web more effectively than others.

Once you've established yourself online, use buzzwords that appear in job postings to describe what you do. Fleischer says, "Always check the boxes on LinkedIn that say you are open for opportunities. And be as specific as possible, using words that show up in job descriptions, especially if you work in a niche industry. Don't shy away from being upfront about who you are and what you're looking for."

Online Vigilance Required

Even if you make all the right moves to create a positive online reputation, some things will remain beyond your control. Newspaper or magazine articles that document or even just allege a transgression -- like the report that surfaced about Kopelman -- can tarnish your reputation online. In Kopelman's case, the article was written by student journalists who, he says, were sensationalistic in their reporting. "The Web is so much more powerful now than it was then," he says. "I am really careful about what I do in a social networking context and what people post about me."

Beal advises you to take it very seriously if something untrue is posted about you. He says that 90% of bloggers will correct something they've posted that's not factual. He recommends requesting that the error be removed entirely or corrected in the context of the original post, rather than just mentioned elsewhere as a correction. The offending material will still surface if it's still out there.

You can crowd out damaging or embarrassing search results, pushing them farther down in your search list results, by generating positive content with a personal blog, website and networking profiles. Also, Google recently launched a tool that lets you create profiles and direct what appears first when someone conducts a search. It lets you put your best foot forward by linking your name with URLs and photos, contact information and employment information. It's at google.com/profiles.

Fleischer says not to worry if there is a photo on Facebook showing you, say, drinking a beer at a wedding: "It's also important in the professional world to show you have a personality. You can always add security to your profile if you're nervous, but just because you like to have fun doesn't mean you don't work hard."

Erik Kopelman says that as an Internet advertising professional and with his past experience, he's extremely aware the power of the Web. "I'm always telling people that their name is their brand, and they must be careful what they post."

Amanda Berlin is a writer in New York City.

Results available online for Diploma students

The Blog:

http://externalstudy.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/results-available-online-for-diploma-students/

Results are now available online for Diploma in Economics/Social Sciences students via the following link:

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/examresults

Monday, July 13, 2009

Latest Blog Post from LSE External Studies

http://externalstudy.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/schools-out-for-summer/

Now that the examinations are over you must all be feeling very relieved, but as I wrote in my last blog, you may also be feeling a little deflated but don’t worry this is quite normal. Now it is our turn and marking is proceeding in earnest. Each script is marked twice, checked and checked again before the mark is sent to the Board of Examiners. That means a lot of work for us all, but it is vital because we must ensure that each script is given the mark which it deserves. Remember that we mark your examination scripts to the same standard as we do for internal students, so we have to be very careful. The mark which you will achieve will be based on your performance in the examination.

This year your marks will be available online and in my next blog post I will be able to inform you of the process to access these. (We hope to have all the marks out by the end of August).

If you are not graduating this year, you should soon be planning which units you wish to take for the next session. You can enrol on any unit you want to find out about on the VLE, so you are able to access the subject guides of every unit to get some understanding of the content and approach of each unit and allow you to make well informed unit choices. (This isn’t the same as registering with the University for your units so look out for your continuing registration form and materials questionnaire which you need to return in order to receive printed guides).

You should start now by doing some background reading in preparation for the next session. Make sure that you choose units required and/or available on your chosen degree and check any pre-requisite units carefully (see the Regulations). Most importantly, check to see which units you need to take if you want to receive exemptions from professional bodies or for access to a Masters’ programme.
If you will be completing next year and want to apply for a Masters’ programme start thinking about this now. You make need to take a GMAT or GRE test and so you should start preparing for these.

If this is your last year, we wish you well for your future and hope that you will keep in touch with the University of London Alumni. They should be contacting you soon. If you are going to start another degree or qualification I hope that you will use the knowledge and skills gained from studying our programmes and particularly what you have learnt about how our academics tackle the key questions in their disciplines.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Monday, June 22, 2009

My Take On The Iranian election

I am so upset with the news coverage of the election in Iran, I normally don't like to get political BUT...

1. Tehran is not representative of all of Iran, living in South Korea, most people equate Seoul (especially the South Side) to be representative of what South Korea is all about and those same people are the ones I want to punch in the mouth...

2. Most of the people the "Western Media" interviewed from the demonstrations spoke English, and the people that can tweet from their cell phones, iPhones, or other computer devices are probably well to do and we all know the "Well to do" is a minority in any country you live in...

3. Where's the interviews of the people that live outside of Tehran??? Whatever happened to objective & balanced reporting???

4. The United States is a hypocrite when it comes to vote count manipulation, we do remember the Gore/Bush election, don't we??? The State of Minnesota still doesn't have a senator, as China once told the United States, clean up your own back yard before you criticize us about our human rights...

Sorry, ladies & gents, just venting because I was so PO'd from all the BS commentary I've been hearing...

How to Make a Great Power Point Presentation

Monday, May 25, 2009

Ex President's Suicide Note


Roh Moo hyun's suicide note

 (I am) indebted to too many people.

Many have suffered too much because of me.

The pain that will come is unfathomable.

The rest of (my) life would only burden others.

(I) cannot do anything due to bad health.

(I) cannot read nor write.

Do not grieve too much.

Aren't life and death a piece of nature?

Do not feel sorry.

Do not blame anyone.

It is fate.

Cremate (me).

And just leave a very small stone slab near home.

(I) have thought (about it) for a long time.

(Saved on his home computer file at 5:44 a.m. Saturday. File titled, "Many have suffered too much because of me.")

Top News from my country South Korea

Ex-President Roh dead: Yonhap

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun died Saturday after falling into a ravine while climbing a mountain, Yonhap News reported.

He suffered serious head wounds and was immediately taken into a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Yonhap said.

Police are investigating whether Roh committed suicide, the report said.

Last month, the former president was summoned by the prosecution and grilled over his family’s alleged involvement in the snowballing bribery scandal.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Top Business Schools in America

World University Ranking, taken from this page:

1. Tuck, Dartmouth
Established in 1900, the Tuck Business School, which belongs to the Dartmouth College based in New Hampshire, is the world’s oldest business school. It is also the first institution to offer an MBA program. Tuck is one of the six Ivy League business schools and for many years has been consistently ranked among the country’s best business schools.

Tuck offers only 1 degree program, that is the prestigious full time MBA program, together with a range of executive education programs. Tuck business graduates are hired by top employers including McKinsey & Co., Bain, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
2. Stanford University
Located about 40 miles away from San Francisco city, Stanford holds its reputation years after years as a highly respected private university. It is also commonly termed as The Farm by the local folks, students and teaching staff mainly due to its history of being first built in a horse farm.

Prominent landmarks such as Stanford Mausoleum, Angel of Grief, Hoover Tower, Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Memorial Church and so on make up the whole campus of the university, spanning across more than 8,000 acres of land size.
3. Harvard University
Founded in the 17th century, Harvard University is an independent tertiary institution based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US. It is also one of the Ivy League members. During the 19th century, Harvard underwent a massive transformation from a traditional college into providing a modern and contemporary academic programs.

The university has a well-known library which to date has collected a massive number of 15 million volumes, making it the largest library in the academic world. At the moment, Harvard houses more than 18,000 students, who are enrolled in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
4. Darden, Virginia
The Darden Graduate School of Business Administration is the associate college of University of Virginia. Darden appears to be regularly ranked among the top business schools by many international magazines, news and global reports.

The institution is well known to provide a strong general management teaching experience. The 2-year MBA course offered by Darden is mainly implemented through case-based teaching methods, which is similar to the teaching methodology used in many prominent law schools.
5. Wharton, Pennsylvania
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania offers MBA (Masters in Business Administration), Bachelor of Science, PhD, Diploma and several other courses. Wharton ranks as one of the America’s best business schools for the past decade, and competes with the likes of Harvard and Stanford as its rivals.

Major subjects offered include Business and Policy, Accounting, Entrepreneurial Management, Finance, Health Care, Human Resource & Organizational Management, Risk Management, Business Ethics, Marketing, Multinational Management, Information System, Real Estate, Retailing, Statistics and many others.

6. Columbia
The Columbia Business School or its abbreviation CBS is owned by the Columbia University of New York, and is known as one of the most selective schools in the world. To date the school has produced 13 Nobel Prize winners in the field of economics such as Joseph Stiglitz, Edmund Phelps and Robert Mundell.

Columbia also belongs to the Ivy League clan. Its students come from more than 50 countries worldwide, speaking more than 40 diverse languages. Courses offered, among others, are Corporate Finance, Managerial Statistics, Leadership, Managerial Economics, Marketing Strategy, Operations Management and so on.

7. Chicago
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business is known with its short name Chicago CBS. Apart from its main campus in Illinois, United States, it also has representative campuses in London and Singapore. It has a unique MBA program which allows the students to spend their studies either in Chicago, London or Singapore campus.

Chicago CBS is known for its reputation offering world class business programs, particularly in the field of economics, finance, quantitative marketing and accounting. It offers full time, part time (weekend or evening classes), as well as executive MBA programs.

8. Yale
The Yale School of Management provides a best-in-class platform for education and research in myriad of business fields such as economics, leadership, operations management, entrepreneurship, marketing, organizational development and so on. Because of its reputable status, the admission process is naturally very competitive.

Many of Yale’s top graduates went on to become the country’s Presidents, Ministers and CEOs for top multinational corporations. Yale School of Management is based in Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut, United States.

9. Kellogg, Northwestern
Another business school with base in Illinois, the Kellogg School of Management offers full time, part time and executive programs. Business Week, US News & World Report, as well as The Economist Intelligence Unit all have ranked Kellogg in the top position of US business school rank.

Apart from offering courses on its own, Kellogg also collaborates with a number of international institutions, such as from Hong Kong, China, India, Canada, Germany and Thailand in granting the MBA and PhD dissertation to its students.

10. Johnson, Cornell
The S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management is part of the Cornell University, with its main campus located in Ithaca. The school not only offers business program from business students and graduates, but also those with science background and technical degrees. Technical graduates can undergo an accelerated MBA program that lasts for 12 months.

Additionally, Johnson partners with international institutions and schools from Europe, Asia and Latin America to offer MBA exchange programs. Top employers have ranked Johson’s Career Management Center as one of the best in the United States, which was published in Business Week.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

TESTS!!!

Good luck to everybody, hope everybody passed, and for those of us that may have to re-sit some exams, let's strategize on how to pass on the re-sit:

For example:
02 - Intro to Econ: Memorize most of the models, especially these:
   a) LRAC/SRAC
   b) Short Run/Long Run Cost Function
   c) All the IS/LM models
   d) Consumer demand
   e) PPF
   f) Labour Supply
   g) Consumer choice
   h) Elasticity Formula/Model

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Plagiarism

From VLE


Test Prep

Video from VLE


We are with you!

From the LSE External Students Blog

http://externalstudy.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/we-are-with-you/

May and June are examination months for all External students. I am thinking about you at this time and hope that you will do well in the examinations.  I thought that it would be useful to remind you of some of the examination preparation suggestions made in Strategies for success.

  1. Answer the question set: Remember that an examination is a test; it is a test of your command of the subject area. It is not an opportunity for you to let the Examiner know all you know about the subject. Therefore you should answer the questions specifically and directly.
  2. Read the instructions: Make sure that you answer the correct number of questions and read carefully to ensure you answer all the subparts of questions which are divided in this way.
  3. Put yourself in the Examiner’s place: Do not think that Examiners are there to fail you! They are there to grade your work and to report to the University of London on your ability to tackle the examination paper. They cannot see you and have no information about you. Therefore, you should use this opportunity to impress them not only with your knowledge but also by demonstrating your abilities to analyse the question and to answer it directly.  You should look at the unit information sheets to ensure that you have prepared enough to demonstrate the skills indicated in the learning outcomes.
  4. Plan your time: Make sure that you plan enough time to answer all the questions that are required, and do not spend too much time on the questions that you are very happy about, leaving out those you feel are more difficult. Examiners are only able to award marks as they are listed on the examination paper -  they cannot add extra marks. Also remember that it is easier to get the first marks in any question, rather than the last few marks, so do make sure you at least attempt the required number.
  5. Relax! It can sometimes be difficult to start writing in an examination hall. If you find yourself struggling, relax, rub your ears and move your feet, lower your shoulders and tell yourself that you have studied all year and therefore you should be able to pass. In short, relax and enjoy the experience.
  6. Afterwards: After an examination you may feel disappointed because you think that you haven’t told the Examiners all you know and feel like you have not demonstrated your true ability. Remember that you are not supposed to be telling the Examiner everything that you know, but selecting the appropriate material to answer the question!

In preperation for your examinations please also take time to visit the ‘Supporting your studies’ area of the VLE and take advice from Educational Developer Neil Mclean, who gives revision tips and advice on the most effective ways to prepare for examinations here, and gives advice on what the marker is looking for when answering essay examination questions, whilst also discussing what plagiarism is and why it is problematic, here.  

I am fully behind you and send very best wishes from myself and the team here for a good performance this May and June.

 

Rosemary Gosling

Director, LSE External Study

VLE Updates

09/04/09

Unit 21 - 'A Grain of Sand' video available. See under chapters 3 &4.

07/04/09

Unit 04b - Chapter 3 & 4 sample exam solutions available.

06/04/09

Unit 04b - Chapter 2 sample exam solutions available.

27/03/09

Unit 141 - Test your understanding self quizzes uploaded for chapters 10 & 11.

25/03/09

Unit 65 - Introduction video available.

24/03/09

Unit 05a - Sample examination video tutorials avaialble.

23/03/09

Unit 05a  - Chapter 5 video tutorials available. 

16/03/09

Unit 141 - Test your understanding self quizzes uploaded for chapters 7-9.

09/03/09

Unit 02 - Video of study weekend lecture now available.

06/03/09

Unit 141 - Test your understanding self quizzes uploaded for chapters 2-6.

04/03/09

Introduction videos uploaded for units 60, 159 and 165.

Exam preperation video uploaded to 'supporting your studies' area.

03/03/09

Unit 141- Study weekend handouts available.

25/02/09

Plagiarism video and study weekend study skills notes uploaded to 'supporting your studies' area.

23/02/09

Introduction videos uploaded for units 04a & 04b, 62, 84 and 162.

20/02/09

Study weekend handouts uploaded for units 23, 84, 92, 140 and 143.

19/02/09

Units 127 & 05b - Video of study weekend sessions now available.

03/02/09

Unit 04a - End of chapter sample exam solutions available.

02/02/09

Unit 05a - Video tutorials available for chapters 2-4.

Monday, April 20, 2009

LSEpublicevents

Prince Turki bin Faisal Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia will speak at LSE next month, http://tiny.cc/YFp95

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

For Entertainment Purposes Only

For some irreverent comedy, please subscribe to the Adam Carolla Podcast
by clicking HERE

If you don't have iTunes, please click HERE to download and install

Flat World Knowledge: Open College Textbooks








They are now open, if you're interested here's the link:
http://www.flatworldknowledge.com


Our Story

A New Approach to College Textbooks. Finally.


We preserve the best of the old - books by leading experts, rigorously reviewed and developed to the highest standards. Then we flip it all on its head.

Our books are free online. We offer convenient, low-cost choices for students – softcovers for under $30, audio books and chapters, self-print options, and more. Our books are open for instructors to modify and make their own (for their own course - not for anybody else's). Our books are the hub of a social learning network where students learn from the book and each other.

Flat World Knowledge. Because great minds are evenly distributed. Great textbooks are not. Until Now.

Flat World Knowledge Is ...

Free Textbooks. Online. Anytime. Anywhere.

Our books might feel like your current book – for a minute. They are written by leading experts and are peer-reviewed, edited, and highly developed. They are supported by test banks, .ppt notes, instructor manuals, print desk copies, and knowledgeable service representatives. There the similarity ends.

Instead of $100 plus, our books are FREE online. We don't even require registration! Students enter the URL they're given by their instructor and start reading. It's that easy. No tricks. No popup ads. No "a premium subscription is needed for that". In fact, our free online books go beyond what standard print editions provide with integrated audio, video, and interactive features, powerful search capabilities, and more..

Even better – include the book where the rest of your course is! If you are an instructor using an Course/Learning Management System (like Blackboard, Angel, etc.) you will be able to integrate our book (and our instructor supplements) directly into your LMS (beginning March 09). Yep. Still free.

It is what it is. Just great books, by great authors, at a great price – zero. But we are NOT an eBook publisher... Don't want to read online? Don't. Read "Convenient Choices" below to learn about the convenient and affordable choices we offer students.

Convenient Choices. Instructors adopt the book. Students choose the format.

Some will read online. Some won't. Some want print books. Some don't. We're not smart enough to figure it out. So we won't. Now there's a novel idea. Let instructors adopt the best book for their class. Let students adopt the best format and price for them.

Kayo doesn't read books online. She orders the black and white softcover for about $29 bucks. It shows up in a few days. Too bland for her friend Sam - he orders the color edition for $59. Not Sharon. She commutes everyday, so nothing but the audio book on her iPod will do. Then there's Chaz. He's indecisive. He decides, well, not to decide. He'll order the self-print .pdf chapters when he needs them for $1.99 per chapter. Cool. And don't forget Tessa. She never has enough time. She'll cut to the chase with our mp3 study guides, mobile flash cards, and online practice quizzes with feedback. That's convenient. That's choices. That's Flat World Knowledge.

Open Textbooks. It's your course. Now make it your book. Your call.

Use our books “off-the-shelf”. After all, they're crafted to meet market needs. But when was the last time you thought of yourself as “the market?” We thought so. So go nuts. Use our “build-a-book” platform. Drag-and-drop chapters into a new table of contents that suits your syllabus. Don't cover the last chapter? Trash it with a click. Beginning Summer 09, you will be able to edit Flat World open textbooks down to the sentence level. Replace our example with one of yours. Add a paragraph on your pet research topic. When you're done, click “adopt” and we'll give you a special URL for your students. If they buy a print version, it'll be of your unique book. Thank you print-on-demand technology! And thank you, Creative Commons. That's our open license that allows you to do everything above and more, without any special permissions.

There's another benefit of our open textbooks - no more being forced to switch to new editions. Ever. Whether you make changes or use our book as is, with Flat World Knowledge, you move to new editions when you have time and when you see merit. Not when we do. Now that's sweet.

Social Learning. It happens already. We just make it easier.

Our books are social learning tools. It is 11:30 p.m. A student in Florida is reading online. She doesn't understand something. She clicks “Q&A” to see if that question has been asked and answered already. Yes? Great. No? She posts her question. It is 11:47. An answer arrives from California. Thanks. Social learning at work. Students will be able to chat live with other readers, take and share digital notes, set up study groups, and even find partners for cross border projects. They are part of a global community of learners. Or not. Their call.

A Smarter Way to Do Business. So what’s the catch?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

How to Hire—and Get Hired—in a Recession

The founder of Silicon Alley Reporter and Mahalo.com offers advice to employers trying to make the right hire and candidates struggling to land a job

Editor's note: This column is adapted from a recent e-mail Calacanis sent to his e-mail subscriber list.

Unemployment in the U.S. is going to race past 10% in the coming months and probably peak at 11% or 12%, according to the smart folks with whom I'm privileged enough to spend some time. There's an outside chance (call it 20%) that we might have a "disastrous event" that causes it to hit 15% to 20%. Sounds impossible, I know, but there are many regions in the U.S. already in the mid-teens.

The smarter folks whom I speak with think the recent market rally is "dead cat bounce" in nature and that we're "testing the top" before a return to the bottom. Who the heck knows what's going to happen with the stock market? What I want to talk about today is your employment—or employee—market. The stock market is the 10,000-foot view, but butts in chairs working? That's the 10-foot view. Let's stay micro in this essay, shall we?

Witness: We just put out a job for an entry-level researcher and had 200 résumés from highly qualified candidates in under 24 hours. We posted the gig at $10 an hour. Recent searches for a director of product and various sales positions at my company, Mahalo, resulted in 400-plus applications per position in a week. My In-box is flooded with really great folks desperate for a lead on a gig ("Hey, Jason, we've met a couple of times. I've been working in the Internet since 1997 and I was laid off in October…") My heart goes out to everyone who is stuck, or up against it, right now. I've been there; it sucks.

Anyway, let's cut the small talk get to the big pink (slip) elephant in the room: who gets laid off—and who gets hired—in a down market.

Some Background

Over the past 15 years, as a CEO and entrepreneur, I've hired well over 500 people, laid off over 50, fired a couple dozen bad apples (many of whom are on my e-mail subscriber list!), and actually helped make a handful of people millionaires. Before I ran my own company, and even while running my companies, I've received countless job offers.

Bottom line: I've been around the block, and I know exactly why people get hired and fired.

Before the recession hit, I was actually convinced that my techniques for hiring could land almost any willing candidate a job. In this current mess, I can't make any guarantees, but I can definitely tell candidates that if they follow my advice, they'll have a much stronger chance at landing their dream job. For employers, I promise you that these tests and techniques will land you more killers then duds.

In each of my points below, I'm going to start with an overview and then move on to a "For Candidates" section and a "For Employers" section. I'm really blending two essays into one here so that each party can understand the other's perspective. I hope this isn't too confusing, but you guys understand that sometimes I ramble before getting to something worthwhile.

For Candidates: People Who Work Harder Win

Wait, don't give up on me yet! I'm well aware that this first point is absurdly obvious, but for some reason, many folks overlook or discount this basic fact. The truth is, hard work pays off in almost all things: sports, education, relationships, and work.

The more you put into something, the better it tends to work out. (Brilliant observation, I know.)

If you're looking for a job, you want to send out as many signals as possible that show that not only are you not afraid of hard work, but you're actually turned on by it. You must understand that, right now, there are too many candidates fighting for each position. The leverage that led to bidding wars between employers two to three years ago is gone—just like the bidding wars over houses are over.

There is no sense in fighting the balance of power. In fact, you need to embrace it, because it will flip again in a couple of years.

The best way to signal that you're hardworking is to explain your routine and method for working explicitly to your employer. As someone who does a couple of hundred interviews a year, I can tell you I almost never get a proactive candidate who does this!

If I were coming into a meeting with me looking for a job, here is the script I would follow:

Candidate: "Thanks so much for having me in to discuss filling the role of VP of BlahBlah. May I tell you how I've been able to make an impact at the companies I've worked at before?" (Translation: "I'm confident I can fill this position. That's why I didn't put the word 'possibly' in front of 'filling the role.'")

Employer: "Certainly." (Translation: "Thank the Lord! Finally, a candidate with whom I don't have to pull teeth!")

Candidate: "My belief is that hard work—not busy work, but hard work—is what differentiates the teams that win from those that lose. My method for working is that I like to prepare for the week on Sunday. I read up in the trades on where the industry is on the weekend, and I prepare a game plan for myself for the week ahead. This only takes an hour or two. Just a simple list of some goals I want to achieve and what I think will help the company reach its goals: I make it a point to get into the office on Monday an hour or two early. This gives me a chance to get an even bigger jump on the week—something I believe is very important. I tend to do working lunches with clients or hit the gym to get myself thinking. Finally, I've made a philosophy of not leaving the office until my boss does…. I think that's the honorable thing to do."

Employer: "When can you start?"

Seriously, I've been waiting for someone to say that to me for a decade, and it still hasn't happened. Now, I'm not saying folks can't have a life and family—let's not start that whole controversy up—but in a market like this, people seriously are going to need to sacrifice.

Bottom line: Employers are going to hire the hardest-working people and lay off the clock punchers first in an economy like this (as they should). If you want to get employed, your best strategy is to put yourself into the hardest-working bucket.

For Employers: How to Spot the Hardworking People

Wouldn't you just love to fill your open sales, marketing, or operations position with a candidate who gave you that speech above?

Yeah, me too. Too bad it never happens! You're going to have to figure out exactly who the hardest-working and most resilient people are when you're hiring. You have only a certain number of slots on your team, and you'd better start looking at it just like that.

You cannot—and you will not—give one of your few remaining slots to anyone who is not going to bust their ass. If you do that, your company is fracked. Period. You have to be cutthroat in an environment like this, because you're not doing anyone any good if you bring on—or keep on—a weak team member. Those folks can, and will, sink the entire ship in a market like this.

Let the weak people collect unemployment while the strong folks create strong companies that create more positions. (Positions that will, ironically, go to the weaker members of the herd.)

So, how do you find out if someone is a killer? Here are some of my favorite things to ask in an interview:

1. Do you live to work or work to live?

2. Do you consider yourself a workaholic? Do you think there is anything wrong with being a workaholic?

3. Are you able to turn it off at 6 p.m. and on Friday for the weekend? You don't get obsessed by work, do you? (Trick question!)

4. Do you consider yourself a balanced person?

5. How would you feel if we all needed to come in on the weekend to make a deadline?

6. How would you feel if this happened two weekends in a row?

7. It's a tough time right now, and we're super short-staffed—how would you feel if I asked you to cover for [insert job lower than candidate's experience] when they're on vacation?

8. Speaking of vacation, do you bring your BlackBerry and laptop with you to check in? Or do you like to unplug completely?

These types of questions will quickly get you to the point of understanding the kind of person you're dealing with. There are folks who work to live, and that's just fine. However, it might not be fine for your company at this time. In a hot market, you might deal with a clock puncher, because the people who really kill it are in short supply. However, in a market like this, you should start with the killers and work your way down to the clock punchers.

Hey, wait a second…are you anti-family and life/work balance?

Absolutely not!

If folks hate their day job and want to get out at 5:01 p.m., sure, go for it. I just think it's better to find a job you're super-passionate about, so you don't feel like running out at 5 on the dot. Also, you have to keep in mind the backdrop in which I'm writing this piece: an economic tsunami that we haven't seen in our lifetimes, or our parents' lifetimes, for that matter.

In this market, it's going to be a lot worse for families if Mommy or Daddy doesn't have a job than if Mommy or Daddy has to work late. This is not playtime, everyone—this is real time.

Bottom line: Employers should focus on the hard workers first so their companies survive long enough to hire the 9-to-5ers!

For Candidates: Establish That You Can Move the Needle

In my mind, there are three basic types of people in the world: people who make it, people who sell it, and people who support those first two groups. If you're a developer or designer, you're obviously making the product. If you're in sales, you're obviously selling the product. CEOs, COOs, accountants, and administrators obviously support those groups.

Folks who are most dispensable in this market are the folks who are not directly selling (i.e. bringing in money) or making the product:

1. Marketers/Public Relations

2. Strategy

3. Business Development

4. Product Managers

5. Managers in General

Like you, I've watched layoff after layoff at companies, and the first groups that get cut are the ones that the business can survive without. If you cut a couple of project managers, PR people, and your strategy folks, the business keeps running.

Does it run as well? Perhaps not. But it survives—and that's what matters in a market like this.

In fact, Google GOOG could cut half of its staff tomorrow and its revenue and earnings would be exactly the same, in my estimation. Would it be building cool new stuff? No. Would it be as effective? Probably not. However, its revenue machine (text-based ads) doesn't require this huge staff.

This is all really depressing stuff, I know, but I'm not telling you this to get you depressed. No, I'm telling you this to help you get your next job! If you want to get one of the small number of positions that will open up in 2009/2010, you need to place yourself in the "high-impact" bucket of employees, not the "low-impact" positions.

If you do strategy, marketing, and business development, I suggest positioning yourself in sales.

If you do product management or are a midlevel manger, I suggest positioning yourself as "player/coach"—someone who does a bunch of work and manages people in their "spare" time.

For Employers: Hire Impact Players

As I've mentioned above, you have a small number of positions opening, and you need to be very selective. Once you've narrowed your pool down to the folks you think are the hardest-working, you need to do another round of figuring out the folks who are the smartest and most versatile.

It's great that someone wants to work hard, but do they have direct experience closing a client? Do they have direct experience leading the building of an actual product that makes it to market and is embraced by customers?

Here are some very basic questions I like to ask folks in an interview. (Have I interviewed you? How was it for you?):

1. Who are the top three clients you've worked for? (This could be internal or external.)

2. What problem did you solve for these three clients?

3. How long did you work for these clients?

4. Can I have the names of these clients as references?

5. What was the best product/service you ever created/sold and why?

6. What was the most disappointing product/service you ever created/sold and why? What did you take away from that?

If folks can't answer these types of questions quickly and sharply, it might mean they had one of those "soft jobs" where they didn't have to produce a product that absolutely delighted customers. Every position serves a customer in some way: The mailroom guy serves the people getting the mail, the IT person serves the people who bring her frozen laptops, and the CEO has to deal with a range of "customers" in the form of investors, partners, employees, and board members.

This is a long and obvious way of saying that you need folks who can get stuff done.

If you're one of the 17 folks who made it to the bottom, I'm wondering the following:

1. What's your best technique for getting hired?

2. What are your favorite interview questions for figuring out if you're hiring a winner or a clock puncher?

3. What's going on in your backyard? What are you seeing in terms of hiring and laying people off? Who's getting let go and who's getting hired?

Note: Three ways to answer these questions:

1. You can jason@calacanis.com

2. You can answer this question over at Mahalo Answers in an open fashion by following this URL: http://digg.com/u17Rc (You can log into Mahalo Answers with your Facebook ID, so it's super easy. Yes, this is a backhanded way to get you to try my product. Hey, I'm a hustler, baby! Hate the game, not the player!)

3. You can post a comment in the discussion section below.

Jason Calacanis is founder and chief executive of Mahalo.com, a human-powered search engine. The founder and former editor of Silicon Alley Reporter magazine, he posts regularly on his personal blog. You can sign up for his newsletter here.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Natalie Del Conte read my email :D Woo Hoo

At the 3:40 mark she says, "Joon from South Korea" :D :D :D



Here's the original email, it was edited of course:

Dear Natalie,

I live in South Korea, and there's no way in hell I'll pay for streaming radio, there are so many free alternatives, for example, if I want to listen to Class Rock, I'll go to 95.5 KLOS FM (Los Angeles) or if I'm in the mood for sports, I'll go to ESPN Radio, or if I want top 40 I'll go to 92.3 NOW FM (New York), why can't businesses just follow the Johnson & Johnson business model? They buy companies that produce products they're not good at and leave them alone, if it ain't broke, don't fix it philosophy!!!

This is the reason that piracy is so rampant in Asia and other parts of the world!!! Lack of availability!!! I don't want to wait a year to so to watch this season's Heroes (OK, I hate heroes), Family Guy or the Simpsons or Crayon Shinchan (Japan), the more country ip blocking sites do, the more these companies are encouraging copyright piracy!!!

Monday, March 23, 2009

The GMAIL...OOPS Button

Hey guys, ever realize you sent an email and wanted to undo an email? Check out this video w/ Natalie Del Conte


Watch CBS Videos Online

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Foreclosures spur home sales in metro Detroit

http://www.freep.com/article/20090310/BUSINESS06/903100341/1019/BUSINESS/Foreclosures+spur+home+sales+in+metro+Detroit

Foreclosures spur home sales in metro Detroit

Median sales prices plummet


Foreclosures continued to dominate area single-family home and condominium sales in February, pushing total sales up 16.5% and crushing median sales prices, according to new figures released Monday.
Advertisement

It's a familiar story in the metro Detroit housing market, where median sales prices plummeted 49.4% to $43,000 in February.

Realcomp, a multiple listing service in Farmington Hills, reported that 4,182 homes and condos sold during February in metro Detroit, up from 3,591 sold in February 2008.

Of the 4,182 sales, 56%, or 2,353, were foreclosures, according to Realcomp. Realcomp compiles sales figures reported by Realtor members in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties and parts of St. Clair County.

Median sales prices were down 42.6% in Detroit to $5,737; down 23.3% in Livingston County to $172,000; down 44.6% in Macomb County to $115,000; down 46% in Oakland County to $144,000; down 32% in St. Clair area to $97,000, and down 43.9% in Wayne County to $28,500.

The downward trajectory of prices has Reginald Perryman, president of the Detroit Association of Realtors, hoping we're at the bottom of the curve with an uptick just around the corner.

"Actually, it is at the bottom," Perryman said. "What we are seeing is multiple offers on these properties. And the days on the market for those properties are a lot shorter."

Realcomp said the average days a metro Detroit property is on the market has declined by nearly three weeks to 103 days from 121 days.

And while investors have accounted for a lot of the activity in Detroit, Perryman said more owner-occupants are buying now. "They are paying cash so they can live in a house with no debt. The low prices make it possible," he said.

Pending sales for the metro area were up 24.8% in February to 6,670 from 5,343 in February 2008. And inventory has fallen 22.3% to 52,361 houses and condos on the market from 67,405 a year ago.

Contact GRETA GUEST at gguest@freepress.com.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Future of Capitalism

Please check out the articles HERE

I have also posted them HERE

In order to access some of these articles, you have to register (free), by clicking HERE

Future of Capitalism: 50 people who will frame the debate

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f6f08da-0d7d-11de-8914-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=ae1104cc-f82e-11dd-aae8-000077b07658.html

The credit crisis has placed the global financial system under almost unprecedented strain.

Tackling the many problems and charting a course through them to a new world order is a daunting challenge. It will require impressive political leadership and vision as well as concerted international cooperation.

Networks and institutions will matter as much as individuals.

In this graphic we explore the experiences and systems that connect the 50 people likely to be most influential in shaping the world debate.

The Group of Thirty for example, a nonprofit group founded in 1978 that comprises leading financiers, academics and officials and aims to “deepen understanding of international economic and financial issues”, is one interesting connection between these players.

Use the control panel to divide the leaders by age, nationality and network. Mouse over the photos for profiles.

You can read the rest of the series, including Lionel Barber’s overview of the fifty to watch, on our Future of Capitalism page.

Racism is Alive and Well in The US Midwest

















Keeping whites and colors separate: The "U-Washee"


IF this is not one of the most racist things you've ever seen, come here and say it to my face so I can punch you in the mouth.

Here's the article along w/ pictures, click HERE or the article title above

Loaded: Can YouTube Stop The Muziic?

To download Muziic, click HERE

Friday, February 27, 2009

Korean Entertainers' Plastic Surgery Before & Afters

UoL External now on Twitter


University of London has created three Twitter accounts (I use Digsby to keep up to date on their news), the links to their accounts are the following:

First, sign up for Twitter by clicking HERE and to follow just click on the account you want to follow:

1. LondonU News has all the latest news and info...

2. LondonU their main account

3. Londonexternal not much here yet

4. Twitter Group: Students of the UoL External System

A great IM (Instant Messenger)


Do you use ICQ? MSN Messenger? AOL Instant Messenger? Yahoo Messenger??? What if you could combine all your accounts into one IM client, Trillion used to work, but it didn't allow for Yahoo & MSN, Digsby uses everything but Skype, I love it...

I forgot to mention, it also allows you to connect to the following Social Networking Sites: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn, so this is an all-in-one package, it's great, don't you think?  It also gives you email alerts

To download, click HERE
























StudyProf on YouTube

StudyProf YouTube Page

Effective Study techniques at The StudyProf

Test is coming up soon, please check out some of these useful sites:

The STUDYPROF main page


The STUDYPROF Blog


YouTube Page

The New Skype 4.0 Video Review

Sorry couldn't embed this video, my review personally, I hate it...DON'T UPGRADE!!!! THAT'S MY RECOMMENDATION.

http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-10162994-12.html

The New Safari 4.0 Beta

I'm very open minded when it comes to browsers because I hate Internet Explorer, I tried Opera, wasn't too crazy about it, tried Firefox, it was love at first try...Now I'm using Google Chrome, I love its speed (due to a lot of limitations, Firefox is still my Go-To browser), now the Safari 4 (I tried 3, it was fast) Beta is out, it's really nice, and like the Google Chrome I love its speed (faster than the Chrome I think)...Give it a spin, if you're into trying new browsers.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Special Thank Yous

Just wanted to give a shout out and a special Thank you to some peeps!!! If I forgot anybody or you want to spew venom because I forgot to mention ya, please leave a comment and sign your name please, LOL (to all the anonymous crap talkers out there)

Thank You:
Laura B. - She was the first person to be a study mate!!!
Lorna - For being the first follower of my blog!!!
Nor - Hooking up information on what SIM is teaching and sharing the syllabi, notes, etc.
Farhaa - For posting majority of the contents on the Accounting page of this blog.  Check out her own blog by clicking HERE

It's funny, entertaining and informative, so please take the time out to check out her blog, I DO!!!


And to all the people that talked crap to the anonymous comment poster that didn't leave his/her name, I'm forever in all of your debts, let's kick ass this May and let's all get 1st class Honours.  

Gotta shoot for the moon, even if you make it 1/2 way, we sure will have made it a long way...

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Format of examination papers for 2009

A full listing is now available as a pdf file which compiles information provided at the end of the Examiners’ commentaries for the 2008 examinations. This details any changes candidates can expect either to the format, style or number of questions in the examination papers in 2009. It also include a reminder about which units which are being offered as a re-sit only in 2009.

Download the document by following this link: Examination notice 2009 (pdf, 20kb)