Right now the forums are a bit sparse. Of course, the site is new. Go add your voice. Perhaps a recruiter or two will drop in, find you, and be overwhelmingly impressed with your knowledge. You never know.

Fun and Games and Jobs?

April 22, 1998

Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, LLP (or, KPMG for short) has an engaging site for both grads and undergrads. Yes, of course, they have job postings.

But, they have more. They have interview tips, FAQs, company history, and career info. While some of it is general, most is specific to KPMG. In other words, this site understands that it takes an effort to recruit you and that you'd like to know what you're getting into before you take the plunge.

How interesting.

Of course a few other companies have picked up on the approach to lure job hunters to their sites. Microsoft has something similar; so do a few others. So, KPMG has gone even further. They have an email game.

Huh? A game on a corporate recruiting site?

But take a look. There are eight weekly rounds of the game. During each round, you're asked three questions, which if answered correctly in any two rounds, advance you to the playoffs. And, we're not talking T-shirts here, people. If you're a playoff winner you get an eight-day Caribbean vacation for two or a funded account with a personal financial planner.

Of course, there's a method to the madness. Much of the email game involves identifying insightful, famous, or KPMG-related quotes. Do you think they KPMG recruiters might be looking at the mail and making judgments about what you know as you play?

Get Rich Quick? Nah!

April 21, 1998

So, you want to make money on the internet?

There are lots of said-to-be-proven ways to get rich quick using this amazing medium.

Mydas Touch has a web site that offers a get-rich-quick scheme that deal with long-distance phone calls. Freedom Starr does also. So do several others.

Then, there's Opportunity Now's site--complete with a banner to click if you want to get rich now. It even contains, mid-screen where you're sure to see it, the caption "The best programs on the Net!" and offers a URL implying a link to a respectable news source endorsement. Guess what? Following the link brought us to another page belonging to Opportunity Now and, surprise of surprises, no news story.

Then of course there are the offers to send $5 and get zillions back. In fact, Web Dental's message board offers some of these. But take a look at Synth Fool. It offers the logical and mathematical reasons why this is not only a doubtful scheme but an impossible one as well.

Then, too, there's even a handy guide to get-rich-quick links. A delightful site it is. The site starts with a straightforward list of links and uses META Refresh to transport you to a site full of frames, color, and advertising.

But, our personal favorite in all this hype is The Crazier Than Hell Get Rich Quick Page--it's well worth a look.

As our moms often said, "there's no such thing as a free lunch."

There are legitimate ways, though, to make a living--either on your own or in partnerships, on the net or off. Check back tomorrow.

Oh! The Possibilities

April 20, 1998

Using the internet as a way to connect to others has enabled an outpouring of innovation which has never been seen before. This new medium fosters, and indeed, dictates that we begin to think of new ways to use computers and information systems.

There's a whole new world waiting to be discovered, explored, and defined. Sure, some are old pros at maneuvering their way around this new medium. Plenty of others are just starting or have yet to start. The ‘net offers an opportunity to think of new ways to extend our value chain. We can cut across and through traditional business models. In other words, we can use the ‘net to cut out middlemen. We can contact companies directly about open positions or marketable ideas. Or, we can invent new kinds of middlemen to work between us and them. Or, we can even create new businesses or industries.

The possibility of near-immediate contact through email, chat rooms, listservs, and newsgroups, offers abundant opportunities--if we but know what to do with them. We can easily meet people from around the globe who share similar ideas, attitudes, dreams, and goals-- making most anything possible.