By "Female Think" , she means "a new set of values that shift marketing consciousness from a hierarchical model to a familiar one". The basis of this is that there are very marked differences between women and men, including their way of thinking. The trend indicates that more account will have to be taken of the female way of thinking. Everyone is convinced that these differences between men and women exist, but, as Popcorn observes, absolutely no account is taken of them in organisations' marketing efforts.

"Mancipation", is closely linked to "Female Think". In this case the man decides to stay at home full or part time to look after the children. According to Faith Popcorn men have suppressed their intuition for far too long and have blindly followed normal expectations. This trend confirms a reversal in which men will choose a particular sex role of their own free will.

"Anchoring" concerns the return to customs from the past, an important part of which is the rediscovery of spiritual values. The return to eastern and western religions should be seen as part of this.

"Bigness=Badness". In the future companies will look substantially different. It is clear to Popcorn that they will put the accent on cooperation and will put a very high value on relationships. The company of the future will be smaller in size, and very large companies will be experienced as smaller (e.g. by subdivision).

By understanding the kinds of trends Popcorn is anticipating, job hunters will be able to research companies and organizations which are likely to prosper in the new environment and pre-emptively access opportunities.

Hit The Vault

June 24, 1998 Looking for the inside skinny on a company you've got your eyes on? Vault Reports offers insider guides to big employers. They've also recently published a survey that describes the best strategies for turning an internship into a full time job:

• Show a sincere interest in the company. Go to the summer events. When the firm has a lot of work, come in early and stay late, just like the regular employees, and don't mention your sacrifice. It will get noticed.
• Take every opportunity to impress the senior people at your workplace. At most firms, the senior people count most when it comes to full-time job offers. But attempts to dazzle them with your grasp of the industry can backfire. Simply express your interest in the work you've been doing, ask questions, and talk about things other than work that show your intellectual curiosity.
• Don't be so zealous in schmoozing your supervisor that you ignore the junior people. Many workplaces ask employees a year or two above you for their opinions on your performance and demeanor. Ignoring these potential future coworkers taints you as a brown-noser and may hurt your chances at the company.
• Even if you've decided that the summer internship isn't one you want to turn into a job, do your best to get a job offer. In job interviews you'll probably be asked whether or not you were asked to return to work at the place of your internship. Trying to explain away the lack of an offer by saying you "weren't interested" suggests that the company wasn't either.

• The company offers reasonably priced snapshots of the internal workings of selected companies. There is a solid list of the reports on their home page.
• The Vault Reports Career Newsletter is a free, monthly e-mail offering. Information includes job search strategies, career and salary trends, and sample interview questions, including cases, brainteasers, and finance questions. Click here to subscribe.

Jobs in Recruiting

June 23, 1998 Check out our tightly limited job opportunities in Recruiting.

There's More Than Just the Hunt

June 23, 1998

Want to join a new-ish online community and look for work at the same time?

The site is made up of college students and alums from 17 colleges across the nation. Plus, people looking for new hires.

Our Square does what we haven't seen too many sites do too well. It looks at a body's entire life and tries to provide a forum to suite each of the many roles that most of us fill on a daily basis.

There's a sparse career section with a couple of recent job postings. James Marciano, founder of Our Square hopes more companies will join in. To prod them, there are chat areas where recruiters and hunters can talk to one another.

And when you tire of the hunt, join in the community activities. You can look for roommates or local concert listings in the city board section. You can discuss relationships, health, sports, and art in the various forums. You can look for a pal, a friend, or a lover in the personals section. You can create your own space where you tell the community about yourself, your experience, your wants and needs.

In other words, you can be yourself. You're not the only one looking for a job. Nor are you the only one looking for a community.

Our Square has not yet taken off, but it just may. Since its debut in February, it's grown by 35% a month.

No wonder. Most of us are so busy we no longer have time to feel part of the community in which we live. Yet many of us yearn for some kind of connection. And that's what Our Square is trying to deliver.

As Steven Carlson, moderator of the Online-Europe email list says,

"... to actually create such a community is a different job entirely. Community building is an art, not a science. "

He cites Hagel and Armstrong, authors of Net.gain, as viewing the

"the online community as a marketplace of ideas, products and services. Essentially, the vendors compete for the attention of their online community by offering value - in the form of info, advice, services, special offers and the like."

Carlson further says that

"the online community is going to revolutionize the way we do business. It will take time, but I think this is how the Internet is going to deliver its promises. In the meantime, we have a lot to learn."

Perhaps some of the learning can be done in Our Square.

Audience is All

June 22, 1998

A press release crossed our monitor today. No surprise there; however, its contents do raise a few questions about what you need to know to set you apart from the madding crowds.

The release reads as follows:

In his new book "Growing Up Digital: the Rise of the Net Generation," (McGraw-Hill 1997) best-selling technology guru Don Tapscott says: "The Net-Generation is here. The baby boom has an echo and it's even louder than the original. Eighty million strong in the U.S. alone, they are combining their demographic muscle with digital mastery to transform every institution in society. They are the first generation to come of age in the digital age. They are an unprecedented force for change and they will dominate most of the 21st century." Tapscott argues that "There is no issue more important to parents, teachers, policy makers, marketers, business leaders, and social activists than understanding this new generation, their culture, psychology, values and what they intend to do with their digital expertise." Tapscott worked with 300 "N-Gen-ers" on the Net over a one-year period and combines survey research to show how the Ne(x)t Generation is changing learning, marketing, the family, the nature of the corporation and society."

One of the questions that comes to mind is just how much digital savvy one will need to compete with this generation.

Another question, perhaps a more important one, relates to your knowledge of whom it is you wish to work for. If it's for an N-Gen-er, or for a company that targets N-Gen-ers, do you know what you need to know to market yourself?

Being able to sell yourself is one of the secrets of employability. One way to sell yourself is to demonstrate that your knowledge is essential to your future employer. With the trend toward customer orientation, your understanding of who the customer is and what they want will make you invaluable.