All sites want to increase traffic (traffic = eyeballs = advertising revenues). To increase the volume of visitors, they need to attract you, make your stay a pleasant one, and give you a reason to come back. Sites that don't get repeat customers will have to rely on expensive advertising promotions to attract the next batch of soon-to-be ex-visitors.

I suspect (hope!) that there will be a torrent of Jobs in usability testing for websites before long. How many times have you had to fight your way through a site because it was either poorly designed, or it seems no one ever tried to actually use it after it was uploaded? It seems similar to the problem a lot of software has - at some point during the installation process, you are left to guess at what the next step is. Testing of IT products is done by people already familiar (too familiar, if you ask me) with the products. They can always 'skip' to the next step because they already know what that step is.

Ever wonder why people don't check their email for grammatical errors? You've seen the clever jokes that clog up bandwidth with stories about 'what spell check missed'. Spell check leaves in correctly spelled words in the wrong place, and doesn't care to point out homonyms. Yet I've seen professional email correspondence that is littered with errors of both kinds, and some that is not even spell checked (or has been run through a really really bad spell checker, perhaps produced somewhere in the hills of North Georgia).

Getting things right the first time seems to be a Lost Art. You're probably aware of the First Law of Computing: Every eighteen months the speed of computers doubles, and the cost is halved. The Second Law may be less well known: Every eighteen months the number of computer users doubles, and their average ability is halved. It may be time for the Third Law: For every technological advance, there is an equal and opposite reverse in mankind's concern for quality, or 'just plain getting it right'.

-Mark Poppen

Red Flags

June 29, 1999

When Recruiters, Staffing Manager, and Employers are inundated with Resumes, they often take shortcuts to weed out potentially 'bad' hires. It is up to you to figure out what some of 'resume faux pas' are, and correct them before your resume comes across their desk.

Resume red flags to avoid:

• Resume doesn't list dates of Employment (years/months), and contact person/company is missing.

• Resume contains overload of 'Hobby & Other' information.

• Resume is filled with qualifiers in skills section, e.g. 'worked with', 'familiar with'.

• Resume chock full of course listings, seminars attended, etc.

Furthermore, busy Hiring Managers also have a quick screen methodology when deciding whether your resume makes it through the first hoop, or goes down in flames. Roughly put, it is based on the following criteria:

• Resume shows career growth, with increases in responsibility at each stage.
• Resume is free of typos, grammatical errors (shows you pay attention to details).
• Resume is professional looking (shows you care about how things appear).
• Resume has detailed descriptions of skills necessary for previously held Jobs.

You may wonder how it is that Hiring Managers can have such lengthy list of items for screening out Job candidates when the Unemployment rate is so low. It's because the Unemployment rate for the better Jobs is much higher than for the crappy Jobs at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. You probably have a nice collection of rejection letters to prove that the Unemployment rate has had little effect on your own Jobsearch.

Think about what the Hiring Manager is looking for negatively, to screen you out - and positively, to separate you from the rejection pile.

-Mark Poppen

Carpe Diem

June 28, 1999

After weeks (or months!) of frustrating Jobhunting, I'm sure you're in no mood for glib responses to The Fundamental Question: How Do I Get A Job?

The answer is easy, though executing the strategy isn't. It takes courage, determination, and the ability to really push yourself and your agenda. When someone tells you, "No, I don't have anything available at my firm." you shouldn't accept 'No' as an answer. Fine, they don't have any openings for you. Do they know of someone who does, or might be a good contact for you anyway?

Employers (read Hiring Managers) within an industry are birds of a feather - they will have their own networks of professional contacts. Every time you talk to, meet with, and Interview a Hiring Manager you should have a secondary goal other than landing this particular Job. That goal is accessing at least one person in the Hiring Manager's Network. And you accomplish this by asking them, directly.

Most Employees get their Jobs through Networking consistently, effectively, and over a substantial period of time. They built their work relationships to the level that they weren't afraid to call upon these acquaintances when they needed them to find a new Job, and use them as references to access Hiring Managers at their target companies.

Even more importantly, successful Jobhunters Ask For The Job They Want. Friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and Employers can't read your mind - you have to tell them what you want. I've talked to hundreds of Jobhunters that got depressed after getting a handful of rejection letters, which is a natural reaction. It is even more difficult to call Hiring Managers directly to ask for an Interview - the rejection is immediate and more personal. However, the direct approach by phone is also more likely to succeed - the Hiring Manager is hard pressed to turn down someone's live, eager request for an Interview (and the Job!).

Resumes are easy to ignore - their feelings don't get hurt. If you have referenced your way in to a conversation with the Hiring Manager, then you'll have a decent chance to sell them on your abilities and suitability for the Job. If you have simply accessed the Hiring Manager by hook or by crook, you'll probably only have a minute or two to make your case - all you're trying to achieve with this method is to earn an Interview.

The bottom line? It's your life, and if you want this to be your Job, you've got to seize it.

-Mark Poppen