Design Implications for Online Training Videos - Lessons from the field

Some time ago I wrote a tongue-in-cheek post entitled How to Monetize Your Job Interviews. It told the story of an interview I had a few years ago that took on a life of its own. This interview, which was with an instructional-design firm, required me over the course of a weekend to complete and submit instructional design plans on how to insert a drill-bit into a cordless drill. The interviewer sent me the design specifications via email. I diligently completed the required components of the design. Then (geek that I am) I added on a short video which I uploaded to YouTube (I guess as an example of leveraging existing technology and resources to reach the intended audience at any time on any platform). The video itself was very quick and dirty and also extremely short (1:06 minutes in length). I did not have a cordless drill nor did I know how to operate one; so I got my husband Ben to show me on his corded drill. The video had no sound, instead focusing on my hands and their actions Charlie-Chaplin style. I submitted my documents and the YouTube URL to my interviewers via email and waited for a reply. The position, alas, did not materialize so I continued my job search, completely forgetting about the video I'd left on YouTube - until a year or so later, that is, when I received an email notification that a viewer had commented on my video. I went to the YouTube site to read the comment and to my astonishment saw that my little video had around 16,000 hits!

To make a long story short, today the video stands at 153,745 views with 57 comments (mostly thank-you's), 183 likes, and 44 dislikes. While people seem to have definite opinions about this video, I'm still amazed that anybody has even taken the time to watch it, let alone to leave a comment or press a "like" or "dislike" button. In 2014 I monetized the video, Since then it has earned me around $260.00 in income - and counting (which won't put me in the millionaire class anytime soon, but hey, every little bit helps - especially on a retiree's income). ;)

Since I am now happily (and lazily) retired, the rigors of serious scholarship elude me; however, after reviewing these latest statistics from YouTube, I thought it would be fun to reflect on the question "Just what IS it about this video?"

I do believe there are some design implications in this little story: not only for those who provide just-in-time training for employees but also for those who compete for the attention of "on-demand" learners (e.g. for Photoshop tutorials). What in the world has made 154,000 people (and counting) choose to watch a crude video (with no sound) on how to insert a drill bit into a cordless drill?

Well, I have a few thoughts on that:

• the video is brief- in fact you don't even have to watch all of it, you can probably get the gist in twenty-four seconds and be on your way. Not only does this brevity respect people's time, it is also great for slow-bandwidth connections. Also this video is short enough to retain most of it in memory (and even if someone needs to refresh their memory, a one-minute video is relatively painless to "rewind" and watch again).
• the video is silent - there's no language to process and, for international audiences, no language barrier to overcome.
• the video focuses exclusively on the hands and what they are doing - you never see a complete shot of a person or a shot of a talking head. Reflecting back on my own experience, I often find the presence of these in a video to be an annoying distraction, an unneeded "layer" that inserts itself between the learner and the business at hand.

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of what I would call little "speed videos" on Facebook. They quickly show how to do relatively simple tasks such as fold socks or prepare a recipe or create a craft or even braid hair in exotic ways. These very short videos are often well orchestrated and thought out - they look professional and they get tens of thousands of hits on Facebook. Additionally, they share the following characteristics: the camera focuses exclusively on a close-up on the hands and what they are doing; not only are the videos mostly under a minute in length, they take advantage of video technology's ability to time-lapse and to speed up; no one speaks in these videos although many  of them provide background music; printed language processing is held to a minimum with an occasional caption or arrow super-imposed in a strategic position; and animation is used to varying degrees. You could say they sometimes use media within media. These little videos are reminiscent of the silent movie techniques used in the 1920's. Like other viewers, I find myself willingly watching and re-watching these videos to try out "what-ever-it-is." They are fun to watch and intrinsically motivating. Following are some examples of how these videos are done:

How to Make Apple-Pie Cookies (by Tip-Hero)

length: 1:04 minutes

Some of the design choices in Tip-Hero's video below can be effective in "talking" videos that teach more complex tasks. Following the recommendations from a graphics-design class that I took at our community college a few years ago, I find myself often searching for tutorials on how to do stuff in Photoshop. While I prefer good illustrated, text-based tutorials to slow-streaming and often meandering videos, I will watch video-based instruction that is short (around seven minutes in length), easy to follow, and well thought out. An excellent example is Marty at Blue Lightening TV. His videos focus exclusively on the computer screen. They are extremely succinct; every single action on the screen is purposeful and intentional. To aid the viewer in following along with his voice, he strategically super-imposes captions and animation such as circling or underlining. Often his videos are time-lapsed and speeded up in certain sections; even though his videos are short, he thoughtfully includes more helpful information than many longer ones I've watched! I just love his work! Here's a example of one of his short tutorials:

The Best Way to Colorize a Black and White Photo

length: 7 minutes

Recently I have even seen some of these concepts extended to (short) online newscasts! Check out this video on the current presidential campaign from Aljazeera America's online channel AJ+. Interesting multimedia reporting techniques - a mix of media within media!

Does the DNC Hate Bernie?

length: 3:05 minutes

As far as training and informational videos there are techniques and then there are techniques. We could learn a lot from the little "speed videos" above. Although they are deceptively short and to the point, a lot of work and thoughtfulness has been put into their preparation. They are respectful of people's time; they are fun to watch; and they are extremely easy to understand and follow. Speaking from my own anecdotal experience only, I judge them to be extremely effective. And if I'm "late to the party" with this post, then I'd just like to contribute this testimonial to the growing body of evidence. ;)

JuneBug

A few more examples of speed videos from Facebook:

• Beautiful Hair https://www.facebook.com/free.beauty.salon/videos/1082575561776047/
• Chocolate Almond Braid https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedtasty/videos/1696573170595325/
• Snowman I https://www.facebook.com/justhealthylifestyle1/videos/1633006020285873/
• Mother's Day card https://www.facebook.com/Vlechten.met.Daan/videos/1755674128003637/
• Loop braids https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedStyle/videos/907991965959697/

Just the Sanest Article Ever - How to Job Hunt After Getting Fired

May is the month I turn sixty-five and go on Medicare. (Yay, real honest-to-goodness health insurance where you pay an affordable fee and in return, they actually do something for you!) Actually I've been retired for almost two years now (due to serious family illnesses requiring my extended presence on the east coast), so, alas Liz Ryan's recent article at Forbes.com How to Job Hunt After Getting Fired comes along a bit late for me (where were you when I needed you, Liz - yeah, I know, probably still in high school, lol). But given that one of my original purposes for starting this blog was to network and connect about work life and job hunting, I just had to pass this helpful article along to those who may still be in the trenches. I thought the author offered an extremely sane and practical approach to what can be a daunting dilemma.

While I was at Forbes, I came across another other good article by Liz, the link to which follows:

Smart Answers to Ten Stupid Interview Questions

Have a great day whether you're on the job or on the job hunt and may the Force be with you!

JuneBug

Introducing My "Scrappy" Photography Site

Greetings!  I am a semi-retired programmer/analyst and instructional designer who loves to dabble in photography and poetry and of late, scrapbooking - both paper-based and digital. For many years my husband Benny had a furniture refinishing business called Second Looks (http://www.secondlooks.biz) and I put up a photography site http://www.photography.secondlooks.biz to complement his business site by offering free wall-paper.

Doctors, Lawyers, and Indian Chiefs

So today it finally occurred to me that since I started this blog around 2006 in part to talk about my interest in scrap-booking and photography, I should introduce my photography site on this blog -sometimes it takes me a while to see the obvious!

But first a little about my photographic journey.

How to Monetize Your Job Interviews ;)

I started this blog back in 2005-2006 to share and swap ideas about the job hunt and work life, among other topics, but I rarely post on job-related topics these days (actually I rarely post at all these days, but when I do, it's not about work). This is probably because I'm now officially retired. That doesn't mean that I won't need to supplement my retirement income at some point in these tough economic times. I have worked alongside many a retiree in my career who decided to return to the workplace. But for now ... I'm just retired and enjoying it. I particularly don't miss the angst of the job hunt and the interview process because I tired of the some of the "nonsense" and even hypocrisy of it. But that's probably a topic for another post, which may or may never get written.  So am I the only one who finds interviewing and job hunting frustrating? Probably not. For those of you who may feel similarly, take heart or at least have a chuckle at this little anecdote about a job interview I had in back in 2009 that has taken on a life of its own.

Checking In

Wow, so much time has passed since my last post! I've had good intentions, but as they say, life keeps getting in the way and truth be known, social media like Facebook has somewhat replaced blogging.

Taking inventory of why I started this blog (job-hunting and hobbies), I reflect that I am now headed toward full time retirement (whether I can afford it or not) and loving it! I drew my first social security check last July. I have also worked about a year and a half as a part-time database editor for a start-up company named Schoolhouse Partners which publishes both print and online editions of grant opportunities. It has proved to be very interesting work - sort of a virtual opportunity to travel and immerse oneself through writing in different granting organizations in various areas of the country and the world, not to mention the great experience it's provided me in technical writing. Schoolhouse Partner's production office was initially located in a scenic prairie in Purdue Research Park. I enjoyed spotting various types of wildflowers, insects, and other wildlife through the seasons as I took my noon walk around the little lake across the street. Then when the weather got too cold, there was an exercise room with treadmills in front of big picture windows right around the corner and down the hall! However, last February we were given the opportunity to set up a home office and work for the company from home - which I also enjoyed immensely.

My coworkers and I were put in touch with Schoolhouse Partners through the Aging Workforce Initiative, a wonderfully worthwhile demonstration grant operated by our local WorkOne. The grant provided training and internship opportunities as well as various other services to job-seekers age 55 and older. Sadly, the grant's funding was cut in 2012. 

Now as I head toward retirement, I look forward to spending more time on hobbies and interests including learning CSS technologies and graphic-arts skills such as photo restoration (with an eye both toward volunteering and toward earning some extra income in my retirement years). I also want to get more involved in digital and physical scrap-booking, photography, writing, cooking, gardening, and walking with Ben to name a few things - and to just enjoy this old Indiana farmhouse Ben and I are so fortunate to live in with our cats, dog, chickens, and mules in this rural community of good friends and neighbors. :) One of my poems was featured in Lafayette CitiBus's Words on the Go in June - and in the past four years I've had two sweepstakes and one reserve placement in the photography display at the Tippecanoe County 4H Fair Home Show so I guess I'm off to a good start.

Ducks at Purdue Research Park

Blue Heron and Canadian Geese at Purdue Research Park

Baby Barn Swallows Perched on Sign at Purdue Research Park

The 2020 Workplace

I love this time of year. I know, crazy, isn't it? Even with the seasonal hardships and the mid-winter blahs, it's a time when everything outside is resting, a time when the nights are long, a time to reflect and make plans, a time to dream. And as the days grow longer, I find myself already in mid-February Valentine's Day and I have not yet posted my first blog article for 2011!

Anyway, check out this article: Ten Ways the 2020 Workplace Will Work for You.

I love visionaries. In the immortal words of John Lennon, let it be.

Peace,

JuneBug

Reflections of a Senior Learner - IT Job Outlook

This past semester I had a wonderful opportunity to take an online course in technical writing through our local community college where seniors can attend for free after they turn 60. The course was an 8 week course - offered through the English department for full credit. It started October 19 and ended December 19, and so was extremely fast-paced. Our final project was to research and write a formal technical report on the job outlook in our field to other career consultants in our imaginary firm. The fields varied among the students taking the class. Some were majoring in business administration, others in the medical field, and so forth. I am a dual career person with training and experience in both the fields of information technology and instructional design (education), so I chose to write about the job outlook in information technology.


I have to say that this was an excellent assignment - I really learned a lot about online resources for this topic, if nothing else - such as the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Handbook and its accompanying O*Net website. It was also interesting and kind of fun to get to "triangulate" my own perspective on the information technology field with all its transformations and permutations over the past thirty years.


I invite you to peruse my report: Occupational Outlook for the Information Technology Field: An Informational Report for Career Consultants. It defines the field and lists various occupations under its umbrella as well as common duties, functions, and activities. It briefly discusses educational requirements for various occupations in the field as well as occupational outlook, placement opportunities, and personality fit. It also includes some crystal-ball type predictions on new opportunities coming down the pike. Finally the references and appendix at the end offer some nice resources to researchers and job-seekers alike. 


JuneBug

Other Lessons learned . . . Reflections of an Adult Learner

Yesterday, I lost my kitty Smokey. A blue-gray cat, with one eye just slightly larger than the other, he was just a starving little kitten when he appeared in our barn and garage last winter. I caught him and brought him into the house to tame him and feed him kitten formula so that he would be healthy and survive, and later took him to the vet for shots. It was still dark when I pulled out of our driveway in the early morning fog and saw something obviously not alive lying in the busy road and realized it was him. I was sad. On my way to take a scheduled all morning Work Keys exam at our local Work One Office, I couldn't stop. So I got out my cell to call Benny who was still sleeping, to let him know and to get Smokey off the road. When I got home much later that day, I covered him with pine needles, leaves, and all the flowers and herbs I could pick from my fall garden. Smokey was a pure ray of sunshine and a source of unmitigated love and devotion in this old world. He grew to be a healthy, happy kitty who enjoyed his home and left his people with fond memories of many sweet and funny encounters in his short tenure on earth. I don't think I've cried for ten years, but losing that little guy was truly something to cry for.

Yesterday was a day for paying attention. I took the entire Work Keys exam - again, because it had been five years since I took the last one. Several others just took sections. The proctor graded their sections during the break. One young lady was exhilarated when she learned she'd passed the Locating Information Section - the last requirement she had to fulfill. We all congratulated her, and she wished us all well as we went in to take the last portion of the exam and she got into her car to leave.

After the exam, I went to the McDonald's by Walmart on 26. A delivery guy from Jimmy John's had passed out free sandwiches to everyone at Work One during one of the breaks, so I just got a drink and salad to go along with it. Oh, yes, and cookies. What can I say - taking exams makes me hungry. At 1p I attended a Hub session at Work One - the Hub is part of a program called the Aging Workforce designed to assist displaced older workers primarily.

Next at Ivy Tech, I made a quick restroom stop before my 3p Visual Basic class. Another young woman was on her cell phone with a local childcare agency. She sounded desperate. When she learned that funding had come through, she almost broke into tears of joy. She proclaimed her good news and threw her arms around someone else she evidently knew who happened to be in the restroom. Of course we congratulated her too.

While we were waiting for the instructor to arrive to unlock the computer lab door, two of my classmates were talking, and one mentioned their sitter had gotten licensed and just doubled her fees. I told them about the girl in the restroom. My classmate said they had been on that waiting list for the last year and a half. Boy, I replied, wouldn't it be nice if Ivy Tech had a nursery school where students could just drop off their children, when they had no other childcare resources. My classmate said he'd had to to miss classes in the past when his childcare resource was unavailable or unreliable. He said it would be nice if they offered full time childcare and just added the charge to the rest of the student fees!

A childcare facility would be a great endowment project for some future benefactor of Ivy Tech to take on.

In class, we got down to business, which involved some group work. Another classmate, a quiet young man whom I'd been sitting next to for going on two months now, mentioned that he was tired today, kind of as an apology. We had never really talked much. Today he told me he'd gotten up early - about 4 a to go to work before class. Upon further discussion about our situations, I found out that he works 60 hours a week and goes to school. On top of that, since he is Spanish, he had to learn English and translate all his courses when he first started taking classes two years ago! I'd never really thought about that with programming languages. I said, "Gee, there ought to be a Spanish version of Visual Basic." He also has two children - he laughed when he opened his text and discovered his little girl had stuck stickers all over one of the pages of exercises for him.

This seems to be the week for getting back in touch. I'm going to attend an installation into Phi Theta Kappa for an older friend this evening, and most of my Thursday evenings have been spent at the Democrat Headquarters downtown, calling prospective voters encouraging them to turn out to vote November 2nd. Geez. Since I'm doing all that, I'd better not forget to turn out and vote myself, had I?

JuneBug

Smokey and Bon

Back to School at 60 ... Reflections from an Adult Learner

God bless our local community college for being there, for being where they are, and for letting us go for free after we turn 60! And God bless my friend Julie for letting me know!

Twelve years ago I made the decision to follow the traditional route of educational progress and pursue a master's degree - for two reasons mainly. First, I had already earned two undergraduate degrees (a B.S. in Speech Education and an A.A.S. in Computer Programming Technology) and being from a family-full of postgraduates as well as having worked eight years in a research lab, I was very curious about the postgraduate experience. And second, I wanted to find a way to tie my two undergraduate degrees together. So I enrolled in a masters program in Educational Technology with a concentration in Instructional Design. I figured it was all win-win. I would wed two fields together and opportunity would follow.

But I suspected even then that I was merely postponing the inevitable - that the rapid pace of technological change had reversed the course of traditional educational progress - that until such time as society recognized and acknowledged this dilemma and came up with some viable and affordable solutions, many of us were destined to keep going back to ground zero at our local or online universities and colleges as the most practical way to keep up with our field, when for one reason or another our work began more and more to not afford us that opportunity (and employers more and more came to discard us like yesterday's trash -  or should I say desktop).

I have to wonder  how many of the women who went through school in computer programming technology in the 1990's are still in that field (I know some who aren't).  But, personally I am a technology die-hard. So I have accepted that I need to keep going back to school, to take courses that were primarily designed for degree programs I had already been through, that were building the basic infrastructure I already intimately knew for the uninitiated. Not that a periodic review hurts  - at all! And don't get me wrong - I LOVE learning about and using cool new stuff and participating in the evolution of the desktop revolution. I have certainly bought books and gone through tutorials to self-educate since I finished my last degree -sometimes inbetween inspections whilst sitting on a factory line! I'm just saying that it was confusing twelve years ago at age 50 to have to make the choice between taking yet more undergraduate courses or pursuing an advanced degree at institutions who had courted me to do so.

All this leads up to this spring when after a year of being unemployed once again, I finally stopped postponing the inevitable and turned to my local community college where I'd heard that individuals 60 and over could attend for free. I had celebrated my 60th birthday in May. I have to say the college's advisors were remarkably and wonderfully understanding, encouraging, supportive, welcoming, and most of all, helpful. I talked to one generalist who then directed me to two department heads, one in Information Technology and the other in Graphics Technology - and after speaking with each of them I walked away with a clear sense of direction and purpose. See, it didn't make sense to pursue yet another undergraduate degree in the technology field. However, back when I did my degree work, certifications weren't that common. Now every employer is asking for a list of certifications, and many of the courses in the various programs prepare students to take certification exams. Ivy Tech's advisors helped me lay out a clear plan of action for pursuing certifications in my various areas of interest - whilst obtaining training with current and in-demand products previous jobs had not afforded me opportunity to use or learn.

Not that this entirely eliminates the tug of opportunity costs - my various areas of interest in the technology field are numerous. They include design, programming, graphics, and web-based technologies - and I'm not afraid to branch out to networking and technical writing and support. So the narrowing down process will continue as I wend my way through these certification strategies.

Although I was itching to get started and to take advantage of the extra time I had available for who-knew-only-how-long, many of  the courses I wanted weren't offered til the fall semester. So I jumped into a programming logic course in summer school, mainly to review, and to hopefully get into some newer topics that would not have been covered in previous formal coursework. I also hopped programs and took an online course from the Office Administration Program because it offered an opportunity for MCAS/MOS certification in Excel 2007. So at the end of the summer, I could walk away with at least one certification.

Now it is August and I am finished - and I have one certification down - Yea!

 Of course I can't help but reflect back over my summer school experience in light of my Instructional Design training and I will probably offer some thoughtful analysis and observations, probably in a series of articles. So, as they say, stay tuned ...

JuneBug

related articles:

Back to the Future - Reflections of an Adult Learner

On GPS's and Online Courses - Reflections of an Adult Learner

On Dentists and Technology Obsolescense

This Person Says It Best: I Am Not Disposable!

What I have been groping for words to articulate for the last ten years, this individual has managed to nail on the head with passion and integrity, in his/her response to Interns Over Forty's article "What Do You Do if You are Fired in Your 50's".

Kudos and here's the link to his/her full comment:

I Am Not Disposable!

Good Job Hunting Tools and Links

First of all some helpful online articles:

These Net_Temps CrossRoads Newsletter articles deal with some of my "favorite" bug-a-boos and dilemmas:

7 Steps to Writing an Amazing Cover Letter by Jimmy Sweeney (http://www.careerjimmy.com/)
The Likability Factor - Do You Have It by Linda Matias
Questions You Should Ask During the Interview by Carole Martin
Telling Your Structured Stories by Michael Neece (InterviewMastery.com)
Marriage, Infomercials, and Your Job Search by Kevin Donlin
How Pen and Paper Can Work Magic in Your Job Search by Kevin Donlin
Find a Job 65% Faster by Kevin Donlin (what I liked about this article is going in with the idea of generating a 30-60-90 day job plan - it brings together several other pieces of advice such as giving back and would certainly give you ideas about what questions to ask.) :)
How Your Job Hunt Can Threaten Jobless Benefits by Dona DeZube
Basics of Credit Reports and Background Checks (http://www.esrcheck.com/)
Four Techniques That Get Employers to Return Your Phone Calls by Deborah Brown-Volkman

Repost: Job Blogging - Is It Safe?

Back in the ancient days before the omnipresence of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, I started this blog with the dual intentions of writing about my job search and my photography hobby. This was around February of 2006. Shortly thereafter I found a job and other things to write about. Unfortunately the economic downturn and high cost of health insurance put me back on the job market in 2009. But one of my very first posts in this blog was "Job Blogging - Is it Safe?"

This morning I came across an interesting article in Net-Temps' latest issue of their CrossRoads newsletter entitled How Social Media is Muddying the Waters for Job Seekers by Teena Rose. In the article she mentions a recent survey of hiring managers commissioned by Microsoft that reports 70% of  U.S. respondents have rejected a candidate based on their online social profiles.

Hmmm ... Well, I'm not saying that I'm a prophet or a visionary or anything like that - actually my view back then on the potential of social media was a trifle more optimistic, but any tone of smugness detected here IS intentional- ha! :) Anyway, I thought it might be appropriate to revisit my thoughts on the subject back then. So here they are - probably in need of some modification in light of how social media and its use is unfolding:

The internet although widely used is still relatively uncharted territory for employees and employers. Exploring the unknown does carry some risk and this understandably makes people nervous.

For example. I am not and never have been a prospective employer so I am just imagining the following scenario:

Suppose you are an employer interviewing a prospective employee who tells you they are a blogger. Does this information make you worry about issues such as discretion and confidentiality and liability, not to mention "too much information" - ie) inadvertantly showing your hand to competitors or letting trade secrets slip out onto the internet? You may ask yourself, will this prospective employee be discreet and use good judgement? Is it even worth the risk?

These are real concerns. I remember a couple of years ago when I was working retail at our local mall. Our employer, a major retailer, told us to watch our conversations when we walked through the mall - particularly they didn't want other competitors to know too far ahead about upcoming promotions and sales. Now, carry that concern over to the internet and you can begin to see the problem ...

Moving on to the other perspective, that of the interviewee, say me, for instance, who in turn may be thinking ...

They asked me to bring a sample of my writing/web work. Should I even tell them about my blog? Will they trust me or will that make them nervous? I did write about cutting back on the job search while my husband recovered from open heart surgery - will they look elsewhere because I sound like I'm too old and too much of an insurance risk?

These worries are not so far-fetched - or are they? Faced with the unknown, one can't help but wonder...

But let's move to the other side of the balance sheet and consider some of the benefits of job-blogging.

It does allow you the blogger to offer another opportunity for prospective employers to get to know you under more candid circumstances than the formal interview. Certainly it gives employers a chance to observe you over a greater period of time. Also, a job blog can offer another source of information to employers to balance out the background checks and references and recommendations from previous employers. It certainly gives you an opportunity to answer and be heard. To have a voice.

Finally, because of the social nature of blogging and other online communication tools, you can offer employers the opportunity to see you at your best and at your worst when it comes to dealing with other people. Now what prospective employer wouldn't love to see that? :)

To employers I would say that because the internet is uncharted territory, we need people who are willing to get out there and explore and break new ground. So perhaps it's worth the risk? To those worried about trust issues, I would say that inherent in democracy is the belief that people are able to self-regulate and indeed function best that way. However, this also suggests that education, accountability, responsibility, and ethics should play a major role in a free society.

So ... to job blog or not to job blog?

Well, I'm not done with this topic but I am done with this post (for now at least). Can any of you think of additional risks and benefits of job blogging? I'd love to hear your perspective. In the meantime, happy Job-Hunting. It's a jungle out there! :)

JuneBug

Interview Crash or Refresher Courses?

Someone should come up with an online site of "crash courses" for interviews - not just interview skills but some basic refreshers for skills one might not have used in a while throughout a life long career or education path.

You know, like, "Ack! I have an interview on Wednesday and I need a memory jogger on ... SQL statements ... or Statistical methods ..." It's not that we may not know these things, it's a matter of having them at the tip of our tongues for an event like an interview.

WizIQ or Slideshare might be the ideal place for it. Or of course YouTube.

Happy Monday and Happy Job Searching!

JuneBug

Thanks to ARAW and UNDER COVER BOSS, I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!

To go along with the premiere of CBS's new reality series Under Cover Boss, American Rights at Work has started a site where you can sign a petition to Congress for the Employee Free Choice Act, and a blog where you can share your work experiences:

Fix Our Jobs

The comments are well worth reading! And sad. Not only have my long-held suspicions that I am not alone finally been confirmed, that if this had happened to me, it could well be happening to others (with no way of knowing), but in reading the comments I now realize the abuses are much more pervasive than I thought.

All I can say is in our passion and quest for democracy and personal liberty, let us not trade one form of tyranny for another. Let us not surrender our personal freedom to corporations and companies who have no respect for our lives and our values. Let us not turn over our destinies to those who can afford to limit our choices and to give all we grew up regarding as hallowed and precious to their children as a plaything.  Let us not be deceived by the incessant, hypocritical, droning lip-service paid to inclusiveness, fairness, quality, nondiscrimination, empowerment, and health by company after company after company who fail to live up to what they proclaim.

After all the fallout from the current recession, the million dollar bonuses, and the inflation of executive salaries and perks by percents in the thousands, kudos to CBS or someone for coming up with a reality show that actually shows some potential to make life better for people everywhere.

JuneBug

P.S. Equally as enlightening, ARAW has another tab on Fix Our Jobs where people can write in why they love their jobs

The Death of the Desktop in 2010? New Trends for ITers in Mobile, Cloud, and Thin-Client Computing

I've been leaning toward web and graphics these past few years as I think about enhancing my computer skills. These articles identify some emerging trends for IT job searchers in 2010 not the least of which are Electronic Medical Records and Social Computing:

Hot Technology Careers in 2010 - Mobile and Cloud from IT Job Cafe
Thin Clients are Roaring Back by Don Wilmott (this makes a lot of sense)

Junebug

Found a Good Article: Job Interview Problems and Solutions for Baby Boomers

Thanks to Mark Ste Marie from Interns Over 40 for a fine article!

Job Interview Problems and Solutions for Baby Boomers

This article articulates the challenges faced by older job-seekers so well - that alone is worth alot! It also comes up with some good suggestions.

Also a notable quote from Michael Greene of  JobSearchInfo.com:

"It isn't old age that causes lack of commitment, but old BELIEFS about experience and wisdom that causes companies to pass up highly talented individuals."

Thanks again!

JuneBug

Getting Your Name Off a Hiring Blacklist - WSJ.com

Getting Your Name Off a Hiring Blacklist - WSJ.com

Wow. This Wall Street Journal article (link above) popped up in my Twitter List and it's been a long time coming. I suspect that this problem doesn't just happen during the job hunt. As I discovered recently, it may also extend its ugly hand through the years to yank you away from a newly found job. Let me explain. I need to live and work in a certain geographic area. Almost ten years ago, I made a decision to stand up for my civil rights at a state university - that's after a 21-year-career at same said institution during which I earned steady promotions, salary increases, and two additional degrees. 


Leading one to believe the university valued my efforts as their employee. 

In return I believed I was working in an unparalleled place of opportunity, flexibility, growth, and service.

YouTube Blog: Your Questions for President Obama

Ah, the growing power and significance of Social Media ... Twitter ... Linked-In ... Facebook ... Flickr ... YouTube ... Blogger ... SlideShare ... I believe it trumped conventional politics to make all the difference in the past Presidential election! I marvel at how it's grown since I onboarded twelve years ago as an online message board poster in a fan community for a TV show called Prey. I eventually became a webmaster myself and set up various sites and message boards. I was so amazed when the desktop computer I got to do homework and balance the checkbook morphed into a powerful communication tool before my eyes. But that's another story...

Anyway, in investigating Social Media as a networking tool for my job hunt this new year, I came across these (unrelated) links & thought I'd share! YouTube is pretty excited about them and with good reason ...

• YouTube Blog: Your Questions for President Obama
• You Tube Users Grill Obama

 Enjoy!

JuneBug

On the Clock Advice

A lot of my posts - and a sub-theme of this blog - revolve around the job-hunt. When I got a job I thought it would be interesting to switch to on-the-job topics. But when you start a new job, you generally get very busy and ... well ... good intentions ... you know how that goes ...

Now I'm on the hunt again - but I did come across this helpful article by Mary Pratt from Computer World for those who are on the clock and I wanted to share it. The comments are pertinent too.

Your Tech Career: How to Cope with an Unsupportive Boss

Lately I've been reading a lot of career advice articles, and I frequently come across the observation or statistic that more people report being dissatisfied with their jobs than ever before. So I hope this will help those of you who are restless with your on-the-clock. :)

June Bug

People age 55-64 find it hard to rebound from unemployment, but are the wave of the future?

Yes! Someone FINALLY noticed! I knew I wasn't alone - that if this was happening to me, there were others out there grappling with a similar dilemma!


Check out this article tweeted by heymarci:


http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1421791.html


Thanks to reporter Cindy Krischer Goodman of the Miami Herald for noticing and for giving us a voice!

I lost a new job last April when I was 58. And while I have to accept some responsibility for allowing myself to be duped away from a two and a half year stable job to take a job that lasted only six weeks, shame shame shame on those who practice such irresponsible and hurtful hiring practices (all the while proclaiming they want to benefit community health and be seen as a premiere employer in the area)! I know it sounds harsh, but American workers are tiring of such corporate hypocrisy (and the growing wage disparities as well). After all, the only reason I started looking for a different job was because health care premiums had doubled, and I knew I had to find either a second job or more affordable benefits. But now, if it weren't for President Obama's ARRA discount, I wouldn't even have health care.

Seems as if management theory has been promoting more and more horrific management practices the past few year (and the propagators likely paid rather well, I might add) - but where do these ideas come from? In the eighties and nineties, participative management emerged as a management theory. It was both energizing and empowering. Along with more inclusive policies for women and minorities in the work place, it helped create opportunity, therefore it must have indirectly fostered economic growth. Like the GI Bill after World War II, it built the confidence of a generation. It encouraged exploration and new ideas. And then it disappeared. What ever happened to it? Of late, I really wonder if managers are turning to reality tv shows as their models. If this is truly the case, it does not improve life in the American workplace, needless to say, but rather seems just another way in the popular trend to be outrageous.

But perhaps I digress. Ageism is an age-old issue and it has touched all groups, whether privileged or marginalized. When I encounter ageism in the workplace, I just think, "May you also be blessed with health and long life. And don't you know you're looking at your future   - and don't you want to make it better?" And when that person is actually my age or older and hasn't a clue, I think, "There but for the grace of God go ...."

I hope we can get back on track and make the work place a better place for all Americans to work for future generations. A good place to start may be to join organizations like American Rights at Work (araw) and to support the Employee Free Choice Act. As well as putting some checks and balances on the abilities of individuals, corporations, and I suppose whole industries to buy our elected officials. Sigh. We have enough of that already. The current disparity of wealth in some cases is such that a single business entity or individual could "trump" the wishes of a whole democracy. And historically, human nature seems to favor the odds that they will. And if they do, will we still be truly free?

The second half of the title of Cindy's piece (that we may also be the wave of the future) is definitely more upbeat and hopeful - and that should give us incentive. :)




JuneBug