Serhat Sine

A Story About Motivation | by Peter Bregman

7 Feb 2010

I was walking back to our apartment in Manhattan, the hood of my jacket pulled tight to keep the rain out, when I saw an older man with a walker struggle to descend the slippery stairs of his building. When he almost fell, I and several others went over to help.

There was an Access-A-Ride van (a Metropolitan Transit Authority vehicle for people with disabilities) waiting for him. The driver was inside, warm and dry, as he watched us straining to help his passenger cross the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

Then he opened the window and yelled over the sound of the rain coming down, “He might not be able to make it today.”

“Hold on,” we yelled (there were five of us now) as we helped the man move around the back of the van, “he can make it.”

Traffic on 84th street had stopped. We caught the man from falling a few times, hoisted him back up, and finally got him to the van door, which the driver then opened from the inside to reveal a set of stairs. The man with the walker would never make it.

“What about your side door, the one with the electric lift?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” the driver answered, “hold on.” He put his coat over his head, came out in the rain with the rest of us, and operated the lift.

Once the man with the walker was in safely, we all began to move away when the driver opened the window one more time and yelled, “Thanks for your help.”

So, here’s my question: Why will five strangers volunteer to help a man they don’t know in the pouring rain — and think about the electric lift themselves — while the paid driver sat inside and waited?

Perhaps the driver is simply a jerk? Perhaps. But I don’t think so. Once we suggested the lift, he didn’t resist or complain, he came outside and did it immediately. And he wasn’t obnoxious either. When he thanked us for our help, he seemed sincere.

Maybe it’s because the driver is not permitted to leave the vehicle? I checked the MTA website to see if there was policy against drivers assisting passengers. On the contrary, it states “As long as the driver doesn’t lose sight of the vehicle and is not more than 100 feet away from it, the driver can assist you to and from the vehicle, help you up or down the curb or one step and assist you in boarding the vehicle.”

Cont. >>>

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Tags: Communication, Leadership Development, Managing yourself, motivation

The Day I Didn’t Become CEO | by David Silverman

In: Biz| Communication

6 Feb 2010

This is the first in a series of stories from CEOs of their most
life-changing day in their careers. Sometimes the result was promotion
to the upper reaches of business, and sometimes a steep fall from grace.
But good or bad, the events of these days represent defining moments in
their lives and characters and serve as lessons to the rest of us who
rarely, if ever, get to see what the view is like from the top.

“I don’t know about terrible days, I’ve never really had one of
those,” Richard Charkin said to me over the phone. He was in France, at
his family’s summer home, making eggs and toast for his grandchildren. I
was in New York, and as usual on long phone calls, pacing about my
small kitchen.

Richard is a Director of Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc, which everyone knows because they were the first to
publish the
Harry Potter books, but he likes to remind me that they have a wide
variety of wonderful authors that he is honored to represent, including
not just J.K.
Rowling, but also Michael Ondaatje (The
English Patient), Ben Schott (Schott’s
Original Miscellany), Khaled Hosseini (A
Thousand Splendid Suns) Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat
Pray Love) and Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen
Confidential).

I’d first met him electronically. He was the CEO of Macmillan
Publishers at the time and was writing a blog that was daring for two
notable features. First, he
wrote about hijacking a laptop from a Google booth at a trade show
in order to demonstrate his feelings about how Google was lifting book
content and making it freely available. Second, he wrote every day. I
still don’t know how he managed that.

When he was 39, he was up for consideration for the “best publishing job
in the world” — CEO of Oxford University Press Worldwide.
Richard had the credentials, having been involved in the development of
the first electronic version of the legendary Oxford English Dictionary
and thirteen years of loyal and successful service in various parts of
the Press, but he was worried that there might be concern that his
relative youth would allow him to stay in the job for up to 25 years,
thus blocking career development for others.

The head of the CEO search committee was a professor of physics from
the University itself. He didn’t know very much about publishing, but he
was reckoned to be a clever “committee man” and “a safe pair of hands.”
So Richard called up the professor and said, “I don’t want to cause
other people’s careers to be stuck. If I were to get the job and a
ten-year contract, I’d happily leave at the end and make room for
someone else.”

Soon after, the decision was made, and the only person who could
possibly run Oxford University Press was — the professor of physics
himself, who said he was as surprised as everyone else to have unearthed
this fact.

Afterwards, he visited Richard to “cheer me up and to make sure I
understood his reasoning for not selecting me.”

Cont. >>>

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Tags: Business writing, Career planning, CEO, Managing yourself

The Art And Science Of The Email Signature | By Kat Neville

In: Tips & Tricks

4 Feb 2010

Email signatures are so easy to do well, that it’s really a shame how often they’re done poorly. Many people want their signature to reflect their personality, provide pertinent information and more, but they can easily go overboard. Why are email signatures important? They may be boring and the last item on your list of things to get right, but they affect the tone of every email you write.

Email signatures contain alternative contact details, pertinent job titles and company names, which help the recipient get in touch when emails are not responded to. Sometimes, they give the recipient an idea of who wrote the email in case it has been a while since they have been in touch. They are also professional: like a letterhead, they show that you run a business (in some countries, you’re required to do so). Here are some tips on how to create a tasteful signature that works.

[Offtopic: by the way, do you know the Smashing Network has its own Smashing Network RSS Feed? Only excerpts are displayed in the feed.]

Be Concise

First and foremost, the sender’s header (the “From” field) should have a name, and you should use a company email address if you can. If someone sees stevies747@hotmail.com, they’ll suspect it’s spam. If the sender’s header reads, “Steve Stevenson – Mister Stevenson Design Company” <steve@misterstevenson.com>, they’ll know it’s a professional email from Steve, their trusted designer.

Start by making your website a link. Many email clients convert email addresses and websites into links automatically, but not always. When you’re creating the HTML for an email, make sure the link will appear by adding writing it in HTML. And instead of linking text like “My website,” type out the URL, which will be useful for those who want to copy and paste the address.

An email signature shouldn’t double the email’s length, so make it as short as possible (three lines is usually enough). Don’t get into your life story here. The purpose of a signature is to let them see who you are and how to get in touch with you.

Make Sure to Include…

Your name,
Your company and position,
How to get in touch with you.

No need to include 10 different ways to get in touch with you. As in website design, less is more; and then they’ll know which way you prefer to be contacted. Go to two or three lines, with a maximum of 72 character per line (many email applications have a maximum width of 80 characters, so limit the length to avoid unsightly wrapping). An optional fourth line could be your company address, but use caution if you work from home.

Short and Concise, but Check the Rules

In some European countries, laws dictate what items you must put in your email signature if you are a registered company. For example, UK law requires private and public limited companies to include the following:

Company number,
Address of registration,
VAT number, if there is one.

You can be fined for not including this information on all electronic correspondence and on your website and stationary. Many freelancers and small businesses have ignored these rules since their inception, risking a fine. For more information on UK rules, go here. Do some research to find out what rules apply in your country.

Don’t Include…

Cont. >>>

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Tags: Business, email signature, tips, tricks

Ten Job Hunting Myths | By Erin Burt

In: CV - Resume

2 Feb 2010

The job market is improving. A recent study from the National
Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers plan to hire
13% more new college grads this year than last year — with business,
engineering and computer fields taking top priority.

That’s good news if you or someone you know is preparing to make the
move from library stacks to a corporate cubicle. But it doesn’t mean the
perfect job will just fall in your lap. And misconceptions about job
hunting, the working world and the entry-level employee’s role can
easily bog down a young professional’s progress.

Improve your chances of finding your dream job. Don’t get sucked into
these ten common job-hunting myths:

1 | Finding a job after college will be quick and easy

Although the job market for this year’s college grads looks rosier
than last year, don’t expect the job offers to come rolling in. Finding
work may be a cinch for a select few, but for the vast majority, it will
still take serious effort.

The length of your hunt will depend on a variety of factors,
including:

The job market
Your location
Your qualifications
The amount of time you dedicate to your search
Your interviewing skills
The types of resources you use to find job openings

If it takes a while, don’t get discouraged. The average job search
lasts four months, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and
Christmas. To make ends meet in the meantime, you may have to take a
less glamorous (and lower-paying) gig. A few of my friends have worked
in call centers, flipped burgers or cleaned toilets for a couple months
after graduation — just until they landed a job where they could use
their degree.

2 | The Internet is the best place to look for a job

“One of the most prevalent misconceptions in job hunting is that job
hunting on the Web is some magic elixir that will result in employers
lining up to interview you,” says Randall Hansen, associate professor of
marketing at Stetson University and publisher of Quintessential
Careers.

While the Internet should probably make up one component of your
search, says Hansen, it shouldn’t be your only strategy. Only about 15%
to 20% of all job openings are ever publicly advertised in any medium,
and only about 5% of job seekers end up getting jobs through ads, Hansen
says.

How does everyone else do it? Word of mouth.

“Networking is by far the most effective job-search tool you can
use,” Hansen says. When you’re first starting out, you probably don’t
know many people in your field that can help in your job hunt, so this
can present a challenge. But there are plenty of ways beginners can plug
into the grapevine:

Check out the resources offered by your college alumni association.
Join a professional organization or club.
Subscribe to a trade magazine.
Consider getting an internship.
Find online discussion groups for your industry though groups.google.com.
Set up informational
interviews with experts in your field
Keep in touch with college acquaintances in your major, especially
those who may have graduated before you.

The Internet may not be a total bust — I found my first job out of
college through an online journalism job board. But taking the time to
weave a web of professional contacts could create more opportunities for
you now and enhance your career options down the road.

Learn how to use
the Web productively in your job hunt.

3 | I’ll make at least $40,000 at my first job out of college

Cont >>>

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Tags: cv, headhunter, headhunting, Job, resume

NoNeed2ArgueAbout # 3 | TorProject

In: NoNeed2ArgueAbout

1 Feb 2010

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.

Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location. Tor works with many of your existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.

D/L Page
4 more >>>

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Tags: NoNeed2ArgueAbout, secure networking, security, Tor

Top Interview Blunders

In: Biz| CV - Resume

28 Jan 2010

About five years ago I was directly in charge of interviewing and hiring employees. I have since changed companies twice and am no longer involved in the interview process. However, I was thinking about all of the hilarious war stories on the front lines of the employment front.

Articles on the internet on how to do great in a job interview are a dime a dozen. Colleges and high schools go over ways to prepare for and ace an interview. And all of this is for good reason… job interviews are incredibly important. However, people still don’t pay attention to the mountains of advice.

Interview

The Casual Luncher

My girlfriend loves food. I am Italian, so my whole family loves food. I love food (but not nearly as much as the aforementioned people). I get it… food rocks.

The company that I was interviewing people for held on-campus interviews through the Office of Career Management to make it easier on everyone. When the candidate showed up, it seemed like everything was going great. I thought nothing of the fact that the interviewee had brought his backpack as that is common since people schedule the interviews between classes sometimes.

However, things got weird when he reached down and unzipped his backpack halfway through the interview.

What did he bring out? A deli sandwich, a bag of combos, and a bottle of soda. And he started eating his lunch while interviewing. I was polite and finished the interview, but he did NOT get a call back.

I get it, you have a bunch of classes and an interview so you have no time for lunch. Eat in your classes. Eat before the interview. Even better, eat after the interview and avoid bad breath and food in your teeth. But for the love of God, do NOT eat during the interview!

The Trash Talker

When interviewing, everyone assumes you had gripes with your past employer. It is common and completely understandable. However, the time to air these issues is NOT during the interview.

I was in an interview with a junior in college. They were interviewing for an internship and, just like in the above case, were looking very promising. They had worked for a company for the past few years, so I asked them why they decided to leave after putting so much time in.

Their initial answer was great. They explained that they had learned so much from the job but felt they were growing in a different direction. They wanted to try out a different industry that offered them more excitement and the ability to apply their knowledge in a less structured manner. Great, I thought… I was looking for a candidate that was able to think on their toes!

Unfortunately for him, though, he got nervous that there was silence and kept on talking. Silence can really rattle a candidate and make them say or do things they would otherwise never dream of doing! He went on to talk about how a new boss had just come to the company who was an absolute idiot. He was putting policies into place that the interviewee did not agree with.

We chose to disqualify him from our application process. Why? One of the most effective ways to find good candidates is through word of mouth marketing. Would I rather hire a cocky junior in college who may just bad mouth our company (and our brand) once he leaves or someone who would speak better of us once they leave? And besides, he started making me wonder if it was the boss who was the idiot, or him.

The Money Grubber

What if the first thing you saw when you came to my site was, “SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG!!” Before giving you any reason to subscribe, any content to show that I am worthwhile, any back story of why you should follow me… I ask you to dedicate yourself to me. That seems backwards.

Well, enter this nice young lady who is interviewing for an entry level marketing position. I would later find out that she has the sense of entitlement that many people claim is a product of Generation Y.

She seems like she is interested in the job, she is nodding along as I talk. She answers the questions I ask very well. About midway through the interview I give her an opening to really impress. I ask, “Do you have any questions for me at this moment?” This could have allowed her to ask some really good questions relating to the company, the industry, trends, and a number of other questions… but what did she ask?

What’s the pay for this job? And how do raises work?

Ouch. I quickly finished the rest of the interview, skimming over things I normally took a little longer to discuss. She asked a question that took her directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

The Lady of the Night

A common saying in regards to careers is “dress for the job that you want, not the one you have.” Quite simply it means that you should dress up a level rather than risk looking underdressed for the job you are applying for. If it is a job you hold, instead of wearing jeans and a polo, you could wear khakis and a polo to show that you are a little more serious about the job.

If the girl I was interviewing believed in the saying, then she must have thought she was interviewing for a Corporate Prostitute job. Seriously. Short skirt, tight low cut shirt, bra slightly showing.

On one hand I wanted to give her the marketing job to increase employee morale, but then my professional side told me that was stupid to wear that to an interview and she lacked judgment.

I wound up not giving her a job for obvious reasons.

Any Humorous Additions?

Does anyone have any good additions to this list of four HUGE interview blunders?

Sometimes people learn from their mistakes the best, so I am glad to be part of the above four peoples learning experience. I am sure they went on to become great interviewers!

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Tags: campus interviews, Career, career management, interviewee, job interview

CCNP Certification Exams are changing. Say Hello to TSHOOT ! (Finally)

In: IT

28 Jan 2010

1st of,here is the video >>>

Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP®) validates the ability to plan, implement, verify and troubleshoot local and wide-area enterprise networks and work collaboratively with specialists on advanced security, voice, wireless and video solutions. The CCNP certification is appropriate for those with at least one year of networking experience who are ready to advance their skills and work independently on complex network solutions. Those who achieve CCNP have demonstrated the skills required in enterprise roles such as network technician, support engineer, systems engineer or network engineer.

Find out more about changes to CCNP certification announced on January 25, 2010 and use our CCNP exam combination tool to show which additional exams are required, based on the exams you’ve already passed.

CCNP syllabus

Partners: Log in for Partner E-Learning Connection (PEC) learning map

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Tags: ccnp, cisco, engineer, network, thoot, Video

Six Ways to Find Social Media Talent | by David Armano

In: Communication

27 Jan 2010

As organizations move their social media strategies from theory to practice, they discover a difficult truth they must confront: Finding the “perfect” social media talent is practically impossible.

To start, the field is flooded with thousands of self proclaimed “experts” who have reinvented themselves to take advantage what looks like a growing business opportunity. Maybe they do know social media, but many don’t. They need to be vetted.

More broadly, most candidates for social media positions fall at the ends of a spectrum. On one end is the person who really gets it and has deep expertise in social media, but lacks the potential to plug into your business culture. On the other end, there is the candidate with plenty of practical professional experience who will fit in easily with your culture, but who maybe doesn’t have deep social media experience.

Ideally you’d find the candidate in the middle of that spectrum, but that’s proving to be a remarkably rare individual. Trust me, I’m in the middle of a job search for this person and it’s a time-consuming, intensive effort.

But in the process of hiring, I’ve learned some ways to help move the hiring process forward to attract some of the best and brightest emerging talent at all levels. Here are six emerging practices for hiring social media talent.

Cont. >>>

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Tags: advise, facebook, friendfeed, SocialMedia, twitter

How to Quit a Job… Forever | by Jason Seiden

In: Biz| Communication

25 Jan 2010

Out here, there’s no prize for playing nice. Anyone who’s been screwed in a divorce settlement can tell you that. No, when it’s time to go, you get the hell out of there, as boldly and as selfishly as possible. And if there’s blood, so be it. People will understand. They know that whatever you said during your breakup, you were probably didn’t mean it. Or that you did mean it but not to the extreme that you said it. Or that you meant it fully because your ego just took a beating and you’re emotional. People get it.

If they don’t, they’ll get over it.

U must read !!!

4 more >>>

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Design and Build Email Newsletters Without Losing Your Mind (and Soul)

In: News

23 Jan 2010

“We really love this new website you’ve built! Now we’d like to send out an email to all of our customers, friends and anyone, and it should look exactly like the website except with a spinning mailbox at the bottom, and have my photo, and my cat’s photo…” Ever had that conversation with a client? You’ve built plenty of websites in your time and could knock off a blog template in your sleep, but HTML email? Seriously? HTML email has the reputation (often well deserved) of being a horrible design medium.

The mere mention of it sends some designers into physical shock (try it if you ever get stuck in a tedious conversation about XHTML vs. HTML 5). The truth remains that businesses and individuals the world over send and receive email in HTML format by default every day, and many of them genuinely prefer it to plain text. So designers have a choice. We can stick our fingers in our ears, cover our eyes and hope it all goes away or we can learn to make the best of a challenging design medium and produce something that raises the quality level a bit.

This article gives you the information you need to plan, design and build an HTML newsletter that renders well and is actually useful to recipients. It’s a quick and dirty guide to effective email newsletters.

If you’d like to get started right now, here are the cheat notes to get you on the right track. Read on for more detail, examples and resources.