How to Turn Your Ideas Into Career Opportunities (Pt. 2) Building Your Future Now

How to Turn Your Ideas Into Career Opportunities (Pt. 2) Building Your Future Now Do you feel that you will have a better chance of success if you do your own thing? Many people feel this way but never really do what they need to doand means getting out of your comfort zone and finally realizing that idea that you have rattling around in your brain. That idea can be very valuable to you and society! You dont have to necessarily quit your 9 to 5 job to start making your idea(s) into reality. Take spare time and weekends to build it and see if its viable. If this idea works maybe entrepreneurship is the correct career path for you! And remember even if you try to build on your idea (perhaps into a business) and if things dont work outthis is an important lesson you can learn from. Companies, future partners and other entrepreneurs always look at entrepreneurs who have at least given it their all despite not succeeding is in itself a victory for your career in whatever you want to pursue. Real world experience is always welcomed! Image: Colinoob

Why Your Recruiter Cant Find Good Talent

Why Your Recruiter Can’t Find Good Talent There’s no question the software industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and with it comes a need for top software talent. As a result, the recruitment industry has grown dramatically, and over time, has come to require more complicated tools (from the likes of LinkedIn and more) that make it easier to track down candidates. Yet this evolution has become a double-edged sword, as it has created an industry plagued by non-technical “headhunters” who rely on “spray and pray” techniques to find the needles in the haystacks. Sounds peachy right? Well, maybe not for one important side of this equation. Today’s technical talent is faced with a barrage of unsolicited, unpersonalized and poorly targeted emails that seems to be pissing them off. Some report up to  12 emails and voicemails a day, and others are even  contacted through their work phonesâ€" all by headhunters they have never talked to, and seemingly don’t even take the time to look at their CV. If  isn’t always as easy as it sounds I currently have no desk-phone in my current role. This is deliberate. I do not want to be cold-called by recruiters. And yet, that doesnt work. They continue to wheedle their way through our receptionist (being discreet) trying to get hold of me. Including one fishing for more information by pretending to have a package addressed to me that needs to be delivered at a specific unspecified time. This continual harrassment is the same as spam. Unsolicited commercial approach that only benefits the sender. And so in my eyes, these recruiters are no better than spammers. Just more annoying because they dont limit themselves to email. So while your company may be working with a recruiter, there’s a big question of whether they’re actually attracting or repelling the best talent, all while representing your company. There are however a few like Scott Ruthfield who do seem to get it, Any success weve had recruiting in Seattle has come from building long-term relationships with candidates and companies, doing deep technical and culture-fit dives, and listening closely, not just talking. The recruiters that seem to attract developers actually cultivate relationships, but they still need better technology because while today the divide between supply and demand is bad, tomorrow it will be worse. With such a lack of efficiency, it’s not hard to imagine that the recruiting industry could even be largely displaced by 2020 by more effective means. “Social recruiting” is a hot topic today, and many companies focus on media channels such as twitter, facebook, hackathons and blogging. Perhaps more potent is another strategy in this vein where companies reward their employees for actively recruiting talent to their company through their own social channels. The idea that you could pay $3k to an employee for finding that candidate rather than $30k to a recruiter is not lost on companies today, nor is it lost on a few startups actively  trying to create structure around this interaction. Not only is it more cost effective, it’s widely known that the best filter for candidates is existing developers, both for their technical and cultural analysis. The trend across the board appears to be that creating environments in which technical talent is actively engaged with the process. My prediction is that as the signal to noise ratio recruiters and developers face will worsen, and their relationship will continue to degrade unless the talent discovery and targeting software evolves to become more effective. Tomorrow’s recruiting industry will be run by fewer, more efficient recruiters with a personalized touch and technical background. Their discovery and targeting will be powered not through algorithms processing stale information from passive candidates, but by services that talent actively engages with to indicate interest in problem spaces and companies. As for the recruiters sullying your company’s good name and ticking off the talent? They’ll be long gone. Maybe then our developers’ inboxes and phones will finally be safe. Be sure to also check out  Social Media in Recruitment How Far is Too Far? Manny Medina is the CEO of  GroupTalent,  a platform that matches employers and developers.  Follow Manny on Twitter @GroupTalent. Image: Shutterstock

Optimist or Pessimist

Optimist or Pessimist The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.      Winston Churchill Is your glass half empty or half full?   It may matter to your career success more than you think.     Scholars have linked optimism to career success in several studies.   They also link the quality attachment â€" your emotional security in the face of change or distress â€" as an indicator of your effectiveness at work and perhaps at finding a job.   We’re all familiar with optimism, which can come in two forms: innate and learned.   Some of us are just born optimistic; we believe that things usually turn out well.   Our innate optimism is either reinforced, or tempered by, our experience.   If things tend to turn out well, we continue to believe that they will, based on past experiences.   Experts believe that optimists stay focused on projects longer in the face of setbacks, because they believe that their efforts will make a difference in the positive outcome.   Pessimists, on the other hand, may give up more easily and approach challenges with hesitation and doubt because they generally don’t think that effort will make that much of a difference in the outcome. Pessimists are more risk-averse than optimists; they fear â€" and expect â€" more failures.   Their negative expectations color their view of data, trends and performance, making them a challenge for optimists, who may see the data or event in an entirely different light.   Neither group may see their response as an emotional one; to each, the evidence is obvious and their view is simply based on the facts.   Optimism tends to be devalued in business; pessimism is generally regarded as the more prudent approach to any problem.   The optimist’s success is often attributed to luck or chance, and people tend to remember bad outcomes more vividly than happy ones.   This chasm between optimists and pessimists can be career ending.   If your boss is an optimist and you are a pessimist, you’ll be perceived as a drag on good ideas, and may find yourself marginalized from any real contribution.   If your boss is a pessimist and you’re the optimist, you’ll be reminded often about the dangers of “irrational exuberance,” which essentially covers all exuberance in a pessimist’s mind. Can you change your behavior if you tend to be overly optimistic or pessimistic?   There are changes you can make to help you balance your world view.   Experts define the difference between a pessimist’s and optimist’s world views as the following.   When faced with a negative event (say your boss didn’t like the report you submitted), if you’re an optimist, you perceive explain it as Temporary, Specific, and External (TSE).    â€œThe boss is having a bad day; tomorrow he’ll have reconsidered.” (Temporary) “He’s liked everything else I did on this project so far â€" this is just a blip.” (Specific to this event) “The boss is overly concerned about budget projections because he was warned about going over budget on another project recently.” (External: it’s not me â€" it’s him) Pessimists, on the other hand, explain negative events with a Permanent, Pervasive, and Personal (PPP) approach.   “The boss will never believe I can get this right.” (Permanent)   “I’ll never be considered for promotion after this.” (Pervasive: one bad event ruins everything) “I’m an idiot.” (Personal: absorbing the criticism and adding it to your self image) Overly pessimistic people give up before they try, while an overly optimistic person may not always listen to helpful criticism or spend as much time planning or imagining consequences.   A balanced world view means that you can prepare for the worst while continuing to hope for the best.