Two Web Portal-Related Job Openings

Seek posted a couple of excellent job openings today.

The first is for a Business Analyst - Portal Projects:

This role will ideally suit an experienced hands on business analyst with solid knowledge in the area of large web portal projects. Ideally you will have had previous experience in portal projects in various corporate environments.

The second is for a Business Analyst - Web Systems Solutions:

Our client is recognised as one of the fastest growing and progressive consultancy firms in the market.  Due to multiple recent project wins, it requires the services of an experienced Business Analyst to contribute to solution design to their work environment. In this position you will be responsible for translating vision and concepts into functionality and design of web systems.

Long-term, you'll be exposed to a wide range of projects in a consulting capacity, and enjoy all the career opportunities of working for a large and growing professional firm.

Both are from the same recruitment firm (Acumen Alliance) and both sound really good since this is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing once I graduate. However, I'm not sure which of the two positions I'd apply for since the former is web portal specific while the latter is more of a general web consulting role. I'm leaning towards the latter though, technically, I have more experience for the former. I'd probably discuss it in more detail with the recruiter before going for either (or both!).

Even though I'm just over three months away from finishing my MBA, I'm very tempted to call Paul Marcon (the recruiter handling the consulting role) and talk to him anyway. I'll discuss these two roles and also ask about other, similar roles that his firm might be advertising in the future. I wonder if I should.

Should You Get an MBA?

CIO published three interesting articles today:

  1. Should You Get an MBA? by Meridith Levinson
  2. 10 Reasons Why You Should Get an MBA by Thomas MacKay
  3. Six Reasons Not to Get an MBA by James Clark

As you can probably guess, the articles discuss the reasons why technology people -- specifically those who eventually want to be CIOs -- should or shouldn't get an MBA. Levinson writes in her introductory article:

With all the weight companies are placing on needing business-savvy IT leaders, IT professionals who don't already have the prestigious degree are considering obtaining it. [...]

[IT professionals worry] that not having an MBA will eliminate them from job opportunities and severely limit their prospects for career growth. [...] But many IT professionals remain resistant because earning the degree requires so much time and money. [...]

To help you figure out what's best for you, CIO.com invited two IT professionals to weigh in on the MBA debate — one on each side.

Since I am four months away from completing my MBA, you can also guess that I would tend to agree with MacKay. In fact, some of the posts I've written here have demonstrated what he talks about in his article:

An MBA teaches you to look at problems and opportunities holistically. It also provides analytical frameworks, such as risk assessments, cost-benefit analyses and strategic plans, that you can apply to any problem or opportunity you encounter, whether in or beyond IT. The business mindset that an MBA gives you becomes habit because you use those frameworks repeatedly in a rigorous academic environment, and you see how they can be applied in a variety of situations from one course to another.

Clark also makes some valid points. These include problems with the time, money, and effort required to complete the degree. He also talks about the difference between learning in an academic setting versus learning hands-on. "I get more out of doing than studying", he says. While that is true to an extent, I think sometimes the opposite is also correct. As I wrote in  my MBA application essays: "doing an MBA is [the smarter option for me right now] since I will be more focused, more determined, and will have prioritised my life around learning instead of earning." Of course, a prerequisite for thinking that was is to not be concerned about "earning" for the duration of your MBA.

In my opinion, the path you choose will depend on your natural business acumen, where you are in your career at that time, which company you work for, and what you preferred method of learning is. For example, you might have good natural managerial abilities, be working under a great leader or mentor, be working at a company that helps develop its employees' abilities, and be someone who learns quickly in a hands-on environment. In that case, you are not likely to need an MBA.

If your situation is different -- in some cases, even slightly -- the MBA might be exactly what you need. It's all on a case-by-case basis, I think. Recruiters know that as well, which is why not having an MBA doesn't eliminate you from the running for most managerial positions. On the other hand, having an MBA does tell your potential employer a bit about the breadth and depth of knowledge that you possess -- and that can't be a bad thing.

Job Opening: Strategy Planner

What do you know? I wrote about strategy jobs yesterday and today IT Wire published a Business Analyst / Strategy Planner job posting:

An internationally recognised organisation is seeking the talents of a Business Analyst / Strategy Planner for a high profile project.

Responsibilities: (1) Documenting and developing business process models; (2) Designing and developing comprehensive financial model that would support business analysis and decision making; (3) Leading workshops to gather data; (4) Presenting findings to senior management.

Deliverables: (1) Financial Model development; (2) Business Process Analysis; (3) Workshop planning and participation; (4) Report preparation.

Desired Experience: (1) Financial modeling (Advanced MS Excel and Visual Basic); (2) Business process design; (3) Financial analysis skills; (4) Team player; (5) Ability to think strategically; (6) Superior communication.

This is great. This job posting tells me that (a) strategy jobs of the kind suited to my skill set are available and (b) since the posting was on IT Wire, the company is probably looking for someone like me as well.

Now if only I would graduate quickly so that I can actually start applying for these jobs!

How the MBA has Changed My Life

It's funny when you catch yourself unconsciously and automatically applying the stuff you've learnt in the MBA. That happened to me a couple of days ago when I dreamt that, instead of going for a Internet- or technology-based career, I'd gone ahead and bought myself a second-hand bookshop in Carlton. (Dreams and conveniently devoid of explanations, aren't they?)

The dream itself was short and my most vivid image from it was walking in through the bookshop's front door into a place that looked like a cosy, old-style study/library/reading room and thinking, "Wow, I own this now!" I'm pretty sure that, in response, my conscious brain commented, "And how the heck did that happen?"

Soon after my dream, I stirred and, in that half-awake, half-asleep state, I realized that I had automatically started doing a full-fledged analysis of the business. I remember wondering about:

  • Revenue streams -- which new ones I was going to add
  • Profit margins -- trying to figure out which revenue stream would bring the business the most profit
  • Inventory and inventory management -- which types of books were the most profitable, what their turnover was, whether I should move into selected first-hand books as well, etc.
  • Plans for expansion -- in the first phase I was going to add wireless Internet and a small, self-service kitchenette/cafe in the corner
  • Marketing plans -- customer surveys, flyers, word of mouth, sponsored events, starting a reading club, partnerships, etc.
  • Industry analysis -- figure out which industry I was in (second-hand books), whether I wanted to be in any other industry or industries (coffee shop, retail bookstore, Internet cafe, community venue, etc.), who my competitors were and what were they doing, etc.

And so on. I've written all this down not to show off all that you learn in the MBA degree, but because I'd actually gone ahead -- quite automatically -- and mentally prepared this analysis and was, in my dream, getting ready to carry it out!

Fortunately, the realization that I'd done all this startled me awake more fully, at which point I rolled my eyes (thinking: "great -- now I'm doing this in my sleep!"), turned over, and went back to sleep.

I wonder, though, whether this was a divine hint telling me to ditch all my technology-related dreams and get into the nitty-gritty of running a bookshop (something I'd love to do, by the way). Whether it was or not, at the very least I got a blog entry out of it.

Career Pathways to a Strategy Role

When I think of the kind of job I want to be doing a few years from now, the word 'strategy' inevitable comes up. And since I want to work on the web (or portal) side of things, the role I'm looking for turns up in different departments in different companies.

In some companies, the IT department is in charge of the website (both its operations and strategy aspects) while in others it's the marketing department (handling mostly strategy). In companies that are all about the web, strategy is often managed by a interdisciplinary team or specialized department. Non-tech companies, on the other hand, often hire consultants that might work on web/portal strategy as part of a broader business strategy analysis.

What this means for me is that I need to keep my eyes open for all sorts of different roles because there are so many different career pathways to a 'strategy role' (whatever that might mean).

Job Opening: Web Analyst in Digital Media

I came across one such pathway today (via Seek and Xpand) which is a position on the web tracking and analysis team of a leading technology and online company:

You will be working with a range of:

    Measurement tools such as: Omniture & Nielsen

    Data sources such as: Hitwise & Roy Morgan

To be right for this role you do not have to have [necessarily] used any of these tools but at least tracked web [usage] in some way and have a strong understanding of data.

You will be delivering reports on usage of sites, forecasting usage and contribute to strategy by understanding market and user behaviour. 

To be considered you will ideally be tertiary qualified in either a marketing or business related field.  You must be able to use [Excel] to an advanced level and will possess general [familiarity] with the Internet and web-based technologies.

This is a marketing department role that involves plenty of number crunching, the results of which are then translated into a business strategy. It also has "potential for career progression", which is really good.

Of course, I can't apply for this job. Even though it doesn't have a closing date, the company is unlikely to want someone who can't start before the 2nd of May. On the positive side, at least it's good know that there are plenty of interesting jobs out there.

Apple & Netflix: Different Markets for Online Rentals

Saul Hansell wrote a good, "hold your horses, there"-type article in the New York Times on the apparent all-out war between Netflix and Apple's online movie rental offerings. In the article he explains that, while both are technically in the online movie rental business, they actually cater to different markets: Netflix concentrates on having a large collection of older movies as an add-on to its DVD rental business while Apple is going after the latest releases and is positioning itself as an alternative to DVD rentals. And, though there is an overlap, for the time being both companies should be happy in their own niches.

Of course, there's also the issue that Netflix's service doesn't work on the Mac while iTune's service works on any OS as well as on Apple's portable media devices (Apple TV, iPod, etc.). Again, that's not too much of an issue since they are catering to different markets. People who rent DVDs are probably not the type who'd want to watch a movie on their tiny iPod screens. Of course, Netflix is still missing out on the small proportion of users who own only a Mac, but I guess adding a Mac-compatible offering of an already add-on service isn't all that high in its list of priorities.

Apple & Netflix: Online Movie Rentals

So a couple of fun things have happened in the online media landscape over the last few days.

First, in anticipation of the announcement that everyone was expecting from Steve Jobs during his Macworld keynote address, Netflix ditched its online movie viewing quota. Steve O'Hear from Last100 explains what that means:
As of today, all subscribers except those on the most basic two DVDs per-month plan will be given unlimited access to the 6,000+ movies available as part of Netflix’s Internet streaming option, dubbed "Watch Instantly". Previously, subscribers were offered a limited number of Internet viewing hours based on which DVD rental plan they were on.

This is really cool, especially since Netflix has a subscription model and doesn't charge on a per-movie basis.

Second, as expected, Steve Jobs announced Apple's entry into the online movie downloads space during his keynote address yesterday. To see how this stacks up against Netflix's model, O'Hear compared the two based on (1) content, (2) pricing, and (3) convenience.

Each offering has its pros and cons: Neither has the upper hand in content, Netflix has better pricing (subscription model), while Apple has greater convenience (great hardware-software coupling and the ability to watch the downloaded movie on multiple devices). Of course, both are still limited by telecommunications infrastructure (especially Apple's movies-in-HD offering for Apple TV) and the reluctance of movie studios to fully embrace the online rental concept. And though the market for online movie rentals is still small, it is growing (thanks, in part, to the writer's strike).

So, at this time, it's not clear how things will go. What I do know is that 2008 should be a fun year in online movie rentals.

Summer Job at MBS

It's official: I have a summer job. I signed my contract and started work yesterday morning.

The job is at MBS, in the Information Services (IS) team of the Information and Technology Services (ITS) Department, and is a 6-8 week casual position. The best part is that it's in my exact area of interest: web portals.

MBS is in the process of upgrading its intranet offering by unifying all of its semi-independent student, staff, alumni, admissions, careers, etc. portals into one single, central, advanced portal system. I've been hired to do some advisory work in the content and content governance areas of the student portal, which is the first one being incorporated into the new system. The work that I do will probably also be replicated for the other sections as they get added.

It's funny working-working at MBS: it's all very familiar, yet completely different (particularly since I now have a dedicated work space and no longer have to look for room in the library or in a syndicate room!). Importantly, though, the work is good (and, being a student, I'll also directly benefit from it), it's more practice in my area of interest, it adds another valuable Australian work experience line to my CV, the people here are great, and I'm enjoying myself. Oh, and I get paid for doing all this. What more could I ask for?

Responses to Common Objections to Social Media Adoption

Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote a really good article in ReadWriteWeb today in which he talks about the ten most common objections to the adoption of social media and how you can respond to them. Though not an exhaustive list or a complete set of responses, it's a good start to an important discussion on important and highly relevant subject. As Kirkpatrick says:

[This] is just a conversation. Please feel free to add your thoughts in comments and check out the comments to read what others suggest as talking points when faced with these objections.

If you're interested, join in on the conversation. Joe Manna did and, in fact, took the discussion a step further by writing his own top 10 list.

Job Opening: Associate Online Producer

Since I've opened the floodgates, here's another job opening that sounds really interesting: the position of an Associate Online Producer at Spin:

This is a fantastic opportunity for a candidate who is in the early stages of their career in digital media and is passionate, driven and wants to work their way up through the ranks.

You will work apart of a team on one of Spins largest accounts and with this you will be exposed to different projects such as website and microsite developments, email campaigns, search, online advertising and online video optimisation.

Like the job I mentioned in my previous blog post, this position is a little below the kind of thing that I'm looking for. The ideal candidate for this job is someone "in the early stages of their career in digital media"; someone with at least one year's experience "in a digital agency or digital department within an agency". Either that, or someone who has been "working for an offline agency and [has] a good grasp on digital marketing". I, meanwhile, have seven years of overall work experience -- that too in the technology industry -- but only about two in digital marketing and four in marketing overall (though, even there, marketing was not my primary job responsibility). However, I have an MBA. But, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, that degree doesn't really count for much in this industry unless you're specifically applying for a management position.

The thing about this job is: if I decide to go all-in into the digital marketing and advertising space -- or, overall, digital media -- this position would probably be a great place for me to start. I say "probably" because I'd have to talk to people in this industry to confirm that. My thinking on this is that, without previous digital marketing experience at the level that Spin is looking for (and probably hires at), I couldn't possible apply for a job at a position higher than this one. So yes, this position is below my overall level of experience and qualification but, when you are changing industries -- in my case, that would be going from IT to marketing -- this is something you have to expect. That is, unless you're an excellent marketer and you can prove it, you can't make a lateral entry into this industry, let alone one at a more senior position. You have to do the hard yards before you climb your way up and, so, you expect to start at a lower position.

The reward for doing it this way: you finally get to work in the industry you've been wanting to work in. Oh and, with your advanced qualification, you do expect to climb up the corporate ladder faster than those who don't have an MBA or that much work experience.

That said, even if I did apply for this position, my MBA and work experience might just count against me since Spin is probably looking for someone younger, overall less qualified, and already in the digital marketing industry who is in the process of climbing the corporate ladder himself. Indeed, I might actually come across as being overqualified for this position (at an overall level, not at the technical level).

If, however, I really wanted to go into digital marketing (which is a fascinating field, by the way, and I am seriously considering going into), then I would write a cover letter that would explain all of this to the recruiter. Actually, before that, I'd set up a meeting with Bart, the recruiter from Digital Transfer who is handling this job opening, and would explain all this to him. If I am convincing and passionate enough -- that is, I make a reasoned, logical, and yet passionate argument for him to seriously consider my application to this position -- I might just find myself in the running.

Job News Feeds, Fun Job Opening

Now that I've started to actively look for jobs, I've subscribed to keyword-based job update news feeds from Seek, MyCareer, CareerOne, and ITWire. However, since I'm still still four months away from finishing my MBA and most of these jobs have one month application deadlines, I won't be able to apply for most of them (for now, at least).

The point of subscribing to these news feeds 2-3 months in advance is, of course, to gather information about the market. That is, information about:

  • Companies: which ones are doing work that I'm interested in, what industries are these companies in, which ones are hiring, where (geographically) are they located, etc.?
  • Recruitment agencies: which ones hire people for the kind of jobs I want to do, which ones hire people for the companies I want to work for, etc.?
  • Jobs: what kinds of jobs are out there, what are the titles of the jobs I want to do, what kind of responsibilities do these positions entail, what experience and qualifications do these jobs require, how much do they pay, etc.?

Knowing all of that is crucial to thoroughly understanding the current and near-future job market. It's also important to learn about companies and industries that hire (and are hiring) people like me.

Fun Job Opening: Online Community Liaison at Lonely Planet

As I mentioned earlier, there will be some advertised jobs that I will find interesting but will not be able to apply to. From time to time, I'll post such openings to this blog and will then discuss them. By doing that, I hope to better identify the places where my interests overlap with current market opportunities. This will tell me which of my areas of interests are relevant to the Australian market, what my job prospects are in those areas, and so on.

One such opportunity was advertised on Seek today for an Online Community Liaison position at Lonely Planet:

The Online Community Liaison is responsible for defining and implementing editorial policy on Thorn Tree and Bluelist, along with playing a key role in ensuring an effective flow of communication between the community and the business.  Additionally, this position is responsible for defining and implementing ongoing policies around moderation along with performing some day-to-day moderation duties and coordinating the moderation team which currently comprises of Content Producers (each spending 1 hour per day on moderation), selected external users and any necessary casual staff/contractors.

Instigating and nurturing community contributions, providing input into the Online Community Strategy (in close liaison with the Community Site Producer and Online Publisher) and resolving issues to do with Thorntree and Bluelist online are also key responsibilities of this role. The Online Community Liaison needs to perform the functions of the job with empathy whilst at the same time maintaining objectivity and a sense of humour.

Though, in general, I am aiming to get a higher position within an organization (a management position, more on the strategy side; sort of like the two others mentioned in the second quoted paragraph above), I can so see this as a job that I would apply for. It's something that I would find incredibly interesting, there is opportunity for considerable growth within the company (both in this department and elsewhere; especially since it's a newly created position), and -- dude! -- it's, like, Lonely Planet!

Unfortunately, applications for this position close on 22 January and so I am well and truly out of the running. That said, I have now added Lonely Planet to the list of companies to watch out for (and I can't believe I forgot about in the first place!). I guess the subscribing to news feeds well in advance is already paying off.

Life! at Yahoo!

As sneak-peaked by Jerry Yang and David Filo at CES yesterday, fun things seem to be happening at Yahoo!. Dan Farber writes about their keynote address on his 'Beyond the Lines' blog at ZDNet:

Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang made his inaugural CES appearance, outlining how he plans to evolve his company ahead of the curve and to become an indispensable starting point for consumers’ Web experience, which has become richer and more complex over the last decade. “We call this Life with an exclamation point,” Yang said. “At Yahoo we want to be most essential starting point for your life,” and “take the complexity of the Web and simplify your life through very powerful technologies.”

Basically, Yahoo! is integrating craploads of stuff -- including third party applications -- into Yahoo! Mail and making that the hub for what you do on the Internet.

To me, that's a brilliant idea. Yahoo! Mail is, by far, my favourite webmail service (I've been using it since 1999), and though I now POP my mail from there (some years ago I upgraded to the paid Yahoo! Mail Plus), when I'm not sitting at my laptop, Yahoo! Mail is generally the centre and the starting point of my web browsing experience [1]. In fact, when I'm not on my laptop (e.g. I'm at work) I POP all my other e-mail accounts into Yahoo! because I like it so much. (Can you tell I'm excited by these new developments?)

I'm also a fan of Yahoo! itself. Yahoo! was the first website I visited on the web (back in '96) and I've been using it regularly ever since. I also do most of my online shopping through Yahoo!. Okay, I should stop now. I'm sounding like a Yahoo! fanboy. Still, this is good news and I await further developments.

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[1] For completeness' sake, my non-laptop web experience revolves primarily around Yahoo! Mail, Google, my own Page o' Links, and these days, Facebook.

My Immediate Career Prospects

In my third (and final) career-related post of the day, I want to say a quick word on my immediate career prospects. In theory, my career prospects are pretty good:

  • I have seven years of work experience, half of it in management, and an MBA from a highly ranked university
  • I have done lots of work on many different types of web portals (in multiple sectors) over the last few years, so this is an area that I know quite a bit about
  • I have worked in both technology and media companies and have worked for a lot of startups as well
  • The MBA has taught me a great deal -- especially in terms of core management, problem solving and analysis, business strategy, economics, marketing, managing people, e-commerce, negotiations, etc. -- and so I am a pretty well-rounded and well-qualified candidate in both technology and business

In practice, though, things are a bit different:

  • I don't have a lot of Australian work experience and this might count against me in the early, non-face-to-face stages of the job application process (till I can directly demonstrate my competence to my potential employer)
  • The MBA degree isn't highly valued in Australia except in certain industries; and media isn't necessarily one of them (in fact, in that industry, it might just count against me)
  • A lot of the jobs that I want to apply for are Sydney-based

Other things might initially be perceived by potential employers as being negative -- for example, they'll probably wonder about my English proficiency, my management and team-work skills, and my knowledge of business strategy -- but hopefully those will be quickly overcome once they talk to me and, to some extent, to my referees.

In short: for now, my prospects are uncertain. My challenge, then, is to somehow demonstrate my abilities to potential employers.

What Employers Look For

When employers look at potential employees, they judge them on three things:

  1. Can do (competence): Evidence of skills, experience, and competencies needed to perform the job. Potentially, this is my biggest hurdle in the early stages of the application process since I have limited Australian work experience, though the little that I have is quite good. However, half of my Pakistani work experience has been with American companies so it's not all bad. Note: you don't get to the interview stage till you convince employers (or recruitment agencies) that you can do the job that you have applied for.
  2. Will do (commitment, willingness): The right attitude, energy, and commitment for the job. To determine this, employers interview you. During that -- and particularly during case interviews -- they test both your can-do and will-do. That's often why there are multiple interview rounds.
  3. Fit (commitment and chemistry): The right compatibility and interpersonal chemistry with the team and your fit with the organization's culture. Once you reach the final stages -- usually, the management interview or when you get invited over for informal drinks with the team -- the employer has pretty much decided that you can and will do the job to their satisfaction. Now the task is to see if you fit well in the company...and vice versa. By the way, another reason for the multiple interviews with multiple interviewers is to determine whether you like your potential colleagues and whether they like you.

Of course it's not quite as simple as I make it sound here, but those are the basics.

As a candidate, then, I have to demonstrate all three of those -- my can-do, will-do, and fit -- to my potential employer. My resume, cover letter, and (should they Google me) this blog demonstrate my can-do; the cover letter and interview demonstrate my will-do; and the interviews demonstrate my fit. And, if all goes well, I get a job offer.

Let's see how things pan out over the next few months. As every, I'll keep you posted.

Career Choices: Figuring Out My Interests

In my previous careers blog post, I talked about how, for each company that I am researching, I am listing its (a) positives, (b) negatives, (c) deal breakers, (d) deal makers, (e) verdict, and (f) rank.

The companies that get a ‘yes’ verdict will be assigned a rank based on their positives and negatives while the companies that get a ‘no’ will, obviously, not be ranked at all. To determine the weights assigned to each positive and negative aspect, I’ll be borrowing a lesson from my Negotiations course. In that course, we talked about how each party involved in a negotiation has (a) stakeholders and (b) a list of issues, positions, and interests. To prepare for a negotiation, you need to figure all of those out for both yourself and for the other party. What is crucial, though, is for the parties to share their interests with each other. If they manage to do that (and a few other things, of course), the negotiation is usually successful.

Applying for a job is, in many ways, one big negotiation. Now I’m obviously not going to discuss all of the things I listed in the previous paragraph in this blog post. What I wanted to point out, though, was that it’ll be my own stakeholders and interests that will determine the weights I assign to each of the positives and negatives. For example, things that are important to me include:

  • A full-time job, preferably permanent though I will also be applying for suitable contract jobs (e.g. tech consulting jobs)
  • A steady salary (think of my stakeholders: I have to pay off my loans) and a good overall compensation package
  • A good job (strategy-based, good career development, etc.), working in a good team (fun, interesting people), for a good company (that has strategic value in the industry, for example) that has a great CEO (which will be the cherry on top; this this case, literally!)
  • Flexible working hours and habits; with a dress code that is as casual as possible
  • Melbourne-based (Nadia is starting her PhD at the University of Melbourne next month and so we’re going to be living in Melbourne for at least the next three years)

The key thing here is that these are my underlying interests (and that they are partly influenced by my stakeholders). These interests will then determine my positions (e.g. acceptable base salary range) and issues (e.g. start date, compensation package breakup). But, basically, it is my interests that will determine the weights I assign to each of the positives and negatives during my short-listing process (e.g. better career progression obviously weighs more than casual dress code).

I’ll write more on this topic over the coming weeks and months as I figure my own interests out in more detail. When, and if I can, I will compare my interests to the interests (and issues, positions, and stakeholders) of the company to which I have applied. I will then attempt to explain the process by which we determined and then shared each others’ interests. I hope to conclude each such posting with the lessons learnt (maybe by both parties) and, of course, the result of my job application.

To give you an example of what I mean, when I was applying for an internship in April last year, I got to the very end of the candidate selection process with a certain company. Let me highly original and call it Company X (they will all be equally originally named, I suspect). I reached that stage — at which the company was down to two candidates — about a month before my study term ended. What happened then was that Company X adjusted its priorities (it was in its early growth stages when this was most liable to happen) and realized that it needed its intern to start work immediately and not, as it had originally intended, by mid-May. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job while the other candidate, who could start next week, did. My point: all but one of our interests matched and, in the end, that became the deal-breaker. (Next time I’ll write about the internship that I did get…this one with Company Y!)

By the way, I’m not sure how feasible it will be for me to blog about all of this during my job application process. I suspect I’ll have to wait till the process is complete and the results are in either way...but let’s see how things go. I might be able to squeeze in a cryptic mention here and there.

Career Choices: Categorizing, Analysing, Short-Listing

Now that I’ve started blogging about my career — I graduate in four months so it’s kind of about time — I find that I have lots of say. Here goes.

Categorizing & Visualising Career Options

In my previous blog post on my career, I mentioned a whole list of companies that I’d like to work for and jobs that I’d like to be doing. I’ve since found a way to categorize those better. That, in turn, has helped me present my options visually as follows:

Career Choices Categories Chart

Of course, the real benefit of categorization is that it helps me organize my thoughts and job application strategies better. My only problem now is that this list of companies is very long…and it will only get longer as I continue my research.

The Process of Short-Listing

To make that list smaller, I intend to follow the standard rational decision-making process of listing pros and cons and, through that, eliminating companies that don’t fit the bill. This short-listing will start immediately but will continue throughout my research and job application process as I’ll be constantly gathering data on, and from, all of these companies.

Of course, the elimination process itself will take into account a little more than just simply pros and cons. In fact, for each company I am listing:

  • Positives: for example, it has a good training and development programme; it is doing work that I find interesting; work hours and habits are pretty flexible; and so on.
  • Negatives: for example, the work is good but not exciting enough (to me, at least); the work environment is far too formal or hierarchical for my liking; the company is great but I don’t think I’ll get along with the person who’s going to be my immediate manager; and so on.
  • Deal breakers: for example, it’s Sydney-based (while I want to stay in Melbourne); its web portal is run by an external vendor while it is managed internally by the VP Marketing (i.e. there’s no job for me there); the job being offered is below my expertise and there are minimal growth prospects; and so on.
  • Deal makers: for example, my immediate manager is leaving in three months and is looking to train a replacement (who happens to be me); I love the people and the job is exactly what I’m looking for; the dress code is jeans and a t-shirt; and so on.
  • Verdict: this will be my conclusion on my current prospects with that company and will, in most cases, be a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. And, even though it might be a ‘no’, depending on why that ‘no’ came about, I might still keep the company in mind for networking and/or future hiring purposes. For example, I might find the perfect job in a perfect company that has just finished its round of hiring and won’t be hiring for another six months or a year. The verdict for here will be ‘no’, but I will want to keep an eye on this company in the coming years.
  • Rank: based on the positives and negatives listed — each of which is weighted differently (more on this in my next blog post) — this will be my ranking of the companies that get a ‘yes’ verdict. Eventually, I hope to come up with a short list of 5-10 top-ranking companies that I seriously want to pursue.

I’ll keep you posted on how things go.

Facebook Issues: Who Owns Your Data?

Over the last few days there's been a lot of discussion on the 'net on the topic of data portability among social networking sites. It all started when blogger Robert Scoble got his Facebook account suspended for violating Facebook's Terms of Service (ToS). He was running a script (which was the violation) from Plaxo that goes to all your friends' profile pages and collects (scrapes) their contact information from them (i.e. the pages). [He's since been let back in.]

There are a couple of issues here: (1) who owns your contact data, which is the bigger issue and (2) how you are allowed to access it, which is the more immediate issue.

The data ownership issue isn't very clear since you can argue it in different ways and can come up with different, but still reasonable and logical, conclusions. eWeek's Clint Boulton talks about that in more detail in his recent article, 'Who Owns Your Social Data? You Do, Sort of':

Forrester Research analyst Jeremiah Owyang said the issue is a sticky one because according to the terms of use, Facebook owns the data, but many people detest that control.

"Robert is breaking the terms of service, but it's also unclear if he owns those e-mail addresses," Owyang told eWEEK Jan. 3. "People said, 'Yes, you can be my friend,' but they never said, 'Robert, you can take my e-mail address and use it elsewhere.' Some people might feel like that social contract was broken by Robert and Plaxo."

I don't quite agree with Owyang since people probably wouldn't be upset if, for example, I was to copy their e-mail address from Facebook and store it in my mobile phone's address book (which is about as portable as Plaxo's address book is). But, like I said, there are lots of sides to the story.

And then there's the second issue which, for the moment, is more contentious. That's because, while Facebook itself runs an automated script to scrape your contact data from other social media and e-mail sites -- that is, it has a script that will automatically import your data -- it doesn't let you do that the other way round -- that is, it doesn't let you run a script to export your data (to other social media and e-mail sites). And that, people argue, is unfair.

But the thing is: it is Facebook's platform and they can do with it whatever they want. Unless Facebook signs on to Google's Open Social or to the Data Portability project, it has no obligation to make it easy for you to export your data. By the way, doing this is called locking users in since this policy makes it difficult for users to switch to a different service or vendor.

The End of Lock-In?

Dave Winer over at Scripting News argues that this lock-in policy won't last very long in the social media space:

... These companies don't want to empower the users, but if they studied history, they'd see that the evolution of computers always comes in fits and starts. A period when the technology is new and people are snowed by the companies and let them have full control. Gradually people understand what's going on, and figure out they're being screwed but they accept it. And then explosively the whole thing disintegrates in a new layer of technology.

It's a big effin loop we're in. One of these times around one of the companies that feels (incorrectly) that they have a lock on their users, will voluntarily give it up and be a leader in Generation N+1. I've never seen it happen, but in theory I think it could.

And he's right. Remember the days when you couldn't transfer your e-mails or your address book between e-mail clients? Or when you couldn't export your browser bookmarks to another browser? Or when you couldn't export the news feeds you subscribe to into an XML file and, therefore, couldn't easily switch news readers? Or when you couldn't export your blog data to a different blogging software package or service? In this day and age, data portability and interoperability are key.

As Winer says at the end of his post:

So Facebook has the opportunity to be a crossover company, part of the next generation -- or a last gasp of the generation that's about to run out of gas. It's their choice.

But will it be Facebook that Crosses Over?

Grant Robertson from Download Squad, meanwhile, argues that Facebook will never let you export your data:

... The simple fact is, as the market leader, there is no benefit for or strategic advantage in Facebook making your data available to you in any format you wish. Those are young company ideals; the things you do in the beginning when you're desperate for users.

Open access to data is like the starched shirt, expensive cologne and bouquet of roses you take on a first date; it's a courting display, not a permanent way of life.

Facebook won't offer you open access to your data for one simple reason; if they did, they couldn't compete. They aren't innovative, they aren't the first mover, and they don't have a stable of hot talent designing any "next generation" of the social web. Facebook is simply a company that was in the right place at the right time, with a lucky strategy which happened to work.

In his opinion, it won't be Facebook that "opens up" your data:

So, whatever side of the debate you find yourself falling on, remember this. If the data wars truly have begun, victory won't come in the form of an "open" Facebook; it will come from a new generation of services who fail to find an exit strategy from their own courting ritual.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see which side of the fence Facebook falls on.

As for myself, I try to rely of Facebook as little as possible because I tend to agree with Robertson: Facebook will not give me easy access to my data to with as I please. At least not in the short term. As a result, I try to minimize my serious conversations and discussions (i.e. the kind I'd want to archive and maybe refer to later) on Facebook. In fact, whenever possible, I try to e-mail people so, at the very least, I have a way of contacting them outside of the Facebook platform.

That said, I am hopeful that, over the next year, things will change and that social media user data will become a lot more portable and/or a lot more interoperable. Here's hoping.

My Career / Best Careers of 2008

The US News and World Report has just released the 2008 edition of its annual list of best careers. The 31 careers chosen by the authors include some that I myself am interested in: management consultant, trainer, system analyst, usability experience specialist, and librarian. And if you ignore librarian and mix the rest together, you sort of get the kind of job that I would like to do: a strategy consultant (part technical, part business/management) who works on websites and portals, ideally in the Web 2.0 [1] and new media spaces. And this could be in the corporate, non-profit, or education sectors.

If I haven't explained that properly, here are some examples of the kinds of jobs I would like to do (along with the kinds of companies I would like to work for):

That's a big list, huh? It'll only get bigger as I do more research. Can you tell that my primary areas of interest are web portals and intranets, Web 2.0, and mobile computing? And that, within in those areas, I would like to work in consulting (management, strategy, or technical), management, content production, and/or training -- probably in that order?

So...

So what now? Well, next I'll be doing some more industry analysis in order to learn about the trends and major players in each of those industries. Then, I'll start to explore each of those companies in more detail. I'll want to learn about the kind of work they're doing and whether I can add value to them or not, whether they're interested in hiring someone like me (i.e. with my experience and qualifications) or not, who runs them, who works there, what their work culture is like, where they are headed strategically, and so on. Then, once I've identified the ones that fit the bill, I'll try to get hired by one of them...which, of course, is much easier said than done! But more on that in a later blog post.

I graduate in May, by the way, so expect to see a lot more about my future career and my job application process on this blog over the coming months.

Of Course...

Of course, if I had the choice -- and a great deal of money to do with as I wished -- what I'd really like to do is set up a couple of recording studios (both audio and video), a performance venue for music and theatre (along with a small cafe, probably), a small cinema, an audio/video library, and a few teaching/training rooms. I would then work with adults and young adults to help them explore and implement their creative sides. Oh, and I would run this as both a non-profit and for-profit organization: either as a for-profit that does lots of non-profit work or as a non-profit that also does some for-profit work. My work there wouldn't be limited to just music, film, and theatre, though -- it would have reading, writing, and online components as well.

Hmmm...I think I've just described the Victorian Colle

ge of the Arts.

Oh well.

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[1] I dislike the term Web 2.0 because it's been hijacked so thoroughly by bad (or would you say good?) marketers. What started off as a business concept put forth by Tim O'Reilly -- who, by the way, explains what it really means on his blog -- is now slapped on to every Internet-based product and service whether it warrants it or not. But then, that kind of abuse is true of most buzzwords isn't it? Oh well.