April 9, 2004

The Colonel meets The Donald
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 12:59 PM -

Looking to get in on the game before it ends, KFC is planning to offer The Apprentice runner-up the position of chief sales officer for a week to help the chain roll out its new oven-roasted-chicken line.

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Trying a reverse WAVE
Posted by diane@downtownwomensclub.com">Diane Danielson at 12:09 PM -

Last month some bleak statistics about women in the venture capital industry were released in a study called The Diana Project. Funded by the Kauffman Foundation, the report put a spotlight on not only the lack of women in the industry, but on the fact that they tended to leave at a more rapid rate than men.

In an attempt to stem the tide of women flowing out of venture capital, and in fact never venturing to even test the waters, attorneys Susan Keller and Sarah Camougis of the law firm, Edwards & Angell, are taking action. As reported in Mass High Tech:

Dismayed in 2002 by the paltry representation of women at the 2002 Private Equity Analyst Conference — 98 women among the more than 1,100 attendees — [Keller and Camougis] began work on a national organization for women in the venture capital industry.

The name of the organization: The Women’s Association of Venture & Equity, or WAVE.

The aim, Keller said, is “to create the same sort of network that happens naturally with the men’s old boys’ network.”

While I couldn't locate a website for this organization yet, let's hope it gets rolling along real soon. For more about women and their VC troubles, see the USA Today Story, Start-ups by women face cash hang-ups.

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Opportunity for entrepreneur
Posted by jr@jrothman.com">Johanna Rothman at 11:41 AM -

Anita Sharpe in Is This Healthy? bemoans the fate of people who feel trapped in their jobs because the cost of health insurance is so high. Any of you unemployed entrepreneurs want to take a crack at this?

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What it's like to be a software developer at Microsoft
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 11:23 AM -

Here is a posting on the fabulous Technical Careers @ Microsoft blog in which a software developer describes life at Microsoft.

I am a dev lead (SDE Lead) on the Outlook team. The Outlook dev team is a group of about 40 developers (the whole team adds another 40 testers and 20 PM’s). My responsibilities consist of all the things that an SDE does in addition to managing the time and career of those that work on my team. First, I’ll talk a little about the SDE role, and close with a few words about being a lead.

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April 8, 2004

The trauma of waiting
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 12:20 PM -

Here's an excellent blog posting about the Bank of America job cuts, the double-speak, and the view from beneath the heel of the boot.

I'd say that YES, it has been constant stress since the announcement back in October and the subsequent waiting and putting your life on hold, but really not enough stress to cause 3.500 people associates to go out in this economic nightmare looking for new jobs.

Via Boston Common

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April 7, 2004

Zzzzz. Do not disturb...I'm working
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 10:31 AM -

Some years ago we used to have a programmer who had finagled an arrangement to take power naps in one of the company supply closets. He'd pulled an extra couch out of the lobby into the room, and was left pretty much undisturbed during his hour-long, on-the-clock sabbatical, save for a rap on the wall every now and again to stop his chainsaw snoring routine.

The programmer, of course, claimed it gave him vitality and made him more productive. And not unexpectedly, of course, few of us ever noticed him laboring particularly hard on anything of any import even during his waking hours.

Now the coup de grace: It appears we may have to admit that he was right all along according to a BU researcher who says work day naps boost productivity.

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She can bring home the bacon
Posted by diane@downtownwomensclub.com">Diane Danielson at 10:09 AM -

As reported in today's Globe women are making significant gains in vying for higher paying jobs.

A study released yesterday said the number of women earning $100,000 a year or better more than tripled during the past decade.

In 2001, 861,000 women earned $100,000 or more, compared with just 242,000 women in 1991, according to federal wage and salary data analyzed by the Employment Policy Foundation, a Washington research organization funded by business and foundations.

That was an increase of 256 percent for top female earners during the 1990s economic boom. There was a similar increase in the number of women in the next wage bracket, those earning between $80,000 and $99,999.

While I'm all for the number of women making six figures tripling, keep reading. The number of men making the same was numbered at 4.3 million. Which means that women still only make up 20% of our nation's six figure employees. Yet with Harvard being one of several colleges now taking more women than men, we may just yet see this figure double in the next decade.

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April 6, 2004

Bane of visa seekers may be boon for local job seekers
Posted by noseworthy@bostonworks.com">Nicole Noseworthy at 12:41 PM -

Summer employers seek alternatives to visa cap on foreign workers

Cape Cod employers that rely heavily on foreign seasonal workers are looking for ways to cope with a federal cap on visas for such workers....

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services cut off applications for immigrant workers on H-2b visas on March 9, when the agency had enough applications to meet its annual national cap of 66,000. It was the first time the agency cut off applications before the end of a federal fiscal year....

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce has sought alternative ways that employers can fill the mostly low-skilled jobs in the hospitality industry, including a recruitment drive for college students, a seasonal job fair in Hyannis and legally sharing H-2b workers that do obtain visas.

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It's tax time... again
Posted by noseworthy@bostonworks.com">Nicole Noseworthy at 11:42 AM -

Another reason why you should always check your pay stubs... IRS alerts employees, businesses to watch for employment tax evasion

The Internal Revenue Service on Monday urged employees to watch for and businesses to avoid payroll tax evasion.

Federal law requires employers to withhold certain taxes from their employees' paychecks and send the money to the IRS every three months. Taxes collected include federal income tax and Social Security and Medicare taxes. Businesses also must pay unemployment tax.

If you're having trouble with taxes or have questions, check out Boston.com's tax section for tips and help.

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Weblogs and jobs
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:36 AM -

I'm giving a speech next week on the impact weblogs and such have on how people are looking for and getting jobs. So, I'm invoking the lazy web and asking for pointers from our readers on these two questions:

1. What are the best weblogs out there for finding job-related information and news, hiring tips, salary negotiation, interviewing, etc.?

2. Are there any examples (other than Robert Scoble, whom I've already written about) of people who've gotten jobs through their weblogs?

If you have any thoughts, please drop me a line. After the presentation, I'll publish my talk and my notes.

Thanks!

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April 5, 2004

How to handle squabbling salespeople
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 12:04 PM -

Here's an article from Entrepreneur magazine about managing the inevitable conflicts among salespeople.

The sales field attracts strapping and competitive personalities, so it's no wonder dissent in the ranks can ensue. Fights over territory, commissions and leads can all wind up causing strife. Do what you can as a manager to remove reasons for rancor by establishing clear sales objectives. You'll also want to wear your empathy hat when diagnosing problems

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Networking: who have you contacted today?
Posted by jr@jrothman.com">Johanna Rothman at 11:14 AM -

If you're unemployed, you know that networking with people is a necessary part of your job hunt. The more you network, the more likely you are to find a job. Here's what I suggest to people when they start to network.

• Make a list of everyone you know. That includes your old friends from high school or college, your aunt who lives across the state or country, people you know from previous jobs (especially previous managers).
  
• If you're a geek like me, develop a little script so you know what you're going to say. I use an outline that includes introducing me, reminding the other person how he or she knows me, and what I'm looking for. I offer to help that person in some appropriate way.
  
• Now the hard part: work your way down the list. Call or email (although calling is better, it's more personal).
  

Job hunting is hard. Networking is a great way to make sure people know you're looking and that you're available. The WIND (Wednesday is Networking Day) groups do a great job helping people learn to network.

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Appalling practice of the week
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:50 AM -

The Times had a great article yesterday on the practice of "time-shaving" in which the manager goes in and alters the workers' timecards to reduce their hours.

Experts on compensation say that the illegal doctoring of hourly employees' time records is far more prevalent than most Americans believe. The practice, commonly called shaving time, is easily done and hard to detect — a simple matter of computer keystrokes — and has spurred a growing number of lawsuits and settlements against a wide range of businesses.

By the way, this practice is horribly illegal, so if it happens to you, fight it.

Send a note (anonymously, if you think that's best) to your company's headquarters telling them you'll drop the dime unless they stop.

Contact Tom Reilly, the Massachusetts Attorney General.

Hell, drop us a note here at the Globe; we're all about taking down frauds.

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Blame India Watch
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:41 AM -

With all the sniping going on about offshoring, someone needs to keep it in check. Here is Blame India Watch.

Blame India Watch is concerned with the increasing anti-Indian/anti-India sentiment among tech workers, as well as media coverage that focuses disproportionately on Indian workers or propagates anti-India(n) sentiment. What began a few years ago as IT grumbling about Indian-specific H-1B "Temporary Guest worker" and L-1 "Intracompany Transfer" workers and immigrants has now morphed into the outsourcing issue, and is now gaining international attention. We aim to highlight this scapegoating, encourage IT workers to put a stop it, and redirect the anger to where it belongs.

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