April 18, 2005

Lessons learned from hiring interns
Posted by at 5:18 PM

I suspect most of you, our readers, are not college interns. But the lessons in Interview with the interns are universal for job candidates. Here's a summary:

1. Mind your language -- particularly in the cover letter. 2. Calm down. 3. Flattery will get you nowhere. 4. Don't make up stuff. 5. Be Sincere.

Job hunting is stressful. So make sure you present yourself in the best possible light from the cover letter through the interview.
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Five years gone...
Posted by at 9:56 AM

Business 2.0 writer Om Malik assembles an interesting collage of writing exploring individual retrospectives five years post Bubble. For many who toiled and/or took advantage during the Era of Irrational Exuberance, some of the reflections -- from sky high success to hitting the skids long after the bust -- may strike close to home:

Om Malik: "I learnt a lot from this bubble...the biggest lesson which I learnt was that when VC firms hire a journalist to help them with investments, its a sure and perhaps the final sign of a market top, a bubble that is about to pop."

Ross Mayfield: "For a year and a half we worked with hardly any salary, publishing rates and having conversations with phone brokers, buyers and sellers. We pitched every VC and they still didn't get it. I look back on this period fondly. We were exploring new territory, creating a market and learning from people who worked profitable magic with only a phone, fax and a rolodex. Then, Boom. Suddenly what were doing all along was called B2B. We raised $35M and $10M in debt overnight."

As Jason B. might say taking a page from the Snoopy handbook, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
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April 13, 2005

How to blog safely
Posted by Jason Butler at 6:06 AM

The Electronic Frontier Foundation gives some useful tips on how to blog safely, focusing on ways to blog anonymously.

Let's say you want to start a blog about your terrible work environment but you don't want to risk your boss or colleagues discovering that you're writing about them. You'll want to consider how to anonymize every possible detail about your situation. And you may also want to use one of several technologies that make it hard for anyone to trace the blog back to you.

I have little respect for people who blog anonymously. Every single thing I've written for the web has been under my full name, with contact information nearby. If you can't stand behind it, don't write it.

More pragmatically, your blog is a great way to get your name and expertise out in the marketplace. Potential employers googling your name can see what you bring to the table. If you have written thoughtfully on your topic and on your industry, you have a great head start over your competitors. If you're writing as "C00LDUD3-1337," then you may lose a little cred.
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April 12, 2005

Your job and your money
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:48 PM

Hmmm. . .rubbing salt in the wounds, anyone? First you're laid off from your job after your company merges. Not good. Then the company gives you a decent severance package to ease the pain. Not great, but better. Then the new parent company comes back to you later and says you have to give back a good chunk of the money. B-a-a-a-d.

The Boston Globe reports today that several former FleetBoston employees are facing this very situation:

One former worker, Alisa R. Drayton of Roxbury, said the bank asked her to send a check for more than $7,000 in December. ''I thought it was so mean-spirited. Why would you send this a week or two before Christmas?" said Drayton, who worked as a corporate finance associate for Fleet's securities unit and is currently unemployed.

When Drayton still hadn't paid in February, the bank sent another letter asking for more than $9,000. Another former Fleet employee, who did not want his name used, also said he got a letter asking for about $9,000, which he has not paid.

An honest mistake? Maybe. But even though the new parent, Bank of America, did reportedly overpay the severance, it does not make for a pretty story for the company. Moral: make sure get your bean counters count correctly - especially in a bank.
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April 8, 2005

Larry learns his lessons
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:52 AM

The Boston Globe reports on Larry Summers's change of position on women's scientific capabilities.

Summers's comments last night about the effects of subtle, unconscious bias against women and the impact of encouragement or discouragement on young minds were virtually diametrically opposite from those he made at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference three months ago.

"This has been, as you can imagine, a period of substantial and intense immersion and education for me on the topics I have just been discussing," he said at the end of his half-hour remarks to about 40 students and professors. "I hope I have learned."

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Larry learns his lessons
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:52 AM

The Boston Globe reports on Larry Summers's change of position on women's scientific capabilities.

Summers's comments last night about the effects of subtle, unconscious bias against women and the impact of encouragement or discouragement on young minds were virtually diametrically opposite from those he made at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference three months ago.

''This has been, as you can imagine, a period of substantial and intense immersion and education for me on the topics I have just been discussing," he said at the end of his half-hour remarks to about 40 students and professors. ''I hope I have learned."

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UBS the latest boom-boom room to pay the price
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:31 AM

The New York Times reports on the latest victory for women in a Wall Street sex discrimination case.

In one of the largest discrimination awards to a single plaintiff on record, UBS, Europe's largest bank, was ordered by a federal jury in New York to pay more than $29 million in damages to a former saleswoman who sued the firm for sex discrimination.

...

The verdict against UBS is the latest in a series of legal actions against Wall Street houses and other financial firms for sexual discrimination against women executives. Last July, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $54 million to settle a discrimination suit brought by the employment commission on behalf of Allison Schieffelin, a former bond trader, and 300 other women. Also last year, an arbitration panel ordered Merrill Lynch to pay $2.2 million to a former broker, E. Hydie Sumner, who charged the firm with harassment and discrimination.

Just last week, a group of women brokers sued Smith Barney, a unit of Citigroup, charging that their managers steered the best accounts to male
colleagues.

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UBS the latest boom-boom room to pay the price
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:31 AM

The New York Times reports on the latest victory for women in a Wall Street sex discrimination case.

In one of the largest discrimination awards to a single plaintiff on record, UBS, Europe's largest bank, was ordered by a federal jury in New York to pay more than $29 million in damages to a former saleswoman who sued the firm for sex discrimination.

...

The verdict against UBS is the latest in a series of legal actions against Wall Street houses and other financial firms for sexual discrimination against women executives. Last July, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $54 million to settle a discrimination suit brought by the employment commission on behalf of Allison Schieffelin, a former bond trader, and 300 other women. Also last year, an arbitration panel ordered Merrill Lynch to pay $2.2 million to a former broker, E. Hydie Sumner, who charged the firm with harassment and discrimination.

Just last week, a group of women brokers sued Smith Barney, a unit of Citigroup, charging that their managers steered the best accounts to male colleagues.

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April 6, 2005

Drinking on the job?
Posted by Diane Danielson at 8:10 AM

The Chicago Tribune today takes a look at how women are doing their own version of the Power Lunch:

Perhaps three-martini lunches are passe, but young businesswomen--particularly on the coasts and mostly among themselves--are reviving the 12 o'clock toast. Although she considers business and booze a bad mix, Rachel Weingarten, president of a Brooklyn, N.Y., marketing firm, has observed that the women she dines with drink more than the men. She attributes this feminized "cocktail culture" to the TV series "Sex and the City," which glamorized the martini.

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Drinking on the job?
Posted by Diane Danielson at 8:10 AM

The Chicago Tribune today takes a look at how women are doing their own version of the Power Lunch:

Perhaps three-martini lunches are passe, but young businesswomen--particularly on the coasts and mostly among themselves--are reviving the 12 o'clock toast. Although she considers business and booze a bad mix, Rachel Weingarten, president of a Brooklyn, N.Y., marketing firm, has observed that the women she dines with drink more than the men. She attributes this feminized "cocktail culture" to the TV series "Sex and the City," which glamorized the martini.

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April 5, 2005

Two upcoming job fairs and how to take advantage of them
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:11 AM

Ah, spring. It's finally here, and hope is in the air. And all signs indicate that the job market is trending up and firms are hiring again. So what better time to take advantage of two upcoming opportunities to meet face-to-face with Greater Boston's hiring employers?

First, the BostonWorks Nursing & Allied Health Career Fair is a week from today, Tuesday, April 12 at the Sheraton Newton. Then on April 27 you can see us at the World Trade Center on the waterfront in Boston as we host the Job City Job Fair. Check out the lists of exhibiting companies, pre-register, and get more info now on both fairs on BostonWorks.com.

To help you get prepared, here's a piece from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with some sound, step-by-step advice on preparing for and attending job fairs (note: one-time free registration required):

Job fairs, also referred to as career fairs, provide employers and job hunters an opportunity to learn about each other. Actual hiring is usually not done during a fair.

- - - - -

[But] Even though actual hiring usually doesn't take place during a job fair, dress as you would for a job interview. The first impression you create needs to be that of a professional.

So update your resume, put a smile on your face and a shine on your shoes, and get out there. Good luck!

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Two upcoming job fairs and how to take advantage of them
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:11 AM

Ah, spring. It's finally here, and hope is in the air. And all signs indicate that the job market is trending up and firms are hiring again. So what better time to take advantage of two upcoming opportunities to meet face-to-face with Greater Boston's hiring employers?

First, the BostonWorks Nursing & Allied Health Career Fair is a week from today, Tuesday, April 12 at the Sheraton Newton. Then on April 27 you can see us at the World Trade Center on the waterfront in Boston as we host the Job City Job Fair. Check out the lists of exhibiting companies, pre-register, and get more info now on both fairs on BostonWorks.com.

To help you get prepared, here's a piece from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with some sound, step-by-step advice on preparing for and attending job fairs (note: one-time free registration required):

Job fairs, also referred to as career fairs, provide employers and job hunters an opportunity to learn about each other. Actual hiring is usually not done during a fair.
- - - - -
[But] Even though actual hiring usually doesn't take place during a job fair, dress as you would for a job interview. The first impression you create needs to be that of a professional.

So update your resume, put a smile on your face and a shine on your shoes, and get out there. Good luck!
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