LinkUp launches iPad job search application

  LinkUp job search engine based out of Minneapolis launched the Job Search XL app for Apple’s latest creation the iPad. The application was released in the App store on June 4th as part of the company’s effort to expand its mobile platform portfolio, according to the press release.
LinkUp, notoriously known for innovation, designed this app for job seekers to search job listings that are found exclusively on company websites. According to company numbers, LinkUp’s job search engine contains around 450,000 job listings that are indexed from 22,000 company websites in the U.S. All of LinkUp’s company listings constantly updated on all their mobile applications.
The company has expanded its reach to other countries like Canada and the U.K to provide its unique approach to job search with its technology. It released an iPhone, Android and now the iPad app to extend its presence in job search engine market.
In the present time, LinkUp’s collection of mobile apps have been downloaded over 100,000 times, which equates to 400,000 user sessions with an average of about 12 minutes per user session, according to company numbers.
The application utilizes the iPads easy-to-use touch technology and easy to navigate. The iPad allows job hunters to apply straight through the app on the device and complete the application within minutes. The app will rotate from portrait to landscape mode for optimized use. The app is user friendly, has complete information on job postings and comes with many additional features.

Original Examiner Article

Facebook’s Job Search App — BranchOut

We know Facebook is the No. 1 visited site in the U.S. We also know that Americans spent the most time on Facebook as compared to other websites. However, when it comes to job search, we all go to LinkedIn.
With the attempt to maximize the utility of a Facebook user’s connections, which may also be referred to as a person’s social capital, Facebook introduced a job search app called BranchOut (http://superfan.com/). I signed up for the service and gave it a trial. BranchOut is very much like LinkedIn in this stage. With this app, I can see a list of companies in which my friends work or worked before, my friends’ work histories, post a job for free, refer a friend to a position (with bonuses), and invite my friends’ to join the network. I believe I am the first one among my network who has added this app.
We discussed how people may lose their jobs because of Facebook posts and how people can manage their online reputations before. I believe BranchOut will bring Facebook to a more professional level. Because Facebook is so important in people’s lives already, BranchOut may become another important job search tool soon, which means Facebook users need to be even more careful of what they post on Facebook. So, what do you think about BranchOut? As a manager, will you use BranchOut to recruit staff? As a regular Facebook user, will you use BranchOut to search for jobs?

Original Article and additional career advice.

The 10 NEW Career Commandments

By CAREEREALISM Founder, J.T. O'Donnell

QUESTION: Imagine a world with no job postings. I mean ZERO. No websites with positions listed of any kind. Would you know how to find a job?
This is the question I pose to all job seekers today. In an uncertain economy, you need to “learn to fish” if you want to stay employed. Just ask the millions of job seekers who have applied to 100s of jobs on-line and heard nothing back. A new, better way to find work is their dream.
Competition for Jobs is Not Going to Lessen Anytime Soon
Right now, we have 15M+ unemployed, 5M+ underemployed and an estimated 60M+ who hate their jobs and plan to leave when the economy recovers. The problem is – this is a jobless recovery. Which means, the competition for work is going to stay fierce.
We Forgot to Evolve - Our Approach to Career Success is Outdated
One contributor to the increase in the length of unemployment in the U.S. (currently hanging at 7+ months), is the lack of knowledge on the right way to define and pursue career success. It’s also the reason so many folks don’t like what they are doing for work. In short, in the process of leaving the industrial age and entering the information age, we forgot to learn the new rules to job search and professional development.
FACT: Nothing feels worse than losing a game because you didn’t understand the rules, right?
It’s Time for the Truth
I wrote a FREE e-book you can grab HERE. In it, I outline and provide evidence to support the 10 NEW career commandments savvy professionals are leveraging right now to find career success in an uncertain economy. Everyone deserves the chance to learn what it really takes to find career satisfaction on their own terms.
Not Everyone Will Get It – That’s Good for YOU!
I recognize not everyone will apply the action steps in the book - that’s okay. You actually don’t want everyone to embrace the concepts. Just ask all the members of our Career HMO. You see, they’ve had access to these teachings for awhile. In fact, they’ve also been coached by career experts directly to help them leverage the commandments. These members know the truth: Using the 10 NEW career commandments has given them almost an unfair advantage against other job seekers.
Download FREE Copy & Get a Special Invite
If you download a FREE copy of the e-book, a few days later I will send you a special invitation to attend a FREE, private career session. It will give you a chance to get your questions answered about the book. I want anyone who reads this book and takes it seriously to have the chance to get expert advice to apply the concepts. So, I hope you download your copy and join me.

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The right way to lay people off

By Ben Horowitz, contributor
Cloud computing company Opsware was nobody's darling. Then founders Andreessen and Horowitz put the company through three rounds of layoffs. The unlikely result was a big buyout -- here's how it happened.

"I'm tryin' to right my wrongs / But it's funny them same wrongs helped me write this song" -Kanye West
Shortly after we sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), I had a conversation with the legendary venture capitalist Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital. He wanted to hear the story of how we went from doomed in the eyes of the world to a $1.6B outcome with no recapitalization. After I took him through the details including several near bankruptcies, a stock price of $0.35/share, unlimited bad press and 3 separate layoffs where we lost a total 400 employees, he was most amazed by the layoffs. He said that during his over 20 years in the venture capital business, he'd never seen a company recover from consecutive layoffs and achieve a billion dollar plus outcome.
Leone said that he'd bet against that every time and wanted to know how I did it. Since my only experience was the great exception, I needed more information. I asked him why all the other startups failed. He replied that the layoffs inevitably broke the company's culture. After seeing their friends laid off, employees were no longer willing to make the requisite sacrifices needed to build a company. He said that although it was possible to survive an isolated layoff, it was hugely unlikely that a company would experience great success. He added that building a highly valuable business after 3 consecutive giant lay offs accompanied by horrible prominent press coverage (we got taken apart with cover stories in both the Wall Street Journal and Business Week) was a complete violation of the laws of venture capital physics. Naturally, he wanted to know how we did it. After thinking about it for the last couple of years, here's my answer Doug.
In retrospect, we were able to keep cultural continuity and retain our best employees despite multiple massive layoffs, because we laid people off the right way. This may sound nutty – how can you do something that's fundamentally wrong in "the right way?" Here's how:

Step 1: Get your head right
When a company fails to hit its financial plan so severely that it must fire the employees that it went to great time and expense to hire, it weighs heavily on the chief executive. During the first layoff at our company, I remember being forwarded an email exchange amongst a group of employees. In the exchange one of our smarter employees wrote: "Ben is either lying or stupid or both." I remember reading that and thinking: "definitely stupid." During a time like this, it is difficult to focus on the future, because the past overwhelms you – but that's exactly what you must do.

Step 2: Don't delay
Once you decide that you will have to lay people off, the time elapsed between making that decision and executing that decision should be as short as possible. If word leaks (which it will inevitably do if you delay), then you will be faced with an additional set of issues. Employees will question managers and ask whether or not a layoff is coming. If the managers don't know, they will look stupid. If the managers, do know, they will either have to lie to their employees, contribute to the leak, or remain silent, which will create additional agitation. At Loudcloud/Opsware, we badly mismanaged this on our first layoff, but sharply corrected things on the next two.

Step 3: Be clear in your own mind about why you are laying people off
Going into a layoff, board members will sometimes try to make you feel better by putting a positive spin on things. They might say: "this gives us a great opportunity to deal with some performance issues and simplify the business." That may be true, but do not let that cloud your thinking or your message to the company. You are laying people off because the company failed to hit its plan. If individual performance were the only thing at issue, then you'd be taking a different measure. Company performance failed. This distinction is critical, because the message to the company and the laid off individuals should not be: "this is great, we are cleaning up performance." The message must be: "the company failed and in order to move forward, we will have to lose some excellent people." Admitting to the failure may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it is. "Trust me." That's what a CEO says every day to her employees. Trust me, this will be a good company. Trust me, this will be good for your career. Trust me, this will be good for your life. A layoff breaks that trust. In order to rebuild trust, you have to come clean.

Step 4: Train your managers
The most important step in the whole exercise is training the management team. If you send managers into this super uncomfortable situation with no training, most of them will fail.
Training starts with a golden rule: managers must lay off their own people. They cannot pass the task to HR or a more sadistic peer. You cannot hire an outsourcing firm like the one in the movie Up in the Air. Every manager must layoff his own people.
Why so strict? Why can't the more confrontational managers just handle this task for everyone? Because people won't remember every day that they worked for your company, but they will surely remember the day that you laid them off. They will remember every last detail about that day and the details will matter greatly. The reputation of your company and your managers depends on you standing tall, facing the employees who trusted you and doing your jobs. If you hired me and I busted my ass working for you, I expect you to have the courage to lay me off yourself.
Once you make it clear that managers must layoff their own people, be sure to prepare them for the task:

1. They should explain briefly what happened and that it is a company rather than a personal failure.
2. They should be clear that the employee is impacted and that the decision is non-negotiable.
3. They should be fully prepared with all of the details of the benefits and support that the company plans to provide.

Step 5: Address the entire company
Prior to executing the lay off, the CEO must address the company. The CEO must deliver the overall message that provides the proper context and air cover for the managers. If you do your job right, the managers will have a much easier time doing their jobs. When you do this, keep in mind what Intuit founder Bill Campbell told me – the message is for the people who are staying. The people who stay will care deeply about how you treat their colleagues. Many of the people that you lay off will have closer relationships with the people who stay than you do, so treat them with the appropriate level of respect. Still, the company must move forward, so be careful not to apologize too much.

Step 6: Be visible, be present
After you make the speech telling your company that you will be letting go of many them, you will not feel like hanging out and talking to people. You will probably feel like going to a bar and drinking a fifth of tequila. Do not do this. Be present. Be visible. Be engaging. People want to see you. They want to see whether or not you care. The people who you laid off will want to know if they still have a relationship with you and the company. Talk to people. Help them carry their things to their car. Let them know that you appreciate their efforts.

Acknowledgements
I would like to say that I came up with all of this on my own, but in truth there is no way that I could have done it without the help of my dear friend Bill Campbell. Bill's help during these times saved the company. Finally, I again thank all of the wonderful and dedicated people who worked for Loudcloud that we laid off or transferred to EDS. I am sure that I speak for everyone who ever worked at Opsware, when I say "thank you for saving our butts."
-- Ben Horowitz is co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm created to support the needs of today's technology-focused entrepreneurs through angel investments to large scale funding. Ben currently serves on the board of Okta, Nicira, Proferi and Skype.


Original Fortune Article

Non Profit Job Search

If you've decided that you'd like to pursue a non profit career just out of college, or as a mid-career shift, you might now know exactly where to look.

Luckily, there are many resources both online and otherwise that can help your with your non profit job search. Idealist.org - The most popular place for online nonprofit job posting is Idealist.org. They feature thousands of jobs, internships and volunteer opportunities, and include profiles of each organization that posts an opportunity. But Idealist is so much more than a job search engine: the website is chock full of information about nonprofit organizations in general, job and resume tips for nonprofit jobseekers, forums with discussion by current nonprofit employees and other ways to get involved in social causes. Idealist also hosts periodic job and graduate school fairs, which are a great way to network and get more information about non profit jobs.
Foundation Center - Philanthropy News Digest - The Foundation Center is a wonderful resource of information about funding opportunities for nonprofit organizations. They also sponsor a "Jobs Corner" under their Philanthropy News Digest service, which lists nonprofit jobs of all types, and in locations around the world. While many of the jobs lean towards development and fundraising, you can also find management and programmatic nonprofit jobs. The best part of PND is the ability to sign up for email alerts, based on your job preference, which are emailed directly to your email account periodically.
Opportunity Knocks - Opportunity Knock is a slightly less comprehensive website than Idealist that is focused on finding jobs for people in the non-profit sector. You can search for jobs by keyword, location and type. Perhaps even more helpful than the job search is the annual wage and benefit report for non profit jobs, which gives jobseekers a frame of reference for appropriate salaries and benefits for types of nonprofit jobs. You can also simply post your resume on the website for employers to review
Common Good Careers - Common Good careers is an executive-level search engine and employment firm that focuses on program and executive management jobs. In addition to posting opportunities on their website, Common Good assists not-for-profit organizations with their own searches, serving as a liaison between the non-profit organization and potential employees. While the listings are somewhat limited, Common Good careers has a great track record for matching the right people with the right non profit jobs.
Craigslist - While you may have to sort through all kinds of jobs to find a nonprofit job gem, they are in there. For many small nonprofit organizations, the expense of posting to a paid job site is too much, so Craigslist provide a free alternative.
Since Craigslist also allows you to focus your search by type, keyword and location, you can seriously narrow down your job options and find a good fit. Any Search Engine - Sometimes it is best to go directly to the source. If you have an idea of the type of organization you'd like to work for, or even the specific non-profit organization that you'd like to join - Google them and do it often! You never know when an organization might decide to post and open job, and finding a job that fits your passions should be your priority. A good place to start with your nonprofit job search is to compile a list of organizations that fit your passions, and then dive deeper into the work that they do to see if there is place for you.

Original Job Monkey Article

My So-Called Setback: Learning to "Do My Own Thing"

Aly Walansky

Aly Walansky is the beauty and fashion editor for MyGloss.com and a style columnist for SheKnows.com.

Five years ago, I sat at my desk at a New York-based educational children's publisher and was dealt a blow I thought signified the end of livelihood as I knew it. Reading may be fundamental, but the children of the world were not reading - and my company could no longer afford to keep half their employees as a result.
I had always dreamed of being a writer, but it was a desire that remained in the realm of fantasy - to take that leap would mean abandoning the comfort zone of guaranteed income. Like so many of us, I was a great deal more concerned with maintaining what was predictable and comfortable, even when it was at the expense of my own dreams.
Suddenly, that carefully clutched security blanket had been ripped away from me, and surprisingly, I discovered my own clarity about my life's purpose did not diminish, but grew stronger. There was anxiety about that financial instability and the great unknown, but suddenly I realized without the predictable, comfortable day job, I had finally quieted the anxiety that had kept me from pursing what I long knew was my destiny.
It was hard to reprogram myself: Learning to focus on my own fulfillment instead of simply survival - but learning to do so immediately filled me with an incredible sense of hope and empowerment I hadn't previously imagined would be possible.
I made that decision to concentrate on developing myself as a writer. I always knew I loved the creative aspect of the craft, but I knew little about how to make it into a vocation. I had an English degree, and was confident I had writing ability -- that alone was a start. The next steps were learning the process of querying editors, submitting story ideas, and learning how to accept the inevitable rejections that come with the successes.
The freelance life is a constant journey -- one that continues to include financial roller coasters and professional highs and lows -- but I am a working writer, with a constantly rewarding career I love. Gratifying as it is, it's a path not without setbacks and hurdles - for many of us there were significant work gaps before steady assignments began -- and if you are considering taking this leap yourself, there's steps you must keep in mind;
Leaving the corporate ship: Years ago, as I was researching colleges, I committed myself to maintaining lists of goals -- educational, financial, professional. Embarking upon a life of self-employment is similar. Know your mission and services you wish to provide - your own clear understanding of the path before you is the key to delivering this message to your potential clients.
Count your pennies: Many of us entered the freelance world without a safety net. You can find success with this route, but the ideal is to plan ahead. Unless you are beginning your new career with a pre-existing list of clients, there will likely be initial expenses that are coupled with income gaps. Borrow a lesson from your "in case of emergency" savings plan and save six months of living expenses before leaving your day job.
Budget: Regardless of your business specifics, make sure to maintain a spending plan from the starting gate. I have a personal practice of using Excel to budget my weekly expenses, be it groceries or office materials and home expenses. This will be an essential tool during the inevitable ebb and flow income inherent to self-employment.
Finding clients: There's a great deal of advantage to the freelance life, and this includes freedom. We can choose our own hours and work setting, and accept only those projects we are most interested in. However, for many, this can lead to lack of discipline. Keep in mind that you are your own boss, but the nature of freelancing also means that work is not guaranteed. Your livelihood is dependent on your ability to market yourself, seek out work, and staying on top of all pending assignments. When I made the leap to freelance, the first step I made was learning how to create pitch letters, and the submission guidelines for various publications of interest. We must do our homework if we expect our work to be well received.
Networking: Working for yourself can be a lonely experience, especially if you are used to the office dynamic. A great way to maintain a healthy life-work balance, but also maintain and grow your contacts, is to network. Look into email discussion lists and sites like LinkedIn, to get to know others in your line of work -- this is a great way to find out about new opportunities, but also make friends.
Whatever your career or life dream, believe in yourself and make it a reality. Armed with a plan, you will celebrate the small victories and enjoy each step along the way. As your business grows, as will your sense of empowerment, motivation, and imagination of the possible: Nothing is as meaningful as that which we create for ourselves.

 

Follow Aly Walansky on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlyWalansky      

Original Huffington Post Article

Hunting for a Headhunter

Finding a headhunter can be another resource to explore in the job search. Understanding how a headhunter works is the first step to finding one that can help you.

By Matt Krumrie, Star Tribune Sales and Marketing

Dear Matt: What do headhunters do, and can they really help me? If so, how do I find a good one that can help?

Matt: Most job seekers don't understand how headhunters actually work, says Lissa Weimelt, owner of Search Pro Services (searchproservices.com), a Twin Cities-based executive search firm.
"People have misconceptions about what recruiters/headhunters do, and that causes a lot of tension between headhunters and job seekers," says Weimelt, a headhunter herself.

Here's the scoop: Headhunters work on behalf of an employer - not a job seeker. Their client is the employer who pays them a fee to find the best candidate possible. That's where the mix up comes in - headhunters do not represent job seekers - they represent employers. A headhunter makes decisions and choices that are best for the company, not the job seeker.
That being said, there are a number of ways you can find a headhunter to help you, says Weimelt:


Ask colleagues/friends in your profession/network for a referral. Once you get the name of a person, e-mail them a cover letter/résumé and highlight three to four specific accomplishments, your target salary and the type of job/company you are looking to work for. A few days later, make an introductory phone call to them.

Research headhunters in your area who conduct searches in your field. Some headhunters are generalist, and others specialize in specific job functions.

Use social media such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to conduct research and find contacts. Find groups that discuss this on LinkedIn.

Ask members of professional associations affiliated with your career what headhunters they have used and try to get that contact information.

"If the headhunter decides you are a good fit for their client, ask to be prepped on how you can be the most effective interviewer to best represent yourself and the headhunter in front of the employer," says Weilmelt. "Heed the headhunter's advice. Do your homework about the client."


Be prepared to look for find multiple headhunters and keep in mind, headhunters are busy people and not everyone will be able to review your résumé or meet with you.
Finally, ask the headhunter how you can help them. Like any networking relationship, it's a two-way street. If you have contacts or resources that can help them - be prepared to share that information.
Do you have an employment related or job search question for Matt? E-mail him today at askmatt@startribune.com.


Original Star Tribune Article