Category: Uncategorized

I’m sitting in the Atlanta Airport and I have a few moments to kill, so I thought I’d share something that really bothers me. In the airports that AirTran services, they have kiosks set up where they sign people up for credit cards and give them some ridiculous teddy bear or something. Cool.

I don’t have an issue with people being signed up for their cards. I have one. I ­do have a problem, however, with the way they’re going about it. Customers are called over by one of up to three or young persons standing behind a counter. People are called over as if they’re being helped, but they’re actually being signed up for a credit card. The whole process takes less than five minutes, and in the time that I sat and observed it (although I’ve seen it many times before), it disgusted me to the point of wanting to interrupt the transactions.

(more…)

If you’re not looking out for yourself, no one is.

Pushback is the term used to describe standing ones ground in the workplace. It could be an employee against a demanding boss, a project team against unreasonable deadlines, or a consultant against a unfavorable contract. You get the idea.

Essentially, it boils down to how much of your time, effort, life, and vitality you’re willing to give something. That might sound hyperbolic, but it’s not. Corporate America, on the whole, is a heartless beast. It will drain you of every ounce of strength and free time that you have to give. Late nights, weekends spent working, and abbreviated vacations are represent the reality that some people live. I’m not saying that all companies are like that. Not at all.

What I’m saying is that it can happen. You volunteer to work a weekend because you’re up for promotion and you want to look good for reviews. You stay late every Friday night so your boss can see you in the office once when everyone else is gone. Soon, you find yourself doing these things out of habit. Then these things become expected of you.

That’s when the trouble starts.

Actually, the trouble started the moment you volunteered without knowing what you were getting yourself into. It doesn’t have to be this way.

It’s important to keep your career in perspective. Another 10 – 20K per year is not going to change your life. Your project will trudge on without you. You will never attend your child’s high school graduation and wish you could have spent more time in the office. Your significant other will never wish you’d stop leaving your Blackberry at home while you’re on vacation.

Just a gentle reminder that work isn’t going anywhere.

Is anything more important than customer service?

I was in the airport this morning and had some time to kill. I walked up to a place that sold smoothies, and wondered why no one else was in line. The two stores next to the Smoothie place (fast food and coffee, respectively) had winding lines.

I approached the young lady working there and asked her if they sold Acai smoothies. She gave an almost imperceptible nod – shyly, as if I correctly guessed the color of her undergarments and asked for confirmation. I smiled as I prepared myself for the conversation that would come next. Since it was obvious that the young lady detested her own employment, I diligently scoured the menu for the the Acai smoothies so I could complete my transaction with a minimum of friction (communication).

I was unable to locate the section, so I asked her how the smoothies in question were sold. Without opening her mouth, she leaned across the counter and pointed to a display sign advertising the Acai smoothies. Somewhat helpful, thanks. At this point, I strongly considered leaving. I had to decide whether or not my patience could take the final leg of the transaction.

I ordered the smoothie and it was great, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how awful her customer service skills were. I won’t be back, under any circumstances. Instead of me recommending them to my friend and readers, I’m posting this entry on how unpleasant my experience was.

Looking back, I can’t imagine why people weren’t lining up for smoothies.

To my readers: I was invited by one of my former professors to speak to his class this semester. I understand that he has an outstanding group of upcoming graduates who might benefit from the perspective of someone who’s been in the working world for a little while. I was all set to visit them today until I got pulled onto a project in the northeast at the last minute (on Friday!). This post is for them.

Hey guys!

Thanks so much for checking out my site and connecting with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. I really regret not being able to meet you all today, but I will make every effort to visit you this semester. I mean it.

I’ve been giving some thought to what I could to for you, and I think what you all would benefit from the most is answering the questions you have about the industry and making myself available if you’d like me to demolish review your resumes. I will answer each and every question you have, and I’d be happy to share some insights from the industry. Let’s get started, shall we?

(more…)

I’ve been employed as a technology consultant for over two years now and in that time, I’ve come to appreciate a lot of the things to which I’m exposed. I’ve put together a list of some of the things for which I’m most grateful, and I hope that this becomes a helpful resource if you’re considering a similar career.

Without further ado, 25 things I love about Consulting:

1. Exposure to the latest and cutting-edge technologies.
2. Exposure to vastly different management styles and methodologies.
3. Exposure to different industries and corporate cultures.
4. Working with abstract problems and creating concrete solutions.
5. Understanding complex problems only after carefully listening to someone explain it.
6. Dealing with client egos, territorial habits, insecurities, and abrasive tendencies.
7. Learning how to “push back” against unreasonable client and management demands.
8. Learning how to ask questions until they get answered.
9. Having to become intimately acquainted with something completely foreign. Quickly.
10. Developing a sensitivity to tone, body language, and other nonverbal cues.
11. Learning how to speak the language of different corporate environments.
12. Learning the fine art of negotiation. (more…)

1. How Stuff Works

http://www.howstuffworks.com
HowStuffWorks is a website that was founded by Marshall Brain and is dedicated to explaining the way many things work. The site uses photos, diagrams, video and animation to explain complex terminology and mechanisms in easy-to-understand language.

2. YouTube

http://youtube.com
YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.

3. eHow

http://www.ehow.com
eHow is an online knowledge resource with more than 337,000 articles and videos offering step-by-step instructions on “how to do just about everything”. eHow content is created by both professional experts and amateur members and covers a wide variety of topics organized into a hierarchy of categories.

4. WikiHow

http://www.wikihow.com
wikiHow is a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. With your contributions, we can create a free resource that helps millions of people by offering solutions to the problems of everyday life.

5. Instructables

http://www.instructables.com
Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others.

6. VideoJug

http://www.videojug.com
The video content on the site takes a variety of formats that include informative “How To” and “Ask The Expert” films that guide you, step-by-step, through everything and anything in life. The “How To” format delivers easy-to-follow, bite-size tutorials on a wide range of topics from cleaning tips and sport, to relationship advice and recipes.

7. Nettuts

http://nettuts.com
Nettuts+ is a site aimed at web developers and designers offering tutorials and articles on technologies, skills and techniques to improve how you design and build websites. [They] cover HTML, CSS, Javascript, CMS’s, PHP and Ruby on Rails.

8. Tutorial9

http://www.tutorial9.net
We’ve been in the Tutorial business for quite some time now.  Many authors here have been teaching online since 2004, while others have taught in classroom environments and seminars. [Their] goal at Tutorial9 is to offer the most blissful learning experience possible – at no cost whatsoever.

9. 5min

http://www.5min.com
5min is the leading syndication platform for broadband instructional, knowledge and lifestyle videos. [Their] library includes tens of thousands of videos across 20 categories and 140 subcategories, which are professionally produced and brand-safe.

10. W3Schools

http://w3schools.com

W3Schools is a web developer’s portal, with tutorials and references relating to web development subjects, including HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript. W3Schools is free of charge, and is funded through text and display advertising. The tutorials and references on the website and the related code are proprietary.