2011 March

My Drain-Damaged Dog

Homegirl on March 31, 2011

Some people describe me as “a freelancer who works from home,” but I like to think I’m a “stay-at-home mom to my dog.” Everyone thinks their dog is the cutest creature on earth. On Facebook, we all click “like” politely, knowing our dog is just a little cuter than our friends’ dog. Well, I’m not saying that Alfie is the cutest (even though he is), but he is definitely “special.”

I’ve always gravitated towards dogs with strange personalities. I was told my last dog was like Woody Allen trapped in a small terrier body. This one is more like Matthew McConaughey in a shaggy-blonde mutt. He always seems about three bong hits into his day, and he’s perpetually happy and wagging his tail. Except when it comes to the bathtub drain. It infuriates him. I have been on a work binge lately, so he’s been left to entertain himself as I sit glued to my laptop.

I was wondering why an hour had gone by without a squeaky toy being tossed my way, so I went to go find out what could possibly be occupying him for this long. There he was, standing in the tub, growling at the drain.

“Ya see something down there, buddy?”
“Grrrrrrrr.”

I left him to defend the fort as I went back to attack my pile of work. Two hours later, I went to check on him. He was fast asleep in the tub with his paw dutifully covering the drain. The drain monster had successfully been kept at bay. I love my dumb dog.

Bullet Points: The Internet as “Real Life,” and the Disappearing Business Card

The Hired Guns on March 30, 2011

“I could end important conversations with ‘Here, let me give you my card,’” writes Susy Jackson, an editor at the Harvard Business Review. “I had a stamp of authenticity.” But business cards are hardly the universal sign of seriousness and prestige they once were. Earlier this month, Susy tried to give some SXSW-goers her card. At first all she got was a blank look, and then just a Hashable e-business-card in return. How do you share your info these days?
Oliver Burkeman had an equally jarring the-future-is-now moment at SXSW. The internet, he argues, has become less virtual and more… real. Internet/life integration is so pervasive that when people are online, they “forget they’re doing it.” Burkeman ends by talking with Hired Gun pal Tony Schwartz, who says, “We were not meant to operate as computers do…. We are meant to pulse.”
In case you aren’t yet convinced that the future has indeed arrived, PSFK’s Stephen Fortune profiles the mad genius of Dave Hakkens: writing tools you can consume. You were going to lose that pen, anyway.

Storytelling in the Age of Data

Tom Burg on March 29, 2011

Today, as always, a big part of successful marketing is about telling stories that resonate with customers and business prospects. What’s changed is that the method for telling those stories is increasingly becoming based on data. In fact, Google recently started publishing a book (with companion website) on that very subject.

Ask yourself: where has the Internet created real value? It’s mainly been in data analysis. The technology platforms for social media, music downloads, movie streaming, ad serving, and site analytics all generate huge amounts of data. Buried inside this data are valuable business insights, if you can tease them out and package them in a way that people understand. In fact, it’s this move towards data insight and analysis that may end up saving some old-school industries. The New York Times in particular does a nice job showing how the 2011 federal budget is allocated and spent. It’s a lot easier to be shown how much money is tied up in non-discretionary spending than to be told about it, and it foretells the role our most important newspapers may play in the future. Read More →

Bullet Points: Jumping the NYT Paywall, a Slamdance Showing, and Boomers’ Blogs

The Hired Guns on March 28, 2011

Mark Cenderella, CEO, of TheLadders.com, talks about ways that Baby Boomers and others can fight against ageism when applying for a job: “Today to stay relevant with the newest generations, you have to have a blog or a Twitter account . . . . Expressing yourself and your own interests is what people can relate to whatever it is. Actually, sometimes the kookier it is the better.”

An amazing but completely impractical answer to the problem of boring business cards.

The New York Times paywall goes up today, and that means that unless you pay (and perhaps you should!), you’ll only be able to read 20 articles a month. But because the Old Gray Lady doesn’t want to leave any possible pageviews on the table, she’d decided that even after you use up your monthly 20, you’ll still be able to read any article you reached via blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or the like. Enter the Twitter account @timeswiretap, which links to every Times article published and can therefor help you vault right over this rather complicated paywall. [via Mike Allen.]

This Thursday brings a special showing of Bhopali at New York’s IFC Center. The film was a Grand Jury Prize Winner and Audience Award Winner at this year’s Slamdance, Sundance’s less-corporate cousin.

Should Your Work Life Be More Like Preschool?

Brooke Alpert on March 25, 2011

Our newest blogger is Brooke Alpert, MS, RD, CDN, a nutritionist and the founder of B Nutritious, a private nutrition counseling practice based in New York City. She’ll be bringing advice on how to stay healthy, fit, and centered during even the craziest of work weeks. And because every few days seems to bring new headlines about wellness and nutrition, Brooke will also help us separate the truly worthwhile discoveries from fads and questionable findings.

I have a two-year old, so I watch a lot of Nick Jr. on TV. There’s a promo I’ve seen more than my fair share of that has me thinking.

It has a few sections, but the best one starts in an operating room, with all the beeping and other noises you’d expect. A bunch of doctors and nurses are all huddled around what seems to be a patient. Once you get in closer, you see that everyone is playing with the swabs, the wooden sticks, the Q-tips, and the rubber gloves. Then you hear an announcer ask, “What if life was more like preschool? You’d have arts and crafts time.” Others parts show a bunch of rough-looking mechanics pausing for a story and office workers with eyes closed for nap time.

Maybe this commercial is on to something. Let’s break down what happens in preschool: play, snack, recess, and a nap. It got me thinking about what I recommend to my clients. I want them to sleep more, make healthier choices, exercise, and enjoy life. Not so different, right? Read More →

Bullet Points: Don’t Let Job Boards Suck Up Your Time

The Hired Guns on March 25, 2011

You’re not going crazy! If your job hunt is stagnating, it might be because you’re spending way too much time applying via online job boards. Why?

According to The Aberdeen Group’s latest study, Challenges in Sourcing Six-Figure Talent, hiring managers and recruiters are just as exasperated by the ineffectiveness of job boards as you are. The boards deliver way too big a haystack of candidates, making it darn near impossible for in-house recruiters to find you–even if you are the perfect needle.

In the study, 70% of respondents said that job boards deliver too many candidates per post and 59% of indicated that they don’t have enough resources to review all applications when they do come in.

So what’s a smart Gun supposed to do? Use the job boards to figure out who’s hiring, and instead of applying into the black hole, hustle to figure out if you can find another way into the company through your personal contacts. Remember: 80% of all jobs are still landed through old-fashioned networking vs. 11% on the job boards. Networking is a learned skill; while it may be time-consuming at first, the ROI overdelivers every time. [via Breitbart]

iBoss

Homegirl on March 24, 2011

A print designer who now finds herself in a digital world, Homegirl blogs about the perils and joys of freelancing. They both involve wearing pajamas all day.

If you’re going to work from home, you must be disciplined. Like me. OK, unlike me. It’s hard to be your own boss and an exemplary employee at the same time. A few nights ago I went to bed swearing I would get up early, go to a yoga class, and get all my work done at a reasonable hour. Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and it was 10:00 a.m. What is wrong with me? Oh, yeah. I don’t like alarm clocks.

I grabbed the dog and rushed him out the door to get a power walk in before buckling down to work. Believe me, I gave myself a stern talking to on that walk. I need to become more motivated, I thought to myself. Stop procrastinating. Keep normal hours and get in sync with the outside world.

I walked by my favorite bakery and bought myself a cappuccino and the most delicious cookie on the planet. Oh, how can I stay mad at me when I do such nice things for myself? Caffeine combined with a sugar buzz? I’ll finish my work in no time. Which means I could knock off early and treat myself to a movie. You know, as a reward for being such a good boss.

Press Op: Did you reinvent yourself?

The Hired Guns on March 23, 2011

Reinventors wanted! The editors of a general-interest business magazine with 1M + circulation are working on a story about hope and why it’s never too late to evolve in your career. Naturally, they figured that some of the folks from The Hired Guns network would give good back story.

The editors are looking to speak with people who reinvented themselves after being “digitally disrupted”– meaning that they bounced back after technology changed the nature of their jobs to the point where they were laid off or jumped ship because they could see their skills becoming a commodity.

In short, they want to meet middle managers and up (100K+ folks) who made it through the storm–were baptized by it–and are ready to evangelize about their experiences. If you went to work in another company in a brand new field or completely redesigned what you’re doing within the same vertical and are making at least 80% of your former salary (and are extremely happy with your new work life), they want to talk to you.

Email us if you fit the bill.

The Good Guns: Volunteer as a Digital/Mobile Project Manager to Help NZ

The Hired Guns on March 22, 2011

“The Good Guns” is a series of volunteer opportunities put together by The Hired Gun community; its members serve as active sponsors. Today’s entry is from Josh Webb, a global mobile media expert, digital product manager, and entrepreneur who is currently based in New York. He is heading the mobile and global outreach efforts for the Telethon for Christchurch, New Zealand; he’s working closely with the offshore team to bring the message to the world through digital and social means.

Summary:
The organizers of a global telethon are looking for a digital/mobile project manager who can quickly help organize a global charity campaign for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake. The February 22 earthquake caused an estimated US$15 billion in damage to the New Zealand city, and there’s a huge need to reach the Kiwi expat community and others throughout the world.

Good Gun Profile:
You’ve got a strong background managing projects across international borders–and knowledge of what it takes to successfully execute across multiple platforms. Ideally, you have some mobile experience working on messaging, web, and apps, but a general digital background may suffice. You’ll be collaborating with a team based primarily offshore. Although you will have some guidance from other experts, you will need to be self-directed and take the initiative to pull the campaign together quickly, with minimal supervision. You need to have immediate availability and be able to dedicate the next 2-3 weeks to the project. Read More →

How Not to Succeed in Business: 5 Great Ways to Exasperate Your New Boss

Todd Tarpley on March 22, 2011

The digital media strategist Todd Tarpley has launched businesses for A&E, Bravo, and Nielsen. Because there are already hundreds of blogs and books telling managers how to succeed, his “How Not to Succeed” series uses his expertise to help managers learn how to fail instead.

Congratulations on the new job! You’re a big, important manager now. But while you’re waiting for your imminent promotion to CEO, you still have to report to someone. On paper anyway! Here’s how to make the most of it:

Be the “But” Guy. Always be ready to point out why an idea won’t work. Shake your head whenever your boss speaks in meetings. Hold firm to your conviction that his plan will fail. The fact is, most ideas do fail, so you’ll usually end up being right. Even more important, busy executives appreciate having a trusted colleague who can play devil’s advocate and challenge their assumptions. By disagreeing with everything he says, you’re providing a valuable counterbalance, ensuring that only the most fully vetted ideas are implemented. That’s exactly what the organization needs. Read More →

Bullet Points: Getting the Right Kind of Attention at Job Fairs

The Hired Guns on March 21, 2011

U.S. News has advice for mastering the art of standing out at a job fair. We liked this tip: talk to other job seekers, too: “By asking what they’re looking for and what their impressions have been so far, you may get valuable information about an opening they heard about, or a recruiter to avoid, or a recruiter you definitely should talk to.”

And here’s a tip from us: Wait your turn–or you’re sure to turn off a prospective employer. Nothing is worse than job seekers who are so desperate to get noticed that they cut each other off while waiting to stuff a resume into an employer’s hand at a job fair. Sure, job fairs bring every Tom, Dick, and Harry out of the woodwork, but you don’t have to be one. A great way to stand out is to not cut off Ms. Chatty, who’s taking up all of the time of the employers you most want to see. Establish eye contact, smile, and wait your turn. And if they turn to you, as if to say “SAVE ME,” you’ll have them at hello.

Face Time

Homegirl on March 18, 2011

A print designer who now finds herself in a digital world, Homegirl blogs about the perils and joys of freelancing. They both involve wearing pajamas all day.

A few years ago, if you’d asked me to work on-site, I would have kindly responded with, “Yeah, I really don’t do the office thing, but I’ll pop in for some face time if you need me to.” Makes you want to slap me in the face, right? Well, don’t worry, the economy did it for you.

I’m a print designer in an almost paperless world. But my rent is still due at the first of every month. So with my tail between my legs, for a fee the old me would have laughed at, I will happily show up at your office at the ungodly hour of 10 am. I will even shower for you and wear a carefully orchestrated ensemble that shows that I’m cool and creative and kick ass at design.

You will not notice, however, because you will be texting as you distractedly escort me to the “freelancer work station.” You know the one. It’s next to the heating pipe that hisses all day, on that part of the floor that slopes just enough to keep my chair rolling away from the desk. I will spend most of the day sifting through files and trying to decipher what the last freelancer was trying to accomplish. The other designers will all have headphones on and will ignore the newbie, except when I mime that I desperately need to know where the ladies room is. All in all, I’ll get about one third of the work done had I done this job at home in my sweats. But this was fun! Same time tomorrow?

Bullet Points: Storytelling and Finding Your Muse

The Hired Guns on March 18, 2011

The New York Times’ “You’re the Boss” column talks storytelling. The author MP Mueller says that all the businesses that “really captured” his “imagination and heart” all had a “company story, told well.” We’re obviously big fans of using stories to get your message across, whether you’re the CEO of Starbucks or a fresh-faced grad applying for your first job or looking to launch a new company.

These days, more and more workers are “commuting” to a home office. If they’re going to get anything done, the onus is on them. In this episode of the nerdy-but-fun Radiolab show, the topic is self-control and inspiration: Writers Oliver Sacks and Elizabeth Gilbert talk about moving forward when they’re stuck at their work. Gilbert talks about how you can live a “lifetime of creativity without cutting your ear off you know what I mean?” She avoids writer’s block by talking to her muse: berating, soothing, and reassuring it. Then her muse shows up and she gets to work. How do you talk to your muse?

In January, the novelist Michael Chabon gave blogging a try. In his final post for The Atlantic, he writes that “novelist time is reptile time” and compares novel-writing’s pace to that of blogging: “Blogging, I think, is largely about seizing opportunities, about pouncing, about grabbing hold of hours, events, days and nights as they are happening, sizing them up and putting them into play with language, like a juggler catching and working into his flow whatever the audience has in its pockets.”

In the News: The “Most Inspirational” Event at SXSWi

The Hired Guns on March 18, 2011

San Francisco’s KQED news blog says that our very own Larry Smith gave the most inspirational presentation at SXSWi: “I think many of us left that room with renewed commitment to our ideas.”

Want to get inspired by your own ideas? Come take Larry’s class at The Academy on March 31st !

Can You Engineer a Better Boss?

Tom Burg on March 17, 2011

Tom Burg, a twelve-year veteran of Silicon Alley, blogs for us about marketing, the digital economy, and how social media is transforming the way we all communicate.

Google’s in the news for developing a process to improve people management within the company. It looks a lot like the way the company perfects its search algorithms or makes design decisions: analyze the data and completely (some would say blindly) trust the results. Because the performance review system is entirely online, it’s also entirely searchable. The team heading up what’s known as “Project Oxygen” found correlations between the “phrases, words, praise, and complaints” used on in-house surveys, reviews, and nominations to arrive at eight traits that separate good managers from bad.

Those traits, by and large, read like they came from a Reader’s Digest management primer–having a clear vision for your team, helping with career development, and being productive and results-oriented. Read More →

Bullet Points: Cutting Down on the Noise and Human Resource Secrets

The Hired Guns on March 16, 2011

Tony Schwartz, Hired Gun pal and the author of Be Excellent at Everything, writes about what the addicted-to-texting-and-tweeting crowds at SXSW would need to “seize back control of their lives.” Hint: it doesn’t involve more Internet.

You likely already have too much to do, too much information to absorb, and too many choices to make. If so, your challenge is learning to say no far more often — “no” to more projects, more meetings, more emails, more tweets, more Facebook updates, more purchases, more friends, more “likes”, and more fans and followers. . . Prioritization isn’t just what you want to do, it’s increasingly what you ought not to do.

These dirty little secrets of HR make for sobering reading. The bottom line is that they are people too–and some of them are full of foibles. So be prepared by knowing what they might be thinking. [TechRepublic]

“Write Drunk, Edit Sober”: Kick-start Your Elevator Pitch

Larry Smith on March 16, 2011

The storytelling community I started, SMITH Magazine, is best known for the Six-Word Memoir project, but my core philosophy of telling your story comes down to even fewer words than that: Write drunk, edit sober.

Not that you should actually be drunk (the inebriated writer is a silly, antiquated idea, among other things). Rather, you should just let the words fall out of you, however messily and spastically, whether you’re writing a memoir, a letter, a flirty email, a toast, reports for work, or your Elevator Pitch.

In my class at the Hired Guns Academy, “What’s Your Story: Master the Art of the Elevator Pitch and Harness the Power of Short-Storytelling“, we’ll spend part of our time together “writing drunk.” Read More →

Bullet Points: Summify Cuts Through the Twitter Fog

The Hired Guns on March 16, 2011

We’re obviously big fans of Twitter here, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get overwhelmed by its randomness and chatter. The service Summify is a big help for those times — after you sign up, it examines the tweets of the people you follow and sends you a daily email detailing the most retweeted (or otherwise discussed) links. It’ll also do the same for Facebook and Google Reader accounts. As one journalist friend said, “You never have to use Twitter again.” We’re not ready to go quite that far, but it’s definitely a great way to stay on top of what everyone’s talking about.

Digital Marketing Comes of Age: We’re All Futurists Now

Tom Burg on March 15, 2011

Tom Burg, a twelve-year veteran of Silicon Alley, blogs for us about marketing, the digital economy, and how social media is transforming the way we all communicate.

Back in the mid-90s, when I started my marketing career, just about everything I knew I learned through textbooks and classes taught by marketing professors who’d last seen the inside of a boardroom back when Bic pens came to market. Marketing itself was heavily based on case studies and focused on market share, with big budgets tied up in campaigns with a life cycle of six months or more. Unless you worked for a company with virtually unlimited budgets, there was no incentive to do quick tests and refine marketing approaches. Incremental progress was limited at best.

Moving to New York City a bit later to pursue a marketing career in the “Internet” seemed like a pretty safe career bet. I got to conceive and explore new business models; it was great fun. Unfortunately, many of those late-90s ideas were either before their time or required what (seemed back then to be) unfathomable amounts of capital to make work. Then came the bust. Read More →

Gig Alert: Email Marketing Associate

The Hired Guns on March 15, 2011

Email Marketing Associate
Freelance, New York, NY

This Hired Guns client, one of the most renowned sources for educational material across the world, takes education pretty seriously. To help them spread the love of learning, they are looking for an Email Marketing Associate who can drive visits to their site. (This freelance gig is expected to run for about three months, four to five days per week.)

Get the Nitty Gritty »

Gig Alert: Senior Product Strategist

The Hired Guns on March 15, 2011

Senior Product Strategist, Interactive Agency
Direct Hire, New York, NY

The product strategy group at this Hired Guns client is a small but mighty collaborative team of brainiacs, and they’re looking for a Senior Product Strategist to join their ranks. Their goals are ambitious and their focus is broad, from developing long-term holistic digital strategies to creating social media and mobile strategies, and they are way into the next big thing. To land this opportunity, you must be at the top of your game when it comes to digital strategy and have got to love consulting and taking clients to the next level.

Get the Nitty Gritty »

The Higher-Ed Bubble Breaks

Allison Hemming on March 14, 2011

Higher education has been taking it on the chin lately. Maybe with good reason. People are finally asking whether or not students are getting truly prepared for the work world with that high-priced admission ticket called college. Over the last few weeks, there have been several pieces poking at the issue, including USA Today’s Are Ivy Diplomas Still Worth the Price of Admission? and the New York Times’ For Law School Graduates, Debts if Not Job Offers.

Ae we training our students in a way that will pay off for them and America as a whole in the future? You don’t need these articles to guess … but read them anyhow. All of this chatter is good. As someone who sits across the desk from a lot of recent college grads earnestly looking for jobs and then failing to land them (often due to “user error”), I’m more than a little bit obsessed with this topic. It’s clear that many students–regardless of where they went to school–are missing “invaluable higher order thinking and reasoning skills,” as Bob Herbert pointed out in a NYT op-ed.

True, many students have taken the initiative by following the advice of Job Interviews for Dummies and other sources in advance (it’s actually a good book, by the way). But I’ve been struck by how many interviews unravel when taken slightly off course. It’s not entirely the college students’ fault, either. These kids aren’t only stressed-out about failing job prospects (college unemployment is at an all-time high)–they are also feeling completely duped by the higher-ed “system.” A cushy college experience is not translating to a cushy job. And they know it.

Right now, the best universities are starting to integrate career management curriculum into classes so that their students get the skills while in college to go out and find multiple jobs over decades. Others are starting to add in alumni career services. Initiatives like this are good, but they are not nearly enough, both in quality and quantity.

Job-hunting programs should start at freshman orientation and be brought through all four years of college. Networking skills shouldn’t be hived off to the Greek system, because that skill is and will continue to be the number-one way to land a job. Unfortunately, it will take the giant sucking sound of cash endowments shriveling up before most colleges make real change happen. In the not-too-distant future. I imagine many college-educated alumni across the country will wake up and realize that they got ahead in their careers not because of their degree but because of their own hard work and ingenuity. And the checkbooks will close.

Many of you out there interview recent college grads and hire interns. How do you feel about this subject? What can colleges do to prepare students better for the workforce and for longer careers–where delayed retirement and job-change velocity is sure to affect them?

[Photo by Dave Herholz/flickr]

THG @SXSW: What Larry David’s Rants Reveal About “Extreme Users” and Broken UX

The Hired Guns on March 14, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and “like” this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
Curb Your Experience: Pushing the UX to Extreme
Tuesday, March 15, 5:00
Presenter: Jenine Lurie

Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less).
Solutions Consultant & UX Strategist team lead for a diverse client base. I champion the user for great, intuitive exp. in product design.

Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
I am excited to speak at SXSW to share some fun ideas about the application design process.

Who should come to your talk?
My audience is people who want to learn ways to bring smart, strategic usability design into their business models and product development process.

What will people walk away learning from you?
I hope people will learn that observing how customers interact with your product is critical for creating a great experience. I also hope people will learn how to closely examine broken systems and processes, and understand that a dysfunctional system or process can be both be funny as well as frustrating.

What do you hope you learn from your SXSW experience?
I hope SXSW opens my mind and senses to the current cultural landscape of emerging trends in music, film, and interactive design. In other words, I really just want to get turned out to a lot of new stuff.

Bullet Points: Avoiding the Monday Blues, Internships, and Networking @SXSW

Allison Hemming on March 14, 2011

7 Tips for Networking at SXSW. These tips will work at just about any large and complicated event. And it’s true–ditching your friends (just temporarily!) and allowing some room for the unexpected are both good starts. [Inc.]

From time to time everyone gets the blues on Monday, right? And probably rates skyrocket whenever an hour gets stolen from your weekend, as it did today. (And sadly, sleeping in is rarely an option.) Next Monday, head off that low-down feeling with Careerealism’s eight tips.

Marketwatch’s “Recession Baby” takes on the question of internships in this incredibly competitive job market. An employee at the Vault.com delivers the somewhat chilling news: “As long as you can afford to work unpaid you should do so, until you find paying work.”

THG @SXSW: Aim for a Great User Experience, Not Just Deliverables

Jeff Gothelf on March 14, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and “like” this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
Lean UX: Getting Out of the Deliverables Business
Tuesday March 15, 3:30
Presenter: Jeff Gothelf

Your Twesume:
User Experience and Product designer, Lean UX advocate, blogger, speaker, Director of UX at TheLadders.com

What inspired you to submit this idea?
I want UX designers, product managers, and developers to work more collaboratively in a smart fashion and to be more productive.

Why are you the expert on it?
We’ve pioneered and adapted these methodologies at TheLadders to great success.

Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
It has a broad audience that can provide great perspective on this topic as well as help spread the word.

Who should come to your talk?
UX Designers, interaction designers, product managers, developers, founders, information architects, visual designers, and their friends

What will people walk away learning from you?
How to use the full spectrum of the user experience and design toolkit in the appropriate places and at the appropriate depths. In addition, they’ll learn how to get cross-functional teams to work more collaboratively and to actually like it.

What do you hope you learn from your SXSW experience?
What spring break for nerds is all about

SXSW: The Hired Guns Lineup

The Hired Guns on March 11, 2011

Headed to Austin? Here’s an updated list of the Hired Guns (and a couple pals) who will be presenting at SXSW this week. We’ll all be covering topics close to our heart and hoping to soak as much knowledge (and sunshine) as possible.

We’ll also be busily tweeting about happenings throughout SXSW, using the hashtag #sxswguns, so please follow along–and use the tag yourself for your own SXSW events and for meeting up with other Guns.

Avatar Secrets to Real Life and Love
Ramona Pringle
Hashtag: #AvatarSecrets
Friday, March 11, 5:00
Austin Convention Center
Room 5ABC
500 E Cesar Chavez St

The 90-Minute Solution: Live Like a Sprinter!
Tony Schwartz
Saturday, March 12, 12:30
Hilton
Salon D
500 East 4th Street Read More →

Bullet Point: Represent Your Fellow Freelancers

The Hired Guns on March 11, 2011

Freelancers Union–the good folks who bring you health insurance when nobody else will–are looking for freelancer candidates to run for the member representative slot on their board of directors. The rep will participate in three board meetings each year and will help the Union promote and aid independent workers. But act quickly: applications must be received by March 28.

Got news or an event that our community would be interested in? Use our handy Post an Event form.

THG @SXSW: Getting More Done Through 90-Minute Sprints

The Hired Guns on March 11, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and “like” this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
The 90 Minute Solution: Live Like a Sprinter!
Saturday, March 12, 12:30
Presenter: Tony Schwartz

Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less):
Evangelist for changing the way the world works. Lifetime seeker.

What inspired you to submit this idea?
I thought of all these techies with 12 windows open on their computers dying a slow death, and I wanted to give them a better way of working.

Why are you the expert on it?
Because I’m not sure anyone else knows there is a 90-minute solution. I may be the world’s expert on how renewal influences performance (and happiness).

Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
I want to share some of my ideas with some of the leading thinkers in the world.

Who should come to your talk?
Anyone who is struggling to get everything done in life–and falling short.

What will people walk away learning from you?
How to take back control of their lives. I hope.

What do you hope you learn from your SXSW experience?
Some unexpected new ideas and a good feel for Austin.

Power to the ‘Point

Homegirl on March 10, 2011

You’re going to love Homegirl. A self-imposed victim of the demise of print (I’m being dramatic), she now finds herself in a whole new world. Sorta. She’s a print designer in a digital world, working from home. She makes gorgeous things while wearing pajamas. At the height of her magazine career, she was the Creative Director of Marketing at an infamous lad’s mag. She doesn’t use Twitter and she claims to be “utterly clueless.” Maybe her foray into blogging for The Hired Guns will bring her into the digital era. Maybe not. We love her anyhow.

As any self-respecting elitist snob graphic designer will tell you, PowerPoint is awful, and we hate it. It’s clumsy, heavy-handed, and full of glitches. To make it worse, it seems no two people have the same version. So good luck doing fancy animation and getting it to run on anyone else’s computer. And don’t get me started on the fonts. I hope you like Calibri or Verdana, because if you don’t use generic fonts like those, good luck getting it to run on everyone’s computer. Really, Microsoft, you couldn’t do better? Read More →

THG @SXSW: Launch Your Own Online Workshop

The Hired Guns on March 10, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and “like” this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
DIY Online Workshops: Best Practices + Worst Mistakes
Tuesday, March 15, 5:00
Presenter: Bryce Longton

Your Twesume
Mobile UX + Production. Travel, Style, Foodie Journalist. Now creating online workshops. I bake pies. I make jams. Loves: Yoga, DIY + NYC Read More →

Bullet Point: Resumes That Even a Search Engine Can Love

The Hired Guns on March 10, 2011

Thanks, Lifehacker, for your Top 10 Ways to Rock Your Resume. We agree with almost everything, although we quibble with one. Don’t just laundry-list your keywords–weave them into your resume. If you can’t make them work within your prose, then make them invisible to the naked eye so that you don’t dork out but do get picked up by the the search engines of the applicant-tracking systems of the companies you apply to.

THG @SXSW: Creating a Career That Doesn’t Stop Rocking

The Hired Guns on March 10, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and like this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
Career Longevity: Build Your Brand The Rockstar Way
Hashtag: #SXSWGuns
Tuesday, March 15, 5:00
Presenter: Allison Hemming

Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less):
Talent agent to the digerati. Believes career management should be owned by the person and not the company. Will help you get there.

What inspired you to submit this idea?
People compare their careers to that of rockstars all the time. Why not look at the underlying traits that turned artists from struggling musicians into icons? Read More →

Gig Alert: Senior Digital Designer

The Hired Guns on March 9, 2011

Senior Digital Designer, Marketing Communications Firm
Direct Hire, New York, NY

This Hired Guns client, the digital arm of a leading marketing communications firm, is looking for a talented Senior Digital Designer with killer interactive skills and a crazy creative streak.

Get the Nitty Gritty »

“The Other White Meat” (and Bringing Home the Bacon)

Allison Hemming on March 9, 2011

Rock Your Career: In this series, Allison Hemming takes a rock ‘n’ roll song and weaves it together with personal branding and pop culture topics. Disclaimer: The songs were selected because of their title, not necessarily their lyrics, and most (but not all) songs will be classic rock. Our only hope is that it doesn’t suck. We’re sure you’ll let us know if it does.

Last week, The Pork Council changed its tagline from “Pork: The Other White Meat” to “Pork: Get Inspired.” Regardless of how you feel about the change, I’d like you to chew on why the original tagline worked so well and how you can apply it to positioning yourself. Read More →

THG @SXSW: Letting Out Your Inner “Badass”

The Hired Guns on March 9, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and “like” this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
How to be a Badass Online
Tuesday, March 15, noon
Presenter: Erica Reitman

Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less).
I’m a local Brooklyn blogger, the marketing director at Squarespace, and all-around smartass know-it-all.

What inspired you to submit this idea?
Being the chick who gets to say all the crap that everyone thinks but is too afraid to say is fun . . . . I want to encourage others to take the plunge too.

Why are you the expert on it?
I have a blog with [the f-word] in my url… that’s pretty badass, don’t you think?

Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
Mostly cause I’m obsessed with breakfast tacos, and all the good ones are in Austin.

Who should come to your talk?
Anyone who likes to applaud a lot and/or thinks I’m hilarious.

What will people walk away learning from you?
1. You don’t need to edit yourself so much.
2. People *do* actually care about what you really think (unless you’re boring).
3. Being a badass is fun.

What do you hope you learn from your SXSW experience?
How to be more like Gary Vaynerchuk.

THG @SXSW: Getting Internet Buzz Without Spending a Fortune

Larry Smith on March 9, 2011

How to Create an Internet Phenomenon for Peanuts
Tuesday, March 15, 12:30
Presenter: Larry Smith

Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less).
“Everyone has a story. I help you tell yours.”

What inspired you to submit your idea?
As I’ve told and retold the origins and subsequent amazing journey of the Six-Word Memoir project, I’ve thought a lot about the reasons it caught on. Whether the audience is members of a youth writing center in Bushwick or 800 big brains at PopTech, there are some clear lessons about why Six Words works so well, and how and why it spread across the world in an organic, authentic way.

Why are you the expert on it?
I created the phenom and have nurtured its growth carefully and obsessively for five years.

Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
These are my people! I’ve learned so much in the years I’ve gone to SXSW, and I’m thrilled to offer any knowledge I can back. Above all, it will just be fun.

Who should come to your talk?
Anyone who loves stories on how things start and grow; anyone who is interested in starting or growing his or her own project; anyone who loves the Six-Word Memoir project and other projects that have gone from nothing to wildly popular without tons of money….

What will people walk away learning from you?
How I did it and how they can, too. If you stick to it and truly, truly love it, it’s quite possible to turn a passion into something that goes viral and even makes a profit.

What do you hope you learn from your SXSW experience?
Same as always: meet new people; fill my head with new ideas; stay up late and get up early; have a blast in Austin.

House Rules: Commenting on the Blog

The Hired Guns on March 8, 2011

We have but one overarching rule for comments: Do not add to the chaos of the universe.

Our new blog is devoted to developing a point of view around the future of work through the lens of the digital creative class. The goal is to deliver some of the best career management writing out there, so that you can take advantage of where work is going, not where it’s been. It’ll also offer an inside look at your fellow guns livin’ the dream and tellin’ it like it is. We encourage you to use the comments to drive conversations to the next level, bounce ideas off our bloggers and each other, and engage in dialogue with your fellow readers.

The one thing that we’ve learned about the DNA of our Guns network is that you are all seriously curious, are great teachers, and are often pretty darn opinionated. We really can’t build this thing without you. Before you set off, guns ablazin’, please read and abide by our very few “house rules”: Read More →

In the News: CNN on Career Longevity

The Hired Guns on March 8, 2011

CNN’s Eliza Ridgeway interviews The Hired Guns founder Allison Hemming to find out what job strategies can make you as timeless as Bruce Springsteen–or David Byrne:

The Steven Tyler-model of career planning is starting to look like the norm in the business world: frequent changes of venue, constant reinvention, and, hopefully, a loyal fan base that sticks with you through it all.

That’s the gist of career expert Allison Hemming’s upcoming presentation at South by Southwest this year. Her DJ-assisted riff on how to “build your brand the rockstar way” on March 15 is part of the glitzy-but-geeky business content that has proliferated at the Austin, Texas-based SXSW festival in recent years. Read more….

Who’s Who in the Guns Posse @SXSW

The Hired Guns on March 8, 2011

This past summer, eleven Hired Guns brainstormed together as a group and submitted ideas to the South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive festival. We were up against some tough odds — with more than 2400 submissions being entered from the Digerati and Mashable set.

Well, we’re proud to announce that thanks to your votes, 6 out of the 11 Guns that submitted panel ideas were selected by SXSW! A hearty Thank You to all who voted: your support made the difference.

Big congrats to the following Guns who were selected to present at SXSW 2011 in Austin. Read More →

How Not to Succeed in Business: Success Is Not An Option

Todd Tarpley on March 8, 2011

There are hundreds of business blogs that tell you how to succeed as a new manager. But there are none that tell you how to fail.

Until now. Read More →

Surviving SXSW: The Hired Guns Short List

The Hired Guns on March 8, 2011

Headed to SXSWi and feeling a little overwhelmed? A little advice….

An amazingly handy-looking scheduler to stay on top of all the events.
[via 17 dots]

6 successful SXSW Startup launch stories and SXSW for startups [Mashable]

Geekdad’s 20 Tips for Surviving and Thriving SXSWi

And finally, epic advice from writer-comedian Alex Blagg on Dominating the SXSW Party Scene

THG @SXSW: Love Lessons from our Avatars

The Hired Guns on March 8, 2011

A number of Hired Guns are presenting at SXSW Interactive this year. This series profiles a few of the proud and the brave. Please tweet and like this story so as a community we can build a little buzz for them.
Avatar Secrets to Real Life and Love
Hashtag: #AvatarSecrets
Friday, March 11, 5:00
Presenter: Ramona Pringle

Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less):
Multiplatform producer, digital journalist, actor and prof. of new media & film. Gutsy & brave game-world explorer, on a quest for meaning.

What inspired you to submit this idea?
While some people turn to God in their quests for meaning, and others turn to therapy, I turned to video games in search of real-world wisdom.

Why are you the expert on it?
I’ve interviewed hundreds of gamers, and documented every step of my own journey into World of Warcraft, in search of meaning, love and real-world fulfillment.

Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
Games are fulfilling something that people are missing in real life–purpose, a sense of accomplishment… but more than anything, community and connection. SXSW is a chance to share that… and connect.

Who should come to your talk?
Everyone! This presentation will be just as informative, and just as much fun, for people who have never played a game in their lives as it will be for those who play every day… After all, it’s the game-world guide to real-world fulfillment.

What will people walk away learning from you?
People will walk out of the Avatar Secrets presentation inspired and ready to play their way to real-world happiness.

What do you hope you learn from your SXSW experience?
I’ve never been to SXSW before, but I love new experiences. I’m excited to learn from the other amazing panelists as well as from the feedback of people who come out to my session.

Event: Creating a Business That Evolves With You

The Hired Guns on March 7, 2011

This Week: Tuesday, March 8
Business Reinvention: Creating a Business That Evolves With You

Don’t build a company you hate working at. If you’re going to start your own business,
why not build one with an eye to adapt to your changing needs and interests over time?
That’s just what Amy Abrams and Adelaide Lancaster, the brilliant gals behind In Good Company, aim to show you this Tuesday–the event will be held at their lovely space in the Flatiron District, one of the top co-working spaces in the city.

Four dynamic entrepreneurs (including our very own Top Gun) will talk about how they
bucked conventional wisdom to align their businesses with their personal interests, goals, and motivations. Each of the presenters is recognized as a leader in her industry and has established large and loyal customer followings. Click here to find out more…

“There used to be laws and religions that girls couldn’t do things because they are girls? That’s cuckoo bananas. If someone told me I couldn’t do something because I’m a girl, I’d tell them “Goodbye”—and then I would do it.”
—Rachel, 2nd grader and daughter of Hired Gun Laurie Kalmanson

Bullet Points: the NYT Reboot, a Major-League Job, and White-Collar Robots

Allison Hemming on March 7, 2011

The New York Times Magazine is all spiffy and redesigned. Going to the site won’t give you the full experience, but we’re pretty sure you’ll enjoy the new 6th Floor column.

While we’re giving out props to Gotham’s best, New York Magazine’s Vulture delivers the buzz with the Anticipation Index. You’ll never be clueless again.

Major League Baseball has the dream job to get you out of your man-cave. Watch baseball and drink all summer, then live to blog about it. The deadline to apply is TODAY–March 7, 2011.

You Vs. Machine: Outsourcing isn’t the enemy of white collar employment, automation is. [NYT]

Business Insider’s interview with Naval Ravikant of Angellist.com is compelling. Loved by cash-strapped entreprenuers, Angelist.com is a matchmaking site that partners startups with investors. The site is causing a stir in the VC community.

Bullet Points: Hiring Boom Around the Corner

Allison Hemming on March 4, 2011

Here at The Hired Guns we’re seeing bidding wars like it’s 1999. The post-”worst-recession-since-the-depression”-hiring-boom is about to start. If you work in the tech space, this is not news. If you’re the boss, knowing the ins and outs of how to bag top talent is a skill you can’t live without. [Inc.]

Ready, set, go! Seth Godin correctly states that there is a “huge shortage of people who will say go.” Stated another way, the average worker has zero initiative. As a Hired Gun, you can turn everybody else’s lack of gumption to your advantage…

According to Career Builder UK, 46% of hiring managers take one minute or less to read a resume. Their turnoffs include resumes that are 3 or more pages long, unprofessional email addresses, and, get this, exact text from the job ad pasted into the CV!

Round Peg In A Cube Farm: Will Your Next Company Be As Innovative As You?

Jeff Gothelf on March 4, 2011

Jeff Gothelf, a user experience designer working for TheLadders.com, blogs for us about project management and UX careers and trends.

Recently I wrote an article for Smashing Magazine about how to manage a personal brand within a corporate environment. At the end of that article I mentioned that if personal brand building is one of your goals and your employer doesn’t support it, you should consider another employer–or even consider going out on your own. Read More →

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