Author Archive

Bullet Points: Ace That Interview

on April 21, 2011

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  • Interviews with more than 70 leaders for the NYT’s Corner Office columns have shown some traits that successful executives share–they’re the same traits the execs look for when their companies are hiring. [excerpt from The Corner Office]
  • Saying that you were “”the only employee who did things right” at your last job is no way to land a new one. [FINS]
  • It’s from November, but these interview myths from “Ask Annie” remain just as useful a read. Thinking that interviewers will always be prepared and know all about you is a belief worth getting over as soon as possible.
  • We’ve all heard them, and now The Oatmeal’s drawn them: the 6 crappiest interview questions.

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Bullet Points: The Great Coupon Bubble; Design Mistakes; AOL, Too Busy to Call

on April 20, 2011

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  • Gawker (of all places) looks at Groupon and other online coupon sites and finds them less than sustainable, relying as they do on an endless churn of new clients.
  • Top 5 web design mistakes that small businesses make [Mashable]
  • Ji Lee, Facebook’s first creative director, has a resume that includes “editorial cartoonist for the New York Times” as well as “freelance designer and artist.” His biggest previous role, however, was as a designer at Google’s Creative Lab. Business Insider has more.
  • The Oatmeal investigates why designers don’t like changes to their design–it’s not pretty.
  • If you haven’t seen it already, visit the Awl for the freelance writer Carter Maness’s account of how he was let go from his “permalancer” gig at AOL. It’s not that pretty, either.
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Event of the Week: “20 Under 30” New Visual Artists launch party (NYC)

on April 19, 2011

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This Thursday in New York, at the Phaidon Store, Print Magazine celebrates its most recent “New Visual Artists” issue. The reception and exhibition, co-sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery, will include artwork selected from the issue.

To find out more about this and other upcoming Hired-Guns-approved happenings, head to our events page.

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The Good Guns: Songs of Love for Japan

on April 18, 2011

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The Good Guns is a series of volunteer opportunities put together by The Hired Gun community; its members serve as active sponsors. Today’s effort is from Bryce Longton, a writer and longtime Gun. She’s using the power of music and social media to help people on the other side of the globe.

Summary: This one’s for all you Groupon addicts: Songs of Love for Japan (SOLFJ) is a 72-hour flash sale of great music for a great cause–it starts in an hour and runs until 10 am on Thursday. For $100, you can buy 100 rare and unique songs donated from 100 leading artists, including Josh Ritter, Ani DiFranco, Runaway Dorothy, Wolf Parade, and Heather Nova. If you buy the compilation, you also get a chance at concert tickets, signed CDs and other one-of-a-kind items. If $100 is too much for you, don’t despair: for $20, you can get one of the sale’s 20-song samplers (the sampler mix changes every day).
The Good Gun Profile: The project was put together by the writer Bryce Longton and the musician Cheryl B. Engelhardt. As they and everyone else were having fun meeting, greeting, and partying at South by Southwest last month, the bad news from Japan kept pouring in. Through Songs of Love for Japan, Bryce, Cheryl, and the rest of the team hope to raise a great deal of cash through the power of music. All money raised will be donated to the ShelterBox charity, which deliveries supplies and logistical support to those affected by disasters. To get your music and do your part, head to SOLFJ. And to help out even more, you can tweet something like this to your network: Check out @SOLFJapan, a 72-hour flash sale of great music for a great cause. http://solfj.org #solfj

[Image by Yoko Furusho, who hand-drew all the art on the SOLFJ site]

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Should Interns Get Paid? Here’s What You Told Us…

on April 15, 2011

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On Monday, we asked you what you thought an intern was worth to a company. Although the “all interns should be paid” option was by far the most popular choice at first, it soon lost ground to the more nuanced claim that only interns doing a “real job” should get a real paycheck. Your votes put that one out on top, although just barely.

A little surprisingly, the “interns as time-suck” option didn’t get a single vote, which implies that even those who think interns don’t merit a paycheck still see them as providing some value for a company. Roughly one in 10 of you said that the experience that companies are giving interns is at least equal to the work they’re getting out of their young charges.

Either way, we suspect that internships–and probably unpaid ones at that– are here to stay, at least for the most in-demand sorts of jobs for young workers. . . .

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Bullet Points: Career Management Musts, and Problems for Newbie Startups

on April 15, 2011

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  • Forbes uncovers three new “career management musts“. These sites will let you “score” your professional online brand, help you get a raise, and partially automate your job search by keeping track of contacts, interviews, and all other forms of contacts.
  • Kris Ruby, the head of her own PR agency, talks to Business Insider about her biggest challenge as a young entrepreneur: it’s “time management and balancing my personal and corporate brand. In your first year as a start up, you do not necessarily have the cash flow to bring on a full time staff and you are often a ‘one man show’ wearing many hats….”
  • If you haven’t voted in our “Should interns get paid?” poll, you have until noon Eastern today. A couple of the choices are running neck-and-neck…
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Bullet Points: Spring Brings Some Hopeful Job News (and Spring Cleaning)

on April 14, 2011

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  • Some good signs for those looking to make a move: there were more job postings in February than there were at any time in the past two years. And the unemployment rate, though still at an elevated 8.8%, is at a two-year low.
  • If you’re thinking that you might leave your job in the next few months, now (not later) is the perfect time to get your affairs in order. This includes building your list of contacts (for home use after you leave the job) and pulling together any portfolio samples you may need down the line. The accounting blog Going Concern has some tips on cleaning up your workplace computer, “just in case a team of nerds will be scoping out your computer and any embarrassing data contained therein” after you leave for greener pastures. “This includes your music collection, no reason to give them free MP3s.”
  • Whether or not you’re planning to leave your job, it’s always a good time to tidy up the cubicle or corner office. As this chipper article reminds us, cleanliness is next to godliness at work as well as at home. The Dumpster awaits.
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Bullet Points: Help for When You’re Failing at Your Job; Tina Fey, Job Coach

on April 13, 2011

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  • If you Google “performance review.” you’ll get pages of upbeat advice returned for your perusal. You don’t get nearly as much help on what to do if you’re failing at your job–whether it’s your fault or not. Today, Portland-based career coach Dorothy Tannahill-Moran provides some much-needed and frank advice on what it do if you’ve recently bombed a performance review–or fear that you’re about to get creamed at your next one. Improving your situation comes down to planning ahead–from understanding what’s expected of you to broadening the places you get feedback to include stakeholders in addition to your boss. Ultimately, you may come to realize that you’re doing the wrong job for the wrong boss, which may require a job change, either internally or externally. So pay attention to your spidey sense.
  • If you need more advice on swimming with the sharks, it turns out that Tina Fey’s Bossypants is good for career advice as well as guffaws, snorts, and chuckles. [via @ashleymilnetyte]
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    Event of the Week: Cut&Paste Global Champs Design Competition

    on April 12, 2011

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    This Saturday night, designers from around the world will come together in New York’s Webster Hall for the 2nd annual Cut&Paste Global Champs Design Competition, an onstage battle that will decide who deserves the Design Emperor crown (or something like that). The contestants, who have already won in regional events, will compete in either 2D, 3D, or stop motion categories–knockouts are possible but not guaranteed.

    To find out more about this and other upcoming Hired-Guns-approved happenings, head to our events page.

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    In the News: Cyd Zeigler and Outsports

    on April 8, 2011

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    Nothing makes us prouder than when we open up the New York Times and find a Hired Gun featured in its pages. In this case, it’s longtime Hired Gun Cyd Zeigler, who’s emblazoned on the front page of the sports section talking about the website he co-founded with Jim Buzinski. Outsports.com focuses on gay sports fans as well as athletes. The story is one of entrepreneurship, finding a niche, and then filling that void. It should inspire not only gay athletes in our network but also countless entrepreneurs–it demonstrates that when you find the white space, are original, and have a distinctive voice and purpose you can still stand out on the very crowded Interwebs. Congrats, Cyd!

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