What a man does at work, and how women decode it

Early one Monday morning, Carol noticed a male co-worker exhibiting odd behavior - not really working, not really typing, sort of resting. Maybe communicating with a distant star? 

At that moment the team was supposed to be updating their sales progress in Salesforce, the company's customer relationship management (CRM) software.

She used an office messaging app and alerted a teammate to share the head-shaking experience.

He looked something like the cupped chin picture, except imagine a man, not even a hint of a smile.

Here's the private, text conversation.

8:54 AM

Carol: Chin in one hand, the other hand resting on his keyboard or typing with his little finger -- what is he doing???

8:54 AM

Samantha:  HAHAHAHA

i have no idea...................not salesforce

8:55 AM

Carol: I'm going to get a look at his screen - watch this misdirect . . . 

He's STARING at salesforce -- it's communicating with him telepathetically (sic)

9:04 AM

Samantha: omg

no way

it cant 

(pause)

that would mean that his mind works faster than it does

Portland job fair April 8

For job seekers in the Portland area connect with CenturyLink at their April 8 Job Fair.

CenturyLink Job Fair
Tuesday, April 8, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
310 SW Park Ave, Portland OR

Centurylink is now hiring for experienced Telecom Sales Professionals in our Portland office. We strive to strengthen businesses and connect communities by delivering advanced technologies and solutions along with honest and personal service.

Join CenturyLink's Portland Hiring Event, Tuesday April 8 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 310 SW Park Avenue. Be sure to have a copy of your resume when you come. CenturyLink offers attractive pay and benefits in a team environment with incredible earning potential based on sales performance.

Connect with the great people at CenturyLink at our Portland Hiring Event, Tuesday April 8 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 310 SW Park Avenue.

For details and to apply, go to http://tinyurl.com/prdho3f.

CenturyLink is an equal opportunity employer

CenturyLink Job Fair
Tuesday, April 8, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
310 SW Park Ave
Portland OR



CenturyLink Jobs: APPLY

The tension between friends, lunch and work

Sales staff discusses issues at lunch

There’s the people you work for, and there’s the people you work with.

Usually you spend more time with the people you work with, but those relationships usually don’t pay the bills. So, how do we balance both ends of the work-interaction spectrum?

The tension between the two reminds me of Hollie. She was hired as a category sales rep to zero in on a specific type of business, those outside of the local area. In order to create a territory for her, the manager peeled regional accounts off of everyone else’s territory, mine included, and gave them to Hollie.

No weight was given to customer-rep relationships, difficulty of customer to deal with, or how upset it made the reps losing customers, and thus taking a pay cut. In other words, fewer customers equaled lower commissions.

Needless to say, most were pissed.

After Hollie came on board, everyone realized she was a nice person and decided to make the best of it. Only Hollie put no energy into getting to know us.

People were more pissed.

“Being friends with us is not going to put food on her family’s table.” I said, as we chowed down at a Chinese restaurant, a favorite lunch spot for the gang of sales girls.

There was general disgruntlement, but it was clear, we were not Hollie’s top priority. Working hard, getting out of the office to jog, ride horses, live on a farm, enjoy her husband and her child was her focus.

Work isn’t about friends, having a good time, and creating fond memories. That is a by-product of proximity, camaraderie, friendly competition, and working towards a common goal.

Work is not about ignoring everyone else, either. But until the sales goals are met, there should probably be a lot less lunch.

Note: Hollie (not her real name) and I became friends and are still friends. We never meet for lunch (we probably should). We do cheer each other’s career changes via Facebook.

Tatoo artist accesses YouTube to 'game' job opportunity

Having been the interviewer for open positions too many times to count, I was always impressed with the candidate who did their research, knew what our company was about, and could offer compelling information that would illustrate whey they were the best candidate for the job.

Erin Michael Vondrak illustrated her desire for a job by really using illustrations.

Her YouTube account and website, www.erinvondrak.com, serve up highlights from her resume:

I was raised in southern California. In 2007, I graduated from the University of Redlands with honors in Photography and a Bachelor’s degree in Design in Various Platforms of Media. I have worked for Apple since 2007. I enjoy drawing, tattooing, doing stupid animations in Flash, and making people laugh. I love animals, computers, meeting new people, and exploring the world around me. I currently reside in Seattle.

The video tells us she is desperate to leave Apple and work for the Bellevue, Washington entertainment software and technology company Valve.

I hadn't heard of Valve before. They sound like they might be worth investing the time Vondrak has shouldered to compose an original song and create hundreds of illustrations to populate a YouTube job plea. According to Valve's website they have an incredible "98% retention rate." I'd like to know what makes it so high, and I'll confess, I'm a little curious about the two percent who don't make it.

If you're interested in a job at Valve, visit their jobs page, which states, "We're always hiring for all positions. Seriously."

Personally, I think Vondrak should be on their marketing team. Her video has been shown 89,401 times. That is an incredible amount of PR in three days

Uploaded by erinvondrak on Jul 27, 2011.

I learned about this first, on Geek Wire, "an independent technology news site and online community based in Seattle, Wash. — covering the people, companies and innovations emerging from and impacting the Pacific Northwest."

It's nice to know there are other people who love Washington State as much as I do.

What's the craziest thing you did to go after a new job?

---

The genius of Google +1

There is something genius about the +1 concept. The first time I saw '+1' was infront of the letters 'RT' on Twitter. It took me a moment to understand it meant 'I agree.' At that juncture in time, I surmised it was the lazy man's way to comment, and assumed the man responding thusly must be pressed for time, and likely all thumbs on a smartphone with a teeny screenpad.

I, of course, took more care with my RT's, laboring over witty responses to attach myself to good content and make us both memorable.

But why not respond like lightning and electrify good ideas?

Why not, indeed, and Google now offers us that opportunity in a full and official way by using the +1 button. By clicking +1, we concur. We vote. We promote content to higher planes.

When we click the +1, we also thrust ourselves into those higher planes, exposing more of ourselves, and not just to our Twitter followers, but in a real dynamic way that can be tracked and followed (by Google), and we share with even more people who we are.

Do you want to more about me? Maybe not, but Google does. And the more Google knows about me, the better opportunity Google will have to correctly identify my psychographic profile. As a marketer, I am keenly aware that serving up relevant advertising that consumers will respond to in a meaningful way (read: spend money), has great value.

Yes, Google is profiling me and using my interaction with you to know you, and to market to both of us.

Is this a good thing?

It's a genius thing.

If you own a search engine and you create the *bling* that makes the engine more interactive, and from there the engine tugs users through a more meaningful maze of the Internet, the '+1 Drazzle' (razzle-dazzle yet to be defined as positive or negative) is genius.

I like smart people.

I like Google.

The only thing that would make Google better for me would be if they were located in Washington State, because I am pro everything good for the local economy. Those things will get my +1's.

Oh, hey. Google is in Washington State! And they are advertising for administrative, general, technical, and sales people.

Now, that's going to be my first +1.

What's the first thing you +1'ed?

---

Watch YouTube videos on working at Google Seattle.

A beginners guide to advertising

Mid stride interviewing candidates for a media sales position, I lamented to my director that there is no book I can hand someone to teach them what we do.

Beginners Guide To Advertising

When I began in media sales our world was far less complex. New products and concepts emerged slowly with much thought and thorough research. We layered them into our sales portfolios as easily as turning pages of a newspaper. We built a direct mail product, we created glossy magazines, coupon books, crafted custom print programs for full color brochures and flyers. We sold travel contests and auction events.

We stumbled early into the online world and chased premiere media consultants and followed their packaging advice. We trained weekly and tracked every nuance of the vocabulary: hits, views, impressions.

There was no standing still, but the pace was manageable.

Today, the media business bolts forward faster than the speed of light.

To enter our sales world now is a head spinning experience. Rewarding, but only with a heavy investment in self and a deep desire to grip the unknown and hang on to the ride while trying to steer the ship.

We learn by listening, watching, devouring information as if it were the air we breathed. As soon as we figure out how to sell static online ads, we're packaging flash ads into our marketing proposals, then video, then mobile.

We think we've got it figured out, take a breath and get knocked off our feet. Company resources wither and the weight of survival moves to every employee but rests solidly on the local territory sales reps.

This is no job to ease you into retirement. This is an ever reinventing itself career. And as the SlideShare above demonstrates, the concept is very simple. But it's what we bring to the table–our ability to grasp media concepts and communicate them in language a layman can understand–that pushes towards success.

So.

How'd I do?

Want to come work for me?

Send your resume to: TheClassicCarol (at) gmail (dot) com

View more webinars from Carol Doane.