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At the gym ... working off the humble pie

I recently renewed my commitment to the “gym.”

We have a terrific “Rec Center” in our city (actually, multiple Rec Centers), complete with all the latest exercise equipment, basketball courts, pool, etc…

For less than $70/year, you can exercise to your heart’s content. And, it helps that I only live one block from the Center.

So, I’m at the Rec Center last night with my workout buddy and there’s a nice lady in the room and she’s just flat talkin’ our legs off. After a few minutes of explaining to me how she can hardly stand to put much weight on the exercise machines, she looks at me and says,

“So, are you the Father/Son team that comes in here all the time?”

Uh.

No.

I look at my buddy and laugh. Seeing how I’m the one with the gray hair and presumably the “Father,” I suppose I shouldn’t be laughing so hard. It’s just that, I’m 43 and my workout buddy is 38.

Wow. I guess I should be flattered that she thinks I’m in here all the time. But the flattery is tempered by the fact that I presumably have a 38 year old son.

Guess I need to spend a few more hours in the gym workin’ off this humble pie, eh?

Thanks lady. It’s nice to be not-so-subtly reminded of my humanity.

See you in the gym.

Make a Name for Yourself

In the past year, this guy has done more to impact my professional career than anybody else on the planet.

Really.

And he just wrote his fourth book.

And you can buy it HERE, and HERE.

Or, you can download the complete book HERE, for free (just read through his post and you'll find the link that says, "right now."

That's the one you click.

Why should you read it?

Well, as Scott says,

"If you don't make a name for yourself, someone will make one for you."

Job Search Competition Tight Among College Grads

Interesting insight from Experience Inc's fifth annual College Graduate Survey.

More than 2,800 graduating seniors took Experience's online poll, and nearly 50% of those who had already started their job searches at the time of the survey were still looking. The results, released in early April, also showed that only 22% of these students had offers in hand. Another 15% planned to continue on to graduate school, and 10% had yet to begin searching.

So, college grad, where are you?

Dennis Smith
T-Mobile USA
Sr. Manager, Recruiting

The Father of Wireless (and Wireless Jobs)

Martin Cooper. Just an average genius working for the man at Motorola .

But on April 3, 1973, Dr. Martin Cooper placed a call to rival Joel Engel, head of research at AT&T's Bell Labs, while walking the streets of New York City talking on the first Motorola DynaTAC prototype.

And so the levers of cell phone obsession began to turn.

10 years later, the Brick was born, and those who had the cash dropped almost $4,000 for the 10-inch, 28-ounce anchor created by Coop and his team of engineers at Moto.

The differences between Cooper's Brick and today's phone? Can you say, calendar, calculator, alarm clock, gps, video, web browser, and MP3 Player?

Dahl's article offers up a bit of history that I find seriously amusing:

Analysts in 1983 predicted that by 2000, there would be 900,000 wireless users in the United States.

Reality?

There were more than 100 million wireless users by the end of 2000, and 229 million at the end of last year. My family alone accounts for four of the 229 million (I'll be adding three more in the not-to-distant future).

Yes, my Blackberry is never far from reach. I exchange text messages with my team late at night and early in the morning (cut it out, Jen!) ; )

On the chance that I've misplaced it (along with my keys), I'm irritated 'til it's safely back in my front pocket.

I glance at my messages while driving to work (just kidding, Mr. State Farm Insurance Man!). I send my wife and children secret messages throughout the day. I am always connected.

Geez, thanks Mr. Cooper. No, really, thanks! We complain about being overly-connected, but if we're honest, most of us wouldn't have it any other way.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying it's healthy. But it's our reality (and I like it).

Reality also says that about one-fourth of all wireless calls have at least one problem (2006 study by J.D. Power and Associates). Whether it's dropped calls, disconnected calls, static, or interference, the problems exist. And if we're grumpy when we can't find our Blackberry, we're even grumpier when we drop a call.

Why?

Because we can't stand not being connected! Like I said, I'm not proud of this particular mental illness, but I'm not about to change. Even if that means I have to crawl on my roof line at midnight in the middle of a thunder storm, I'm going to make that phone call, by golly!

Even the Father of Wireless (Cooper) agrees with us. He's now 79 years old, owns six cell phones, carries three and pays the bills for 20. He was even talking on his cell phone for his interview with Dahl, explaining that he understands our obsession, our need, to have a signal:

"When you've got that phone, you feel connected, you feel part of a group,"

says Cooper.

"Who's the group? It's everyone in the world, on your cell phone."

Yep, Dr. Cooper still gets it.

Because the most important thing is being able to stay connected to the most important people in our lives.

Thanks Father Cooper Wireless.

Here's to 30 more years of wireless connectivity and the jobs that make it happen.


source: McClatchy Newspapers, Melissa Dahl

Can Blogging Help You Get a New Job?

Sarah E. Needleman (Associate editor for CareerJournal.com) posts a nice article in today's WSJ (subscription required) about blogging and how it can help you get a new job.

Here's a short excerpt:

Corporate recruiters have long surfed the Web to vet potential hires, but now they are also surfing blogs to unearth job candidates, expanding their talent pool and gaining insights they say they can't get from résumés and interviews.

If you are a recruiter and you aren't surfing the blogs, you are already behind the eight ball.

If you are surfing the blogs but aren't making hires, at a minimum, you are putting yourself in great networking stead. And, personally, I'm finding no greater opportunity than blogs, for developing relationships with candidates for future opportunities.

One of my goals is to use the blogosphere to make new contacts every day (ok, at least one).
And for the most part, I consistently meet this goal.

As an example, it wasn't too long ago that I left a comment on the WirelessisFun.com site, and as a result, struck up a friendship with the guys behind the WirelessisFun firewall. We now have a pending podcast for sometime in the near future and an almost daily dialogue. However, I'm really looking forward to talking my buddy Dan in to a new career with T-Mobile USA.

It's a long relo to Bellevue, WA from Romania, but hey, anything's possible in the blogosphere.

Needleman also posted an article titled,

What Job Seekers Can Gain From Blogs about Recruiting

Without question, the blogosphere is the place to go for job hunters who are seeking advice (of course, I'm slightly biased to this point, but it's because I'm right). And modest.

Here's a few of the blogs noted in the article - great choices - I read every one of these blogs and believe that job-search savvy job seekers should be reading them too.

YourHRGuy.com

Cheezhead

Resume Hell: Dumb Stuff I Read on Resumes

JibberJobber

Brazen Careerist

• Todd Raphael's World of Talent

Kaleidoblog

Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters: The Blog

• George's Employment Blawg

the CHAD

Go get 'em job seekers!

And while you're at it, don't forget to stop by WirelessJobs.com.

Just one visit a day, that's all I ask.

Dennis

Great Minds Think Alike