Forbes and Bixly Have a Connection

A couple of months ago, Forbes published an article of the 5 most sought-after personality traits in new-hires. They were: professionalism, high-energy, confidence, self-monitoring, and intellectual curiosity.

Interestingly enough, these are areas that we tend to have opinions on. We don't typically require that a new hire have a college degree in order to work for us as a developer, or in another role. What we do require is a base amount of knowledge, coupled with a burning, passionate desire to gain more of it.

We also place a bit of a different cultural value on each of these traits. Professionalism is always expected in terms of interactions with colleagues, clients, and anybody else, but we don't require you to wear a suit and tie.

High-energy? It's something that everybody here has. Part of working in a startup environment is an “all hands on deck” mentality that permeates the culture. You will find yourself constantly challenged, so attacking new tasks with enthusiasm is required.

Confidence is also a must-have. As a developer, project manager, or anybody in a client-facing role, you will find yourself having daily interactions with clients from around the world. You must be prepared to explain your progress on your tasks so far, what you expect to complete next, and also an understanding of what obstacles might get in your way.

Self-monitoring is another way to describe someone with strong self-knowledge and self-motivation. You should be able to describe your accomplishments to date, as well as what you see yourself doing in the next 5 years. Career-mindedness is a highly valued trait here.

Intellectual curiosity is probably one of the most important and underrated qualities that we look for. We don't expect you to know how to fix a problem right away, but we do expect that you will put in the time to figure it out. Time-tested methods to fix problems are always appreciated, but sometimes, finding a new way to do things can be even better.

End-of-Year Success Review!

We're very fortunate to have had some great success this year at Bixly. The end of the year is always a great time to reflect on some of our successes. We really want to share these with you, and show the opportunities that exist here!

1. We launched our Business Process, Human Resources, and Quality Control departments
2. We have made solid progress as our Sales and Marketing team continues to build on their successes, and open new roads for us to develop business relationships
3. We have begun implementing our Belt System for developers
4. We launched our internships (http://careers.bixly.com/internships/) program!
5. Our recruiting method for developers allows you to learn more about what we do as you pursue a position with us. It's a great learning opportunity whether or not you join our team.

Does Facebook Matter?

Social media is considered a vital frontier in multiple facets of business.

Marketing departments utilize social media as a critical part of their outreach. The return on investment can be stellar, since the barriers to entry are relatively low (all you need is a free account to get started). Furthermore, a solid profile and brand strategy can very rapidly boost a company's visibility, and subsequently boost their revenue from sales.

However, there's a flip side to the positives associated with marketing a company on social media. When a profile and brand aren't properly managed, negative publicity will also spread like wildfire, and can deliver a serious negative hit to the company.

How does this apply to your career? According to Forbes, employers and recruiters are reviewing your Facebook profile more than ever. Many job candidates aren't too thrilled about it, mainly because Facebook is portrayed as a social engine, not a professional one. However, any prospective employer will want to know as much as possible about their candidates.

Look at it this way: your Facebook profile is your personal brand. It's where many people publicly display the most about themselves, and it's your chance (along with a great LinkedIn profile) to truly build your personal brand and image in the public sphere. Get it right, and you'll have another great part of your personal profile secure. Get it wrong, and you'll find yourself headed the way of the company with a poor brand strategy.

The Skype Interview

I spend a lot of time reading career advice articles so that I can share the information with the rest of the world.

CareerBuilder recently hit the nail on the head when they mentioned 8 Important Tips for Skype Interviews. We use Skype here on a regular basis, so the tips and etiquette that are mentioned directly apply to our company.

Some highlights:
- If you are in a video interview, it's best for you to look directly at your webcam, not at your screen. If you look at the webcam, it will look like you're making eye contact.
- Make sure that whatever is behind you is warm and inviting. If you can't do that, then at least make it look professional. It's probably best to not leave your Metallica poster up directly behind you.
- Test your audio and video in advance! We set aside time to speak with you, so therefore, we would hate to see delays occur due to technical difficulties, especially if they can be avoided.

Why Prolance?

As a recruiter, I interact with plenty of developers who wonder whether they should pursue freelance positions, or consider a position where they can be a Prolancer. Here are Five Prolancing Benefits, and then maybe you can decide which path you'd like to take.

FIVE PROLANCING BENEFITS

1. Supervision: Bixly’s “Prolancing” model guarantees that you have the best access to a constant source of projects, as well as our own internal learning resources. This means that between client projects, we like to keep you busy learning, and working on our own internal development projects. Compared to freelancing, where you have to worry about where your next paycheck is coming from after your current project ends, we believe that we give you a much more favorable employment experience.

2. Quantifiable Career Progress: We have a belt system here at Bixly, much like the karate belts that you may have worked so hard to earn in life, assuming you're a fan of martial arts. We took that to the next level. Our developers can demonstrate that they have sufficiently conquered Python, Django, and multiple libraries by moving up our standardized belt system. Oh yeah, and with increased performance comes increased career opportunity.

3. Ticketing & Workflow: We use the Agile Management method. This means that we assign you tickets anywhere from 1-7 days in advance, based upon your current task load and client needs. You will have to be quick on your feet, but you also get that vision of where the project is headed in the long view.

4. Dedicated Project Manager: If you choose to freelance, you're on your own when it comes to project flow and planning. You're also responsible for all facets of client communication. By working as a Bixly developer, you will have a dedicated Project Manager who oversees communication and planning with our clients for you.

5. Knowledge: We really work hard to foster learning among our employees. You get the chance to constantly learn new skills, and even participate in our own company Tech Talks! We have online meetings between developers where you get the chance to learn new skills from other developers within our company, and can also showcase the superpowers that you have.

Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?

This is another of my favorite questions, as a recruiter. While it's easy to come up with an answer to this, especially since you probably know the answer already, what's more important is that you are honest and prepare your answer.

Just like with any other question in an  interview, it's crucial that you prepare yourself in advance. This is a commonly asked question, so you should be prepared for it.

However, this does not mean that you should prepare a lie about the circumstances concerning your recent departure (or planned departure, if you're currrently employed).

Ultimately, it's up to you to come up with your own response to this question, but some don'ts to keep in mind are:
1. Never state that you resigned when you were actually terminated.
2. Never speak badly about your past or current employer. It comes across as petty, and makes us wonder how you might represent our company.
3. Don't play the blame game with the circumstances of your departure from your most recent position. It makes a prospective employer wonder whether you can take responsibility for issues. It could also be an indication that you caused more problems than you solved.

Puffery, or Deceit?

Every recruiter and hiring manager knows that when they review someone's resume, there's probably a little bit of puffery occurring. Puffery is defined by Merriam-Webster as "the act of an exaggerated commendation especially for promotional purposes."

I know that everybody will speak as positively about themselves as possible, and might just slightly fudge the numbers. However, the instant that goes into outright deceit is the exact same moment that you get yourself in trouble.

As a career recruiter, I have reviewed thousands of resumes. I have seen more cases of resume deceit than I would care to count. Common areas that can spell trouble are:
- Leading the reviewer to believe that you have a college degree, when really, you have only completed a few units
- Overstating your title...don't call yourself the manager of a department when you were really just a really integral part of the department

Another area that is much more common now than 5-10 years ago is what we call a "lie of omission." In other words, maybe you took a job with a company that only lasted 3-4 months. This could mean that it wasn't a match for you, or it was only a short term contract, or maybe you were let go as a result of a reduction in force. Either way, it's better to mention your experience there rather than ignore it. Recruiters and hiring managers who catch this omission will wonder whether the applicant will lie about other things if hired.

The Question of Private vs. Public Domain

There is an ongoing debate in the world of recruiting and hiring regarding Social Media.

It doesn't matter whether you're a recruiter, candidate, hiring manager, or employee, you probably have a side of the fence on which you dwell. The question that everybody is pondering is whether employers should look at someone's Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn profiles to determine whether they are a match for the company to which they are sending a job application.

I generally try to keep my personal life separate from my professional life. However, that was much easier said than done in the days of landline telephones and fax machines. With the advent of email and smartphones, many employees find themselves replying to work queries while at home after their workday is complete. With social media, anything that you say or do now runs the risk of staying on the internet forever.

Another way of looking at the changing times is through the old saying, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Now, the phrase should be, "What happens in Vegas, lives forever on Facebook."

It seems that too often, individuals will write so many comments that they wouldn't say directly to someone in person. What's the point of broadcasting foul language to 500 people, instead of saying it directly to three people in person? It's a disconnect that is so easy to forget.

With that in mind, here is some advice: check your social media profiles. Make sure that you remove your name from anything that you wouldn't want an employer or professional contact to see. Everybody likes to have some fun on the weekends, but if you've got obscene pictures plastered all over the place, or constant posts littered with foul language, then you might want to start auditing your public profile.

Remember, many on Facebook have 100-500 friends, which means that you're literally broadcasting your message to 500 preapproved people, and then they might choose to share it with more. Keep a lid on the things that you would otherwise want to be private.

Two Deceptively Easy Interview Questions

When I interviewed for previous positions in my career, I always seemed to find myself confronted by two questions that, at face value, are deceptively easy.

The first is the most common introductory question, in which the interviewer simply says, "Tell me about yourself." The trouble here for the candidate is their own internal question of what to discuss. Should you speak about how much you love rock climbing, wine (specifically Malbec, as an example), and beach days? Or should you go into minute details of your most recent programming project?

As an interviewer of many applicants, we look for the most qualified candidate to take on our role. This means we want someone who can comfortably speak about their accomplishments that relate to the role they're applying for. What experience do you have that's relevant to the role? What is your educational background? What do you see yourself contributing to the company, based upon what you know, and also what you hope to learn once hired?

The second question that is deceptively easy? Try answering this one on the spot: "Why do you want to work for our company?"

The most convenient answer to this question for a non-career oriented applicant is simply, "Because I need a job, and you're hiring." Unfortunately, that would likely make you an unattractive candidate for us in many cases. Most employers would agree with this position.

The prepared, career-oriented applicant will do a few things before an interview in order to answer this question properly:

1. Take stock of their career to date. This is relatively easy if you've invested the time to write a well-crafted resume that describes the value you have added to your previous employers and/or projects in school.

2. Research the company. Make sure that you look over every possible link on the company's webpage, instead of only checking the front page of their website. Find things that pique your interest, or raise additional questions for you about the company.

3. Be prepared to combine the two in your answer. You should discuss the items that interest you about our company, and how you can add value in those areas. You might also discuss areas that the company specializes in that you would like to leverage toward adding to your professional repertoire.

4. It's never a bad thing to ask questions! This shows that you're thinking critically about what our company does, and how you might provide even further benefit to us as our employee!

As always, good luck with your career!

Do This...and Wreck Your Career

I was recently perusing the illustrious webpage for the San Francisco Chronicle, and there's a great article on how swearing at work might cost you that promotion.

While mores in the workplace always seem to change over time (Mad Men is no longer a reality in most places), 81 percent of managers will call an employee's professionalism into question if they are observed frequently dropping inappropriate language.

We always seem to return to the same standard though: if you can't say something nice, it's better to say nothing at all.