valien.net » Technology

Processor Editorial Quote

Allen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:35:53 +0000

I got quote in Processor Magazine today.

http://processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/P3206/28p06/28p06/28p06.asp&guid=3DF4CD49C2B343E38E9BFDFC0622529C

So check your print copies! Autographs to follow along with a book and movie deal as well.

Recruitment Agencies – Adapt or Die.

Allen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:27:14 +0000

Pretty interesting article about how Recruiting Agencies are having to adapt to an ever changing marketplace. My thoughts from the inside of things – I agree with the article in some ways. It’s definitely a little tougher out there. There are less agencies around as some of the small mom-n-pop ones are gone, but there is also more competition because agencies that have never targeted our market are now trying to get in this market.

Will agencies be around for a while? I firmly believe so, there is a value that we add that in-house or corporate recruiters can’t do:

Speed of finding the right candidates for a client. We have a pretty deep pool of candidates and many times can fill a position quite rapidly. A corporate recruiter is typically spread thin and can’t necessarily focus that much or have a strong network
Niche skill sets. Since we focus solely on IT related skill sets we have a strong network of those people. Again, corporate recruiters don’t typicalyl have that deep a pool as they are busy filling everything.
Confidential searches. Need to replace someone confidentially? I highly doubt an in-house recruiter will have that ability or skill to do that. This is something we excel at.
Contract/Temporary staffing. Most corporate recruiters focus on direct-hires. We focus on contract staffing (and some direct-hire) and the advantages of utilizing an agency for these positions is excellent since there is no HR burden on the company.

Agencies will come and go. The ‘net will not kill off agencies. We will have to adapt, change, and improve our process in order to compete effectively. Being small and privately owned it’s something we are doing and will do successfully.

Social Media in Recruiting.

Allen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:56:21 +0000

Pretty cool article on ERE about utilizing Social Media for recruiting. I’ve been utilizing SM (mainly Twitter) for the last few months to post jobs and other things from my viewpoint (IT Staffing and Recruiting). When we have a hard-to-fill skill-set or a need to fill something fast I’ve found that utilizing Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn have been invaluable to generate buzz and even find a few candidates.

Is this the future? Not really sure, it’s a low-cost alternative to find people that’s for sure. Some might call it a fad, but then again, we’ve seen a lot of things on the ‘net that were fads and have become mainstream staples of our browsing history and usage.

I will say that (at least in our area) there are not a lot of agencies/recruiters utilizing a lot of SM to find people, post jobs, etc. This industry is interesting because a lot of people here are kinda old school in that they don’t realize the power of using SM or something else to recruit. When I came to FGP last year I was about the only one that started to heavily use LinkedIn for my personal network. Now a good number of us use it. I’m still about the only one using Twitter, but that’s changing and I’m excited to see more people here using that platform.

Glad to hear that others are utilizing it as well. It’s a great resource…if handled properly.

Check out the article on ERE.

My First Professional Blog Post…Kinda :)

Allen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:43:42 +0000

My company – Find Great People – started a blog this year to help drive traffic, market our company, and become more tech savvy. They are having all sales/recruiters put up a weekly post and my turn was last week.

So check out my post on “What’s Hot in IT Jobs” and let me know what you think!

Although my blogging here has pretty much died down, I still Twitter occassionally and update the family blog when I get a chance. Hopefully I can put out more tech/business related posts and articles as I get time.

Brushing the Dust Off.

Allen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:40:42 +0000

Hi all!

Wow. This Summer/Fall has been insane. Haven’t posted in a good while. Here’s what’s going on for summary…

1. 1st Baby due in about 4 weeks. That’s been really keeping me busy! Can’t wait. Check out allenandkaren.blogspot.com for updates (eventually…)

2. With everything happening in the recent economy things have been just as busy for us here at FGP Tech. Been really working hard to drive new business and build relationships with clients. Will it pay off in the long run? You better believe it.

3. Great article on the value of using a company like ours at this time – MSN Careers.

4. Got my 1st Contract-to-Hire position starting today! That’s super exciting!

5. Been really working on my C# programming stuff. Big lab I’m working on but kinda stuck right now. Frustrated but working through it! Rough making my old brain work this hard again…

C#, Java, .Net, Lua, Ruby on Rails, Oh My!

Allen — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:09:41 +0000

Back in the day when I used to do web development and some minor scripting the language list was fairly simple. You had HTML, ASP, and PHP for a majority of your web-based development. I remember when Java started coming on the scene, and then JavaScript started becoming popular, and then CSS came out and then wham! Things skyrocketed.

Of course during the time all this skyrocketed I was out of the active development scene and was busy trying to build and run a small business. I just didn’t have much time for doing any fun web work while trying to do sales calls, tech support, purchasing and HR all at the same time!

So now that I’m back in a semi-tech role – Sales for FGP Technology – I’ve had some time to start digging into languages again. I’ve been going through the Head First Labs C# book and have loved it so far. I’m learning all about namespaces, classes, methods and statements again. Hard to believe I used to know all that when I did some Java stuff back in the late 90’s.

My goal is to learn C# and develop a couple of personal projects for the fun of it (maybe even create some PC based versions of some of my favorite board games). After C# I might jump into a web based language again – Ruby, AJAX, ActionScript. Not sure yet. Guess I need to conquer this mountain first!

It’s much easier to learn and do programming at home then it is to learn networking and systems administration. Coding is cheaper than buying a Catalyst switch and playing with IOS at home!

Hiring Time! Secure Your Gmail! (not related)

Allen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:53:16 +0000

Now that school is starting up things have suddenly started to come to life again (in comparison to the last few weeks). I actually had 3 people call me back today from messages that I left earlier. Out of those calls I obtained one search order (know anyone with SunGard Banner skills? If so, let me know!) The other calls were from people at least letting me know they didn’t have any needs. I really appreciate when people call back. It keeps me from keeping on calling them time after time and usually when I get them on the phone we have a pleasant conversation about life, technology and anything else.

I tell you what though. It’s still a bear to find some quality C# and JAVA professionals. It’s a great time to be a developer. So many software companies (and non-software companies that need developers) are coming into this area and they all need top-notch personnel.

With all the C# work that we’ve been doing I finally reinstalled Visual Studio 2008 Express on my wife’s PC (since my PC is way too old and my laptop is dead) and started going through the C# tutorials on MSDN. It’s been a lot of fun for me. Learning all about event handlers, methods, classes, etc. Old parts of my brain are being dusted off and I’m remembering how to code again. I’m probably going to pick up this book – Head First C#. I went to B&N today during lunch to look at the book and I’m impressed. Has all the info that I’m looking for in an easy-to-digest format. Maybe I’ll become a decent programmer again. Hey, if only to have fun and learn something useful I’m game!

Blog changes coming this week! I promise! No really. For real this time. (I’m finally tired of seeing it looking bad).

BTW, change your Gmail to HTTPS only cause life will get uglier soon.

Man, We Almost Had Some Rain Today…

Allen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:13:27 +0000

Well, as I write this and get ready to head out the door the sun is shining. First time today in fact. It’s been cloudy all day and the forecast of rain didn’t really materialize. I’m bummer. My grass is brown and crunchy and could really use some good rain.

I just installed the TwitterFox plug-in. I’m starting to learn a little more of the value of Twitter. Maybe it’s cause of this article and reading up on the how and why of Twitter. Great read BTW. I just turned on updates to my phone from a few local Tech folk that I’m following. Good thing I have unlimited text messaging or else I’d be in trouble. Some folk really like to update their Twitters feeds quite a bit…

This past Monday night at the Upstate Entrepreneur Forum we had 2 great speakers. One was Peter Waldschmidt, one of the founders of TetraData and current founder of Gnoso. The other was Carl Sobocinski the founder of Soby’s and a few other great restaurants in our city. They spoke about how they founded their companies, the early trials of a start-up, the creative financing, etc. Great inspiration for those that are looking or are in the midst of creating a sustainable business.

It’s people like that that shows how great it is to be in this country and to start a company when all you have is a vision and the passion to succeed. It’s also great to have these guys here in Greenville, SC too!

Cool tech tidbit I learned from Troy Tolle @ DigitalChalk today. A good Java developer can become a good C# developer in about 2 weeks. The languages/syntax/processes are that similar. Question is – do you come to the dark side and go C# or vice versa? I think a good developer should know both. You can then name your price when it comes to great gigs.

Speaking of C#. I’m looking for a good number of solid C# and ASP.NET developers. From entry-level to Senior level developers. I can put you to work tomorrow. Literally.

Friday Social Networking Day!

Allen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:20:49 +0000

Something I’ve noticed as I’m using social networks to grow my own professional network: there are some really cool and crazy networks out there.

How do I pick the one to use? One could spend all day literally in multiple networks linking up, posting micro-blogs, etc. It’s crazy. Most of it is useless IMO.

What I’ve found to be quite valuable are the following (in no particular order):

Facebook.com – Mostly for a personal/family/HS and College network. I check in about once a week to catch up or do research. Don’t play any games or anything. As it is, it’s getting crazy with all the 3rd party applications.

LinkedIn.com – I <3 this site. I’ve used it to network with college classmates, HS classmates, and all kinds of business people here in the Upstate and across the US. Great resource. I’ve used it to meet people and it’s opened up warm leads for me. If it ever goes pure pay I’ll probably pay to keep it.

Twitter.com – I’m still experimenting with this site. In fact, I’ve found it easier to micro-blog using Twitter than to blog here. Probably cause I can jot out a 140 character message a lot faster than coming up with a couple of paragraphs of other stuff. It’s been a decent resource so far in networking and communicating with other professionals.

Brightkite.com – Just signed on in the Beta. No idea how this might help, but it’s beta and free so why not.

Plaxo.com – I probably should use this site a little more. Has some great potential but with my limited time I tend to gravitate towards LinkedIn instead.

Hmm, I think that’s about it for now. Who knows I might fry out on the whole social mash-up thing and go retro and offline in a few months. hehe.

Have a great weekend everyone! Remember, if you know any great Java, PHP, or Clinical Analysts then send them my way. I can put you to work tomorrow (well, almost that fast.)

What Do These Have In Common?

Allen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:10:48 +0000

So check out these sites -

www.pinpointgeotech.com

These are some young start-up technology companies located either here in the Upstate of South Carolina or Western North Carolina that are creating products that are both functional, usable, and exciting. All of them are less than 5 years old I believe. All of them are having some great growth. All are changing the way we look at technology, use the internet, or live life.

This is a great time to be a part of the tech sector here in the Upstate and WNC.

I’m not affiliated with any of these companies in any means. I know some of the principals and have seen them grow over the last couple of years (or less).

Have a great weekend everyone!