Know your strengths and weaknesses when planning your career

Knowing (and admitting) your strengths and weaknesses is a very important step in determining the direction of your career. I have tried for quite a few years now to make sure I am honest with myself whenever I look at possibly changing jobs. I want to make sure the job is more weighted on the side of my strengths so I can be a better employee and so I can help my career. Well, I was at a customer site last week, and this lesson was displayed very clearly to me by the client in how he had chosen his career path and why.

Know your strengths and weaknesses when planning your career

Knowing (and admitting) your strengths and weaknesses is a very important step in determining the direction of your career. I have tried for quite a few years now to make sure I am honest with myself whenever I look at possibly changing jobs. I want to make sure the job is more weighted on the side of my strengths so I can be a better employee and so I can help my career. Well, I was at a customer site last week, and this lesson was displayed very clearly to me by the client in how he had chosen his career path and why.

Outsourcing jobs: Why Dalian is so hot right now

While U.S. workers may lament the loss of IT jobs to New Delhi and other parts of India, workers there could soon be looking over their shoulders - at China. India's efforts  to educate its large potential workforce and to upgrade the infrastructure to facilitate commerce around outsourcing facilities aren't keeping up with demand, which has outpaced supply by 150 to 200 percent, says Wen Xiao, CIO for BT Business, a business unit of British Telecom. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up - and businesess begin looking elsewhere. For BT and other businesses, the costs of offshoring to India have risen at a rate of 15% per year. "A 15% a year jump is quite a burden," Xiao says, noting that BT alone has some 10,000 contracted workers in India and spends between $500 to $700 million a year on IT offshoring services there.

Outsourcing jobs: Why Dalian is so hot right now

While U.S. workers may lament the loss of IT jobs to New Delhi and other parts of India, workers there could soon be looking over their shoulders - at China. India's efforts  to educate its large potential workforce and to upgrade the infrastructure to facilitate commerce around outsourcing facilities aren't keeping up with demand, which has outpaced supply by 150 to 200 percent, says Wen Xiao, CIO for BT Business, a business unit of British Telecom. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up - and businesess begin looking elsewhere. For BT and other businesses, the costs of offshoring to India have risen at a rate of 15% per year. "A 15% a year jump is quite a burden," Xiao says, noting that BT alone has some 10,000 contracted workers in India and spends between $500 to $700 million a year on IT offshoring services there.

Outsourcing jobs: Why Dalian is so hot right now

While U.S. workers may lament the loss of IT jobs to New Delhi and other parts of India, workers there could soon be looking over their shoulders - at China. India's efforts  to educate its large potential workforce and to upgrade the infrastructure to facilitate commerce around outsourcing facilities aren't keeping up with demand, which has outpaced supply by 150 to 200 percent, says Wen Xiao, CIO for BT Business, a business unit of British Telecom. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up - and businesess begin looking elsewhere. For BT and other businesses, the costs of offshoring to India have risen at a rate of 15% per year. "A 15% a year jump is quite a burden," Xiao says, noting that BT alone has some 10,000 contracted workers in India and spends between $500 to $700 million a year on IT offshoring services there.

Shark Tank: Update time

This company uses Microsoft Access for much of its database needs -- and database changes often require this pilot fish to get several users out of Access so he can update the applications."Somebody told me I'm grumpy when I do the updates," says fish. "But this is the time line of how the last update went."

Shark Tank: Update time

This company uses Microsoft Access for much of its database needs -- and database changes often require this pilot fish to get several users out of Access so he can update the applications."Somebody told me I'm grumpy when I do the updates," says fish. "But this is the time line of how the last update went."

Shark Tank: Update time

This company uses Microsoft Access for much of its database needs -- and database changes often require this pilot fish to get several users out of Access so he can update the applications."Somebody told me I'm grumpy when I do the updates," says fish. "But this is the time line of how the last update went."

Another security figurehead - what a tragedy

I have talked about security figureheads before and how much it gripes me. It bothers me for a few different reasons. One is because it is wrong when a company puts someone in a postition so the execs can check a box on a list and simultaneously have someone to blame when things go wrong, even when they haven't given that person the resources to do the job. I also rail against it because I have been just such a person, and the sense of impotence was maddening. Yet I had managed to push those old feelings away and actually enjoy my career after I left that job. Well, now a very good friend of mine has been put in the same position, and all of those feelings came flooding back. I just get enraged when management simply refuses to implement security except for putting someone in a security position and calling it good (BTW, my friend is the security manager, but he answers to the IT Director and got no raise in salary for the promotion - a situation eerily similar to my last job, except I did get a raise). This company is publicly traded, and they are buying other companies left and right, yet they refuse to do any meaningful infrastructure and security upgrades. However, they just recently purchased their third corporate jet. Hmmmm, can you say "priorities"???

Another security figurehead -- what a tragedy

I have talked about security figureheads before and how much it gripes me. It bothers me for a few different reasons. One is because it is wrong when a company puts someone in a postition so the execs can check a box on a list and simultaneously have someone to blame when things go wrong, even when they haven't given that person the resources to do the job. I also rail against it because I have been just such a person, and the sense of impotence was maddening. Yet I had managed to push those old feelings away and actually enjoy my career after I left that job.

Another security figurehead -- what a tragedy

I have talked about security figureheads before and how much it gripes me. It bothers me for a few different reasons. One is because it is wrong when a company puts someone in a postition so the execs can check a box on a list and simultaneously have someone to blame when things go wrong, even when they haven't given that person the resources to do the job. I also rail against it because I have been just such a person, and the sense of impotence was maddening. Yet I had managed to push those old feelings away and actually enjoy my career after I left that job.

Shark Tank: Say, that might work!

This pilot fish is a third-tier support tech for a big retailer in the U.K. "I received a call in my queue asking me to blacklist an e-mail address," says fish. "Reason: The e-mailer was a former employee who was mailing his former colleagues with abusive material."Fish ponders the request, then calls the HR department staffer who sent the request. I could block e-mail from that address, fish says. But the abusing e-mail is being sent through Hotmail. If fish bans that address, the former employee can just get a new one.

Shark Tank: Say, that might work!

This pilot fish is a third-tier support tech for a big retailer in the U.K. "I received a call in my queue asking me to blacklist an e-mail address," says fish. "Reason: The e-mailer was a former employee who was mailing his former colleagues with abusive material."Fish ponders the request, then calls the HR department staffer who sent the request. I could block e-mail from that address, fish says. But the abusing e-mail is being sent through Hotmail. If fish bans that address, the former employee can just get a new one.

Shark Tank: Say, that might work!

This pilot fish is a third-tier support tech for a big retailer in the U.K. "I received a call in my queue asking me to blacklist an e-mail address," says fish. "Reason: The e-mailer was a former employee who was mailing his former colleagues with abusive material."Fish ponders the request, then calls the HR department staffer who sent the request. I could block e-mail from that address, fish says. But the abusing e-mail is being sent through Hotmail. If fish bans that address, the former employee can just get a new one.

Yahoo!/Microsoft! merger! talks! fail! (and game over)

Mercy! It's Monday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft is merging with Yahoo! Isn't. Is. Isn't. Is too. Not to mention what happens when Mario leaves the Mushroom Kingdom and returns to Brooklyn as a mushroom addict deadbeat plumber...John Blau reports::Reports that Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are in talks over a possible acquisition or merger have come as anything but a surprise to analysts who question not if, but when, a deal will happen. Microsoft and Yahoo, which have held informal merger talks in the past, are at the negotiating table again, driven largely by the rising dominance of Google Inc. in the online advertising market...The possible early-stage negotiations over an acquisition, a merger or some other type of deal come on the heels of Google's move last month to snatch up online advertising powerhouse DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion.

Yahoo!/Microsoft! merger! talks! fail! (and game over)

Mercy! It's Monday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft is merging with Yahoo! Isn't. Is. Isn't. Is too. Not to mention what happens when Mario leaves the Mushroom Kingdom and returns to Brooklyn as a mushroom addict deadbeat plumber...John Blau reports::Reports that Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are in talks over a possible acquisition or merger have come as anything but a surprise to analysts who question not if, but when, a deal will happen. Microsoft and Yahoo, which have held informal merger talks in the past, are at the negotiating table again, driven largely by the rising dominance of Google Inc. in the online advertising market...The possible early-stage negotiations over an acquisition, a merger or some other type of deal come on the heels of Google's move last month to snatch up online advertising powerhouse DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion.

Yahoo!/Microsoft! merger! talks! fail! (and game over)

Mercy! It's Monday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft is merging with Yahoo! Isn't. Is. Isn't. Is too. Not to mention what happens when Mario leaves the Mushroom Kingdom and returns to Brooklyn as a mushroom addict deadbeat plumber...John Blau reports::Reports that Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are in talks over a possible acquisition or merger have come as anything but a surprise to analysts who question not if, but when, a deal will happen. Microsoft and Yahoo, which have held informal merger talks in the past, are at the negotiating table again, driven largely by the rising dominance of Google Inc. in the online advertising market...The possible early-stage negotiations over an acquisition, a merger or some other type of deal come on the heels of Google's move last month to snatch up online advertising powerhouse DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion.

Shark Tank: Hey, plastic is plastic, right?

This pilot fish does general tech support for a small, family-owned business that makes avionics equipment."For some reason we had very high turnover in our administrative assistant positions, particularly the front desk receptionist," says fish. "We would get someone in for a month or two, she would leave, and the temp agency would send over a new one."After training two or three people on how to use the laser printer, fax machine and copier, I eventually gave up on training and started just making their copies and sending their faxes if they needed help."It's also the receptionist's job to order office supplies. So when one of the sales reps uses up the last of the transparencies for a big presentation, she orders transparencies -- or thinks she does, anyway.

Shark Tank: Hey, plastic is plastic, right?

This pilot fish does general tech support for a small, family-owned business that makes avionics equipment."For some reason we had very high turnover in our administrative assistant positions, particularly the front desk receptionist," says fish. "We would get someone in for a month or two, she would leave, and the temp agency would send over a new one."After training two or three people on how to use the laser printer, fax machine and copier, I eventually gave up on training and started just making their copies and sending their faxes if they needed help."It's also the receptionist's job to order office supplies. So when one of the sales reps uses up the last of the transparencies for a big presentation, she orders transparencies -- or thinks she does, anyway.

Shark Tank: See if you can spot the ones having problems

This manufacturing plant outsources a simple assembly job to a "sheltered workplace," where the work will be done by people with mental disabilities, reports a pilot fish whose job is to help set up the equipment."Along with the assembly, they also had to stick a bar-code label on every product," fish says. "So we put a PC and label printer there. On this PC was a small program made by our developer which consisted of a text file with a list of all possible product codes and a tiny interface in which the workers have to select the code and quantity and press print."Fish's only role early on is to prepare that PC and tell the developer that it's ready and can be shipped. So far, so good, he thinks.In fact, it is good. Turns out the workers can handle the assembly and labeling just fine. And a few weeks after the start of the arrangement, the company is ready to update the list of product codes."Which triggered the following events," says fish.