Here are some great resources that I referred to during our presentation:  How to get a Great UX Job.

Read up and improve your lot in life!

• How to Get Started in User Experience
• How to Get A Job Using Twitter
• How to Write a Great User Experience Resume
• How to Build a Great LinkedIn Profile

I’ll upload the presentation later.

Cheers!

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The UX Speakeasy Conference  is on  March 31 at the San Diego Zoo  — rumor has it, they’re going to let me out of my cage because the Zoo is a safe place.

The most important reason I’m there? To do a UX Drinking Game session!

I’ll be posting some of the materials, plus some great resources, tomorrow during the presentation. As extra credit, there’s an automatically rotating web page that shows drinking game items.

And of course I’m at San Francisco International Airport writing this — apparently, a surfboard isn’t an acceptable carry on item.

Cheers.

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By Ed Lea. Classic.

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Jobvite  is the full-time gig, and they're nice enough to let me blog. I talk all the time to recruiters and how they recruit. One of the most recent topics was Twitter, and how it’s a great platform for finding  jobs  in the so-called hidden job market. Here’s the repost.

Twitter works.

How do I know? The senior visual designer I work with,  Kenneth James Hamer, got his job through Twitter. Five recent high quality applicants I had for an interaction designer position came through the channel in a time where interaction designers are in high demand.

How hard is it finding a job through Twitter? It's not. You don't have to be clever. You don't have to tweet ten times a day. You just have to listen and pick your spots.

For Kenneth, it started with a single message after several informal conversations.

"Hey, could you look at my resume? I want to get your opinion about it."

He didn't ask about a job – he asked what I thought of his resume. Kenneth knew that I was hiring freelancers for other work at the time (he did his research), and he worked at building a relationship that included several Skype calls. He understood that the results might not be right away. We were just having a conversation anyway.

Several months passed, and now he's working at Jobvite.

Twitter works.

Here's how you can make it work for you.

Do your research.

Twitter is a flood of information; what you want to do is turn it into a manageable stream.

Watch your feed and start a list of people that you enjoy reading. I literally call mine "Stuff I Follow." People you follow might post a relevant article, sage advice about a career, a funny comment or even a job posting. Favorite posts and add them to your own personal lists. Pare down the list so it's at a pace that can be browsed comfortably in a few minutes.

There are several tools that help you manage that flood.  TweetDeck  is my favorite because it allows me to filter my feeds by certain search terms.  Flipboard  has an amazing social client that helps you read through tweets.

Next, understand whom you're following. LinkedIn is a great resource for this, and all it takes is a simple name search. Then, not only do you get to know the person's professional background, but also if the person is approachable. The main thing is to identify that the users are ones who can help you make a job connection.

Find people who have the right audience.

Find people that tweet articles about your industry and start following them. Target users that have between 500 and 5,000 followers and over 5,000 tweets. Not only do they have a great audience, but also they're very experienced with the platform and can show you the ropes, if you listen. Most people in that range not only engage but also encourage conversation with their audience.

The best way to find content is to search for hashtags. These are keywords that are used to find categorized content on Twitter. Most job categories have most hashtags defined for them. Additionally, people will include hashtags for specialized tweets (Job postings will carry the #jobs or #careers hashtag, for example). There are also hashtags for Human Resources (#hr), Java developers (#java), Marketers (#marketing), Social Media (#socialmedia) and more.

But there's a catch. Most of those job postings are a) posted by automated bots and b) don't carry the cache of a personal referral. Those probably won't get you hired, but it shows who's hiring.

Another place to look is people that have several lists of Twitter users. I have  15 lists  that categorize User Experience professionals by geographic region. Several Twitter users are subscribing to these lists.

Start a genuine conversation.

True engagement begins with a one-on-one conversation. It might be a comment about something posted or a straight direct message asking for tips or advice.

People love to talk, and conversations on Twitter are short, personal communications. You can start a conversation with, "I consider you an industry expert. Can I get your opinion on this?" Nothing works better than flattery.

The key is starting a real conversation that has banter that can become a personal acquaintance. You want to develop a sense of trust that will extend the Twitter conversation to a professional relationship.

Twitter is a great personal branding platform. If you acknowledge the other party's brand, that person becomes very approachable.

Turn yourself into an employee referral.

Remember that your ideal audience includes recruiters. Many companies that are hiring use Jobvite and Twitter to advertise and track applicants. People that use Twitter are open to referrals on the network, because they understand that the platform is a great place to grow professional contacts. And they'll remember someone much more if they've had previous conversations with you.

Those that engage become employee referrals – like my friend Kenneth.

"Our own employees are some of our best recruiters," said Janet Van Huysse, vice president of human resources at Twitter. The company has hundreds of employees on their own social network, in essence, turning all of them into "employee recruiters" interested in bringing great resources into their organization.

Our CEO, Dan Finnigan, presented at SXSW a few weeks ago and indicated in  his presentation  that even though seven percent of the people that apply for jobs are employee referrals, the hire rate is 40 percent of the candidates.

That's huge.

Employees will prep you, as the job seeker, on interviews, giving you an added advantage. It's stacking the deck in your favor.

What to do now?

Join Twitter and embrace the conversation. The investment will pay off.

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What did I post?

Of course.

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Can you imagine being asked this during a job interview?

“Can I read all of your private messages and private status updates so I can inspect them before I hire you?”

Before social media, this would be an almost impossible task, and something most employers wouldn’t have thought as possible.

Now not only is it possible, it’s easy to ask for. But still wrong.

Most Facebook profiles provides information about people’s age, race and religion, most of it not legal to ask for during a job interview.

Asking for that information during a job interview is against the law and could be considered discrimination. Facebook has enough controls where you can hide this information fairly easily. By giving the user name and password your employer, you are giving them full access to all information to your account. As quoted from the Jobvite blog post by CEO Dan Finnegan:

At this point in our history, I think most people know that it is illegal to ask job candidates about their age or religion. You cannot ask someone if they are married, have children or are pregnant. You cannot even ask their citizenship. Clearly, asking someone to access their private Facebook profile would provide answers to most, if not all of these kinds of questions.

During interviews, you can’t even ask this information — you have to steer clear because the you are supposed to judge them on their qualifications.

It’s a gross breach of privacy.

Doing a Google search on a candidate is one thing: this is publicly available information that is easily found. But the first thing I have always said is, “Sure, if it’s on the internet, it must be true.”

You can determine if they’ve bought an house, what their credit score is and where they have lived fairly easily through background checks. But that usually requires some kind of signed document allowing the company to do so, and that gives the applicant the chance to decide if they want to work there. I generally don’t interview at companies that require drug tests because as a Libertarian, I feel like that’s an invasion of my privacy, even if I don’t use drugs.

I once heard of a situation where a company wanted the phone records of a consultant to remove billable time from the bills. Even with the consultant using a company phone, they couldn’t do it as to risk legal action from the consultant because it would disclose possible personal phone numbers. Seriously — would you want your boss to have a record of every phone call you made so they could possibly call those people?

But to able to go through personal messages and friend lists? Really? How could that even be legal?

This shows a level of distrust between employee and employer.

If I’m sitting in an interview, and they are asking for my social media user names and passwords during the interview, how much privacy am I going to have when I work at the company?

Where does it stop? Are they going to insist on reading my social media messages once a week?  Are they going to insist on drug tests?  Are they going to want to see my credit card statements?

We spend one-third of our waking hours at our jobs, building personal relationships that go beyond the paycheck. But, there has to be an expectation of the separation of work and personal lives, and the last thing I want is a level of distrust between me and my employer that requires them approving every single photo or private message I send to a friend.

I think it’s in companies’ best interests to not know what every employee does in their off hours, especially if they are productive in their organizations.

Social Media should be used for positive uses

I like working a Jobvite because our technology helps people find jobs for their friends. Studies have also shown that employee referrals means more profitable companies. That’s the power of the Jobvite (or for the matter, any social media) platform — connecting people to change their lives through better opportunities.

The recruiters I talk to go through great lengths to give  reasonable  protections of privacy for their applicants, and encourage the use of social media only for positive purposes. I wish all people considered the same.

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“Hey, I have this idea — let’s split it. What do you think?”

I get that a lot, because I’m one of those unicorn types: I can design, write and code to a level that gets people money. A lot of money.

For example, I personally wrote the PHP code for the UX Drinking Game. I can build a demo from scratch to a point where investors think it’s real. That said, there’s nothing more frustrating than taking all the risk and giving up half the return, because most business people aren’t ready to really do what it takes to make a startup work.

That’s why I love Eddie Kim’s story about Triptrotting and the sacrifices the founders made:

They couldn't afford to hire a PR team, so Aigerim and Shana contacted the press themselves.  Soon, there were articles about Triptrotting being published in several reputable sources. They hustled. Through their hard work, the number of registered members, Twitter followers, and Facebook likes grew exponentially.

These two girls sacrificed their social lives. Their nights and weekends were devoted to Triptrotting. At the Idealab office, they were the first ones in the office every morning, and the last ones out every night. Even when funds were tight, they persisted. Shana and Aigerim went through a stretch where they paid themselves nothing. They got the attention of Mark Suster (Launchpad LA) and raised their next round of funding through Launchpad. They engaged in many meetings with many investors.

A day before their scheduled meeting with Google ventures, Shana had an "a-ha" moment. Her new idea would drastically improve Triptrotting's business model and it would change the way they described the business. They needed a new deck and a new presentation. This was no time to make last minute changes, but they improvised.  Shana, not being an expert in Photoshop, used Microsoft Paint to design a mockup of the new Triptrotting feature. Funny right? Well, this mockup was good enough to excite Google Ventures.

Just 1.5 years ago, they were clueless, google searching "how to start a business." Today, Triptrotting has raised $1 million dollars in funding from some of the biggest names in the tech industry: Google Ventures, Mark Suster, Bill Gross, Dave McClure.

They did what it takes.  Are you prepared to do what it takes?

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They still publish  encyclopedia’s?

The Britannica, the oldest continuously published encyclopedia in the English language, has become a luxury item with a $1,395 price tag. It is frequently bought by embassies, libraries and research institutions, and by well-educated, upscale consumers who felt an attachment to the set of bound volumes. Only 8,000 sets of the 2010 edition have been sold, and the remaining 4,000 have been stored in a warehouse until they are bought.

According to the article, it took only 11 years for Wikipedia to take over:

Since it was started 11 years ago, Wikipedia has moved a long way toward replacing the authority of experts with the wisdom of the crowds. The site is now written and edited by tens of thousands of contributors around the world, and it has been gradually accepted as a largely accurate and comprehensive source, even by many scholars and academics.

I kind of want to buy the last copy. That would be cool. I have no idea where I would put it though. My iPad or Kindle maybe?

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A very cool infographic.

Created by: MBAOnline.com

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From Mashable:

Google+ has more than 100 million active users, as long as you count them correctly. In a fireside chat at  SXSW, Google+ Lead Vic Gundotra said Google’s social network enjoys  50 million users  who sign in once a day and 100 million who sign in once a month, calling it the “fastest-growing service we’ve ever seen at Google.”

Those users, however, are not necessarily signing directly into Google +. Instead, they may be signing into one of the services “optimized for”  Google+. This includes Gmail and YouTube.

That’s what we call a questionable statistic.

And more:

Still he was … asked why Google+ sometimes seems like a ghost town. Gundotra’s response – “Make sure you’re using it correctly” – drew some chuckles as it brought to mind how Apple CEO Steve Jobs responded to criticism of Apple’s antenna attenuation problem, telling users they were holding the phone wrong. Undaunted, Gundotra told Kawasaki that sometimes users post to empty circles without realizing it.

If you have to give users tips on using it correctly, the user experience needs work.  Just sayin’.

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I’m looking for an Interaction Designer. The pay is good, and you’ll get to work on some pretty cool stuff (manage the Facebook application and some other stuff I can show you if you interview).

Join, and I’ll throw in a George Foreman Grill.

Read below.

The Role

Candidates should have at least 2 to 5 years of successful interaction design experience developing consumer web applications and social platforms.  The designer must also enjoy working in an Agile environment; we are constantly iterating and work quickly to stay one step ahead of the development team.

Responsibilities

• Translate requirements into concepts and elegant user experience design
• Develop and maintain high-level wireframes and process flows that communicate your design ideas
• Build prototypes to demonstrate and test your recommendations with our customers
• Gauge the usability of new and existing product features and make constructive critiques and, if needed, suggestions for change

Requirements

• Outstanding portfolio of innovative, solid work
• Extensive experience developing complex web interfaces and a passion for designing compelling user experiences
• 2 to 5 years of experience designing for consumer applications or CRM systems
• Experience designing for social sites and applications
• Experience designing for B2B web applications
• Experience with Omnigraffle, PowerPoint and Photoshop
• Ability to mockup ideas in HTML/CSS
• Clear communication, organization, and writing abilities

Pluses

• Visual Design Skills in the consumer space

About Jobvite

Come see why industry analysts call our innovations ‘game changing’ and leading edge companies like Zynga, LinkedIn, Yelp. Twitter,  Zappos, TiVo and many more use the Jobvite is revolutionizing the $165B recruitment market; our company received the ‘TiE50 Winner, TopTen Software Startups’ award, and was recognized by Gartner Group as a ‘Cool Vendor.’

Apply here. Send me an email if you want to ask questions.

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I covered a list of expectations I have for new user experience designers. Some lucky designers graduate straight from school into working at company; the rest of us have to break in the field any way they can.

The best way into the user experience field is interning.

I know that it may seem like working for free, but the experience is invaluable, and it helps build your network. You can do if after you graduate (if you haven’t done it before), and it’s a good way to build your portfolio so you have something to show on job interviews.  It also might lead to a full time job if they like you, and I would rather hire someone that had an internship because it shows they are willing to invest in their future and not in it for the cash.

Even returning students, like Erin Moore, took internships that were hugely valuable — she spend time at Twitter. She’s good enough she didn’t need to.

Great designers are not born, but grow through experience and learning from other great designers.

Here’s a few ways to find a great internship.

Search internship job sites and job boards

Companies I talk to find it hard to get interns because many  designers  don’t want to work for rates lower how they  perceived   their value even though they lack the skills to effectively do their jobs. They’re taking to the internet to find candidates whereas in years past, you would have had to know someone.  Many internships are listed on sites like Internships.com (a past client of mine) and InternMatch, and they tend to be larger companies so you get to see the internal workings of IBM and other Fortune 500 firms.

Opportunities are also listed on general job boards and through career sites. Over 8,000 internship listings are available through Jobvite’s Facebook application. Meetup.com is one of the companies looking for Design Interns.

Follow Interaction Designers on Twitter and read their blogs

Install TweetDeck, News Gator learn how to use ifttt.com to get email alerts, and find interaction designers to follow. The very first place they’ll list internships is on their Twitter feeds and their blogs.

Nadyne Richmond of VMWare has a few internships available right now, and the first place you would have read about them is on her blog.  HUGE, the interactive agency, is another one that talks about their UX Design School program (entries are closed). And searching on Twitter is your best friend; there are hundreds of results every day.

I also have several Twitter lists categorized by location of Twitter users who are User Experience designers to follow, and I’m always curating that list. I would reach out and start a conversation with the designers on the lists.

Go to local meetups

Personal networking is an another way to get started in the field. Many companies host meetups to find great talent. You can also get advice from other designers in the field on how they got started.

In San Francisco (where I live), UX Eye for Developer Guy is a meetup that pairs engineers with designers to create great products and get feedback on ideas.  Many companies sponsor the meetup, and it’s regularly hosted at organizations looking for interns. The UX Happy Hour also is a great way to meet designers that might have opportunities. The Happy Hour is growing to metropolitan areas like San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles.

All you have to ask, “Is your company looking for someone to break into the business?” What’s the worst they could say…no?

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Please enter your best Apple moments at www.appledrinkinggame.com.

Cheers!

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