The Headline Writer Must Be a Democrat

Economic Growth Slows Down to 4 Percent

Yes, this is slower than the blistering 8.2% last quarter, but a VERY healthy number for GDP growth . The fact of the matter is that the first three words is what catches the eye.

The employment number is still stagnant, but many economists have noted that the government calculation is not capturing a large swath of the population who are self-employed. In addition, I am waiting to see the productivity number since this amount of growth in the face of stable employment is truly remarkable.

Democrats will ignore the growth number and talk about the unemployment number, but the question is: what can the government do to increase employment other than encourage the economy to grow?

It's Doubled Since Grade School

Scientists Discover New Form of Matter

This makes a total of six forms of matter. And I remember only having to learn solid, liquid and gas just 25 years ago.

The Trashing of HP

Having worked in the tech industry for a decade and a half, I have watched a number of interesting corporate changes over the years. I watched Apple grow from a small company to a large one, flirt with bankruptcy, and recover. I remember visiting this small company I never heard of called "Cisco" back in the early 1990s (if only I had bought its stock then!). Stupid acquisitions like the AT&T purchase of NCR were interesting. And all of this was before the whole tech bubble and subsequent burst.

One of the sadder things to have watched has been the trashing of Hewlett Packard's culture. I never worked for HP but I have called on them for years as a supplier and know people who work there. HP was recognized throughout the tech industry as one of the prototypes of the modern tech company in the way they treated their workers, their open environment, and the close interaction between top management and staff.

All of that has changed, and it's becoming public. I recommend reading Fear and Loathing at HP.

The Cellphone Camera Market

My new job involves marketing components for cellphone cameras, so I thought I would take the opportunity to run through some of the steps I am running through to create a marketing plan.

TAM, SAM, SOM
The first part of creating a marketing plan is to figure out the size of your market. The total market category is usually referred to as the TAM, or Total Available Market. The TAM for cellphone cameras has shown significant growth over the last few years and is forecasted to penetrate about a quarter of all cellphones in 2004.

Not that the total cellphone forecast in 2004 ranges anywhere from 500 million to 550 million handsets. I have used the smaller number here (500 million) since in forecasting, it is usually better to underestimate and beat forecast than it is to overestimate and come up short. However, what is important here is really the order of magnitude and not the exact number since forecasts are rarely very accurate.


The next part of a marketing plan is to figure out your SAM, or Served Available Market. A particular product usually can't meet the specifications of 100% of the TAM, so the total market share a product can possibly penetrate is usually less than the TAM (It is possible for a SAM to be equal to a TAM, but is unusual in technical products).

This is when segmenting a market becomes useful to figure out the SAM for your product. If your SAM is less than the TAM, it can point you towards product extensions. In the end, instead of one product serving the entire TAM, you typically will have a series of products with different SAMs that together serve the entire TAM.

There are a variety of ways to segment a market (I got this question in an interview: How many ways are there to segment a market. Answer: There is no limit, but how you do it depends on what you are looking for). For the purpose of this analysis, I will use two examples: country penetration and camera resolution (the number of pixels used to capture the picture).




The country penetration rate is dependent on a variety of factors including migration to higher speed cell standards (2.5G and 3G), how the phones are distributed, the churn rate, and cultural factors. These are all reasons as to why in Japan and Korea cameras are essentially a standard feature. The main issue here is that the product I am marketing isn't necessarily usable in every region "as is" and may need modifications depending on cellphone standard (GSM, CDMA) and other country specific issues.

Resolution is also a big issue. I am not going to go through the definitions, but the chart shows the cellcam market moving towards higher resolutions over time (CIF is about 100K pixels and 3M is 3 million pixels).


The last step in this exercise is to figure out your SOM, or Share of Market. How many am I selling today and what is my goal for next year? Who do I sell to? SOM is calculated based on your SAM, but it should be compared to the TAM so you can tell if you should shift your product to a different SAM.

One of the interesting things about the cellcam market is that the companies that sell the most cellcams are not the ones selling the most handsets. The reason for this is the graph above showing the high penetration rates in Japan and Korea versus the rest of the world. This factor should be interesting to watch as cellcams increase penetration worldwide since it has the potential to change worldwide cellphone market share.




This last step also starts you on going through the "3 Cs", or Customers, Company and Competition.

HR: The Electronic Database

Another poor reflection is exhibited in how Human Resources responds to applicants for job openings. This is a timeless classic:

We have received your resume. Thank you for your interest in The Company. We will hold your information in our electronic database for a minimum of 2 years, and will contact you if there is a match to one (or more) of our available openings. Please note that we do skills/experience matches on a daily basis to each of our job openings. If there is not a current match, we will consider you for any future opportunities. You do not need to send another copy of your resume unless it is updated.
**Please do not reply to this automated e-mail message.**

My initial reaction:

Electronic database? Woooo... that's so 1985.

Minimum of 2 years (cough) it must be a huge electronic database.

Hmmm... now I wonder what happens if I reply to the automated email message?

Then I started pondering the expected (and mythical) conversation:

Doctor Bob: Bob here.

HR: Hello, Doctor Bob, this is HR from The Company. We did a skills/experience match this morning on each of our job openings and guess what, you're a match to one (or more) of our openings!

Doctor Bob: Ah ha ha ha hah. Director Mitch, is that you?

HR: Uh, no, it's HR from The Company. You applied to us, oh, almost two years ago.

Okay, not really. But the response is just oozes the cognitude.


One of the worst experiences I had with HR was with a restartup -- which is a nice way of saying "pissed away its initial investment, the executive team was gutted and the VCs are rebuilding because they think they could recoup some of their money. After prolonged conversations, there was mutual interest and they wanted me to fly to the other end of the country on a date two weeks in the future. HR was tasked with setting up appointments and travel arrangements. A week prior to leaving, I hadn't received any travel arrangements and inquired with HR. Their travel agent called me back a couple of days later to set up the itinerary, by which time airfares tripled.

I was to visit for two days, meeting everyone in the office. You can imagine my surprise when I arrive on Day One at 8:00 a.m., totally jet lagged but running on a triple espresso, no one's in the office. I camped out in the lobby, reading every magazine I could find, called around, walked around the building checking out Dilbert cartoons, anything to relieve the boredom. Finally around 10, someone comes in. I explained my situation and thie person offered me space in a conference room where I could at least check my mail.

I found out that HR hadn't been able to set anything up because people were traveling, ironically to my side of the country. They found some people for me to talk with, but it was obviously an after thought, and I spent time regurgitating my resume. I left at 5pm, scheduled to have a phone call with one of the folks traveling.

This made a poor impression, and I decided that if they hadn't had anyone lined up when I got there the next morning, I was taking an early flight home. The phone conversation went well, but it was with a consultant whose comments supported my intuition that the company was not going to be a fit. The Company had a few people lined up for early in the afternoon, but otherwise it was going to be another waste of a day. I decided to cut bait, explained myself and left. When I returned, I thanked HR for my visit, offered to suggest more appropriate match (e.g., someone in town) and asked about being reimbursed for expenses. Here was the response:

Good to hear from you and thx for your help.

Given that we paid for the $1,100 airfare and that the decision to not pursue was initiated by you, I don't think that it would be fair for us to assume all of the expenses. I hope that you agree.

I didn't. And then I went ballistic. I asked Director Mitch about this, and he, too, went ballistic. After I calmed down, I started dialing around, thinking I would eventually work my way to the principal VC. Before I had to do that, they agreed to reimburse me, but the damage had been done: later, I contacted several people I know in their industry to suggest they should be wary of these guys' integrity.

Dating's Over, Work Begins

I think looking for, interviewing and negotiating for a new job is a lot like dating. There is excitement of the unknown, the infatuation period where all faults are overlooked, and the anticipation of the unknown. There are those dates that go horribly bad, as exemplified by the HR horror stories below, but you eventually find a match, get everything consummated, and settle in for the daily routine.

It's been a little like that this week. I accepted the position at Company A and have given notice at my old company. I am now a "short timer" and hardly need to show up at the office for my last two weeks. When I do, I am actually starting to gather information and material for my new position, and no one here really minds. They understand.

In some ways it's anticlimactic. Although I am starting a new position, I am not moving, my commute is hardly changing, and I am going into a segment which I know extremely well, so there is no learning curve. I essentially hit the ground running and am expected to deliver results quickly. The good thing is that I AM working on something instead of looking out the window all day.

So I will no longer be a "Window Manager", but I won't be changing the name of my blog. While my blogging volume will likely go down, I don't expect it to stop. I figure I can do a post a day for those days I am not traveling, and I'll have guest bloggers from time to time, like the post below.

HR: Your Company's Anti-Marketing

The names of most departments in a company describes the function they perform: engineering builds things, sales sells, marketing markets, maintenance does upkeep, etc. The notable exception is "Human Resources," which describes an attitude towards people. That attitude is: You are only a cog, and is unfortunate because they are able to undermine, in a single interaction, months of agreement building, goodwill and planning.

I've experienced this from both sides of the desk, but most often in the interview cycle. HR departments continue to amaze me with their ability to totally dampen any enthusiasm I had for a job or the company. Director Mitch and I have been exchanging email during the last couple of weeks on our trevails with HR. Since I don't have a blog for this, he's graciously provided a venue, and with his indulgence, I will vent my spleen, gall bladder, liver, and small intestines on some of the interactions I've had.

I heard of a position with Company C, whose product I have used for two years. (For the avoidance of doubt, I will not reuse letters the Director has.) I applied, writing a very thoughtful cover letter tying my experience to their description, highlighting my experience with their product, etc. In short, I was a great match for the job, and had passion for their product.

HR sat on this for a month, ignoring my followup queries. I finally get an email back from the HR Director asking if I'd be interested in discussing the position. We scheduled a phone call that went something like this:

HR: So, what do you know about Company C?

Doctor Bob: Well, as I indicated in my cover letter, I've been a customer for two years. (Detailed example of use of their product offering)

HR: Let me tell you about the position. (Reads the same description text I applied to.) Does this interest you? How do you see your background applying?

Doctor Bob: (I reiterate my cover letter line by line; point out my extensive collection of educational degrees; also add specific high level thoughts on their product line.)

At this point, she asks if I had any questions. I really wanted to ask "are there any pods in your office?" but instead inquired about the process. Not willing to reveal anything, she said she would present this information to the hiring manager and get back to me in a few days.

A week passes, I send a tickler email. No response, so I write this off. Another week passes, and HR sends me email because theyw ant to schedule an interview with two hiring managers, as they have two positions open and think I could be a fit for either. Included with the email are a plethora of background forms, an applications, EEO declaration, non-disclosure agreement, and map to the facility. She doesn't ask, but it's implied that I'm to fill these out.

She fails to supply the promised specific agenda, but I show up at the appointed time and the receptionist scurries to figure out who I was to meet with. I'm relegated to a conference room, where I pass the time reading their press clippings. Twenty minutes later, the receptionist has the names of the hiring managers, and I spend the next two hours meeting with each. The position I applied to is a great fit, and I'm receiving strong buy signals from the hiring manager. The second one isn't a good fit, but provides perspective on Company C's direction, and is not a total loss because I know people I could steer their way. The second hiring manager gives me a tour of the facililty while the receptionist tries to locate the HR manager and ask if she needs to talk with me. She's nowhere to be found, so I leave.

No one's asked me for a signed NDA, which is very surprising since it's almost a given in my industry. They do not ask for (nor do I volunteer) the application or background check.
I don't see any point in pestering my references (whose time I respect) until an offer has been extended. A clean background check (including credit) isn't really going to influence their decision at this point. Would anyone believe them saying "He is exceptionally well-qualified, but I'm concerned that he may have missed a payment on his Chevron card. We should delay moving forward until the credit check comes back!"

Two more weeks pass. HR emails me a response asking for general availability for another round of interviews, but doesn't provide any parameters like "we'd like you to visit all day," so I throw out some dates. This appears to be too computationally intensive for HR to contemplate, and she passes it off to the receptionist, who I'm now on a first name basis with. Lucinda has her act together and provides a schedule, names, and titles of the people I'm to meet with. She also includes the same forms and asks that I have them when I visit.

If the phone screen is a blind date, the third round interview is equivalent to introducting your potential fiancee to your parents. Assuming everything goes as well as expected, someone gets a ring it the end. If it's a disaster, you break up.

During the day, schedules were juggled and I had a half hour sitting in the conference room amusing myself until the last interviewer was available. At some point, the HR director emerged to give me the Information Packet with all the listed benefits and her card. She said things were going well and I could expect to hear from them in two days. She didn't ask for any of the application or background check forms, and once again, I didn't volunteer.


The last interviewer apologized three times for being late. After a couple of questions relating to the job, we spent the rest of the hour chatting about a variety of topics ranging from the New England Patriots to the Mars rover. He had to go to another meeting, and asked Lucinda if I needed to speak to HR again. I didn't, so I was free to go.


I hadn't heard from anyone by the end of last week, and called the hiring manager. I left a voice mail with a lead-in, I said "Oh, I noticed that you all hadn't asked for my forms" and asking her what the next steps were, call me, yatta.
A few hours later, HR sends me an email:

Hi Doctor Bob!
I noticed I didn't receive your application and references etc. I would still like this documentation, can you please send it to me. We will be interviewing for another week plus, before we make further decisions, so please hang in there with me. I will be in touch with regards to the next step.

Translating HR to English, she is saying "You're not our perfect candidate, but we're going to string you along some more until we interview other people. I'd like to get all my forms, though."


Suffice to say, I'm not sending them just yet. The lack of a direct response and inept HR mangling has made me seriously question my interest in working with these people or at this company. I am assuming it's a dead end, but will ping them in a week for closure. Meanwhile, I'm looking elsewhere.

Strangely, this is not the worst story I've had from an HR department. That story comes later this week.

Guest Blogger

My good friend Dr. Bob has asked for a forum on this site to discuss some of HIS recent experiences with HR, so expect a posting from him soon.

The New GlobalMegaCorp U.S. Division Org Chart

My resignation from my previous company came just after a high-level reorganization was announced, which will - as always - cascade down to the lower ranks. The previous orgchart was posted here, so I thought I would update it with the current and coming changes:

My resignation and Mike's promotion has already been discussed. Here is what is happening with everyone else:

Bob (Manufacturing) - He was recalled with the Imperial President. Why? Well, it's curious as to who took his place.

Master Yoda (HR) - Yoda was put in charge of manufacturing. Why put someone with 20 years of HR experience and no manufacturing experience in charge of a factory? Right! When you are about to shut it down. For all you anti-globalists out there, the factory is NOT in the U.S., so no Americans will be losing their jobs as this factory's workload is slowly transferred to Asia (well, they're North Americans)

Creative Accountant - So far he has made it through unscathed, which is surprising since there was a rumor that he was going to be recalled with the Imperial President.

Field Sales - There are talks of restructuring, but not layoffs. Little things like shutting down 2-man offices and having them work out of their homes, some shuffling around, etc.

Cube Dwellers - I think Mike is going to take the opportunity to cut some dead wood. There are certainly people in the organization who don't earn their pay (I was one of them), and cutting lose one or two of these people won't be a bad thing.


The funny thing is that this whole reorg is happening while our general market and forecast is looking good for 2004.

Keeping the Door Open

Director (now President) Mike and I had our "follow-up" conversation after I gave notice on Wednesday. This is the fourth time I have given notice at a medium to large company and the response is always the same: stick around, things will change. We have big plans for you, etc.

As noted before, Mike was just promoted to his position, so I can't blame him for the situation here, and I DO think changes will be made in the U.S. division. The problem is this will solve only half the problem. A lot of my frustration is at HQ, which seems slow to change.

Mike asked me to stick around a year to see what happens. I turned it around: "How about I leave for a year and then we look at where we both are." Mike seemed to like that. In addition, my new office is just two miles away from my current office, so I told Mike we would do lunch every month or so. I even offered to provide marketing insight from time to time if he thought it would be helpful (he didn't respond, maybe since I didn't say if I meant for pay or not).

The bottom line is that Mike, the president of this U.S. division, and I are going to stay in touch. This keeps the door open should things not work at my new company and provides a valuable networking contact for other opportunities.

Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud

David sent me some EXCELLENT questions by email:

From what I understand, you are making a lateral move to another company that is paying 10-20% more than your current employer.
Yup. It comes down to a lateral move for more pay. I am not really hung up on title so much as WHAT I do from day to day, the responsibilities it entails, the chance to learn more about business, and the potential for advancement.

Is the other company larger and will you have more career visibility and responsibilities?
The new company is smaller, but I will have more visibility and responsibilities.

I currently work in the North American division of a large Asian company. Of all its people in the U.S. division, literally 95% are "expats" from the foreign country, so meetings, email traffic and most communication are in the native lingo, which I don't speak. This one factor has lead to a lot of the frustration in my job (actual quote: "I am sorry Director Mitch, but you are not invited to the 2004 planning meeting since it is not going to be in English"). Some of my friends jokingly refer to me as the "token white" of the company, and there may be a little truth in this.

So the bottom line is currently I am the perpetual outsider and really don't have a career path or "visibility" at headquarters.

The new position is at a smaller, but American-run (but not owned) company. The COO and all management below that are "local hires" and work in the States. Business is conducted in English. My job is to grow a specific product line, and if I do well, I would say the visibility would be excellent.

Also, you mentioned that you do not want to relocate away from the SoCal area. From my past experience, it's always better to work at HQ or be located close to where the exec level decision makers are. Do you feel that being located away from the 'power base' will a negative impact on your career path at the new company?
Bingo. This is the one issue that is bothering me with the position. I think this position is good for 2-3 years in SoCal as I grow this product line, but if I want to do any further movement I will need to move to HQ for promotion, visibility, politicking, etc. Part of the problem with moving is Mrs. Director has her own career here, and there are some other personal considerations. Maybe in 2-3 years there will be some changes, but the location of this company's HQ doesn't really compare to SoCal.

So the bottom line with the new job is that the trail will eventually lead to another location I am not crazy about. And I really want to stay at one company for a while - this move will make my fourth company in six years. This is a little high, but there are good reasons: I left with an entire group of people from Company 1 to Company 2 as a part of a start-up (so two companies, but one "Team"). Company 2 went out of business as a part of the tech bust, or I would still be there today. Company 3 (current) was really about grabbing onto a life-raft while I was unemployed until finding something better suited, which brings me to Company 4.

So is this new opportunity perfect? I think there are few jobs that are today, but based on what I am doing and the responsibilities I have today, I think it is a much better fit and somewhere where I will be more content.

I am going to wait for the "counter" from my current company tomorrow, but that is really to be polite more than seriously wanting to stay (NEVER burn bridges if you can avoid it).

Four Letter Word for Hypocrite...

Dean seeks $250 hard money cap for races
Former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) plans to propose slashing the maximum contribution federal candidates may receive to $250, a fraction of the current $2,000 hard money limit, a senior policy advisor said.

The advisor said Dean'ss campaign in itself is "campaign finance reform," because it has raised money largely by small donations as opposed to the campaigns of President George W. Bush and Dean's main Democratic rivals.


Financier Soros puts millions into ousting Bush
George Soros, one of the world's wealthiest financiers and philanthropists, has declared that getting George Bush out of the White House has become the "central focus" of his life, and he has put more than $15m of his own money where his mouth is.


When you have a multibillion dollar sugar daddy backing your cause, of course you want to limit other people's campaign contributions.

Quitting or Breaking Up?

Mitch: As you know, I have been unhappy for a while.

Mike: I know you have been upset lately, Mitch, and I was hoping with some of the recent changes that I could make you happier. To make you feel like it was...in the beginning.

Mitch: I know there have been some changes you have been dealing with lately, so I know this isn't great timing, but...but, I found someone else.

Mike: Is it me?

Mitch: It's not you, it's me. I just need to...grow more. I think our relationship is holding me down and I am not getting the fulfillment I need.

Mike: Is there something I can do? (tears well up)

Mitch (feeling compassion): I don't think so. But because of everything that happened between us, I am willing to take some time out for each of us to think about it. I am not saying I will stay, but I feel I owe it to you to do some thinking and sit down and talk about this again.

Mike: (brightening) Okay. Let me do some thinking. How about we talk again on Friday?

Mitch: That's Fine

------------------------------

Okay, a little satire here, but not TOO far from reality. As noted below, this job offer DID come in just after the Imperial President was fired and colleague Director Mike was promoted. For me to come into his office on his third day as president and tell him sayonara is a bit below the belt, but the timing couldn't be helped. So I felt giving him a few days to digest the problem and come back to me with a potential counter was the fair thing to do.

While I do believe there WILL be changes here with Mike in charge, I don't think he can change the fundamental issues which are making me unhappy in my position. He did bring up adding some sales responsibilities and other issues, but I am not inclined to stay to "see what happens".

The other issue I also want to avoid is making Mike look bad due to my leaving. I don't want the senior executives in Headquarters to think "Mike got promoted so Mitch took a hike". I specifically recommended the following ways to spin my departure, assuming I do leave after our discussion on Friday:

1. I actually quit last week from the Imperial President, but after his recall on Friday, my resignation got lost in the shuffle (i.e. blame the previous guy, which is really the case. And he need not worry about the former Imperial President contradicting him).

2. Say that, as the new president, you are cutting headcount, and getting rid of that Mitch guy was the first cut in your restructuring plan (maybe I can get a severance package!)


Quitting isn't so easy sometimes, is it?

Biggest Political Meltdown Ever!

Polyblog opines that the "Dean Yell" may be the start of the biggest political meltdown in U.S. history. I think he may be on to something since my own feelings on Dean have gone from "scared" to "amused".

But is it the biggest ever? It's a bit premature to judge, but if this IS the beginning of the end for Dean, there are a few other candidates that could give him a run for the title:

Muskie - The "Cry" - I was too young to remember this, but in the annals of politics it is considered one of the biggest political blunders in the last 35 years.

Dukakis - Tank Commander - Another classic. Although I wouldn't call this a "meltdown" since there was no way he could win the presidency BEFORE this happened.

Hart - Monkey Business - Ah, who could forget this? In fact, this is all anyone talked about when he was supposedly thinking about running this year.

Dean - The Rebel Yell - I played the audio last night for Mrs. Director and she just doubled over laughing. Another comment that's making the rounds: Do you want THIS man with his finger on The Button?


Are there any other candidates I missed?

Fan Mail Marketing Questions

One reader sends in the following:

In a role as Strat Mktg Director, how much customer interaction do you have? Do you meet key customers and quarterback big sales, and handle PR and media engagements?

Or are you mostly concerned with position, strategic direction, partnerships, etc?


The short answer is: depends on the size of your company. I have been in "strategic marketing" roles that did every single activity you have listed, plus lots of others. This would be typical in smaller companies where the marketing team has ownership of figuring out the market, defining the product, doing business development and getting it rolled out and sold to customers. In this "cradle to grave" scenario, the marketing team owns the product from concept to obsolescence and overseas each part of the process including development, sales, business development, PR, etc. Perhaps there are specific departments what specialize in these areas (design, salespeople, marcomm, etc.), but the Marketing Manager owns the product and thus rides heard over the process and each team.

Currently, my "strategic marketing" role is almost exclusively the latter listing of responsibilities: positioning and strategic direction. It is almost an "Ivory Tower" sort of position, figuring out what is on the chess board and what it's going to look like in the future. I send suggestions on where to move the pieces to the Powers That Be. Sometimes they listen, usually they don't.

The job I verbally accepted today - while a marketing role - will be almost 40% sales focused, and I am expected to go out and close big design wins and key customers. There will be less input on product development and more focus on customer development.

This really branches into a whole discussion of "What is Marketing?", and I recommend you read the discussion over at Brand Mantra which goes into this topic at length.

HR Blinked

As a followup to the HR saga, HR of Company A called me today to see how I felt about the last offer. I basically told her what I thought without holding anything back.

Panic ensued. At this point it was an emotional issue and I think HR understood it. Long story short, they came back from their "final offer" and met my "walk-away". I said okay and everyone is now happy. Written offer is being FedExed and I should receive it tomorrow.

In Our Next Episode: Negotiating the Departure from my current Company

Playing Poker with Human Resources

As indicated yesterday, after my series of interviews last week it seems the job at "Company A" is a good fit. I think I would fit well with the team, and the company would allow me to stay in Southern California.

However, although I think I am a good fit and would like to join, the negotiation process has turned into a high stakes poker game with HR, lowering my already dismal opinion of this job function.

As promised, the company made an offer late Monday morning. I was insulted. When taking into consideration differences in benefits (for example, I pay NOTHING now for PPO coverage, and it will take thousands of dollars out-of-pocket at Company A), the offer was probably a little less than I am making now. I told HR to go back to the drawing board, giving her my "walk away" number.

She came back Monday afternoon $2,000 less than my walk-away. Two-thousand dollars. After taxes that's $1200 , or $100 a month.

Do I walk away from a job that I think I am a good fit for $100 a month?

As I thought about this issue several things came to mind. One was a very lengthy, but excellent article about car salesmen. The goal of high-pressure sales is to turn the buying decision into an emotional decision rather than a financial one, and I think some of the goals and tricks used by car salesmen are well understood and utilized by HR.

The second thing that came to mind is that maybe I misread the culture. Here I was feeling that I would be a good addition to the team and thought both parties were excited about me joining. Yet when I tell them what I need to make - which is not in that much higher than I make now nor out of the range for someone of my position or experience - I get nickled and dimed.

So maybe I am not a good fit with the culture after all.

The bottom line is that the whole process has sewn seeds of doubt about the company. Add to that the recent management changes that occurred at my company on Friday, and Company A moved from a situation where I would have happily given notice Monday morning to a position where I am now going to explore my current company's position in more detail before moving forward.

The last offer from Company A was by email and at this time I am simply not going to respond until I gather more info from my current employer. I am not going to reject the offer. I am not going to counter again (they hinted that this was "final"). I am just going to sit on it while I explore my alternatives.

You Can't Die In The Air

One of the many things I learned when I dated a stewardess (ahem) was that you "can't die in the air". That is, if you die on a plane (i.e. of something while you are flying, not obviously a crash), you are not "officially" dead until the plane lands somewhere. This way your death certificate will list a place of death as an actual location and not in the air over some random body of land.

I just remembered this when I was reading the Drudge link to several people dying this weekend while on airplanes.

Interviewing for Jobs While The Imperial President Is Deposed

So I had quite an interesting few days last week with all sorts of new opportunities mixed in with office politics and intrigue:

Thursday: Interview at Company Q - This was the first interview and as I noted last week I was already doubtful because of how I perceived the culture.

The first half of the day consisted of talking to various engineering managers. It turns out that I got along with the team very well. These are bright people working with advanced technology who like their jobs. Several of my "interviews" just turned into bull sessions as we just talked about technology roadmaps, potential future products, the history of the industry and other things we had in common.

I actually got along with the engineering team better than the actual Hiring Manager - we got along "okay", not great. So, overall, I liked the people and the team and think I would get along fine with my direct manager. From a experience and career path standpoint the job is a "good" fit, but not a "great" fit.

What's killing this deal, however, is the culture, which was exemplified with my discussions with HR.

During my six months of unemployment during the tech bust, I came to believe that HR was filled with hateful, incompetent, power-hungry a$$#$%s. I thought this feeling would go away after I was hired and interviewing from a position of strength (i.e. employed), but I find out - at least at this company - that nothing has changed.

I got the impression from HR that they were doing me a favor by interviewing me instead of getting a feeling that they really wanted me to join the team. I first cooled my heals waiting for the HR manager for about 20 minutes. The HR manager then actually "interviewed" me, asking me details about my previous work experience and how I would function in the position even though she had no clue about the background needed for the position. I would use various well understood acronyms describing how my previous experience would fit this particular position, and each time I had to spell out what they meant and simplify the terms I was using.

So I smiled. I said the right things. I acted interested in the position. But the fact was that every minute I sat with HR, I became less interested in the position. HR was the manifestation of other hints and pointers I received throughout my interviews with engineering: this was a highly bureaucratic, top-down organization. CYA (cover your a$$) was a finely tuned craft at the company. It was simply a Big Company mentality with a Big Company structure.

The interviewe ended with HR telling me they had a few other candidates they were talking to and they would get back to me by the end of the month. Leave your number, maybe we'll call.


Friday: Interview at Company A - This is the way open positions should be filled. I arrived at the company and was immediately greeted by HR, who offered coffee and small talk until my first interview came out of a meeting that was running late. Turns out this was the COO, but before I met with him, the hiring manager talked to me for five minutes, asking how I was doing and giving me a few pointers about the COO before going in.

The COO was relaxed and laid back. He didn't have a copy of my resume in front of him, nor did he ask for one. He simply sat across from me and we talked about the position, how I would manage it, and what he expected from it in the coming year. I think he made up his mind pretty quickly since the conversation then turned into a pitch for the company and how I could find an exciting career path under his guidance.

I then had two other interviews with senior management before heading out to lunch with the team and having a final talk with the hiring manager before being wisked away to HR, which focused mainly on benefits. The company called me Friday night to tell me they would make an offer on Monday.

ONE PROBLEM: The offer came in this morning and it's a low-ball. While I expect some negotiation in salaries, I am a bit disappointed that I have to play the game, and quite frankly, the bid really took away a lot of the excitement I had about the position. I basically said no and they are going back to "see what they can do", but at this point, there is the chance that although I like the team and feel that I am a good fit for the position, this job isn't going to happen.


Friday Evening: The President is Dead. Long live the President! - I had just come off the plane from my Friday interview when my phone ringed. Someone in accounting, knowing I was out "sick", called to tell me that the Imperial President had been "recalled". I had heard about this rumor well over a month ago, so was not too surprised about hearing it.

As predicted, Director Mike was put in charge. My first thought was "will this change my position and career at Global MegaCorp so I will want to stay?" The answer is: "probably not", but in light of the disaster with Company Q and the ongoing negotiations with Company A, I think I will at least look into the situation a bit further.

Of course the resulting change in the Presidency has other movements going on, so I will post a new org chart later in the week after the dust settles. Right now the office is like an ant hill that has been kicked over - everyone is scurrying around trying not to be stepped on.

Comments Back Up

Blogspeak's customers and archived comments have been transferred to Haloscan, so I not only have comments back up and working, but all "old" comments were recovered.

No Blogging Until Monday

I am off to my two job interviews over the next two days, so no blogging until Monday.

The Howard Dean 8-Ball

Everyone remembers these little toys from grade school. Turns out Howard Dean has his very own. Ask it a yes/no political question and see what it turns up!

Hat Tip: Outside the Beltway

Interviews and Pre-Negotiations

I have been entertaining job leads for the last several months, two of which have resulted in interviews this week. It is interesting to see how the pre-interviewing and early-negotiation process is taking place at each company since it points to very different attitudes and cultures:

Company A - This job lead was the result of a networking conversation with a Sr. VP who asked me to send in my resume. This position is not "officially open" and is not listed anywhere in the company.

The process has been fairly slow. I sent my resume in late October and it wasn't until this week that the ball really got moving. The main sticking point was the fact that I could not relocate, so the company has okayed for me to work remotely in SoCal.

Their HR department has not been involved anywhere in this process. Pre-negotiations for title, responsibilities and salary have all been directly with the hiring manager. My meeting with HR is after the interview and will be just an overview of benefits.

From this perspective, I believe this company, although a large corporation, is being run more like a small organization with HR being a support function. The discussions and attitudes of the people involved have pointed towards an entrepreneurial "get the job done" mindset which is closer to my own attitude.


Company Q - This job is an open position that is listed on their web site. I was first contacted for the opportunity by their HR department, who had my name in their database from two years ago (so they did some serious data mining to get a hold of me).

All discussions, scheduling, arrangements and pre-negotiations have been with HR. The title is non-negotiable. I had the initial phone interview with the hiring manager, who agreed I was a good fit, and the follow-up to bring me in and the scheduling all took place through HR.

So in this instance, HR is driving the process, sheltering the hiring manager from negotiating anything should he really want to bring me in. This structure and process is more typical of large organizations, pointing to a bureaucratic mindset that dots the i's and crosses the t's, even if this means not getting something accomplished.


I am keeping an open mind for both positions since there are other considerations ranging from basic salary issues to future career planning, and I will go over the decision process here as this progresses.

Comment Problems

I have had problems viewing my comments today, so I assume there is an issue with my comment server. If you have questions/comments, feel free to email them to me at director_mitch@yahoo.com and I will post on them if appropriate.

If the problem isn't fixed by tomorrow, I will change my comment provider.

Update: I may have to change tomorrow. Blogspeak currently has the current sentence up on the site:BlogSpeak is currently down because the bastards that host it decided to suspend my account. I do not know as of yet when this situation will be resolved.

Another Update: My replacement attempt didn't work, so comments are down for now.

CES Followup Questions

In the comment section in the post below, Jim Carson asks some good followup questions about consumer electronics.

1. Why do HDTVs typically NOT have a tuner built in? (I'm just looking at the armada of personal electronics in my entertainment center, and the last thing I need is another frickin thing to plug in.)

For the record, Samsung and others did announce and have on display HDTVs with built-in tuners, but the main reason for the separate box strategy is the fact that HDTV and flat panel TV buyers are overwhelmingly cable and satellite users.

The hope from the TV manufacturers was that the "set top box" provided by the satellite and cable companies would provide the HDTV decoding and output to your TV, essentially turning your TV into a "dumb display" that would require fewer electronics, thus making it cheaper. This is happening slower than expected from the HDTV manufacturers, so you need a "tuner" that takes your cable or satellite signal and then decodes it (over-the-air reception is a separate can of worms I won't go into here).

Of course the satellite and cable guys will EVENTUALLY provide HDTV ready signals, at which point you can ditch your tuner. Or if you spend extra for the set with the built-in tuner, and when you get a HDTV set-top box, you can figure out how to bypass the internal decoder (I assume a bypass is included with these sets, but am not sure).

I think this brings up the whole HDTV transition issue. Besides cable/satellite decoding, I would need to have an HDTV Tivo before I upgraded to HDTV. Then I would have to upgrade my DVD player to HDTV (or have a bimodal one so I can keep my current DVD library). Like every other format conversion, making the switch will mean a significant investment (which is why I alluded below to this being a strategy of the consumer electronics market in general).


2. Will the blue light DVDs have a coherent standard, e.g., none of this +R, -R, -RAM nonsense?

Hey, this is the consumer electronic industry, so there MUST be two competing standards for companies to fight for domination. It's just the VHS/Beta battle being fought over and over again. The two standards coming out of the lab are:

AOD - Advanced Optical Disk - This is the Samsung/Toshiba entry for the battle

BD - BlueRay Disk - This is the Sony/Phillips side of the battle

Keep in mind that - at this time - blue laser readers are NOT backward compatible with your current red laser DVDs, so you would have to replace your whole library (more upgrading!). I assume, however, that one or more of the companies above is working on a "bimodal" player that will have two lasers in it so that it is backward and forward compatible.


3. Are there any interesting advances in read-write storage (e.g,. hard drives)?

I didn't notice this at the show, but I wasn't looking for it. Like the semiconductor industry, however, the diskdrive industry has followed its own "Moore's Law" of increasing integration at smaller formats, but at a MUCH faster rate than computer chips. The multimedia players below were 80G, and I assume they were with 1.5" or 2" drives, so I would assume that the integration curve for hard drives hasn't flattened yet.


Update: I have confirmed that at least two companies are working on "red/blue" DVD players that will have both a blue laser for new DVDs and a red one for legacy DVDs. They will, however, use a single lens, so a the blue laser will simply be added to the existing optical pick-up.

CES Overview

I spent a day wandering the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. There are a variety of other sites and blogs that go into all sorts of detail about the show, and with over 2,000 exhibitors and 100,000 attendees, it would take a lot of web pages to cover, so I will just post some quick impressions here.

Coolest New Product - For me, it was the new "Multimedia Players" that were introduced from Creative Labs and Archos. These are going to be the Next Big Thing for consumers, essentially adding video and pictures to MP3 players.

These products essentially add an LCD screen to an Apple iPod (Apple, where is yours?), so you can download movies, pictures and the like to enjoy with your music. The Creative guy in the booth claimed if you download movies using the Windows standard, you could get three full-length movies on the 80GB drive, so this could become THE thing to have for long-distance travelers. When queried about battery life, he admitted that it would be a little weak, so you would want an extra. Estimated retail price is ~$600-700. These products are not yet ready, but are being slated for mass production in the middle of the year.

These products must have the Motion Picture industry sweating. I believe swapping/downloading of movies hasn't been a big deal since most people don't watch movies on their PC, but with the introduction of a small portable device with a small, low-quality screen, I think on-line movie swapping will take off.


Most Unique Products

TV Mirror - It's a TV! It's a Mirror! It's Two Things in One! If turned off, an ordinary mirror is displayed by the LCD display (you can't tell it's an LCD), but if turned on, it becomes a TV. The main market is going to be hotel rooms and the like, although it will probably make it into a small share of people's homes.




3D, No Glasses - Sharp's 3D displays were also pretty neat (no pics). You get a 3D view without the need for special glasses, although, for me, it only worked with still pictures and not video. The main market seems to be technical and scientific, although Sharp hopes to get it into consumers' hands with PC games and the like.

A Real, Virtual Keyboard - I had the chance to play with a virtual keyboard in the Panasonic booth. It is REALLY neat. The "feedback" I wondered about in this post is provided by a soft "clicking" noise. Typing on the countertop, I found I could type nearly as fast as on a keyboard. No commitment to when this will be on the market.




Man's New Best Friend - Sony's QRIO robot is only a demo for trade shows (they call him their "ambassador"), but it is quite impressive. He walks on two feet and has very fluid motion of his arms and legs, thanks to the help of 38 motors (he's about 18" high). Obviously this could eventually become a product, but with their AIBO robot dogs currently $1500, I don't think we will see the QRIO on the market any time soon since it is much more advanced (meaning MUCH more expensive).





Trends

The main overlying themes I noticed at the show could be grouped as follows:

The Usual: More Capacity, Smaller, Cheaper, Faster - This is the main drive of this industry and a part of my Immutable Laws of Consumer Electronics. One specific item I will point out is the move to replace the red laser in your CD and DVD players with a blue laser. Several of the major OEMs are getting their Blue Light products out of the lab, and these will hold 4x-10x the capacity of existing CDs and DVDs. Expect these to hit the market in the next year.

Flat Panel - EVERYTHING was flat panel. The tubed TV will be going the way of the black-and-white TV in the next decade. LCD's still haven't made it to the size of Plasma, but hopefully will get there soon.

Digital Broadcasting and HDTV - There was a big push by both cable and satellite providers for direct digital broadcast. And if you do that, you will need a (flat panel) High Definition TV (HDTV). And if you do that, your DVD will need to be upgraded to a High Definition DVD (HD-DVD). And if you do that, you might as well upgrade your camcorder to HD format as well. So this whole movement goes with the strategy of changing format so consumers will need to upgrade everything they have (similar things happened with tapes to CD, VHS to DVD, etc.).

Wireless Connectivity - WIFI for your PC is old news. Connecting your TV set-top box and stereo wirelessly to your PC is relatively new. I thought this would be a big push of this year's show, and while present, it was not as big as I thought it would be, so wireless consumer products are going get a slow roll-out rather than a big one.

Automotive Electronics - I am sure there were some new items in this area, but this area of the show had other man-made silicon silicone items on display. (There were about 8 automotive "models" signing posters all around this area, so it was a bit distracting).




Update: Master of None has a link to a video of the QRIO robot dancing, giving a good idea of its capabilities.

Off to CES

The Consumer Electronics Show starts tomorrow in Vegas (yeah, baby!) and I will be there to check out new products and trends, so no blogging again until Friday when I will give my views from the show.

Merry Christmas!

What, you say it was a couple of weeks ago? WRONG, if you are Orthodox, or "Old Calendar" Catholic.

When the calendar was updated from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in the sixteenth century, many didn't recognize the Papal edict (such as the Orthodox Catholics, who don't recognize the Pope), and Catholic Bishops in certain areas didn't want to change the time Christmas was celebrated since they felt it was "more important to be spiritually correct than astronomically correct" (Ukrainian Catholics are an example, but are now split, with some being "old calendar" and some being "new calendar").

The move from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar was originally 10 days in 1528, but in the continuing centuries, the lag between the two calendars increased to 13 days, placing Christmas on Jan 7.

I know several people celebrating Christmas today, and calling them last night to wish them a Merry Christmas, I asked "Isn't it WEIRD celebrating Christmas this late?"

They responded that they grew up that way, so it isn't "weird". In addition, they always benefited from the "after Christmas" sales since they could buy at the end of December and open presents in January.

So I guess they also have an excuse to celebrate "New Years" next week, although the ball won't be dropping on Times Square again.

How Well Do YOU Know Your Communist Genocides?

Commies killed tens of millions more than the Nazis during the 20th century, but people who praise Communism in the U.S. keep their jobs (usually in acting and media) compared to those who praise fascism, who are (rightfully) drummed out of whatever public position they hold. School children are drilled about the 15+ million murdered during the Nazi holocaust but are taught nothing of the 30+ million killed under Mao or the 30+ million killed under Stalin.

This is a long test, but very educational and worth your time.

Hat Tip: Dean's World

Kewel - but $100 too Expensive

Jobs (head of Apple, not two of the guy from the Old Testament) announced the new "mini-iPod". This could be a real killer to the MP3 players down in the $100 range, like the Rio, but at $250, this is barely less than the "full sized" iPod. Hopefully Apple will slide the price down over time.

The "Old" iPod on the left, new one on the right

The pic links to Apple's site, or see more at Gizmodo.

Finally, Democracy in Texas

It seems that a court has held up the Texas redistricting plan, which will likely send more Republicans to congress.

As someone who grew up in Texas and voted in my first six or so elections in that state, I remember quite clearly the games the democrats played in order to stay in power. At one point I was gerrymandered into a democratic district with a street-wide "tendril" that came out of North Houston and then enclosed my neighborhood. In other words, two neighborhoods in two different parts of the city were connected by a line stretching through the city, but it was one "district".

So now that EVERY state-wide office is held by Republicans, both senate seats have been Republican for some time, and the fact that Texas voted Republican in presidential elections for nearly a quarter century (2000-Bush, 1996-Dole, 1992-Bush, 1988-Bush, 1984-Reagan, 1980-Reagan), I think the new plan is closer to the will of the people.

After all, shouldn't a state that is majority-Republican send a majority of Republicans to congress?

Managing Your Digital Trail

The site Techdirt links over to an article over at Fast Company about your "digital trail", what it means for job applicants, and expands the thought to companies and service industries.

It's an interesting article, but I think he is mixing two separate issues: a personal digital trail, which is somewhat manageable, and a business digital trail, which isn't. He also misses the point of a "reference" - a reference is someone who you worked with (usually a boss) who can talk specifically about your work history - not past comments on some web site or a random comment from your blog.

But the idea of a "digital footprint", however, IS a valid issue for job applicants and is something people should manage.

It is now common practice now for hiring managers to "Google" job applicants, and most career counselors tell you to Google yourself every so often to see what shows up. For this reason, it is advisable to be careful where/what you post since you never know when your words my come back to haunt you. If you must post in a non-professional capacity, it is advisable to do it under an assumed name.

A Google search under my own (real) name turns up professional articles I have written and press interviews where I have been quoted, but it certainly doesn't turn up this blog, or my dozens of comments scattered around the blogosphere. While I probably wouldn't WANT to work for some left-wing wacko who would disqualify me because of this site, I would rather manage what hiring managers and others know about me and when they know it. I can easily tell someone about this blog directly during an interview if I want to, but if it is under my own name, I lose control of my personal data and don't know if the person I am talking to knows about it or not.

This is similar to my earlier advise not to post your full resume out on the internet. The most important thing you can do is manage what people know about you since it gives you an advantage. If you don't, people with the power to hire you could come up with the wrong impression of what you are really like before even meeting you.

Are there exceptions? I know lots of people who post political, religious and social commentary under their own names and simply see it as a way of advertising (I want to work for/with people/companies that I fit with and this blog is a way of advertising who I am), or they simply don't care or worry about what others may think. And of course journalists, professional pundits, business owners (don't have to worry about hiring managers), and those whose blogs are a sort of advertising (lawyers, for example) don't have to worry.

But for the average worker planning to work at a "typical" company, the best bet for career management is to get your name out there in a professional capacity, but otherwise avoid publishing it.

Since I Am Busy Today...

And can't blog much, go check out the Bear Flag League Roundup over at the SoCal Law Review.

Mmmmmmm.....Beeeeeef.....

The Mrs. and I last night went to Flemings, a local steak house. You go here if you want to eat beef since there isn't much else on the menu. A vegetarian would go away hungry.

It was Sunday night and the place was packed. No concern of mad cows going on here, which sort of corresponds to the latest polling data that Americans are by and large unconcerned about mad cow (funny, 75% of Americans are unconcerned, but the lead is always that "One in Four Concerned").

Of course, more people died eating vegetables in 2003 than from mad cows.

Virtual Consulting (Continued)

I posted recently about being invited and signing up at a virtual consulting company.

Today I had my first consultation, and it went quite well. I talked to an analyst at a investment company and we ended up just chatting for an hour about the state of the overall tech market (good) and about several segments and companies in particular. I confirmed some things he has already seen as well as gave him some additional areas to look into.

After the conversation I billed the consulting company, which sent me an email confirmation that payment is in process. I should note they asked for my SS#, so I don't know if they are going to withhold (unlikely) or send me a 1099-MISC next year (more likely). For this reason, I will keep track of certain expenses (internet connection?) to write off against this income so it doesn't get taxed (i.e. I will count this income as outside business income and create a schedule of expenses to write off against it).

In addition, the analyst asked for me to be set up on his permanent "panel of advisors", so he can call me direct again in the future, in which case I will bill the company again. PLUS, the consulting company asked me to put days I can be "on call" in order to increase my call/client volume.

Overall, I would say it has been a very positive experience. I am not going to get rich doing this (my billing rate isn't very high), but it looks like a good way to pull in a few bucks on the side while also creating new business contacts and keeping my mind limber about different aspects of the market.

If you wish to join you can sign up on their web site. There is no guarantee you will be accepted, but if you have an area they are interested in and have some time, this seems like a good idea.

I'm Sure This Is Just a Coincidence

Manufacturing Activity Shows Fastest Growth in Two Decades

Now what I was hearing about Democrats wanting to raise taxes?

An Appropriate Post To Start the New Year

Are you a Blogoholic?

Apparently, not. Here are my results:

44 points is in the 21 through 50 precent
You are a casual weblogger. You only blog when you have nothing better to do, which is not very often. (Comment: Actually this is pretty often considering my current job) There's nothing wrong with that. But if you'd post a little more often, you'd make your readers very happy.

You'd have to be pretty hard-core to score in the top on this thing (Instapundit?).

Hat Tip: Outside the Beltway (link at right)