Cool links

I thought it might make sense for me to put together a list of some cool links related to technology that I use to either make my life more productive, or just simply more entertaining.

 

I love the following website to search for freeware for my BlackBerry. Plenty of selection.

http://store.bbgeeks.com/platformMain.asp?id=5&section=free

 

I have been fascinated with the amount of applications that have come out for the iPhone.  

http://www.apple.com/webapps/

 

If you don’t have Pandora yet, it is a must have. This is a totally free internet radio. It is outstanding!

http://www.pandora.com/

 

A fun website that allows you to just be stupid. Sometimes we all need a mindless activity to recharge.

http://www.homestarrunner.com/

 

Ever wonder what the evil twin of wikipedia.com looks like?

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

Online television and movies… for FREE!!

http://www.hulu.com/

 

Want to know what “the experts” think of the new electronic toy you want to get think?

http://www.cnet.com/

 

 

That will do it for now, but I think if I come across unique or interesting websites, I will add them in the future.

Tweeting and Facebook create more productive employees!??

According to a study conducted by the University of Melbourne showed that people who use the internet for personal reason at work are about 9% more productive at work than those who do not. The author of this study, Brent Coker, stated that “Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing” or WILB helped sharpen workers concentration. Essentially, people need to zone out for a bit to re-focus on what they are doing. The study had 300 workers involved, and about 70% of the workers that use the internet at work engage in WILB. The most popular forms of WILB are online shopping, reading news sites, and YouTube. 

Many companies have spent millions of dollars to block their employees from watching videos, social networking sites and online shopping because of the assumtion that it costs millions of dollars in lost productivity. That really is not the case.  For most people, people who are on the internet for less than 20% of their time while at the office, the majority of them are more productive than those who do not engage in WILB. The exception are the internet addicts.

I am writing this Blog during my work hours, and I feel that I am a pretty productive guy. In my role, it is really about who I know versus what I know. The more I am out there, the better.

Keep on Twittering and Facebooking America! let’s get productive!!

Finally… Some good news!

What a week America had! Periodically, while at my desk working, I will check in on some of the news sites to see what is going on. I have been so sick of all of the constant negativity over the last year. The economy is tanking, home sales are down, everyone is getting laid off and companies are closing. All of this is true, but is is just no hard to hear about it repeatedly every minute of every day for such a long period of time. 

The American economy essentially a product of the optimism of its people, meaning it the consumers are optimistic, they buy things, and the economy grows (I know there is a lot more to it, but I don’t feel like writing a tome). All of the negativity in the media over the last year has scared the american people severely, and thus, no one is optimistic.  Well, are things starting to change???

The other day I was speaking with my co-worker and he said, I think people are just so sick  and tired of being sick and tired of the current state of the economy that they are forcing themselves to be more positive and optimistic. I cant qualify this, but there seems to be a feeling in the air that something is changing, and it is a change for the better. Lets look at the good news that happened this week:

The stock market:

- The Dow Jones is up nearly 600 points this week!

- NASDAQ is up 100 points this week!

- S&P is up about 60 points this week!

Home Sales:

- Existing home sales increased 5.1% last month!

- New home sales increase 4.7%!

 

I am sure there are several other examples, but this is enough to at least put a smile on your face! For what we have been through, a smile is good enough for now!

It’s all about who you know!

With there being a lack of posted central Indiana jobs currently available, it is time to start thinking about how you can find a new job in a creative way. No longer can you simply go to an on-line job board and expect to find the numerous jobs that fit your requirements. So, what are you supposed to do to find the perfect job? The old adage of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is more true today than it ever was in the past.

GET CONNECTED!!

By getting connected to all of the people you used to work with, currently work with, or other professionals in a similar industry will help you find the job you want. Connect with some recruiters as it is their job be be informed on the local employment market. Also, get your profile on one of the many professional networking sites. One of my favorites is LinkedIn. LinkedIn will allow you to connect with the millions of other professionals with a LinkedIn profile. The great thing about LinkedIn is it will allow you to connect directly with anyone you choose while also connecting you with all of their contacts and their contacts contacts.

Let’s say you are a systems engineer in Indianapolis searching for a new technology jobs. If you only know ten other technologists from past and current jobs, and only five of them have a LinkedIn profile, you can directly connect to them. By doing so, your professional network will include these five plus all of their contacts plus all of their contacts contacts. To put this in perspective, if everyone only has five contacts, you would be connected to 155 people. The majority of people on LinkedIn have well over 30, many well over 100. Imagine how many people you would have connections with if you had 25 connections.

I only have 312 direct contacts on LinkedIn, but I have access to over 8 million people!!

Once you know who the people are, it is up to you to connect with and network with them. The best Indianapolis job openings are not always posted on-line, but rather are available only through private networks. It’s all about who you know, so get out there and get to know some new people.

What I Do!

Hi! My Name is Mike Tschohl. I am a Business Development Associate with Theoris, Inc. Theoris helps companies control their IT spend by providing expertise to help you achieve best practices across your core IT practices. We also help our clients by providing staff augmentation solutions, including contract and direct hire, with our full time employees or referred candidates. We pride ourselves with providing the best resources at the most effective price point.

I have recently joined Theoris after sever years of executive search (headhunting), and was very impressed with the service offerings they provide. I am excited to continue to provide direction and expertise for clients that are “back up against a wall” and need a trusted professional that can provide the resources on time and on budget.

I will keep a weekly update on this blog to keep readers up to date with different trends in the IT world, focused on Indianapolis. Be sure to bookmark this page and check in weekly.

If you would like to get in contact with me, please send me an email at  mtschohl@theoris.com