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25 Google Applications to Assist in Your Job Search or Branding Your Career
If you were curious to know the population of Seattle, Washington, how would you go about getting the information?
What if you wanted to know how to get from San Francisco, California to Napa Valley, California? Well the easiest and most convient method would be to Google them, right? Google gives you access to all the world’s information with just the click of a button, but did you know Google could assist you in finding a job or building up your professional brand?
Google is more than just an Internet search engine. It is a toolbox full of valuable weapons that any professional can use, no matter what stage of your career you are in. By using the applications below you can keep up to date on companies of interest, build your online brand and showoff your accomplishments.
1. Google Blog Search – Search blogs of the companies you are interested in, or follow the blogs of the industry experts in your field.
2. GMail – Create a professional email address for networking purposes and then have that address forwarded to your personal email
3. Google Profile – Control how you appear in Google searches by creating a personal profile. On your Google profile page you can add links to all your social networking profiles and your blog.
4. Google Custom Search – Create a customized search for your job search or career development by adding specific websites, blogs or job sites, or keywords
5. Google Desktop – It’s like a regular Google search but instead it searches your computer. It allows you to have easier access to your documents. It also has the option to add gadgets to your desktop so you can get the RSS feed from sites you frequently visit.
6. GOOG-411- By dialing 1-800-GOOG-411 from any phone and stating the location and type of business you are looking for GOOG-411 will connect you with that business. It is helpful if you are going on a job interview or attending a networking event and forgot the address or phone number. You can even ask GOOG-411 to send you a text with the information or send directions to your mobile phone.
7. iGoogle – Create a simple internet homepage with news, RSS feeds and gadgets that will assist in the job search or career development. Add interesting companies and the feed for their jobs page, add feeds to the blogs of industry experts or add RSS feeds for industry related conferences or events
8. Google Alerts – Get email updates on the topics of your choice. Set it up to get an alert every time a website is updated or topics of interests are mentioned in the news. It is also a great way reputation management tool. You can setup alerts to be sent to you every time your name is mentioned throughout the internet
9. Google University Search – Google’s University Search enables you to narrow your search to a specific school website. You can look for things to enhance your career like admissions information, course schedules. Or if you want to connect with former alumni for networking purposes you can have access to alumni news.
10. Google Maps – View maps and directions of a particular location. If you want to know the names and location similar companies in a certain geographical area, you are able to map them out and view a map with the exact locations flagged.
11. Google Finance – Get updates on companies within a specific market or industry. Google Finance allows you to view portfolios, the latest news and interactive charts dealing with companies that might interest you.
12. Google News – Search thousands of news stories for updates on the overall employment market or a specific industry. Using the advanced search you can narrow your results down to exact companies or news sources.
13. Google Reader – If you don’t have time to search the internet for stories and updates, Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content. Whether a site updates daily or monthly, you won’t miss a thing. It shows all you indexed and favorite in one place. It’s like a personalized inbox for the entire web and you can just skim the headlines and read the topics that interest you.
14. Google Scholar - Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
15. Google Patent Search – When you are researching companies, Google Patent Search allows you to search and view the full text of US Patents. This way you can see what those companies are working on or have produced in the past. When used for career development it can help you access what it already out there and give you ideas of what you can work on
16. YouTube – Use YouTube to find and watch videos with job search tips and tricks, view videos about hiring companies and share videos about your background. You can also use YouTube to connect with people and publish self created tutorial videos.
17. Blogger – A free blogging platform, Blogger helps you establish yourself as an industry expert. You can use your Blogger account to create an online resume or write articles that have an impact within your industry.
18. Google Sites – Google Sites is a great online collaboration tool that allows you to bring all your information together in one place. It is similar to iGoogle, but it allows for more personalization. By creating a single page you can combine all your information together. It allows you to post documents, videos, photos, calendars and attachments. This is a great place to serve as your online portfolio because you can share it with as many people as you want to.
19. Google Talk – Google Talk is Google’s version of instant messaging. It keeps you in contact with your peers and networking contacts. Some of the features of Google Talk are the video feature; allowing you to conduct and participate in video interviews, group chat; to have an open conversation with all your contacts, voice chat; to make PC to PC phone calls. It also has a feature called Reply by Chat. If you receive an email from someone who has Google Talk you can respond to the email through instant message rather than having to wait for them to respond to your email.
20. Google Calendar – Using Google Calendar allows you to organize your schedule and share events with friends and peers. You can set it up to receive daily calendar updates by email and view the shared calendar of those in your network. For professionals wanting to increase their marketplace visibility Google Calendar allows you to send out invites to events you may be hosting or RSVP to events you will be attending.
21. Google Toolbar – Google Toolbar makes it easier to stay up to date with news and happenings through the use of a toolbar at the top of your web browser. You can modify it to meet your needs by creating shortcuts to your favorite websites and Google Tools.
22. Google Groups – One of the best ways to make your mark in your industry and stay networked with others is to join and participate in groups. Google Groups allows you to connect with people who you may not have had access to otherwise. By join groups, you can comment of topics being discussed on group forums and send emails out to the members of those groups.
23. Google Knol – Create and publish information about a subject you are interested in. This is a great tool to establish industry thought leadership and expertise. You can also connect with other industry experts and share/grow your knowledge.
24. Google Orkut – Google Orkut is an online community designed to make your social life more active and stimulating. It helps you maintain existing relationships with pictures and messages, and establish new ones by reaching out to people you’ve never met before. Orkut makes it easy to find people who share your professional interests and establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events.
25. Google Book Search – If you are looking to increase your knowledge on an industry specific topic or get help with a job search problem, Google Book Search allows you to search the full text of books.
Be sure to stop by AskBINC in the future for detailed ways to use some of these Google Applications. If there is a particular one you would like to read learn about let us know.
15 Twitter Applications for Your Job Search
Has Twitter turned into a popularity contest? According to Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN (@cnnbrk) it is. The two fellow Tweeters were in a fierce battle to be the first to get to 1Million followers, but in my opinion that is not what Twitter is about. It’s not about how many followers you have, it’s about networking, making contacts and turning those contacts into something that will benefit you, your career or your business.
From the standpoint of a job seeker, if used correctly, Twitter can turn your job search from feeling like the dreaded fail whale to landing you the job of your dreams. With the right tools Twitter can become a never-ending source of information to assist you along your way.
Other than Tweeting about your job search and putting your job pitch in your bio, here are 15 Twitter Applications and Tricks to help you along the path (keep in mind there are hundreds of applications for Twitter and most of them can be used in someway or another for a job search, these are just the ones I found most interesting): ![\\"\\"](\\"http://blog.bincsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/image/connecttweet.png\\")
ConnectTweet – See what is going on inside the doors of a potential company, through the Tweets of their employees. ConnectTweet allows individuals at the front lines of the company to add a #tag to their company relevant tweets, those tagged tweets are then filtered and posted to the companies @org’s Twitter account, allowing the company’s followers to clearly see the human voices on the inside.
Click to continue reading “15 Twitter Applications for Your Job Search”
20 Facebook Applications to Assist in Your Job Search
If you haven’t heard of Facebook it’s time to step out of the 1950’s and step into 2009. Over the last two years Facebook has worked its way up to claim it’s throne at the top of the Social Media Mountain.
When Facebook entered the scene it was a social networking site with a niche market targeted specifically to college and university students. You had to have a valid school email address in order to become a member. Facebook nixed that requirement and the sky became the limit. Users of all ages began to flock there as a way to stay connected. According to a 2009 demographics report created by istrategylabs.com, out of the approximately 42 million US Facebook users 19 million of them are between the ages of 25-55+. Facebook is no longer viewed as an online college dormitory; it is a valuable personal and professional networking source.
If you are familiar with Facebook, then you know you can add applications to your profile. Applications range from throwing sheep at your friends to instrumental career/job search tools. Using applications on Facebook that are targeted toward careers and career growth will create a stepping stone to get you that job of your dreams.
Here are some popular Facebook Applications you can add to your profile. These applications are created to assist with employment searches and networking, this way you can be in the know about the employment marketplace even if you aren’t looking.
- Jobster Career Network – Join the Talent Networks of your favorite companies, and get personalized job alerts based on your career interests. Plus, get career advice from your friends; post your resume online, search for jobs, and more!
- OfficeBook - What would you tell a friend about your office if he or she was interested in working there? Love your company? Hate it? Say It!
Click to continue reading “20 Facebook Applications to Assist in Your Job Search”
Web Madness Tournament – Round One
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March Madness has hit the entire country and although there is the BIG Dance, there are many other dances taking place these days including one within our very own web/software marketplace. Working in the high profile world of web companies, we’re seeing the market swing on a quarterly basis with last years high-fliers beginning to plateau (Slide, Yelp, Ning), landmark companies going radio silent (Microsoft, Google) and new Cinderellas emerging on a daily basis (too many to mention – call us we’ll tell you).
We thought now couldn’t be a better time to let people duke it out and decide who is the hottest company to be working for in 2009. So we put together our own BIG Dance comprised of 16 web/software companies all vying for the top talent and overall market dominance. And we’re going to give you our opinions and let you decide the winner of our very own Web Madness Tourney.
Voting for this round will go until Friday March 27th at 5pm – results will be posted Monday March 30th
10 Hot Girl/Web Company Comparisons
Candidates and Clients are always asking us; who’s the hottest company in the marketplace, what companies are on the rise and on the decline, how are certain companies perceived in the eyes of the marketplace and other such questions surrounding the “who’s hot” leader board of the web world. We have strong opinions to all of these questions and often debate this not only with our clients and candidates, but amongst ourselves as well.
Truth be told, I can’t remember how or why we started comparing top web companies to top female celebrities (I kind of wish I had a better story for this). I think it started as an inside joke between my brother and I when we would actually get into some pretty heated debates over which web company and celebrity is hotter in the public eye and who’s best matched up together. And then when other people heard our debates, more fuel would be added to the fire and it all pretty much spiraled down hill from there. So after months of random debate and no clear resolution, I did what any good manager would do in this situation. I held an official meeting (after hours of course), bought some booze to foster the flow of creativity, turned off the phones and I refused to let anybody leave the room until the perfect matches were decided on once and for all.
So after a ton of laughs, a few too many drinks, some very heated arguments and a near office wrestling match 
, we finally came up with our official comparison of the top web companies to the top female celebrities (watch out Maxim). We hope you have as much fun reading our comparisons as we had coming up with them. Just one caveat, please don’t take them too seriously – we definitely don’t. And if we missed a good comparison or you can think of a better one than we came up with, please let us know – we’ll post all comments and ideas. Enjoy!!!
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Apple and Madonna Both cultural icons that have been around over 25 years, and are still innovative, creative, and cult like trendsetters |
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Google and Angelina Jolie
Arguably the hottest and most wanted web company and actress on the face of this planet. Yes there are up and comers that have the potential to decrown them, like Facebook or Megan Fox, but neither have shown the staying power to be handed the crown….just yet |
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Facebook and Miley Cyrus
Hot, cute, funny, sweet and everyone still likes her… for now |
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Techcrunch and Tila Tequilla Came out of nowhere and now everyone wants to be on them |
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Yahoo and Britney Spears
We had to do it. Was anyone hotter in the late 90’s????? And now…brand names turned punch lines, the verdict is still out on whether either has a comeback left in them |
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Twitter and Lindsay Lohan Crashes waaaaaaaaay too much!! |
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Myspace and Paris Hilton
Does anyone else get the feeling that MySpace will do anything for that extra dollar |
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Digg and Scarlett Johanson Both are incredibly hot, are well respected fixtures in the hearts of others and have the staying power to be around for a long time to come |
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Ning/Slide and Jennifer Lopez
All have huge backing (We couldn’t resist) |
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Wikipedia and Natalie Portman Smart, beautiful and out to help the world! Go Ahead…think of something negative to say about either of them. I DARE YOU! |
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So you want to join a startup – main criteria to consider
So you want to join a startup. Ok, if that’s your decision, you’ve made a great one as there are many great reasons to be working for a startup. But like saying ‘I want to move to a big city’, there are many to choose from and although all big cities have their similarities, no two are created alike. Such is true for startups. So now that you’ve decided to join a startup, how do you know which one to choose?
If you live in Seattle, I’d say you have somewhere around 200 startups to choose from.
If you live in LA, you have somewhere near 100 startups to choose from.
If you live in the Bay Area and are willing to work anywhere from SF to San Jose, that number inches closer to 750-1000. And with VC activity and the opportunity to innovate greater than ever, there are new startups popping up every day making the decision to choose the right one tougher than ever.
So how can you be sure you are making the right decision? At the end of the day, it’s going to have to be a gut decision because there’s no such thing as being right or wrong at the point of decision – there’s only appropriate fit for you or not. When joining a startup, time will always have to tell whether or not you have made the right decision. But because making a decision is imminent, below is a list of criteria that can be applied to your decision making proces . Although there are exceptions, the more of these criteria included in the startup you’re considering, the higher the likelihood you will have chosen the right one.
1) Management team. Do they have a history of building and exiting successful startups? What is their pedigree? You can easily learn this by reading the management bios on the startups website or looking them up on social networking sites like LinkedIn. If no info can be found, you want to make sure to ask for this information during your interviews.
2) Well-financed. Most tier one startups are backed by venture capital firms or reputable angel groups, so make sure to know who’s backing the startup before signing your offer. Generally speaking, the more promising the startup, the more reputable their backers. Make sure to also find out the startup’s burn rate and how much time is left before they need a new round of financing. This will help you assess the risk you are taking.
3) Sustainable business model. Clear path towards generating revenue. Competitive positioning amongst competitors. Does this startup have a legitimate business plan or is there more hype than substance.
4) Passion. Do you genuinely like the product or the technologies you’ll be working with? Can you get passionate about it? At the end of the day after the paycheck and the people and the culture, you’re actually going to have to get some work done. You should only join a startup if you are genuinely passionate about the product and the work you’ll be doing.
5) The people. Can you not only learn from them, but can you teach them something as well. Are they smart and capable enough to lock arms with and go for the gold?
6) Culture. Do you get a good feel for their environment, culture, philosophy, etc. Joining a startup is a lifestyle decision. Are they family friendly, do they go to happy hours together, do they let dogs roam around their offices, do they have a culture of working 80-hour weeks. You should ask a lot of questions about day in the life and why others like working there to figure out whether your style would fit well at the startup.
7) Maturity. Working for a founder with no funding is different that joining a startup after angels invest or after round A, round B or Round C. Generally speaking, the more mature a company is in terms of rounds funded or # of employees, the lower the impact you can make on the company as a whole. But at the same time, the lower the risk that the entire company will go under. And generally speaking, the more mature the startup, the stronger the cash compensation will be offered and the weaker the equity position. The less mature startups will offer weaker cash compensation and stronger equity positions.
Exit viability. When joining a startup, equity is almost always part of the equation. Some people join a startup because they love the camaraderie, the opportunity to work with smarter people and the us vs. them mentality. Others like the ride as well, but are really in it for the pot at the end of the rainbow. Make sure to ask the founders about the company’s exit plans so that you can measure the equity component of your offer accordingly.
9) What can you contribute? This may sound more like a question a startup should be asking you, but in turn, your ability to immediately impact the product can make you happier, feel more valuable, and give you a chance to flex your technical depth in a given area while gaining breadth in others.
10) Location, Location, Location. You here the term software “community” thrown around a lot, but in certain districts of cities, it really is quite literal. Take Seattle’s Pioneer Square, throw a rock in any direction and you’ll hit a software engineer, product manager, and likely a VC or two. Being in a tech centric area can add to the enjoyment and flow of creative juices.
Below are some great questions you should be asking all of the startups you consider.
How are you going to make money? You’d be surprised how many people startups don’t have a clue!
Why are you building this product/service?
What is your turnover ratio? Remember, people are supposed to be in startups for love of the game…if there is high t/o, that’s an even worse sign that high t/o at a larger company.
What are the goals for the product and when do you expect to achieve them?
How do you plan to exit?
What is your cash burn rate? I.e. How long will the $$ in the bank last you?
Who are your competitors and what is your competitive advantage?
What are the backgrounds of the company founders?
What’s the company story? Why was it founded?
What are your growth plans for the short-term and long term?
Google: Is it time to jump off the bandwagon??
Climbing Mount Everest, Ballooning around the world, getting a Google employee to leave….They’re all pretty similar in my mind….While being a BINC Research Associate surely has its perks, nothing truly puts a smile on my face like the “call as many Google people as you can” days. Ah yes, the true love of getting hung up on, yelled at, ignored, given fake emails, given times to call back and getting flaked on or even the good ol’ fashioned “I’ll call you back later” – yes definitely nothing beats Google calls days. Of course there are always the couple nice guys (or gals) that hear me out, and I’ve even got a couple to consider leaving but for the most part it’s a rough day. But all of this got me thinking… why is Google so special?? And even more importantly, why should employees leave now before it’s too late??
Listen, don’t get me wrong I love Google, I use it all the time and they have hired some of the most brilliant minds in the industry, but hey, people are leaving and I’m here to make sure you know why. First off – Why is Google so special??
5 reasons that I’ve compiled from talking to current as well as former Google employees.
5. Great perks – Amazing free gourmet lunches and dinners, swimming spas, child daycare centers, laundry machines?!?, and the list just keeps on going
4. Brilliant minds at work – Not only are some of the smartest guys on the world employees of Google (Vint Cerf), but they have regular guest speakers (Hans Rosling, Barack Obama) and regular tutorial classes that help employees continue in their education, even when in the work world.
3. Innovative, creative, “paradigm-shifting” – Google Maps, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Images, and off course – Google Search. Each one of these services and the many others that Google offers to its users are all very cutting-edge, forward-thinking services that have literally shifted and changed the world that we live in… Wow, ok, let’s not get too carried away here, but they are definitely “front of the line” services.
2. Its fun, exciting, and energetic – Google employees love being around individuals as smart, or smarter, then they are. They feel that they can thrive in an environment and feel that they are truly changing the world. Plus, employees get 20 % time off to work on their own personal projects – letting them truly enjoy being at work.
We offer our engineers “20-percent time”so that they’re free to work on what they’re really passionate about. Google News, Google Suggest, AdSense for Content and Orkut are among the many products of this perk.
1. It’s the top search company in the world – and who doesn’t wanna work for #1.
That’s all great and exciting, but let’s be lets be honest, there’s always the “but…”
5 reasons why Google employees are slowly (but surely) starting to leave.
5. Commuting – When Google was doing great people had no problem commuting down south from
4. Stock troubles – Minus the bump that they recently saw due to their above-expected earnings report, the stock went from a high of 747.24 in November to a low of 412.11 only 5 months later in March. Their stock has received tremendous growth over the years (if only I bought their IPO at $85…), but we all know that tremendous stock growth doesn’t last forever (YHOO – 108 in 2000 to 4.67 in 2002, Sun – 253.88 in 2000 to 10.36 in 2002, etc. etc.)
3. Although Google is exciting, many Google employees that joined post-IPO missed out on their big hit - Many employees are leaving to either jump on board of a “hot” start-up before its too late, while others are creating their own. A few are listed in line below.
- Facebook/MySpace – Social Networking has taken over the Internet and these two are at the forefront.
- Ooyala – Founded by ex-Google employees – Bismarck Lepe, Sean Knapp, Belsasar Lepe. They provide a distribution of high quality video content and they have currently raised 8.5 million in funding
- FriendFeed – Wow! A whole company comprised of ex-Googlers!
- PowerSet – Natural Language Search – This is just one of the many next-generation Semantic web companies that are starting to emerge. Web 3.0 anyone??
- Rentbits – Founded by ex-Google employee Dan Daugherty. It is a vertical search engine for real estate rental information.
2. Dare I say, Corporate Culture – Google has constantly prided themselves on their open, social environment but many people feel that Google has turned increasingly “corporate”. The environment in which engineers were able to create their own products and services is decreasing since it has to go through a full review process that can take months before the product is released to market. Although engineers enjoy being creative, they might as well create a product/service that they can monetize on their own.
Erick Schonfeld, writer at TechCrunch – “Is it me, or is innovation at Google slowing down?”
Some examples of Google lacking process can be seen with Opensocial, Android, or just take a look at this list and see how many you’ve ever actually heard of.
1. Google not a dream job anymore – A couple years back people used to dream of working for Google. And sorry to say guys, but it’s just not like that anymore. There are so many great opportunities for people to get involved with that Google doesn’t have to be an option. When Google was the revolution, it was the most amazing thing on the market, but it’s not that anymore. It’s still good but the critics are slowly starting to come out in full force and the employees are listening. With such a plethora of options available, and issues around Google increasing –the flow of employees leaving Google that has been seen recently will continue to pick up.
Server Issues, Political Issues, Copyright Issues, Personal Privacy Issues, Online Storage Issues.
This is a list that continues to grow and employees are ready for something new, something exciting, and for many – Google just isn’t it anymore.
Reason People are Leaving Yahoo (compiled from our candidates)
So it’s obviously no surprise that Yahoo is in trouble right now and people are leaving in droves. That’s why I was so surprised to hear one of my candidates tell me that he’s currently inerviewing with Yahoo right now. WHAT!! Why is he interviewing with Yahoo? It’s like somebody jumping on board Titanic mid sink. He said that this can possibly be a special time to join Yahoo because they are putting all of their resources into making one last stand to avoid a sale to Microsoft. Excuse my French, but that’s the biggest bunch of BULLSHIT I’ve ever heard in my life. I would be willing to bet that the same manager who is trying to recruit this candidate is turning right around and taking a call from somebody like me about his next potential career opportunity. Not sure if anybody else has noticed, but isn’t it interesting how every single manager’s resume is out on the internet and their LinkedIn profiles are suddenly detailed and updated. I tried to avoid going on a rant, but I just couldn’t help myself. I’ll keep you posted on this situation and will for sure rant some more of this guy actually decides to join Yahoo. But in the spirit of people leaving Yahoo, we thought we’d compile a list of reasons that Yahooligans are interested in leaving the company. I thought others might find this interesting. If you are leaving Yahoo for one of these reasons, please let me know. If you are leaving Yahoo for a different reason, I’d love to add it to the list. If you’re one of the guys at Yahoo trying to put up your last stand, I’d love to hear about your reasons. It might make for a nice post about why somebody might want to stay at Yahoo.Obviously these reasons below aren’t our specific opinions as nobody here at BINC has ever worked for Yahoo. They are opinions of the hundreds of Yahoo employees we’ve had the opportunity to speak with over the past few months that we’ve compiled into a nice neat top 9 list![\"microyahoomerger.JPG\"](\"http://blog.bincsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/microyahoomerger.thumbnail.JPG\")
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1. Don’t agree with Microsoft/Yahoo potential merger and don’t want any part of it. – There was a posting on Techyouruniverise.com, written by a current yahoo employee. He goes into detail about why Yahoos won’t go to work for Microsoft.
Key reason #1 – Microsoft is anti open-source, Yahoo! utilizes open source technologies extensively.
Key reason #2 – Microsoft is evil, Yahoo! is not.
Key reason #3 – Microsoft technologies suck.
2. Yahoo’s product is 2 years behind the competition in terms of technical and product innovation. There are companies literally down the street from Yahoo that are leading in innovation in areas like groups, mobile, community - but for some reason, Yahoo can’t get their resources together to lead any sort of innovation in these areas.
3. Bureaucracy has made it incredibly difficult to make an impact and to actually get things done, innovation is squashed internally. ValleyWag had a great article about this:
The only thing that’s clear is many people in the upper rungs at Yahoo need to be fired as they continuously just get in the way of development by talking and not building,\” says the tipster. What I’d like to know is what some of these great ideas were. If they’re brought into the light of day, I believe, Yahoo management might actually be shamed into greenlighting them.
4. Job stability – Recent Yahoo Layoffs, in the recent months employment at Yahoo! has become very unstable. At the end of January they announced that they would be laying off 1,000 employees. According to CNETnews.com a spokeswoman for Yahoo said:
We’re making these targeted reductions in areas of our business that don’t support our critical growth initiatives
5. Want to be at a smaller company where they can wear many hats, not just be stuck doing one thing.
6. Yahoo has lost its focus. They are chasing innovators like Google and Microsoft and don’t have ay sort of corporate vision anymore. They became too big and lost their identity.
7. Ever since Microsoft Offer stock prices went up and are going back down.
![\"yhoo1.JPG\"](\"http://blog.bincsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/yhoo1.JPG\")
8. Poor Management. Yahoo employs the epitiamy of the middle-manager. There seems to be an endless chain of managers reporting to managers and so on with nobody having any sort of any major decision-making abilities that can truly make a difference.
9. Employees are expected to work night, weekends and holidays because product specifications are changed on a whim. Valleywag had a posting on why it sucks to work at yahoo. In the comments a ex-yahoo employees stated that they are expected to work at all hours of the day and even night.
10 Reasons People Move to Seattle (in no particular order)
We do a lot of recruiting in the Seattle marketplace along with the Bay Area and Los Angeles. And although we have great reach into each of those individual communities, we are making it a big priority this year to focus on the synergies that may exist between these three markets. We’ve noticed that ever since we’ve been asking about our candidate’s mobility and willingness to relocate to these cities, we were pleasantly suprised by the large number of those who are interested in moving to and from these three major tech hubs. I became motivated to build this list of top 10 reasons to move to Seattle after Glenn Kelman of Redfin and Michael Arrington of Techcrunch sounded off about the pluses and minuses of Seattle compared to the Silicon Valley. Although my heart is in neither the Bay Area or Seattle (I love LA), I thought that Michael’s point of view was a bit arrogant and narrow-minded. Apparently in his opinion, entrepreneurs shouldn’t bother even existing if they plan to live outside of the Silicon Valley. No doubt Silicon Valley is the biggest star in the technology universe, but by no means is it the only one. If anybody wants to debate these reasons or has some additional reasons that people considering Seattle should know about, I’d love it if you posted a comment and continued the thread.
1. No State Income Tax – According to the IRS,
2. Nature – Seattle is located in the Puget Sound and is in close proximity to a lot of outdoor activities. Close to Mt. Ranier and the Cascade Mountain Range, you can be sitting on the beach at Golden Gardens Park and look over and see snow capped mountains (Mt. Ranier pictured to right). For more information on all the activities found in
3. Job – Industry is booming, startup companies are sprouting everywhere.
4. City Life –
To some, the city may seem filled with contradictions, but the Greater Seattle area welcomes and encourages these diverse lifestyles. This is a place that balances big business and a healthy environment, sports and the arts, family and single-living, individualism and a deep sense of community pride. With quality schooling, affordable health care and a low incidence of crime,
Seattle offers a life that balances favorable working and living conditions.
5. People – People in
Seattle is a laid back town of practical folks that enjoy a good cup of coffee and a warm slice of freshly baked bread. But what I really love about Seattle is, that even if you don’t enjoy these things you’ll still be embraced by the people of Seattle with the same amount of hospitality and love as if you did. And how could you not love a town filled with those kinds of people?
6. Public Transportation – Seattle has a great public transportation system, so if you live and work in the city, you can almost get away without having a car (I said almost 
). The City offers many options to get you moving from where you are to where you want to go. Whether you take the new Seattle StreetCar system, The Metro Transit system, The Rail Transit, or the Washington State Ferries you will be sure to get around town with no hassle.
7. Big Name Software companies – Microsoft, Google, Amazon all have a large presence in the area causing a boom in the software job market. If you want to get a good look at all the software companies in
8. Good Schools – Named one of the Smartest City’s in the nation by MSNBC. The University of Washington is just one of the top schools the Seattle area has to offer.
9. Weather – The weather doesn’t get too hot or too cold. Contrary to popular belief
10. Coffee – What else is
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