Driving the roads here in Pittsburgh, PA brings an interesting set of sensations to my mind. It feels like Indianapolis, where I grew up. Overgrown trees and shrubs line the old roads, too narrow for our supersized cars which zip around corners and along perfectly-engineered limestone rock retaining walls blackened by exhaust fumes from the millions of passersby on their way to important meetings, flights, school, or home.

Yet, the most-obvious difference about this town and my hometown are the hills. HILLS, HILLS, HILLS! Steep and precarious, they cut through this countryside in a daunting way that surely any less-determined people would be turned away from–but not here. 446 bridges span ravines, crevasses, rivers and streams in this town (amazing images), and many of them are a testament to this steel-towns spirit, which seems to whisper,

“Go ahead. Throw anything in my path. I will go around it, over it or through it. Nothing can keep me from my destiny.”

This town feels like its going somewhere, on purpose. Surely, it will be somewhere important when they arrive.

Like my hometown of Indianapolis, the city feels shiny and upward-reaching if not trying to hide its obvious lack of real housing or the urban lifestyle that comes with walking cities like Boston or New York, where working in-town also means you need to live there, too.

And there are real reminders that people here are suffering, too.

While I stayed in Pittsburgh, visiting Carnegie Mellon university, I was impressed by this city. The gritty feel of the town, yet also the nearly fierce friendliness of the people. Open, real and honest about who they were and what they were living for. The hotel I stayed in services many local hospitals, and I watched couples two-and-a-half times my age carefully, dutifully walking the halls with their spouses, one of them obviously in town (long term) for treatments, or there to support suffering family members. Yet, there was no sadness I could detect in their voices. There was appreciation for what life brings. There was care for one-another. There was love. There was determination. I thought I was somewhere caught between the hospitality of the South, the friendliness of the midwest and the grit of Chicago-style do-it-iveness.

And something about this city reminds me of something almost distant or forgotten–something that runs deep inside me–a reverence for the things I love about America, and a respect for the entrepreneurs, the engineers and the back-breaking labor it took to build America from a wilderness into the greatest nation the world has ever known.

A nation which is in crisis today.

A nation which is on the move toward greatness again, if we can.

And, as I drove the streets of this city, I could almost hear in my mind the music now being heard around the world resonating from another city, also built on steel and blood and sweat and smarts:

Go, Pittsburgh. I’m rooting for you.

The reason I am writing this, however, is not so much about the State of the Union as much as it is about something Damian said when being questioned about her job-search:

Ryssdal: And about how many [resumes] were [you] sending out on a weekly basis?

Damian: At least 100.

Ryssdal: A hundred a week?

Damian: At least 100.

Ryssdal: Any nibbles?

Damian: I was lucky if I got a thank you, but no thank you.

Now, I have no other information about what she’s done/doing other than what she said on the air, but when I hear things like this it makes me want to stand on my car and yell to the world:

**STOP SENDING OUT RESUMES!!! YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!**

I am not blaming Damian or the millions of Americans who are out of work. I am also not trying to make light of the real suffering that happens when you are unemployed. And, I have to admit up-front that my view is limited and myopic because interviewing and helping people get hired is what I do all day long (psst: I’m hiring). But in this world today where supply is SO much higher than demand in the job-market, you have GOT to do something more than just flood the world with your resume.

So, what’s the magic bullet?

There is NO one thing you can do to get a job–and that’s exactly my point! You have to do a LOT of things. I help people get into places and connected for opportunities they never would have discovered if they blasted out resumes all day long.

My suggestions:

• Get yourself a job to pay the minimal bills.
  This is what  Damian did–she got a part-time job. Good work. This keeps the collectors from calling (for a while) and keeps you both active and out of the house… both very good for you mentally and physically. Temporary placement agencies often can get you “in” to a company quicker and easier than you can and they are often hiring when other types of employment are not available.
  
  
• Get very clear on what YOUR value is to the marketplace.
  What can you do that NOBODY else can do? Who are you and what are you all about? Get down to bedrock on this. You’re getting close when you realize it is normally something much bigger than your current career or college degree would often explain at first blush (which is why resumes suck at explaining who you are). These are themes that run through your life, no matter who you are with and what you are doing.  You would seek to do this at any age, in any country, no matter the economy. This is you. And, suddenly industries, titles, job descriptions and everything else falls away to who you are, and frees you up to explore how to go about achieving real value for companies by being the most-unique that you can be…. Now, make sure your resume, your social media profiles (LinkedIn), and every other thing you do publiclyreflects this.Often, this takes the form of a tagline or mantra. If you were a $BLN corporation dropping ads on the Superbowl coming up, what would the screen say at the end, when it fades to black? Your name, your tagline and your URL.  What IS that tagline??
  
  
• Stop Thinking, Thinking, Thinking and Start Doing.
  When companies are looking to hire people, they are looking for doers. For “get it done-ers”.  In this economy, there are acresof people willing to get paid to come to work each day, but only very few of them prove they are doers by DOING the kinds of things that prove they can take on great big, hard challenges and succeed at them.This is a chance for you to take your job-search seriously and turn it into an opportunity to make great things happen.Mark Suster, entrepreneur-turned-VC wrote a great piece a few years back where he details how real entrepreneurs stop thinking and, in his words… JFDI.Doers are the ones who seek challenges.Doers are the ones who get involved with organizations, consortiums, meetups or other professional groups where the kinds of people who would hire you are bound to frequent.

  My recommendation? Volunteer your time. Rub the elbows. Kiss the babies. Be a servant first and always GIVE 10x TO YOUR NETWORK before you ever ask. Let yourself shine for who you really are. Show up early and stay late. Shake the hands. Welcome the newcomers. Call influential people on behalf of the organization and ask them to pitch in and help/speak/promote your group.

  People will see you as a doer.
  People will trust and get to like you.

  And, as soon as one of those people needs a doer, you will be the first person on their list. No resumes, no stuffy interviews, just a job-offer.

• Connect with People, not Computers.
  As friendly as computers are these days (sending you polite” we received your resume” emails when you apply), they really do a poor job at-best of helping to match people with jobs. You will have 10x more success talking to a real human being (any real human being) than trying to get the Human Resources System to give you a shout out for a new job.My recommendation: Swap out 100 resumes a week for talking to 10 influential people per week (just 2 per day) and within a month your job-prospects will dramatically improve. I’d bet that within 10 weeks you have a new, shiny job.I double-dog dare you to try this. It works.
• Be Willing to Trade Up
  Being unemployed is tough business. Beside the mental and emotional toll, the obvious financial strain can really put you behind.  It’s generally well known that it’s easier to find a job when you have a job–any job.Look, something might come along and it might not be your dream job, but if the One Red Paperclip guy taught us anything, you should take what you have and trade up for something bigger or better.  Keep your mind open and you can achieve something great. This won’t happen overnight, of course. (Besides, if it did, we’d all think you got into a get rich quick scheme and, at last count, nobody thinks these are legit.)…Besides, was your last job your “dream job”? Guessing it wasn’t. Get in the market and start trading!
  
  
• Send Resumes Only AFTER Making A Connection.
  The first thing Recruiters will tell you about how they really find people is that they ask employees for referrals, then search LinkedIn and other networks (or their own databases) for qualified people, and then, finally, when all else is lost, then they mine the online applicants.

  Don’t get stuck in the online applicant black-hole! You’re better than that. You deserve personal attention, and this is not how to get it.

  Build and leverage your real-life and online networks and ask people if they know anyone working at that company you want to work for.  Chances are, you know someone who you can talk to. Ask them for help, and don’t submit your resume to the blind computer system–submit it to someone who knows who you are and is interested, even invested, in helping you at least get a chance to talk to the hiring manager.

  Of course, referrals can only get you so far. Some great advice from the popular #HireFriday chat on twitter comes to mind here:

  Referrals get you on stage, but you still need to perform #HFChat

  — Tribune Media Group (@CTMGjobs) January 20, 2012

  
  (Incidentally, this Friday’s chat will be about “Out of the Box Ways to Find a Job“. Tune in Friday’s at 12noon Eastern on Tweetchat’s #HFCHAT room.)

Summary: you can’t expect to send out any number of resumes and get responses in this economy. The supply is too incredibly high compared to demand. At the end of the day, the people getting jobs are shortcutting the system and getting hired because they are known, not because they follow the process. In fact, this already happened for Damian when she landed her current job:

Damian: I had to have something. And I got this on a fluke and it was because I knew someone who knew someone who needed someone.# (emphasis added)

Check out and download the free, funny Fusion Face app for Apple or Android and find out what the Fusion-io performance boost will do for your application performance.

If anything else, just download it for fun. It’s a cool, fun application that you (or your kids) will have a really fun time playing with.  Take a picture and see what your “fusion face” looks like, then share with friends, rinse and repeat!

After you get the app, if you think you might want to work for us, well, we’re hiring, too.

In a word: Connection.

The new features in Twitter are great.

The Connection Tab is really my new homepage when I visit twitter. In one view, it thins out all the conversations into what’s going on related to me and the people I know and talk to?

• Tip: Flip between Interactions and Mentions (links @ top left) to see different views of your content.

Also, the way media, replies and conversations and retweets and other features are tracked in the new twitter view is really nice. It helps me know what’s really happening with things, and watch the engagement happen.

Finally, the #Discover tab surfaces some really interesting stuff if your friends are not sharing anything interesting at the moment. Check into it.

Wishlist: I don’t mind the new Retweet function anymore, but I really, really, REALLY like the old way of retweeting. I think it broadened and increased conversation. Retweeting this way just promotes things, doesn’t allow for coherent conversation as well.

Summary:
I am surprised how much time I am spending with my twitter stream these days. Thanks for the improvements. It makes twitter feel much less crowded and a lot more intimate.

And, that’s what it’s all about.

Try this one on. Overnight, I got a notice there was a purchase of something called “Kingdom Conquest” on my iTunes account. I knew one of the other users on my account (in my family) was renting movies, so I guessed that this was an odd name, but likely legit purchase.  This morning, I discovered nearly 10 purchases “in game” from said app (owned by Sega) that came through my iTunes account which is linked to my PayPal account.

Turns out, of course, I am not the only one to fall victim to this, and it’s actually relatively old news. Apparently, anyone can add your itunes account and just buy stuff until your account blocks it

*sigh*

Good news is, Apple seemed to notice and put a hold on my account after about $300 was spent… and now PayPal is investigating with hopes toward reversing the charges, nothing has hit my bank, and apple vows to give me the credit back I deserve (though I haven’t seen anything yet).

Updates to follow. Meanwhile, I continue to change all the passwords in the world. Luckily, my iTunes password is NOT one that is common among other accounts I own, but I’m not taking chances.

Thoughts? How do you protect your online accounts?

Shared by Darrell Hudson on G+

Today is day 0 (zero) at Fusion IO. I mentioned last week that I have chosen to leave Novell (a tough move) for new challenges here. I am working here as a Senior Technical Recruiter, and I have already been impressed with the people I will work with and the tech I get to hire against.

I’ve been checking out the current openings and, if you are in the Salt Lake City, Denver or Silicon Valley area and you’re interested in working on some great tech, check out Fusion IO’s openings or reach out to me.

• Check out who you know at FusionIO on LinkedIn (or see how we’re connected)
• Follow the tweets @fusionio (or mine @robertmerrill)
• Plus One Fusion IO on Google+ (or circle me, here)

New Job: Day Zero @fusionio bit.ly/xlMcuy

— Robert Merrill (@robertmerrill) January 3, 2012

About Fusion-io

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in Silicon Valley and just north of Denver, Colorado, Fusion-io is a pioneer of a new storage memory platform that significantly improves the processing capabilities within a data center by moving process-critical, or active data closer to the CPU where it is processed. Called shared data decentralization, this significantly reduces latency while increasing data center efficiency. Fusion’s integrated hardware and software solutions leverage non-volatile memory for enterprise-grade performance, reliability, availability and manageability.

After two great years, it’s time for me to move on to a new opportunity*. This has been nothing short of a very challenging decision for me as I have loved the time I have had at Novell, even though the ride has been a little, ah, tumultuous, it has been an excellent experience… one that I will honestly miss for quite a while into the future.

Since late 2009, I have been a Senior Recruiter at Novell, which was acquired in early 2011 by Attachmate.

I wasn’t looking for a new opportunity, but one came and found me.

Initially, I was confident there wouldn’t be anything I would rather do than work here. Over the last two years, I have had the privilege of recruiting several hundreds of people to work on some truly great technology, for one of the best names in Enterprise IT Technology in the world.

This new offer caught me off guard. I initially thought I would just hand out some referrals and be on my way, like I usually do when recruiters have come calling in the past. I honestly had to go to core on this one and really get down to why I loved doing what I do, and what this new challenge presents in terms of those things that make me tick.

So, to capture these feelings, I share them for you here.  These are t

he five reasons I’m having a tough time leaving Novell:

(NOTE: I will repeatedly use “Novell” to simply reference the combined Attachmate, NetIQ, Novell and SUSE business units of The Attachmate Group. Since I have been a principal recruiter on the Novell and Suse businesses, this is natural for me.)

First: An Incredible Team

My current team knows this: that there are no other people I would rather work with or work for.

It is a little ridiculous to consider that, here, with a team in the Americas of just THREE full-time recruiters and an incredible director, and a new coordinator, we have engineered a massive hiring system and processes to bring onboard several hundreds of new employees across the company. In fact, by the one-year anniversary since our merger with Attachmate, we are on-track to have hired more new employees than the entire global headcount of the company I am joining. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have less than fifty open-headcount requisitions on my desk…. then the phone rings again and my bubble is popped. Back to work…. and I love every minute of it.

Second: Some Strategy… again.

You can’t shake a stick in Utah County without smacking someone who used to work for Novell, WordPerfect or that has somehow been closely affiliated with these companies. And, if you ask them what they wish for the company these days, they will likely tell you the same thing — Get a vision and strategy and stick to it.

Over the years, the Novell strategy has come under fire in various ways.  Though I was not here through many of those days, as a recruiter in Utah Valley for the last ten years, I knew some of what was going on.  Today, there is renewed focus and strategy at Novell, who relocated its headquarters back to Provo this year.  Summary: It’s energizing and refreshing to have a clear strategy, even if it’s not the shoot-the-moon type passersby wish for, or Novell even had in the past. I appreciate the way that certain tough decisions have been made this year because it brings focus and clarity around what our collective purposes are, and the kind of company we will be in years ahead.

Third: People. 

I could really go overboard on this one. Look, I have worked for a lot of companies either full-time, as contractor or consultant/vendor, and I have known some really great people in my career, but I have never (I mean this) worked for a company with so many truly great people. people that remember we’re human first, and that we have lives outside of these four walls called work, and that regardless of what happens between 9-5, we all go home at the end of the day to things that are, in the long-run, much more important than the things we do in here.

I have chased the golden goose before, and worked for companies that, externally looked shiny and amazing (ahem) but internally were, at times, on the verge of falling apart.

I will never forget the excellent people I have worked with here.

Fourth: Culture of Openness and Accountability

Two dramatic things have stood out to me from my first days at Novell: Their openness and the culture of accountability here.

A lot has happened here in the last two years, but I feel like, where possible, the company has been open, direct and forthright with information. Personally, I attribute this to a combination of the company’s public stock (now private) and it’s desire to be a valid open source player, plus well-trained executive managers. I was shocked and amazed at the raw, open nature of the quarterly global video conferences where the earnings reports would be reviewed and the executives would literally take questions from anybody in the company about any thing.  I’ve said it before, that I’ve worked for 30-person companies that had a harder time communicating than this 4,000-person company.

Though The Attachmate Group is a private company, I honestly hope the new leadership continues this openness.

I have a theory that you can tell a lot about a company’s culture by their usage of the “CC” and ”BCC” lines in email. Novell’s employees don’t have a lot of time to mess around with the subtle politics of things. The openness I mentioned above is joined with an expectation of accountability–that you will do what you do well, with little to no supervision. We just don’t have time for anything less than that.  Plus, it’s a great feeling to work with highly-productive people.  This results in clearer communication, clear expectation-setting and a sense of responsibility for your work that is freeing and empowering.

Fifth: Worldwide Influence

The Attachmate Group is one of the largest software companies in the world, in terms of revenue.  Novell is still a player in connecting and securing the world’s IT infrastructures from attacks and hacking. In fact, when I recruit candidates from outside of Utah and especially outside the United States, their sentiment is often the same: “I would really love to work for Novell.”  Our worldwide influence is still strong–who can’t enjoy being in a team that has such worldwide recognition?

Furthermore, I have had the distinct pleasure of working with teams not only across the United States but internationally in Toronto and then cross-geo teams in (especially) India and Germany/the Czech Republic and elsewhere around the world.

I am really amazed sometimes at the talented people that this company has working diligently day-in and day-out around the world. The sun never sets on Novell, Suse, Attachmate and NetIQ employees around the world. It truly amazes me to have been part of such a worldwide organization with such global impact in the day-to-day operations of some of the world’s best companies.

I will never discourage someone from pursuing a career with Novell. I have loved my time here and strongly recommend this company to anyone looking to work with great people and have a truly-worldwide impact in high tech software.

* I purposefully left out where I am going. Watch for that announcement next week here, twitter, linkedin or G+. P.S. Add, circle, follow or link-in with me

In the window at the mall this QR CODE waits to snag passersby.

One of those is the ability to sync your user-information via your Google Account to any installation of Chrome you happen to be using.

Another is the new feature to have multiple users sign-in to the same version of Chrome to enable more of a “shared” user experience and let everyone keep their personalization (see video, learn more):

Alert readers will note that this feature has been available for a while in the Beta Channel if you’re a brave Chrome-ophyte.

My Wishlist Wednesday item this week is that I would LOVE LOVE a plugin or a setting to Chrome that would allow for a login window akin to the Chromebooks/Chromium OS login screens showcased below to enable super-easy user-switching on a shared/public computer still running a non-Chromium operating system (ahem).

Dear Google: This kind of user-switching is common on computers today, but why not bring this to the web-browser, too? Please enable a setting to allow my Chrome browser startup window to come to THIS login screen (or, at least come to this screen when I want to SWITCH users) to facilitate user-switching between user-accounts in a manner that is much more common, easier to understand and user-friendly than the current UI which is unclear how to sign-in and how to switch.

Please enable this user-switching screen for Chrome browsers!