Love my new job!

Okay, so it's not so new anymore. I've been with Kershner Trading here in Austin since Dec. 1. But I'm still enamoured.

One of the cool benefits is that they cater in lunch everyday. It's not free, but pretty close to it. We pay monthly to partake in the yumminess.

Today's lunch was too good not to tell you about. We had: Pecan Crusted Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Sweet Potato Sauce, served with Roasted Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes and Dill Glazed Carrots.

Wow!

Know someone looking for a job that can appreciate a fun benefit like catered in lunch? Have them reach out to me - khaynes(at)kershnertrading(dot)com.

I'm currently sourcing for a Sr. Accountant, an HR Generalist, an HR Intern, a Technical Support position and both inexperienced and experienced traders.

See more here: Kersher Trading

Great Fundraiser Event to Benefit Caritas of Austin

So, for those of you who may not know it, I've left Bulldog Solutions and have joined Kershner Trading as a Recruiting Specialist. I know I need to update a ton of things on my blog, but first things first.

If you're in Austin today (Wed., Dec. 3) we'd love to have you join us tonight!

This year, my new employer, Kershner Trading has partnered with Ten Thousand Village's Austin's SoCo location and Caritas of Austin to create a unity holiday shopping evening.

When: December 3 from 5-8 pm

Where: 10,000 Villages, 1317 S. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78704

Come support two great charitable causes and find unique gift ideas for the upcoming holidays. For those unfamiliar with 10,000 Villages, here is the mission statement from their webpage:

At Ten Thousand Villages, we work with over 120 artisan groups in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to bring you fair trade jewelry, home decor, gifts and more. As one of the world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations, we build long-term relationships with artisans that are based on mutual understanding and respect. Fair trade enables artisans to earn a fair wage and provides the opportunity for a better quality of life.

Additionally, since Kershner is sponsoring the event through their volunteer support, we are able to donate 20% of the total sales from 5-8 PM to Caritas of Austin. Caritas is another great organization fighting hunger, homelessness, and poverty in our greater Austin community.

Questions? Please contact me.

Mass Communications Week at Texas State Adds Web 2.0 to Schedule

Sheila Scarborough, blogger-writer, asked me to join her and Omar Gallaga, reporter at the Austin American Statesman, on a panel discussion entitled Web 2.0 in the Real World. (photo shows left to right, Sheila, Omar and me). The panel is just one of Texas State's Mass Communications Week events set to occur October 20 - 23, 2008.

This is a super exciting honor for me as I'm a TX State (SWT) alumni and hold my degree in Journalism, it became Mass Communications the following semester, with a focus in Advertising.

I'm always eager to share with people on how to interact with each other on the internet. Talking to students about it will simply be a bonus. I think they are much more familiar and already take part in so many Web 2.0 forums that they probably don't even think twice about it. Talking to adults is a whole other topic.

In the Human Resources world, that is my profession, I think it's a struggle right now to define where we can and can't join in on conversations. About five months ago I set up a Ning site for a group of my HR colleagues in and around the Austin area. We're involved in HR departments of technology companies so one would think that this would be an easy step.

For the most part it has been pretty easy. And I believe that's probably one of the large misconceptions. Web 2.0 is all about interaction and conversations. It's not a stagnet website that tells me this and that and doesn't allow me to take part.

Our HR Ning allows us to communicate in a much more efficient way then we did when we blasted e-mails to the entire group several times a day. It also allows us the ability to keep our group closed and we don't accidently give our member's personal contact information away to the rest of the world.

I've been so impressed with our little Ning site that I've also set up one for my Home Owner's Association. I'm the Communication / Newsletter Chairperson and the Ning site is simply an extension of that group. It allows the members of our HOA to connect in a way we haven't before. It personalizes our neighbors and brings a sense of a better community.

Web 2.0 to me simply brings the world to my doorstep and allows me to interact with others from the comfort of my living room and from time to time allows me the chance to put on events, host events, speak at events with the people I've become friends with in my cyber world.

What does your company offer you for a referral?

When I talk to people who are looking for a job I always tell them the number one way to most of your best positions is through networking.

According to Roberta Chinsky Matuson in her article entitled, Networking 101 on Monster.com, a leading career website,

A vast number of job openings never make it to the newspaper or job boards.
These positions are often referred to as the "hidden job market." Candidates
find out about these positions through word of mouth. The higher up the ladder
you go, the more likely a position will be filled this way.

And since recruiting is one of my key responsibilites at Bulldog Solutions I network in various locations always keeping my eyes open for a potential recruit.

When I joined Bulldog Solutions in March of 2006 I was recruited by our Vice President of Strategic Accounts, Heather Hoetger. She and I had worked together at CyberTrader, now a fully owned entity of Charles Schwab, as HR Managers. Since she knew that Bulldog was looking to hire their first HR manager and she knew that I was in the job market and had experience working with me, she contacted me and well the rest is history. What I found in joining Bulldog Solutions is that most of the people in our company were recruited simply from our own networks and that we'd recruited just about everyone that we knew to fill what positions we had. So my next task . . . find new blood.

Which we did and over the last two years we've been recruiting through a variety of sources and while we've continued to hire referrals there hasn't been a big push to really hone in on each others networks. Until now . . .

We are looking at starting an employee referral program and I thought I'd reach out to YOU! If your company has an employee referral program would you mind sharing how it works here on my blog. We're looking for both its successes and pitfalls.

Oh, and by the way . . . if you're looking for a job in the Austin, Texas area be sure to stop by our Career page and if you don't see something of interest that's okay too. Sign up to be part of our Kennel Club where we'll keep you abreast of positions as they become available.

Sr. .NET Lead Developer Sought by Bulldog Solutions

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Bulldog Solutions is a fun, fast-paced place to work. Our Lead Generation process has been embraced by businesses all over the world, including many Fortune 500 companies. We have developed successful lead-generation campaigns and strategies for B2B organizations in many different industries, including technology, finance, science, health care, telecom, insurance and publishing.

Senior Developer

Bulldog Solutions is currently seeking a Senior Developer to add to our Information Technology team. The Senior Developer will be the technical lead on software development projects supporting internal development, as well as, external facing product development. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing multiple development projects at a time, running code reviews, mentoring other developers, managing release cycles and writing code. This position requires an expert technical skillset in a Microsoft environment, as well as, as strong skillset with current Web 2.0 technologies (AJAX, Web Services, SOA). As the Senior Developer, you must possess a thorough understanding of rapid development methodologies, object oriented analysis and design, .NET best practices, and the development of highly scalable, maintainable and secure Web solutions. This is a full-time salaried position.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the software development team in estimating, planning, designing and coding of software applications



• Mentor developers by contributing best practices and holding code reviews



• Ensure that all code retains logical stability, reliability, confidentiality and integrity



• Manage source code versioning and system release schedule



• Review and analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of existing systems and develop strategies for improving or further leveraging these systems



• Meet with decision makers, systems owners and end users to define business, financial and operations requirements and systems goals as well as to identify and resolve systems issues



• Stay on top of industry changes and drive innovation of the Bulldog Solutions products

Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree or equivalent in computer science or MIS



• 5+ years development experience in fast-paced, technology company



• Expert knowledge of ASP.Net [preferably ASP.NET 2.0] and Web Services development using both VB & C#



• Experience with Web and Web 2.0 technologies including Web Services, Ajax, RSS, CSS, XML/XSLT and JavaScript



• Expertise in database design, data architecture to support systems development (preferably in a SQL Server environment)



• Web UI design exposure including basic principles and patterns
  Proven success mentoring junior developers (previous experience in lead developer role is a plus)



• System integration, SOA architecture design, implementation and management is a plus
  CMS (or WCMS) implementation and customization familiarity



• Proven experience working in environments where software applications are being built from scratch (concept to deployment)



• Demonstrated commitment to continuous personal improvement of business and technical skills, including the ability to learn and apply new technologies and techniques



• Microsoft developer/architect certifications are a plus

Desired Characteristics:

The successful candidate will posses expertise in both written and interpersonal communication and be at ease with public speaking, in relationship building, and in collaboration in a cross-functional team comprised of diverse personalities, skill sets, and levels of experience. Excellent organizational skills, focus, and attention to detail are a must, as is the ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic and energetic environment.
Description of relationships and roles

Candidate must demonstrate a proven track record of obtaining results without direct report authority.

Compensation

We offer a competitive salary based on experience; health care plans including medical, dental, and vision; a bonus plan; corporate fitness discounts as well as various other employee benefits in an energetic and cutting-edge work environment.

Disclaimer

To be considered an applicant, you must apply for this specific position and meet its minimum qualifications as determined by Bulldog Solutions. This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive statement of every duty and responsibility of the jobholder. Certain features of this job are described in the above headings, but are not necessarily limited to the above written statements. They may be subject to review. All positions within Bulldog Solutions may include other duties as assigned.

This is a full-time, regular position in our offices in Austin, Texas. As this is an immediate need, local candidates will be given more serious consideration. We are not offering relocation packages.

NO SPONSORSHIP IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS POSITION. U.S. CITIZENS OR GREEN CARD HOLDERS ONLY PLEASE.

Please forward your resume to khaynes@bulldogsolutions.com.

SXSW Interactive Here I Come

I'm a newbie. I live in the Austin area, but I've never attended any part of a past SXSW event. Sad to think that I've lived in and out of Austin for going on 11 years and haven't been a part of it until this year.

So this year I'm going in full force. Not only am I planning on getting my feet wet, but I'm determined to simply wear myself out by attending and chatting with everyone at the Interactive portion of the festival.

Mostly I'm connected with folks from all over the world on Twitter and we've set up a Wiki to keep up with who's planning on attending. And this morning I just joined a Ning site for attendees.

My company, Bulldog Solutions, is a cosponsor with Federated Media and Dell, The Conversation Group, and Social Media Club Austin, an evening of “Conversation Starters” at the Iron Cactus on Monday, March 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Over drinks and appetizers, attendees will have a chance to share ideas with a number of people who have volunteered to start conversations: Shel Israel, Robert Scoble, Jeremiah Owyang, Charlene Li, Chris Heuer, Mack Collier and Lionel Menchaca, as well as several Federated Media authors. If you know anything about social media then you'll know that these folks are the big guns in the arena.

I can't wait. If you've thought about going and they still have badges left to SXSW Interactive then come. Be a newbie with me.