Have you ever gotten trapped in an endless poking match? You hardly even speak with the aformentioned person, yet every time you log into facebook, there it is, another poke. Of course you have to return the favor right? Poke them back? Would it be rude not to? Would they wonder why you did not return the favor? How can you escape from it?

Currently Drinking:

Back Porch roasted, Back Porch Harrison Hotsprings sold, Sidamo

I suppose, it's really my own fault. I follow them, I decided to have their tweets sent to my iPhone, there's really no one else to blame here but me. Even so, I can only feel a growing irritation at this trend of, "RT @dealsplus Just Retweet this to wind an Apple product today." that slams my phone on a daily basis.

The idea behind this is brilliant really, in terms of semi viral marketing, your turning this formerly passive audience into an active marketing arm for your company. All for the price of a few apple products (a negligible cost for any marketing run). The people re-tweeting likely don't care that they are providing marketing for your company, they simply dig the idea that with a few clicks they could win something for free (and we all dig free stuff).

But now, we come back to me. Every day, several people I follow on my device tweet the same damn thing in the hopes of winning. Sometimes it's several times a day from the same person. I'm looking at you @Simon_le. The point is, this bombardment of tweets doesn't make me want to go to their website, it doesn't make me want to follow the company on twitter, in fact all it's done is frustrate me.

I suppose, like I said before, this is my own fault. The solution is simply, stop following these people twitter, or turn off mobile device updates from them. The thing is, between these little bursts of advertising, there are good tweets or interesting messages that I do enjoy reading. So is this simply something to accept? Much the same way advertisements interrupt TV programs (actually, who still watches TV on a TV?)

Currently Drinking:

JJBean roasted, Crema sold, Sidamo (again, I love this stuff)

Perhaps the most commonly repeated advice I've received during my job search, has been that networking is the way to both meet people, and to find that job your looking for. Vancouver has no shortage of semi social events for different industries, from the VanUE, to the former Mobile Mondays to Action script meet-ups, there is no shortage of events to attend.

I find, my problems begin while trying to network. Given the chance, I am happy enough to discuss the topics at hand with almost anyone, but getting there, I find challenging. That said, it is something I know I need to work on.

During Christmas I was given no small amount of advice and encouragement from my family, I spoke to my cousin, who attended a major coaching conference down in Florida while trying to get into the market. He was down in a conference where he knew almost no one, and was trying to break into a very closed off job market. I realized as I listened to his tale, that job searching often puts us well out of our comfort zones.

Consider, you are in essence, attempting to show a company/contract that your value, or rather, the value you can add to the company/project is greater then the cost. My uncle phrased it as,

I have found it difficult to sell myself in that light until I stopped and thought about it. This idea certainly wasn't covered in college.

One of the first things I was asked, who is Jeremy Butler? At first, I defined myself from my job, I said Jeremy is a web developer and User Experience specialist. I was promptly told that I had just defined myself as a loser. Mildly crushed, I asked for an explanation.

A company doesn't hire a web developer, they don't hire a User Experience specialist, they don't hire a marketing manager, they hire the person. They ask themselves, do I like this person? Can I work with them? Will they work hard? Will they stay here for a long time? Are they a team player?

Indeed, a company might not even hire the most skilled applicant. I was surprised as my uncle related several stories about hiring, from both sides of the table. He asked,

My first thoughts leapt to @jtgi , @penut and @spatt all friends and former classmates. Sure enough, as he expected, I would rather hire my friends, people I knew and knew how they worked and that we could work together.

So, here I am wondering and learning how to make that kind of personal connection, to make people get who Jeremy Butler is. To show them the person, not the User Experience specialist.

Currently Drinking:

JJBean roasted, Crema sold, Sidamo