Does being an integral member of the team that is building out the Microsoft cloud for hundreds of millions of daily users sound exciting to you? Are you passionate, high energy and do you have a desire to help build the network that powers the world’s largest online services? GFS is responsible for delivering over 200 Microsoft web portals, Live and Online Services around the world including infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability.

Your first thoughts may be that you’re happy where you are at the moment, however I would love the opportunity to provide you with information on these impactful roles that may pleasantly surprise you. I’d like to know what motivates you: Is it intellectual challenges; breadth and depth of responsibilities; freedom; money; career growth?

The Global Foundation Services Team will be hosting a recruiting event in Boston, Mass. July 9^th thru July 13^th 2012 (travel & accommodations for qualified applicants included)! If you are interest to learn more please reach out to me directly via LinkedIn or contact Kay Kelison at kaykel@microsoft.com!  I invite you to join our Talent Community then clicking “Join Our Talent Network” and be engaged! Please share this with anyone and everyone as widely as possible in your network!”

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Have you ever considered relocating to the U.S.? Have you ever dreamed about completely revolutionizing the way the world interacts with the internet? Engineers at Bing aim for nothing less than to solve the biggest challenges in computing related to social, local, relevance, computer vision, machine learning, semantic discovery, R&D, data mining and NLP and have the best resources in the world available to them. Have you ever thought about working at Microsoft? If so, then we have some career opportunities that will interest you.

We’ll be visiting Dublin, Ireland May 4^th to 6^th 2012 AND May 8th to 10^th for a recruiting event with some of the senior development directors and managers on the Bing Development Team and I’d love to know whether you’re interested in learning more about career opportunities with Bing in the United States at our corporate HQ in Redmond WA, OR if you can offer me any assistance connecting with others in the European software industry. Our intent at this recruiting event will be to interview highly skilled developers from Europe for U.S. based positions on the Microsoft Bing Development Team. If you’d like to learn more OR if you know anyone else who might, please email me as soon as possible at kaykel@microsoft.com

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With today's mobile space, employers are creating mobile websites to allow professionals to be notified when the right job comes along. So you have signed up to receive a notification about an opportunity that you'd like to apply for and you don’t have access to your resume. Now, you might be one of those who will wait to get home to your computer to send it, or maybe you might even forget or be too late in applying because of the what type a day you are having. However, if you had a mobile app that could create a mobile resume that could be submitted via mobile no matter where you are this would give you another edge from others in your job search. Below I have given some instructions to how to create a resume, and some of the apps with iPhone, Android, Windows.

Suggested Steps

v  Choose a mobile app that allows you to create a resume. These mobile applications should allow you to access your resume from your mobile device. Important to review and the app should allow you to create and share your resume with potential employers.

v  Create an account through the apps website. These apps allow you to upload or create your resume online or mobile. You can then use resume as a doc to upload to an employer’s website. You can also create a word doc on your computer, save it in a PDF file, down load the PDF reader which will allow you to open your resume in a PDF, and send it via email, etc. Pretty cool.

v  Be sure to enter your relevant information into a mobile application of your choice from your mobile device. A popular application is Resume Bear (resumebear.com) for both iPhone and Android mobile devices. This free application allows you to send your resume to potential employers from your phone and see who has been reading your resume. It’s my favorite on usability, simplicity and the fact you can see has been reading your resume….pretty sweet!

v  Most importantly! Keep your resume updated with current information. Remember that potential employers are looking at and asking for your resume, whether it is on a website or in your mobile application.

Recommended Apps:

I am also a technical recruiter working for OSD/Bing division and would encourage you to join our talent network to keep up with the latest Bing job opportunities, or apply for a specific job today.  To join our community, click HERE and look for the orange box in the upper right corner that says "Join Our Talent Network" to opt in. One of the best places to connect with recruiters and get noticed!

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NEW DATE FOR OUR EVENT

“Invent the Future with Qi Lu – Come Join Our Bing Team

Bing will be hosting a recruiting event in Sydney, Australia the week of January 30^th thru February 3^rd, 2012 to recruit top talent from all over Australia and  neighboring  countries and our focus will be:

• Software Development Engineer (SDE)
• Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET)
• Program Managers
• UX Designers with Portfolios

All experienced levels who are interested in relocating to the U.S. At this time, we are looking to hire for the roles listed below.

To learn more, please send your information and an updated Resume/CV to: kaykel@microsoft.com. The Online Services Division is the driving force behind Microsoft's search and online innovations. Our product portfolio includes: Bing, Bing Mobile, MSN, Ads Platform, and Global Foundation Services.
Join our talent network to keep up with the latest Bing job opportunities, or apply for a specific job today. To join our community, click HERE and look for the orange box in the upper right corner that says "Join Our Talent Network" to opt in.

Here is a summary of our awesome Bing Dream Team who you will be meeting while in Sydney, Australia:

Bing Dream Teams

Bing Design Team

"We've built a design team with good soul and we've really found the beat to the music!" -Laura Kern, User Experience Director, Bing

Have you ever considered how design can be a driving force in radically transforming how all the information on the web can be organized and accessed? Are you looking for a challenge that encompasses a broad set of design issues? Do you want to work in a highly supportive environment that's low on hierarchy and high on team based collaboration? Bing Design group is seeking an exceptional designers for creating beautiful, elegant and impactful design solutions. The Bing Design team's mission is to create a usable and memorable experience for Bing. Our designers strive to be one step ahead of Google, and create innovative design solutions that go above and beyond the traditional paradigms of search engines.

*All candidates must send a portfolio or work samples along with their inquiries. Please indicate your specific roles and contributions for each project submitted as part of the portfolio.

Bing Index Platform Team

Do you want to work on the largest scale service at Microsoft? Do you want to go head to head with the toughest service competition facing Microsoft? Are you passionate about building a service that tens of millions of people interact with every day, all over the world, with superb quality, high performance and low cost? Do you want to pursue the cutting edge of computer science?

If so, Index Platform is the team for you. We are the search engine of Bing, and we provide the platform foundation for Bing and the Online Service Division. Index Platform is a large distributed system to serve Search results at a scale of thousands of queries per second, from thousands of servers, going through billions of documents, with relevance, in a matter of milliseconds. We're building our search service as a platform that developers inside and outside of Microsoft can use to build rich applications.

As a Program Manager on this team, you will define the vision and strategy, drive design and architecture, manage execution, interface with customers and partners, collaborate with developers and testers, excel in communication and presentation, have the abilities and skills to influence senior management and broad features teams, own multiple services or features with accountability.

This is an energetic and productive group with a startup atmosphere, where anything is possible. It is a result driven, agile and adaptive. We are working on technologies and products that require large investments and have long term impacts to our company's success and at the heart of the customer experience of the internet.

The Bing Client Team

The Bing Clients team integrates search and IQ gleaned from the internet into users' daily experiences like web browsing, watching TV, or playing games. Through this work, we hope to make it more convenient and personally relevant for users to harness the power of the web in their day-to-day lives. We do this today through products like the BingBar (an extension for Internet Explorer) and our upcoming Kinect/voice-powered Bing for Xbox; going forward, we're looking for even more exciting ways to integrate search seamlessly into users' lives.

Bing Test Organization

Are you interested in applying novel data mining and machine learning approaches to detect and correct defects at unfathomable scale? Or rather, are you passionate about engineering fundamentals; innovating on infrastructure tools and services and enabling engineering agility? Or maybe you are passionate about designing and implementing systems analytics and measurement; enabling telemetry across hundreds of thousands of machines near realtime? In the Bing Test Organization, we are focused on driving quality in various dimensions across Bing. In order to succeed, we need passionate and highly skilled engineers to fill our ranks. We are hiring for several engineering positions (Software Design Engineers and Software Design Engineers in Test).

Bing Development Organization

Do you like to work on the hardest problems in computing with the biggest user impact? Is Search your vision of computing's future, but it isn't nearly there yet? Want to be the one to make it happen?

We work on the cutting edge of computer science, where a petabyte of data is "small," ten thousand machines is a "little cluster," and one second is an "eternity." Our tools include machine learning models and the world's largest distributed system. We are a high powered startup inside of Microsoft, working on technology and products that are critical to our company's success and at the heart of the customer experience of the internet.

Hopefully you've had a chance to experience Microsoft's new search engine Bing and seen how we're changing the game in Search. Bing is receiving amazing reviews and generating lots of great buzz. Bing has had a fantastic year so far. After the successful brand launch earlier this year, the team has been working hard, both on closing the gap with our competitors in key areas like relevance, as well as driving thought leadership with new paradigms for search and user experience. This is probably one of most exciting times to be on the team, and you have an opportunity to help shape its future.

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I am blown away on how there is hesitation to explore this technology.  Why not maximize mobile to its full potential?  What is the hesitation?  As a sourcer, I rather not sit behind a desk and hope I can find talent.  I want to be learning some of the best tips and tricks from Mobile Industry Leaders on how I can engage, brand and bring in amazing talent by using my mobile phone! Recruiting is more than just resumes, social networks, etc. I know what you are thinking… it’s just another tool to learn, and you don’t have time, but – wait a minute – how much time do you spend on your mobile?  It can’t take that much more time to invest and learn how to streamline your sourcing and recruiting engagement with your mobile!   Mobile allows you to create an instant way to start conversations while you are “on the go”!  I predict that mobile recruiting will become the next art form of conversation! Be sure to use your mobile engagement powers for good, by starting conversations, creating engagement and building relationships with Talent now and in the future! I am really excited to be attending this event and hope that if you are interested in forward thinking, and new ways to use our current technologies to make our engagement practices easier, that you will attend as well!!  Mobile Recruiting is such the obvious! Follow @mrec on twitter! Hope to see you there!

Let’s start the revolution NOW!

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Diversity is defined by a single word: variety — which basically means different.

But very few people follow up with the question:

 “Different in what way?”  The next question we all want to ask, and don’t, is this: “How and why is diversity important in the workplace?”

We can all agree that we really just need to find the right skill, the right talent for our companies and clients.

But I really want to explore further on why we NEED “different” perspectives. Because…

In my mind, “different” represents areas such as culture, ideas, values, lifestyles, classes, goals, and so forth.

“Different” – and therefore “diverse” – is NOT just about gender and/or skin color. It is so much more than that.

When asking a group of people what they think diversity means – recruiting professionals in particular — the perspective ranges all over the place. In our country alone we have a wide variety of different

cultures, and when we discuss these differences from a recruiting perspective, they are all lumped into one common word, which is diversity. You see what I mean? Read full article here

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Microsoft Advertising will be hosting a recruiting event in mid-October this year to recruit top talent from all over Russia and neighboring countries specifically focusing on Software Developers of all experience levels who are interested in relocating to the U.S. At this time, we are looking to hire engineers for the roles below. ALL roles require strong coding and development experience.  

• Software Development Engineer (SDE)
• Software Development Engineer II (SDE II)
• Principal SDE
• Engineering Leads

If interested – please send your information and Resume/CV to the Recruiter organizing this event: kaykel@microsoft.com by Wednesday, August 31st. We are focused on broad-based software development skills when considering potential candidates (across the board – no specific technology/product niche requirements). If you are strong in C++, C# or JAVA, we would love to hear from you!

We are looking for strong Software Development Engineers to help us with a number of hard problems in the following areas:

The Advertising Applications Team

Front End Team
Microsoft Advertising is a unified Ad Monetization platform chartered to monetize the web and other mediums (including devices) by delivering the right ads to right customers at the right time. With the migration of Yahoo advertisers, Microsoft Advertising is now the second largest advertising solution in the world. We are going through an aggressive growth cycle and plan to expand to 35 global markets over the next couple of years. As we onboard thousands of Advertisers into our system, we want to build an intuitive user experience that serves both novice and expert advertisers, an experience that is industry leading and raises the bar for end user productivity. We offer a start-up like atmosphere with tremendous opportunities for fresh perspectives.

Middle Tier Team
Excited about architecting a truly scalable and performing public web services APIs and middle-tier web services? Excited about having a revenue impact of billions of dollars and contributing to Microsoft's bottom-line? Excited to work in a team that is fueled by passion, creativity and innovation? If your answer is yes then read on!
AdCenter is the ad based monetization platform for Microsoft online business. We are the application development team responsible for developing applications used by advertisers to create and manage their millions of ad campaigns. Challenges are to engineer a highly performing, secure & scalable customer facing web services and backend services that can support millions of transactions per day. We are looking for someone who has strong coding skill in C# /C++ and ability to solve complex problems. Candidate should demonstrate good understanding in SQL fundamentals, transact-SQL and stored procedures. Experience in design and development of SOA principles based services in an online business will be an added advantage.

Back End Team
We are working to build a world class application platform fuelled by SQL Server and other data processing technologies with unprecedented scale, performance, partitioning and geo distribution with Petabyte size databases. Our OLTP systems have 10K transactions/sec and billions of transactions flowing through the system on a daily basis. You will be working with a highly motivated team on cutting edge software using agile development strategies and rapid release cycles.

The Advertising Delivery Engine Team

The Ad Delivery Platform team owns the online ad tracking and delivery system. This is a real-time platform that hosts data and code for various auction algorithms for advertisers and content publishers, click-fraud, merchant fraud, content classification, categorization, demographics prediction, search patterns. We are storing and managing TBs of information which enables us to run the auction algorithms and choose the best ads out of hundreds of thousands choices. And we do all that in just a few milliseconds, while sustaining tens of thousands of requests per second, with an uptime of 99.9%. In this environment, only the best designs and architecture will cut it. The amount of data we handle demands building, managing and monitoring a distributed system; ensuring the system health in the presence of individual failures. The Ad Delivery Engine runs 24/7/365.

The Revenue and Relevance Team

Do you want to work on technology at the heart of online monetization? The Revenue and Relevance team is looking for skilled developers- in particular, someone who has deep knowledge of large-scale data mining, machine learning, and/or quantitative analytics for online systems. As an engineer on this team, you should be able to translate design ideas into practical implementation in code, and to improve and evolve existing systems. A qualified candidate should have a degree in computer science, math, or a statistics degree and experience with software systems and/or applied research in appropriate areas of Computer Science. The algorithms we develop produce the final selection of the ads that are presented to the user upon entering the search query. As such, our algorithms are at the very heart of the Advertising technology that monetizes Bing and Yahoo. Our technology area combines systems, machine learning, data analysis, and economics --- in short, a very technically challenging area. This work makes a direct contribution to Microsoft’s bottom line.

The Business Intelligence Team
The Microsoft Advertising Business Intelligence (BI) team in Online Advertising is responsible for providing our customers with high quality analytics and reporting, giving them vital insights into their search advertising on Bing. The Reporting team within BI delivers the Middle Tier, API, and Reporting UI components that connect Microsoft Advertising BI to our customers. We are focused on providing our customers with a great user experience, a robust Middle Tier and API, and a highly reliable operational system. We work simultaneously on delivering a great product for our customers, improving our engineering processes, and growing our SDE’s skills and abilities.

Display
Microsoft: Online Services Division: Display Advertising Platform

Do you want to be part of one of the fastest growing industries in software today? Do you want to help Microsoft grow a $2 billion per year business to $5 billion? Interested in developing online services, and being part of an agile development team that ships every week? If so, then we have the right opportunity for you!

The Display Advertising group is…

• Delivering the technologies running our online display businesses: Atlas Media Console, Microsoft Media Network (MMN), AdManager, RAPT, and AdExpert - which powers the MSN portal and represented partners.
• Competing in a segment of the online advertising industry that is seeing explosive innovation and increased competition.
• Poised to make rapid advances in online advertising.
• Chartered with building the next generation of display advertiser systems.

Our Display Advertising products and services:

• Are responsible for monetizing both internal (MSN, Hotmail, MSNBC, etc.) as well as 3^rd party display properties.
• Handle 700+ billion monthly ad requests across globally dispersed data centers
• Deliver over $2 billion in annual advertising revenue.

If you would be so kind to share this information if you know those who will be interested to learn more!

 

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With the HUGE Family 4th at Lake Union which has become one and only large-scale Fourth of July fireworks show in Seattle; not to mention an EVEN  larger transportation/parking/people nightmare and while obviously thousands of people don’t mind huge crowds, if you’re like me with small kids and looking for a less crowded and much quieter spot to view fireworks you might consider viewing the city of Kirkland’s fireworks. 

We discovered Warren G. Magnuson Park on Sandpoint Way in northeast Seattle is directly across Lake Washington from Kirkland and offers a terrific view of fireworks that’s comparable to watching the Gasworks fireworks from the south end of Lake Union. They aren’t right overhead, but families with young children who are frightened by big displays often find it’s exactly the right distance for the tots. Kirkland also puts on a good show and promises an extra special finale this year.

Magnuson Park has plenty of parking spots even with the construction going on to improve the park, and if you want to make a day of it, there’s a lifeguard stationed at the swimming beach and plenty of places for a picnic. The park stays open until 11:30 pm and the Kirkland fireworks start at 9:00 pm.

The Bonus  of a lakeside viewpoint is that Magnuson is situated to see small fireworks displays all up and down Lake Washington and despite the bans many communities put on personal fireworks, there are a lot of small displays ringing the lake. It’s pretty spectacular.

We'll be heading down around 7 for an evening of fun! Maybe we'll see you there! 

Happy Fourth! The Kelison Family

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See the full gallery on Posterous

The most important thing you can do when you're feeling so heavy, stress, worries, sadness and anger by almost anything in your everyday life is to find some kind outlet to pour out all your heartaches. There are many forms of letting all your fears drift away. One of these is art therapy.

Art therapy is about self-healing through the transformation of negative vibes through self-expression in painting and or other artful forms. This type of therapy is what I use to ignite both the creation of my art and the healing of my emotions. This helps me release all the negative thoughts through painting and honestly has been my only way to heal.

As you view my paintings they reflect how I felt at the moment of creation; its my way of expressing ways I can’t find words. Most can easily identify my feelings on a certain works by viewing my paintings.

Art therapy can help many understand the meaning of life and how we must handle it. It somehow shows the inner you, your artistic sense, your personality and character and your general outlook in life. The art that you have produced is the symbolism of the real you as a whole.

I am a self-healer while expressing all my hidden thoughts and desires. It is here that I can pour out my worries, opinions and undertakings. Painting for me is a form of art that has enhanced my personal growth and help me to pursue the life the way I have chosen. It is also a form that helped me appreciate myself and has given me a certain confidence within myself.

With this said it is also important to have someone to support you. The human touch can integrate with one's growth and development. "No (wo)man is an island" as the popular saying goes. I can connect with others through my paintings and their meanings.

For me, art therapy is has been very beneficial in my desires to change the way my life runs. The life YOU want can be achieved depending on how you look at it. It solely depends on how you tackle your life. It is a matter of choices you make.

 

 

 

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What gives you warm fuzzies? Do you appreciate the value of the social network that you are creating around you? More than the warm fuzzies; do you realize many other benefits that you give when you’re involve with networking opportunities in the communities? They are endless and exist everywhere.

Newsflash: I’m not just talking about “social networks” in the digital form. I’m talking about helping out those who need your help, joining an organization, or simply stopping by that next Tweet-up event. It will be time well spent.

If you are currently looking for work as well, it can serve as another way to connect with potential employers or to build new relationships with individuals that can help you with your job search. It would be a good time to learn new skills or enhance skills you already have. Use it as a resume builder. It’s perfectly acceptable to list societies and affiliations on your resume. You may have a mentor that can serve as a great professional or personal reference as well. Choose an organization around which you have a passion. Your hours could lead to a permanent, paid position with the organization or those that see your work valuable. For example, if you are seeking work as an engineer, offer your time as an engineer and work on their website. Hiring managers look for talent that aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and are willing to go above and beyond the expected.

More and more employers are recognizing the value of in-person networking. Like Microsoft, we are encouraged as employees to become more involved in organizations and volunteer our time to give back to our local community. And since it is essential that businesses be a responsible corporate citizen, employees who are more willing to give of their personal time are highly valued. Naturally there are benefits to the employer by this kind of involvement; however, there are also direct benefits to the employees as well. This allows you to develop new relationships or advance your career as well as just enjoying the fun of networking.

There are a ton of networking groups you can become involved with, depending on your available time, interests, desired benefits, and willingness to be involved. Most choose to join an organization that is connected to their profession. These groups offer professional development and other tangible in-person benefits as well as online resources such as blogs or fan pages and the ability to connect with other professionals.

Other forms of networking opportunities include the more casual contact groups, such as a local special interest groups or meet-ups, etc. These groups offer participants an opportunity to meet other community members with similar interests. They may host and offer special programs to you as a member or the social opportunity to meet other like people on a more casual level. These groups are always looking for volunteers to serve on committees, provide leadership opportunities and unlimited business contacts.

These groups casual or professional can give you the ability to give something back to your community while making valuable contacts. These groups are often nationally or internationally based, but they have direct local benefits, with members giving back to their communities through volunteer projects or monetary support. They meet regularly, both creating friendships and building business relationships.

Some networks may target a specific age or gender groups, just as young professionals or women’s business organizations. Despite how great all these networking opportunities may sound, some people will struggle to find the time to attend regular meetings or meet the requirements of the organization. There are still many ways to network outside of these structured organizations. Volunteer at your church, your child’s school; join a local low key club. These will benefit your family as well as your career by building bonds and making invaluable connections. Non-profits are always seeking volunteers – offer a few hours of your time to your favorite cause such as the American Cancer Society or Girl Scouts. Your child’s group leader may be your potential future employer.

If you are serious about developing your social network, there are no quick fixes: you must go out get involved and meet people that could be your boss, co-worker or reference. Don’t let chance decide where you would like to spend your time and efforts. Give back, take your time and choose an organization or group that will provide the desired benefits, for the time you want to offer. No matter what group you end up participating in – because it’s not called “net-sit” or “net-eat”, it’s called “net-work”. You must ‘be engaged’ be a contributor, not just a joiner. Be engaged – offer your experience, skills and talents to those you associate with. You WILL meet new friends, strengthen your personal and professional as well as provide a means to grow your relationships.

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Microsoft’s Online Services Division (OSD/BING) will be attending NSBE’s 37^th Annual Convention held on March 23-27 in St. Louis, MO.  Our booth is located at #908 from 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM on Thursday, March 24^th and Friday, March 25^th.  Microsoft and OSD truly believe that we can only perform at our best if we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment.  Diversity enriches our products and performance by reflecting the needs and ideas of our increasingly global and diverse community.  Stop by our booth and say “Hello!”  If you don’t want to wait in-line, send email your resume to kaykel@microsoft.com and I will send it to the team!  We are seeking talented Software Development Engineers in Test, Program Managers and Analysts to name just a few of the many positions we have open in OSD. Join the community and get engaged!

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Come network and have some awesome conversations with senior leaders from Windows and Widows Live Teams! If you are a marketing, hardware or software professional in the technology industry and would like to join us for this exciting event, please reply to WinAtl11@microsoft.com as soon as possible.  Tell them Kay Kelison sent you! This is a limited invite event, so please contact them as soon as possible with as much detail as you can about your technology background, interests, and technology focus or better yet a resume will get better attention. 

They will follow up with your invitation status and particulars about the venue, guest speakers and other additions to the evening if you are able to join us.

Thank you for your interest in attending our Atlanta Networking Event and feel free to share with other colleagues and friends as you see fit! Let’s connect and learn from each other!

Please learn more about the Microsoft Windows Team Network Event and join the Microsoft Talent Network please visit http://www.microsoft-careers.com/content/meetup/.

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Our world of sourcing/researching/recruiting is much more complicated these days than it used to be. As staffing consultants, you can’t just post an opportunity on job boards and wait for candidates to come – although some “old-schoolers” still do! (you know who you are) As technologies (Internet and mobile) are taking off, we in the staffing industry really need accept how recruiting is quite similar to a marketing campaign. Social media has forced us to think outside of our comfort areas and to go to the talent instead of them coming to us. These tools have really revolutionized the way we recruit and have helped us leverage engagement and community messaging in order to reach active and passive diverse talent. Our recruiting strategies won’t be as straightforward as before. Whether or not you want to accept it, our industry is changing. When I think of where we will be after we master the areas of social media – and some sourcers are already ahead of the curve – my prediction is that mobile recruiting will be our next natural phase of direct engagement. We will extend our company’s or our client’s brand value in the mobile space and markets our jobs through apps and reaches the individual by a ping. Think about how many people look at their phone when they hear an alert sound – I’ll bet you do as well. Read more….

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I’ve thought a lot recently about how my outlook and my process of self-identification have changed but I’m not sure how to explain it with any confidence. I’d like to think they’ve changed as a result of my own internal reflections and directed inner growth but an equally likely explanation could be the new environment I find myself in as a member of the diversity staffing team at Microsoft. Anyone who has been reading my posts for any length of time knows diversity is a subject I love and have a great deal of passion for especially when it comes to enhancing the diversity of perspectives, experiences and input in our company.  The global high tech industry is inherently a highly diverse one and as access to technology grows around the world that fact will only become more pronounced and relevant. As I’ve grown in my role at Microsoft it’s become clear that one key to success for any global business is to cherish a perspective that honors and builds a mutual respect for people from a myriad of backgrounds and experiences. One question I consistently ask myself is ‘how do we ensure that we build a broad understanding and universal acceptance of this fact?’ The clichéd answer, that it’s just a matter of education, falls short I think. Education can just as easily reinforce biases as tear them down while enforced education may increase barriers to acceptance all the more. On this I don't have a clear answer, but it is undoubtedly among the most important issues of this century.

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It’s just a reality for all of us who use social networking -- it's not a matter of IF your Twitter or Facebook account will be hacked, but simply WHEN. I've heard from my friends whose accounts have been hacked. The message typically compliments me on being a great friend or requests me to click on a link to view a video of myself. Also, there are usually a number of misspellings in the message.

Be very careful when you get those kinds of messages, even when they are coming from trusted friends who would normally not engage in this type of behavior. Many of the messages are linked to a virus or some type of malware that either infects your computer or will gain access to your account and send all of your friends and followers spammie messages, yes this has happened to me (grr). If you do slip and click on one of these links, pay attention to what your virus scanning software tells you, especially if you get a security warning about a site don’t just click the “close” because it’s a pop-up, it shows up for a reason! So while doing research on how to prevent or protect us from happening again, I have collected a step by step instructions on what to do.

1. Log out of Twitter

2. Visit twitter help center on “My Account Has Been Compromised”.

3. As always “Clear Your Browser Cache” (your browsing history and cookies and private info) and close 

   down your browser. Doing a weekly sweep would be good.

4. Open a new browser window, log into Twitter, and change your password. You can also use the 

    Twitter password reset feature to set a new password before logging in again. Wanting to know how 

    often you should change your password click here

5. Visit your settings page and check your Connections. Revoke access for any third-party application 

    that you don't recognize.

6. Submit a support request to let them know you have taken all of the proper steps to reset your

    account and request that your direct messaging capability be restored.

7. Update your password in all of your third party applications as well. If a third party application (like

    Tweetdeck, Hootesuite, Twitterrific, Twhirl, etc.) is trying to use your old password to access your 

    tweets, it will lock you out of your account.

1. Visit Facebook's information for resolution.

2. If you are still able to access your login email address, then use the "Forgot your password" link to

    prompt an email from Facebook with a password reset code.

3. Clear your browser cache (your browsing history and cookies and private info) and close down your

    browser as described above. (using the same steps above)

4. Your account could also have been phished/hacked by a phishing web site, worm, or malicious  

    software. To ensure that all is safe again, refer to the "Warnings" section on Facebook.

Like Oprah says “trust your intuition, and if something doesn't look or feel right, delete it before clicking on it”  well sort of J. You will have probably saved yourself hours or headache in trying to restore a hacked account as well as “hey, I keep on getting these emails from you, why is that?”

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Ok, so you’re a student in a college or you have just graduated and through your conversations with recruiters, friends and colleagues, you’ve created a Twitter account like everybody else in these social networking worlds. However, Twitter is so much different than Facebook and LinkedIn. It’s more of a water cooler-type setting between humans. In fact, a friend of mine didn’t believe it either, that was until she secured a very desirable internship in the engineering field last summer at Apple because of Twitter. So the question you should be asking yourself is this “how do I use Twitter to feel personal and professionally? Simple, begin with these basic steps and you will expand naturally.

Step A) Start searching and following twitter accounts that post internships and jobs.  Some twitter accounts I would suggest following:  @internships  @sweetcareers  or @internmatch  they are among many that have a ton of internships which each post, along with tips for finding ones.

Step B) Search and follow twitter accounts by respected members of that field, as well as companies, and business groups. For example, if you’re interested in working for Bing follow twitter @Bingjobs, Microsoft_Jobs  @microsoft_jobs or XBOX360 follow @xbox360careers follow people you want to engage with. I would also follow individuals who could help you.

Step C) Clean up your tweets, no more “Going to get drunk and stupid tonight, PARTY!” Please tweet intelligently, yes you can have humor, fun, real however if you are using it as a possible finding a job, start posting interesting articles that you find online, and ADD YOUR OWN INSIGHT TO THEM. Re-tweet interesting posts the professionals you follow, post or add your own insight to them. Replay to Direct Messages, engage in conversations. The main issue of importance here is to be engaged and interact on a PROFESSIONAL LEVEL with these people you now follow. Remember, these people are full of connections, and that is what Twitter is about! Try to make actual connections with these people. See if there are Facebook fanpages that can allow you to post your blog reviews on article’s, etc. a great way to show your involvement within the social networking

Step D) Keep your eye out for job and internship posts. The above mentions are just  some I mentioned, but Twitter is becoming an awesome place to connect and be informed about opportunities! Don’t be afraid to engage with a professional (through direct messages or reply to their tweets) for suggestions on how to get in touch with an industry/company you’re interested in. Most fellow tweeters are people who want to help others, if you genuinely ask for help, someone will answer the call.

Honestly, Twitter is just a tool and it won’t get a job for you, however it’s really what you do with this and other tools to find possibilities! Use these tools to find your voice, connect with others it’s really that simple! Final thought, Twitter is an extension of you, and it can be used for giving as well as getting to meet people while making connections that would otherwise be impossible

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Using Bing Search Preferences

 

 

Bing, is a solid tool for searching the web, as a principal sourcer for Bing/Microsoft I thought I would help users be more productive and effective in their searches.  Bing provides users a customizable Search Preferences as an easy way to do basic personalization of how your search engine results are displayed. By using Bing search preferences you can customize settings such as the display language, default geographic location, number of search results to display per page, etc

 

 

Many of the Bing search preferences settings are similar to the Google. To access the Bing search preferences click on the Extras link in the top right-hand corner.

 

 

A drop down list will appear where you can click on the Preferences link that will lead to a page that is divided into two sections General Settings and Web Settings

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General Settings – Bing Search Preferences

1.       Safe Search: there are three levels for filtering web content and potentially blocking or allowing sexually explicit content. The three settings available are: No filtering of sexually explicit content; Moderate filtering (sexually explicit images and videos); and Strict filtering (sexually explicit text, images and videos). Each is followed by an explanation of what is filtered. You can also report offensive links that the filters might miss by clicking on the “filtering offensive sites” link below the buttons. Bing search preferences for Safe Search are shown below.

 

 

 

 

Bing Search Preferences - Safe Search

2.  Location: by entering a city and state or a Zip Code you can help Bing present results that are the most relevant for searches related to geography. Geographically related search examples might be shopping, maps, or other results where the physical location is important. You can also leave this blank if you prefer no geographic affiliation. Bing search preferences for Location are shown below.

 

Bing Search Preferences - Location

3.  Display: this option allows you to choose a specific language for the display and layout in Bing. Changing this option does not affect the language of the actual search results. Click the drop down arrow to select a different language Bing search preferences for Display are shown below.

 

Bing Search Preferences - Display Language

4.    Results: This option can be quite useful in boosting search productivity as it directly controls how your results are displayed. The drop down arrow next to show allows you to select how many search results are displayed on each search results pages. The default is ten results (or links) per results page with the options available ranging from 10 to 50 results per page.

 

Web  Settings – Bing Search Preferences - these settings apply only to your Web search results

The check box allows you to tell Bing whether to open new page or to use your current page when you click on a link in the search results. By checking this box when you click on a link in the search results that Bing has displayed Bing will keep your current search page open and open the link you clicked on in a new page or tab. If you leave this unchecked Bing will replace the search results page with the page from the link you clicked on. Highly suggest that you check this box. Bing search preferences for Results are shown below.

 

 

 

Bing Search Preferences - Results Options

5.    Search suggestions: This option allows Bing to display suggestion as you enter text into the search box. With this search preference checked Bing will offer possible suggestions to complete the word or phrase as you type. This can be a big help in decreasing the amount of typing you need to do as Bing completes the word or phrase for you. It can also be very helpful if you are not sure of the correct spelling of a word or phrase as Bing will offer suggestions with the correct spelling. The only real downside of turning Search Suggestions on is that it can sometimes be distracting. Bing search preferences for Search Suggestions are shown below.

 

Bing Search Preferences - Search Suggestions

6.    Search Language: this option allows you to limit your searches to content written in a specific language. In setting a language it is generally best to search in any language and only select a specific language if you are looking for content only in that specific language. The image below is only a partial view of the languages available. An example of some of the languages available in Bing search preferences are shown below.

 

Bing Search Preferences - Search Language

7.   Important: Remember to click on the “Save Settings” button at the bottom of the screen to save your new settings or they will not be saved.

 

Customizing search preferences can be a real productivity booster regardless of the search engine you are using. Mine… of course is Bing J

 

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Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

Here we are again, celebrating another Thanksgiving. What a blessing it is been for me to be a part of an awesome team, Online Service Division/BING. Thank you all for the experience I take with me as I move into my new role as a Program Manager for the Microsoft Diversity Recruiting Team/DRIVE.

I strive to remember every day of the year how lucky I am, and each year as Thanksgiving approaches I make a special effort to say THANK YOU not only for my blessings, but for the blessings of my friends (work and non-work folks) and family.

While many of us will be sitting down to tables laden with all manner of great foods, try to remember that some people are not that fortunate. Some will be standing in soup lines; some will have to wait for someone to bring them a meal, and sadly, some will go to bed hungry too. With that said, let's try to be more thankful for all the fortunes we have AND let's remember to give something back, even if it’s a dollar or two.

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