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uTest Review

By
Ross O'Neill
– April 25, 2012
uTest Review

uTest Review

I went to a conference in December about software quality assurance and the guy who was presenting mentioned something about a crowdsourcing site called uTest. Crowdsourcing is basically having a simple task posted on the internet and having various people complete that task. For example, I participate in Amazon’s Mechanical Turk all the time and one of the crowdsourcing tasks I do is digitalize business cards. When I complete the task I make a small amount of money which gets credited to my Amazon account.

So I quickly went to the uTest.com website and see that uTest is designed to crowdsource software quality assurance (in other words they pay you to test software).

I loved the idea and signed up immediately. I was testing the NBA.com website as sort of a job interview. I had to find three bugs in three days. I used various browsers and found the bugs in no time.

After passing the “job interview” I was then invited to several other projects and received anywhere from $5 to $10 dollars per bug. You can get paid via paypal and then transfer the money into your bank account.

There are several types of testing users can perform. These types of testing are: functional, security, load, usability, and localization.

What I really like about uTest is testers have the ability to brush up or improve their skills. Suppose you work in the quality assurance industry and do not have security testing skills. The site uTest provides testers with ample documentation or links to other training sites on how to brush up your security testing.

Overall I have nothing but praise for uTest. For a crowdsourcing site the pay is good.  I also like the fact that if you are a first time tester or an experienced tester you can improve your skills.   My one bit of advice for anyone willing to try uTest is when invited to a test project try and test the application or website right away.  A duplicate bug will be rejected by uTest and you will not get paid.

Happy testing everyone :)

GetHired.com Review

By
Ross O'Neill
– February 4, 2012
GetHired.com Review

GetHired.com Review

I recently discovered the site GetHired.com.  I figured the Internet has enough job websites out there so is there really a need for another?  But GetHired.com points out some of the flaws in the hiring process and makes one search for the right candidate much more interesting.  With GetHired.com the job seeker and employer can use video or audio to make the hiring process more personal.


From Job Seeker Perspective

From the job seeker side GetHired.com boasts the following:

  • Track status for each job you have applied for.
  • Alert you with appropriate jobs you are qualified for
  • See which employers have reviewed your profile
  • Track how many times your profile has been viewed.
  • Schedule interviews through their video conferencing system.

I would like to mention I love how easy the registration process is.  I uploaded my resume quickly and accurately from a word document.  There was no hours of form filling.  But I submitted my resume almost a week ago and my account is still under review.   I would like to add the site needs more jobs.  When I searched my city nothing came up (I live in a large city) but hopefully that will change as the sites grows in popularity.  I also didn’t like the fact that when I signed upfor the site I had to share it on facebook, or on twitter, or via email to get the “who’s viewed me” activated.  I really don’t want to spam my friends.  But at least the “who’s viewed me feature” is free unlike LinkedIn.com.


From a Employer Perspective

For the employers GetHired boasts:

  • Employers can pre-screen candidates using video and voice
  • Automatically schedule interviews online
  • Search video resumes that are ready for an interview right now
  • When posting a job on multiple websites GetHired.com creates a link back to their sites where users can apply.

I think from a employer perspective this site is great.  What makes it great is employers ability to post interview questions online and have the applicant respond in a video or audio interview.  Everybody knows how important first impressions are and people can decide if the applicant is worthwhile for an person-to-person interview.    I remember when I was a coop student and a hiring manager asked me, “What is the most important skill you can have at work”.  I answered incorrectly and the answer he was looking for was communication skills.   When using GetHired.com the employer can definetly get an idea of how good the applicants communication skills are.

Conclusion

In conclusion I really like this site.  Personally I hate writing cover letters because I think no one will read it.  Making a video cover letter is much more personal.  We all know that first impression is everything.   If the job seeker makes a good first impression they will increase their change for a person to person interview.

 

Mechanical Turk Review

By
Ross O'Neill
– January 26, 2012
Mechanical turk review

My mom recently retired and I have been looking ways for her to make a little money from home.   I was reading an article on SEO that mentioned a way to build links through Mechanical Turk (which is forbidden by the way).  Anyway I didn’t know what Mechanical Turk was so then I signed up and joined.

Mechanical Turk was created by Amazon.com and is called Crowdsourcing.  Crowdsourcing basically means a crowd of people (on the web) work on a task that cannot be automated (basically needs humans to perform a task because computers are not smart enough).  The workers get paid for each task they complete.
So I logged into mechanicalturk.com and signed up for my first job.    My first task was to go to various business websites and find the hours of operation.  With these hours of operation I entered them into a form.  First I was given a trial task or a test to see if I could perform the task correctly.  I passed the test and after that I was making 10 cents for every 4 forms I filled in.

The second task I was presented with an image of a business card.  Basically the submitter of the task wants to digitize thousands of business cards to an electronic format.  This task paid 2 cents per business card.

So can you really make money off of this site? I think you can.  My advice is to stay away from the low paying jobs and search for the higher paying ones.   I recieved 50 cents to review a facebook game that took me thirty minutes.  I also filled in a few surveys that basically payed me at least 50 cents.  But I would not write off doing the low paying jobs.  When you submit a job you will then be reviewed and the owners of the task will assign you a accuraccy rating.  If you do a good job you will get a good accuracy rating.  If you do a poor job you will get a bad accuracy rating and you will qualitfy for less hits.

So what do I think of the site?  I really like it.  The pay is not great but you can see what they are paying ahead of time.  Mechanical Turk has been criticised as a virtual sweatshop.  But I feel when everyone here in North America is worried about having your job outsourced overseas I feel this an effective way to fight back!!!

The one thing I would like to point out is if you are lucky enough to live in the US then you can be paid in either amazon credit or have the money deposited to your bank.  If you are not a U.S. resident you can only get amazon credit.  When trying to buy products on amazon.com they may not ship certain products to your country.

 

Top Employment Websites of 2012

By
Ross O'Neill
– January 22, 2012

When using the internet to search for a job one can be overwhelmed with employment websites. So here is WorkNearYou.com Top Employment Websites of 2012.

1# SimplyHired.com

SimplyHired.com is simply the best website out there.  The reason I rank SimplyHired.com better than all others sites is because of its powerful aggregate search results (searches various websites) combined with LinkedIn’s ability to match the company you found on SimplyHired.com with your LinkedIn connections.

Pros: Integration with LinkedIn.com, large volume of companies it crawls,  and hardly any annoying ads.

Cons: They scrape from other job websites which I suspect will lead to duplicate postings on SimplyHired.com

2# Linkedin.com

2# Top Employment Website

I view Likedin.com as the only really good social media employment website out there.  I have tried Monsters BeKnown and Branchout (social media websites integrated with facebook) but the problem is all my friends of facebook view my invitation to these site as spam.

For those who don’t know Linkedin.com is a way to build your professional network.  Basically you add co-workers as connections like you add friends on facebook.  If you are applying to a job at a company you can search your connections and see who you know or who you are connected to as a way to get your foot in the door.

Pros:  More people use linkedIn than any other professional social media site.

Cons: They have enough jobs.

3# Indeed.com

Indeed is ranked as the world’s most popular website for job search. This is for good reason too.  I love indeed and have nothing but praise for the site.  I used to rank Indeed.com number #1 but they do not integrate their site with linkedin.com (see SimplyHired).

Pros: Massive amount of jobs to choose from.

Cons: They scrape from other job websites which I suspect will lead to duplicate postings on indeed.com.  The also need to integrate with Linkedin.com or facebook.com.

4# Craigslist.com

For the people who are looking for work without a fancy degree or for a second job to make a little extra income I recommend Craigslist.com.  It is free to post a job and that is great news for small businesses who want to hire people.

Pros: It cost a fortune to post a job on Monster or CareerBuilder and not all companies can afford to post jobs on these sites.   Since Craiglist.com is free to post I think it is ideal place to find entry level jobs.

Cons: The fact that it is free to post anything does not mean you should take the job.  Always use caution when applying for a job on Craigslist.com

5# Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com

Probably the best known search engine in the world is Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com.  Because these sites are the best known search engine in the world my believe is this is the best place to post your resume and let recruiters find you.

Pros: I love the fact that monster.com gives you the ability to search jobs that display pay.  I also think this is probably the best place to get your resume noticed.

Cons: Google recently tweaked their search engine to reduce webspam. I recommend these sites filter their jobs to promote good reputable companies with quality jobs.  I found jobs from examiner.com and cybercoders.com (both sites don’t seem to have a good reputation on the web).

6# RateMyEmployer.com

RateMyEmployer is not a job website it is a place to rate your employer.  Even though it is not a job search engine I do believe that one should use this site to review companies they are applying for.  It is the employees and former employees of the company that re telling you if it is a good or bad place to work.  But also don’t judge a company on one or two reviews.  I would only consider a review if the company had several reviews.  RateMyEmployer.com also has a best rated section which to me sounds like a top employer list by the people.

Pros: A great way to find out if company is a happy place to work.

Cons: Need a large volume of reviews to consider if it is indeed a good place to work.

7# USAJobs.com

USAJobs.com is where the US government posts all their jobs.  The one thing I like about USAJobs.com is they have a lot of jobs and they all post their salary range.  Nobody wants to get nickel and dimed on their job so I love the fact that USAJobs posts their salary range.

Pros:  A lot of jobs, and no advertising.

Cons: None really to report.  Just remember all the jobs are federal government so make sure that is the type of job you are after.

Make Your Online Jobs Search A Successful One

By
Ross O'Neill
– January 20, 2012

I hear a lot about applying for jobs online is a waist of time.  While it is frustrating applying for jobs online it is beneficial.  I was talking to a recruiter recently and he told me most people write up a poor resume apply to a couple of jobs, never get called, get frustrated and give up.  While having a great resume is a necessity there are other steps you can take save time applying to the good jobs and to get the employer to take note of your resume.

Step 1:  Build your LinkedIn connections

I am sure you are tired of hearing about LinkedIn.  But it is the best tool out there for building contacts on-line. It is really simple to use.  My advice is only add people you know well and have a good reputation with and would speak highly of you.

Step 2:   Use an aggregate search such as simplyhired.com or indeed.com to find jobs

Indeed.com actually gets more hits than Monster or CareerBuilder and for good reason too.  These sites search thousands of websites to search for jobs posted by various companies.  Instead of waiting for people to post jobs on their site aggregate search engines will find jobs automatically.

Step 3: Let Recruiters find you

I personally believe that Monster and CareerBuilder are the most recognized sites out there.  After all the have both had super bowl commercials.   Anyway I feel these are the best places to post your resume. Remember there are a lot of recruiters out there looking to fill positions.  They get paid when you get a job.  So make sure your resume can be found and let recruiters find you. 

Step 4:   Research the company you are applying to

I would use this site rate my employer  or ratemyemployer.com to see if the company you are applying to is a good one.  But don’t decide against applying for the job because of one review.  If you can find a site where there are a lot of review that are negative or positive then apply accordingly.  The last thing you want to do is work for a terrible company. 

Step 5:   Apply for the job

Now remember back in step 1 I said build your LinkedIn connections.  Well it is time to put your networking contacts to use. On LinkedIn there is a search screen on the top right.  You can select companies and see if you have any connections to these companies.  For example, if you apply to Company A and your friend John works at Company A you can write to your friend John and he can get HR to pull your resume out of the pile.  LinkedIn also displays your degree of connection.  It is kind of like Seven degrees of bacon.  If John has a friend who works at Company A you can write to John to ask his friend can you pull your resume out of the pile.

Anyway I hope this article helps.  I think taking these small steps will help you finding a job or better yet a career

 

Monster vs. CareerBuilder

By
Ross O'Neill
– January 16, 2012
Monster vs Careerbuilder

Monster vs Careerbuilder

I have been curious what is the best website for finding jobs. Two websites that always stick out in my mind are Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. Of course my goal is to have worknearyou.com be the best website when it comes to job search but I realize it is not. So I went onto some social media sites and tried my best to do keyword research on what type of jobs people are looking for and this is what I found:

 

“I need a job in Publishing”
“I need a job in “Web development”
“I need a job in a Library”

I decided to see who has the most jobs out of the sample I took. So the rules are the posts can only be a week old within a five mile radius of a city. Below are my results:

 

Keyword: Publishing

Region Job Type Monster Career Builder
Seattle, WA Publishing 29 Jobs 13 Jobs
Los Angeles, CA Publishing 46 Jobs 16 Jobs
Minneapolis, MN Publishing 42 Jobs 10 Jobs
Dallas, TX Publishing 32 Jobs 19 Jobs
New York, NY Publishing 165 Jobs 69 Jobs
Miami, FL Publishing 21 Jobs 14 Jobs

My criticism of Monster.com is a large percentage jobs are from examiner.com which I would not consider a high paying job. But I guess it is fair to say a job from examiner.com is a job nevertheless.

 

Keyword: Web developer

Region Job Type Monster Career Builder
Seattle, WA Web Development 51 Jobs 106 Jobs
Los Angeles, CA Web Development 111 Jobs 68 Jobs
Minneapolis, MN Web Development 32 Jobs 34 Jobs
Dallas, TX Web Development 75 Jobs 77 Jobs
New York, NY Web Development 206 Jobs 242 Jobs
Miami, FL Web Development 15 Jobs 22 Jobs

My criticism is a large portion of jobs come from cybercoders.com I would recommend searching about cybercoders.com and see for yourself if you want to work for them.

 

Keyword: Librarian

City Job Type Monster Career Builder
Seattle, WA Librarian 0 1
Los Angeles, CA Librarian 0 2
Minneapolis, MN Librarian 0 2
Dallas, TX Librarian 0 0
New York, NY Librarian 8 1
Miami, FL Librarian 1 0


I liked the search functionality better on CareerBuilder.com. I found Monsters ads tended to dominate the site. I found the search results pretty much the same. But my biggest concern with all the sites out there is the quality of jobs. Google recently tweaked their search engine to reduce webspam. I recommend these sites filter their jobs to promote good reputable companies with quality jobs.
So who is the better side? Neither. I conclude they are both great sites but both need work to improve the quality of jobs they post. In fairness there is a lot of great jobs in both.

 

Job Ideas

By
Ross O'Neill
– December 10, 2011
Job Ideas

Job Ideas

In this economy finding a job is extremely difficult. Not everyone gets a chance to go to college or perhaps some of you have a degree in an arts program but are unable to find work. So I decided to search worknearyou.com and come up with job ideas for people who have little or no education or are just out of luck finding a job.

Customer Service Representative (CSR)

Customer Service Representative is basically someone who works at a call center. Think of the people who answer the phone when you call a bank, or your cell phone provider. I sampled several jobs across USA and the average wage was around $13.00. When applying for a CSR position put on your resume that you can be flexible with your hours and if you are bilingual make sure you mention that. Having a second language is a big plus for this position. especially if you speak Spanish.

Keyword Search:

Courier

A courier is someone who delivers goods and services to businesses and customers. When applying for a courier job state that you can work flexible hours. The average salary for this position is around $14.00

Keyword Search:

Data Entry Clerk

A data entry clerk does exactly what the job description says it does. The user enters data into a computer. When applying for this job make sure to highlight any computer skills you have on your resume. The average pay I found on data entry clerk on my searches was around $11.00.

Keyword Search

Restaurants

Restaurants are a huge source of employment.  There is indeed a lot of hard work at a restaurant but the rewards are not that bad if you work at a place where the tips are good.

Keyword Search

Sales

If you have an outgoing personality than perhaps sales is a career for you.  Remember most of these jobs are based on commission so you will probably do really well or not so well at all

Keyword Search

Writer

Everyone is a expert at something. There are a lot of websites out there today that pay for people to write articles about anything and everything. These sites make money because they advertise heavily on the article you write for them. These sites are very good at search engine optimization. Try sites like companies include that about.com, ehow.com, and examiner.com.

Genealogists Jobs

By
Ross O'Neill
– November 26, 2011

Genealogist Careers

Jobs as a Genealogist

Do you have a passion for history? Perhaps you are fascinated by your family roots? Do you think about what country your ancestors come from? If so then perhaps becoming a genealogist is for you. This article will discuss how to become a genealogist.

What is Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of family history. Who is my grandfathers father? What did my great grandmother do? What country did my ancestors come from? These are the questions a genealogist will ask.

What Kind of Jobs are Out there?

I searched worknearyou.com for genealogist jobs and I did not get any results in return :( Then I tried to search indeed.com (the world’s biggest search engine) for jobs in the genealogical field and I also didn’t get any jobs back. It is a difficult career search but if being a genealogist is your passion then go for it.
Then I thought of a friend of mine who’s grandmothers cousin passed away without a next of kin. It turns out that he was next of kin. He searched probate genealogy and found a lawyer. The lawyer was able to prove that he was indeed next in line to inherit his grandmothers cousins assets. This leads me to conclude your interest in genealogy can lead to a career in law.
If you are lucky enough to live in Provo Utah you may be able to apply at Ancestry.com which is the largest for-profit genealogy company in the world. Ancestry.com has a whole slew of websites that specialize in finding ones roots. There seems to be a lot of jobs in San Francisco at Ancestry.com. The website also recruits a lot of highly technical people in the IT world.
Another root is to start your own consulting business. To start why not register a website name and get a WordPress site and blog about work or research. Also LinkedIn also has several discussion groups you can join.

What Kind of Education do I Need?

After researching for jobs in this field three educational backgrounds came up. They were a degree in history, law, and computers. I only say computer because mainly the jobs at Ancestry were IT related. But I think a general degree in arts is your best approach.

I Hate My Job

By
Ross O'Neill
– November 22, 2011

I Hate My Career

I Hate My Job

I read somewhere that most people die of heart attacks on a Monday morning. One can argue these heart attack victims are people are going to jobs they don’t want to go to. There are many reasons you may hate your job. If you do hate your job there are certain steps to take to find a new career and exit your job and do it gracefully.

Don’t Announce That You Hate Your Job

First of all do not announce to everybody that you hate your job. You want to exit gracefully and more than likely you will need a reference from your former manager. If he/she thinks of someone who is always complaining about their job then the reference they give may not be a positive one.
Be extremely cautious about what you post on social networks. More than likely when you interview the hiring manager will search your name on a popular search engine and find what you have been posting. If you are posting negative comments about your current employee it is more than likely you will go to your next job and do the same thing and therefore you will not get the job.

Searching for a New Job

The most popular search engine today is Indeed.com. Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com are popular job sites also. My problem with these search tools is everyone is using them and I suspect the competition is very high.
Of course worknearyou.com has its own search engine and you can click here to try it out. It is not a very well known search site therefore it is possible to apply for jobs where the competition is low.

Job fairs in your area is also a good approach to finding a job. Take a look what companies are attending the job fair as they may not appeal to you.

Learn to Motivate Yourself

I was recently talking to a friend who is a recruiter. He told me that people go on job boards apply for several jobs they don’t get a single call for an interview and give up. You have to stay motivated!!! You have to keep applying. There are lots of motivational videos on youtube that you should watch.

Learn to Network

Perhaps you like your choice of careers and it has more to do with the environment you are in like a difficult boss. If that is the case then learn to network and make connections. Linkedin is a great tool to do this. When you apply to jobs login to linkedin and search the company you want to apply for. You may have a friend of a friend who works for that company you applied for. Maybe that freind can get your resume picked out of the pile and get you that interview.

There are two social networking apps on facebook that many don’t realize. Branchout and Beknown. Simply login to your facebook application and install them. These are sites where you build your professional networks on facebook.

Also you should try and go to conferences in your field. Going to conferences is obviously a great way to make other connections.

Volunteer

Odds are there are a lot of worse off people than you and that life is not that bad. If you hate your job at least you are not unemployed. Let’s be honest it is hard to find a job. When you volunteer you can feel good that you are helping people worse off than you are and make a difference.
Also why not volunteer at your political party. There is always an election and let’s be honest if you help a politician get into office odds are they will help you get a job out of it.

What is a Database Administrator?

By
Ross O'Neill
– November 13, 2011

A database administrator or simply DBA is someone who sets up and maintains a database. Think of your facebook account. There is a application or webpage but there is a lot of data that needs to be saved and retrieved in a database. The retrieval and storage of facebooks data is all done with a database.

What does a DBAs role include?

1) Setting up and installing a database – all databases require a server and the user needs to install the database like Oracle, or SQL Server on a server
2) Providing back up for the database. Take for example a bank. If the bank got hacked or broken into the bank better have the data backed up the night before.
3) Optimising the database – To retrieve data from the database they use a language called structured query language or SQL. Often developers or DBA’s can write SQL in a less than efficient way. The DBA often identifies where the less than efficient query is and asks the developer to make the query more efficient.

What are the requirements to become a DBA?

1) A degree in computer science
2) Database experience. There are several database vendors out there. The biggest ones I know are Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Progress, MySQL, and DB2 from IBM

See database administrator jobs click here

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