The future of Linkedin

This is something that has intrigued me for a while now. Linkedin has come on leaps and bounds since its' inception but what lies ahead? An associate from the States, Ajay Jain is an avid blogger (and journalist) who is currently finishing a book on Linkedin with this being the topic of the final chapter. One of the most popular suggestions infers a buyout by one of the big boys, but some other interesting points are made. You can check out the blog entry here, as well as reading my comment to the post further down the page

Recent Linkedin features

The most-excellent Linkedin (powered by Sun Microsystems) has introduced some upgrades, with more to come and there's talk of a general UI makeover, you can get a sneak preview here. Not a whole load of info on it yet but the customisable modules look interesting - it appears they are trying to reduce your dependency on other online information resources. The messaging tool is pretty handy and the way in which you receive updates is more informative.

They have also opened up to the Developer community to allow them to build on the Linkedin platform through the use of API's and widgets - pretty cool, and more info is viewable here

Recruitment Microsites

Gone are the days where job-seekers spend wasted minutes dragging a mouse around an obscure "Main", or "About Us" or "Contact Us" section of an already overpopulated website in search of the Careers Section. A lot of the big technical companies are making good use of dedicated portal sites to furnish prospective candidates with information about career opportunities. Let's face it, Careers are important - they deserve their own site! Microsoft's new site is a fine example of how these can work, and they have even used their Silverlight technology in parts. But in true Microsoft style, it's brought something (the site) to the market that has been pioneered by others! Ericsson have a great microsite, well laid out with good information about living and working in Ireland, illustrated with rich graphics in an effective layout. It's interesting the way the domain name does not mention the company specifically, but refers to all telecom jobs in Ireland.

HP have a generic Global Careers site but the address is horrible, your average Joe is not going to remember a domain name like http://h10055.www1.hp.com/jobsathp/ which would necessitate the use of Google to find the site. I don't think a Global Careers Site is the way to go, it's too impersonal and overbearing - Microsites are the way to go for big companies with "busy" websites

Cool place to work!

Fog Creek Software is a Manhattan-based Dev house founded in 2000. Joel Spolsky is a co-founder who recently spoke at the Java Dev convention ran by Irishdev in Cineworld last month. You can learn more about his company here . The office is a state of the art, top architect-designed Developer heaven! Most employees have their own office and the location is sa-weet - 18 floors up in the middle of Manhattan! Joel has created a beautiful space to allow his Developers reach their potential in a coding-friendly setup with great use of space and colour - extreme ergonomics for extreme programming!

Joel's website is popular with Developers all over the globe and you can view it here

Hired Guns!

At first when I heard of these guys, I thought it sounded like a "muscle for hire" outfit. . . I came across this site for a company called Hired Guns - a US based Temp staffing firm. Maybe the website is a bit cheesey but the thinking is original and it's put together quite well as a site. You can view it here