When faced with a time crunch at work or at home, whether it’s a major project deadline or just getting some things done quickly, prioritizing your objectives is the first thing that must be accomplished. Without the proper order of your tasks, it is likely that you will get bogged down in areas that are not the most important toward accomplishing your goal.

We’ve all seen this first-hand in the workplace: A team is assembled to deliver “something” to a client within a certain time frame. The objectives seem clear enough, but inevitably certain team members will get side-tracked and become fixated on details of the project that are of little or no consequence to the ultimate goals. Extra effort is then misguidedly dedicated to these areas to solve a “problem” or reach a “consensus”, when no real problem existed in the first place. As a result, mission-critical areas of the project get shorted on attention, things get missed and the end deliverable suffers. This cycle plays out within inefficient companies on a daily basis.

I’ve recently seen this phenomenon first-hand in the home, where it’s far less stressful, but just as entertaining to behold. Here’s a brief “dramatization” of how things work at my house:

Guests are coming by and we have only one hour to prepare for their arrival. One hour doesn’t allow for a full house cleaning, but it should generally be enough time to make things presentable, should you even wish to bother doing anything at all. But, it is only one hour, so you really have to prioritize your objectives if you wish to accomplish anything in that time. The following priority list would be pretty effective for us, if we ever chose to try it:

1) Clean the kitchen. Take care of any lingering dirty dishes, clean the counter tops and generally make the kitchen seem as though it could produce appetizing food. People will always end up in the kitchen at some point.
2) Straighten the family room. This is where you’ll be sitting and “entertaining” for the most part. Get rid of the kids’ toys, the dogs’ toys, fluff the pillows, etc.

3) Tidy the shared/guest bathroom. Make sure the bathroom guests will use is clean and ready for use. The necessary room will eventually come into play.

Independent studies have shown the above objectives to be comfortably achievable within one hour.
————————

Now, the same one-hour-until-guests-arrive scenario, but with our less efficient (and far more often-used) priority list:

1) Change the sheet in the baby’s crib. People might want to see the nursery, and it’s important that the crib sheet is crisp and freshly laundered.

2) Begin a load of laundry. This is important because we only have about 10 days worth of clean clothes remaining.

3) Clean the master bathroom. The master bath is practically inaccessible to guests, but it is nonetheless a bathroom and it should be cleaned when cleaning is to be done.
4) Straighten the master bedroom. Although guests rarely glimpse its glory, we spend quite a bit of time there, so let’s just knock that out - since we’re cleaning anyway…

This is around the time the guests arrive, comfortable in the knowledge that we didn’t bother to tidy up the house prior to their arrival. At home, poor prioritizing is funny. At work, it can hurt you and your company.

I’ll readily admit that I don’t know every detail of the “negotiations” happening between Maryland government and the commercial watermen who depend on the Chesapeake Bay for their livelihood. But having lived in Maryland for over 30 years and witnessed firsthand the continued decline of the Bay and its once-abundant wildlife, you don’t have to have too many details to understand the fundamental issues facing the bay.

The Chesapeake is dying (some might argue it’s already dead) because of unchecked industrial and residential growth along its shores and tributaries. Another contributing factor is the largely unchecked commercial and recreational fishing/crabbing industry that draws whatever harvests it possibly can from the Bay year after year.

The political machine that governs this state (and nearly every other) is unable and unwilling to control industrial and residential growth in any significant way. There is too much money involved and politicians are never going to side with the long-term health of natural resources over an immediate cash influx from backing a new industrial complex or residential community. It’s just not going to happen in our current system of government. All the Bay has going for it on this side of the equation is a slow movement toward better standards in building, agricultural/farm run-off management and waste water strategies. But rest assured that things are still getting worse on this front, just not quite as quickly as they once were.

On the other side of the equation, we have the watermen — both commercial and residential — who introduce minimal pollutants into the Bay, but pull out its crabs, oysters and fish to the extent that populations of each are in precipitous decline and stand at historic lows. The watermen of the Chesapeake have a long history. They were fishing the Bay long before there were chemical factories and sewage treatment plants pumping poisons and pollutants into once-pristine waters. They have a vested interest in the environmental health of the Bay and surrounding areas. They are largely sympathetic figures in the eyes the “public” because they earn an “honest living” by working long, hard hours under difficult conditions. This sympathetic image has helped to protect their rights to continue to harvest dying populations of wildlife, even in the face clear evidence that these harvests should be dramatically limited or banned entirely.

Whether or not banning crabbing and oyster harvesting in the Bay would solve the problem is not worth arguing. It most likely would not bring levels of either one back in great numbers - at least at first. But there can be no arguing that instituting a 3- or 5-year ban on crabbing and oystering in the Bay would certainly not hurt the current situation. At this point, it’s worth a shot to try to give the ecosystem a chance to regain a foothold after literally centuries of pillaging by the commercial fishing industry. 5 years to let the crabs and oysters try to figure out ways to adapt to the continued flow of pollutants and pesticides and fertilizers that threaten their existence on a daily basis. 5 years to let populations enjoy natural, unimpeded cycles of reproduction, life and death. Predators and prey alike would benefit and the Bay itself would have a chance to begin to replenish itself. Maybe it wouldn’t help, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.

As for the watermen and the crab/oyster industry workers who would be negatively impacted by a ban, I think the Maryland state government (with perhaps a little federal cash thrown in) could easily absorb the cost of paying off these people and companies for the duration of any proposed ban. My overly simplistic approach would be something like this:

• Pay every waterman the average of their taxable income from commercial crabbing/oystering for the last 5 years, plus 10%. Of course, documented tax returns would be required in order to receive payments. Payments would be for the first 3 years of any proposed ban. Basically an incredibly generous severance package in exchange for our pleasant memories of honest watermen working the Bay back in the glory days.
• Watermen should also be given the inside track to apply for the multitude of new DNR positions that would be required to enforce the new ban and to track the impact of the ban on the populations of crabs and oysters. They could still be working on the water and perhaps gaining a new appreciation for the fragility of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
• Provide crab/oyster processing companies and specific laid-off employees with similar pay-offs for the crab/oyster product that was lost from the Maryland harvest for 3 years.

Maybe this approach would prove unsuccessful in the long run, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to try.

Well, I wouldn’t necessarily call what we’re on a “vacation” in the traditional sense, but it is a break from our normal routine in a place with better weather and fewer pets. So, I guess it qualifies on several levels. But working while I’m outside of my home office setting has proven to be no more difficult than working in my home office. And I’m the first to admit that my home office productivity is rarely great. So you have to keep the bar pretty low when you’re imagining exactly what I’m getting done while working remotely.

But I’ve found that from the standpoint of client contact and general information flow, I can work almost exactly as I normally would. It is in the administrative areas where things slip dramatically when I am away from my normal working environment. I decided not to arrange to bring QuickBooks or the printer/fax/scanner combination. As a result, I can’t do any real official accounting, generate invoices, write or deposit checks, etc. So anything related to that side of the business is going to have to wait until I get back at the end of the week. And despite those limitations, I did realize for the first time that I could do almost everything that I have to do from North Myrtle Beach that I can do from home.

With a cell phone, a laptop and a reliable high-speed Internet connection, I’m entirely capable of handling most aspects of our daily business activities without missing a beat. Granted, we’re in a relatively small space with a small baby and the increased distractions of warm weather and a great golf course immediately outside the door — but I “can” do everything that I normally do to keep things going. And this same approach would apply anywhere in the world where I have phone service and high-speed Internet.

There’s some freedom in that realization, knowing that I can leave for an extended period of time and not have to worry about slowing things down too dramatically. That said, there is always an anxiety associated with leaving my normal business routine for longer than a few days. We’ve been gone now for 3 business days (5 total) and I’m already creating reasons why I should be getting home sooner than we had planned. The fact is that there is little, if anything, that I could do better from home, but there’s a comfort level and a security knowing that you can be physically “there” in the event that “anything” happened.

Overall, I like the feeling of being able to work from anywhere, but the fact that I’m working keeps me aware of the fact that I’m not working in my normal setting, so it prevents any true relaxation. It’s still been a great trip — just not the “vacation” that I had hoped.

OK, I admit it…I’ve had my head in the sand for months now, brazenly ignoring this space to work on other projects and hibernate through a not-so-brutal Maryland winter. But it’s April now (it’s still too cold), so I decided to pop my head out the door both literally - by doing some yard work yesterday - and figuratively, by browsing the “recruitosphere” or “jobosphere” or whatever you want to call it. Side note: If you find yourself wearing out pants while doing work around the house and small carpentry projects, as I often do, I highly recommend Carhartt bib overalls or 12-oz. work pants. All you blue collar folks out there who don’t sit behind a keyboard for a living…you already know what I’m talking about.

Anyway, in my perusal of the “Interweb” for some new job sites out there (new to me, if not the world), I happened upon three that caught my attention. The first is “Linkup,” (Wait, isn’t that the name of our “link to us page?”) which promises to “Expose the Hidden Jobs.” Those damned hidden jobs…Oh, and YES that is the name of our link to us page…so go linkup….it’s OK, we’ll wait right here….
Seriously though, I know there are hidden jobs out there. The big job boards are littered with repetitive stuff, so that a smaller job board can find a niche by grabbing two or three jobs (or more) from a number of smaller employers and really carve out something nice. I haven’t done a thorough review of Linkup, but by virtue of reading the footer of the site, I do know that it’s offered by JobDig. Most interesting point: They charge a $20 “convenience charge” if you try to post a job that is not from your company. I think this should actually be called an “inconvenience charge,” but it’s all good. The charge to list all your company’s jobs is just $100.

The next site I came upon was Climber, which is for “passive job seekers.” I know from experience that there are a lot of those out there too, and many willing to jump from employer to employer in search of the highest rate of pay (full disclosure: I’ve got no problem with that). Most interesting point: On their site they ask “Have you been congratulated on a job well done at work in the last seven days?” I think that’s REALLY pushing the “get up and get out of your current job ’cause you’re worth way more than you’re getting paid now” button hard…but only a little. Also, I have to think of a new name for that button, because that one’s a bit wordy.

Finally, I happened upon Recruiting Blogs, and I’m not real sure how I missed it for this long. This is a recruiting social network created by “Slouch” on Ning. Slouch looks like HE was hibernating through winter in that photo. I know how he feels…I wear a wool hat at my desk sometimes too. Anyway, this looks like a pretty good network, with over 4,700 members already (I say “already,” but I don’t even know how long the site has been online in its current state).

I’ll have some more to report on the Insourced front soon, which is appropriate given that I’ve ignored this space in favor of further developing our job search functionality. More on that soon…

I read a Baltimore Sun article a few days back that noted the struggles that young people face when choosing the real estate industry as a profession. In very basic terms, the factors noted in the article are self-evident. That is, people looking to buy or sell a home or commercial property will often “discriminate” on the basis of age when choosing a real estate agent to represent them. This is nothing new, and is common in similar industries such as investment advising, insurance sales, etc.

On a related note, some real estate agents who are “unlucky” enough to still look like they’re just out of college even as they’re approaching 30 will go to great lengths to look and act older, such as always dressing formally, speaking formally, growing facial hair, driving an expensive car, etc. In short, anything that can be done to look older and more “experienced.” The whole situation is rather unfortunate, because there is no inherent disadvantage to being young when working in the real estate industry, other than perhaps a lack of experience. The reality, however, is that with a few years of experience as an agent, you’ll pretty much know everything (or at least most) of what you need to know to represent clients in an exemplary manner. This is especially true in the residential sector, where sales are fairly basic and don’t involve a tremendous amount of analysis. In fact, a 23-year-old who has been in the industry for 2 years is much more capable of representing a client than a 50-year-old “newbie,” but age, and note experience level, is the only attribute that can be easily determined on first inspection.

Of course, another factor at play in the current real estate market is that there are a lot of houses for sale, i.e. - a lot of “inventory,” but not many people out there to buy. This in itself is an oddity, as interest rates are low (the Fed cut the Fed Funds rate by .75% yesterday, March 18, 2008) and home prices are dropping. Despite all that, the market is fairly stagnant, so that the difficulties of starting a real estate career exist across the board, regardless of age and business experience. For those young folks wanting to get into the game, the deck is truly stacked against them.

My advice, as one who has been a business owner at a very young age (23) and who has a brother who worked in commercial real estate as a 23-year-old, is to simply study hard, act professionally, drive the nicest car you can afford (sorry, fancy cars project wealth and experience, no matter what) and be BETTER than the agent who is twice your age. It’s true that you’ll lose would-be clients due to your age and supposed lack of experience, but once you’ve served a client well, they will hopefully be a source of ongoing referrals going forward.

Sortis, LLC is a Madison-based marketing firm that provides Branding, Marketing, and Internet consulting services to clients across the United States. From small to medium-sized companies, Sortis delivers creative solutions and results. Since 1995, Sortis has focused on building and implementing campaigns based on Return on Investment that help our clients think outside of the box and focus on their individual company needs.

Sortis is looking for a creative, innovative Web Developer.

Requirements:

• High-level knowledge of web programming languages and database design (for web) PHP and .NET languages important.
• Minimum of 2 years experience required.  College experience counts
• Detail oriented
• Flash experience a bonus
• Experience with e-commerce a bonus

Job Description:
Sortis develops and redesigns multiple sites every year.  The Web Developer will be working with numerous clients, the lead Sortis consultant and an internal Sortis Marketing Project Manager at any given time on multiple Website projects. The individual we are looking for needs to be:

• Motivated and intrigued by challenges
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment under strict deadlines
• Professional and well-spoken
• Able to multi-task on a daily basis

All interested applicants can email their resume to:

JKlingbeil@SortisMarketing.com

Or Mail their resume and cover letter to:

Sortis, LLC
Attn:  Jennifer Klingbeil
700 Rayovac Drive
Suite 207
Madison, WI 53711

ALDI offer our District Managers a full year of training in order to prepare them for success. It’s an exclusive hands-on learning experience that immerses you into the day-to-day operations of ALDI, and exposes you to our entire business. You also receive your full starting salary of $70K throughout the training year.

The first part of your training will be spent in the store developing your knowledge of store operations such as merchandise ordering, scheduling, inventory and cash control. We use this time to help you develop your problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as your leadership potential.
In the second phase, you’ll be spending time with an existing District Manager, a more experienced peer who will help strengthen your skills and prepare you to supervise an entire district of your own.

Here’s how it breaks down:

An extensive 50-week hands-on program

2 weeks shadowing a Peer Advisor
26-week extensive in-store Management training
1 week Transportational Logistics & Administration
16 week intensive training with various District Managers
4 weeks of leading Peer Advisor’s District
1 week executive training with Directors and Vice President
various 1-day career development seminars
Salary:
1st year – $70,000
2nd year – $75,000
3rd year – $80,000
4th year – $85,000

Paid Vacations:
1st Full Calendar Year – 10 days
2nd–4th Years – 20 days
5th–9th Years – 25 days
10+ Years – 30 days

Benefits:
$70K Starting Salary
Executive-Level Responsibilities
Manage Millions Daily
Control Your Own District
Impressive Advancement Opportunities
Company Car- Toyota Camry
Generous Vacation
401 K
Retirement Savings Plan
Medical, Vision & Dental Insurance
Life & Disability Insurance

More information about the District Manager Training Program and other jobs with ALDI can be found at our US Careers Website at: http://www.aldiuscareers.com/

The most recent Insourced featured employer is Luxtera. If you have the skills, you might want to take a moment to learn more:

About Us:
Luxtera is a technology development Silicon Photonics company. Our technology platform enables a new breed of monolithic opto-electronic devices manufactured in a low cost CMOS process. Our vision is to deliver economic optical connectivity everywhere, from network level to intra-system level, and eventually chip-to-chip. Today, the company is applying this technology to single chip transceiver products that aim to deliver optical performance at cost points associated with legacy copper solutions.

Culture:
We place a high value on diversity as we can achieve our goal of hiring only “the best and brightest”. Our staff includes both experienced veterans from the world’s largest semiconductor companies and newly minted graduates from the world’s most respected educational institutions. We work closely with our board of directors and advisory board, who provide us with the valuable perspective that can only be gained from many years of experience at the uppermost levels of venture capital, industry, academia and government.

Quality of life is a key value at Luxtera and is a big part of the reason we’ve located in southern California. Carlsbad, just north of San Diego, offers an idyllic climate, the warmest ocean on the West Coast and access to over 70 miles of beaches. If you enjoy surfing, boating or scuba diving, this is a great place to live. The city of San Diego is within commuting distance and offers all of the amenities of a large city combined with a uniquely laid back attitude. The region offers some of the best schools in California.

If you are interested in employment with us, check us out at http://www.luxtera.com
You can apply via e-mail at: jobs(at)luxtera.com (replace (at) with @).

In any employment situation, upheaval is generally the norm - just ask the average American worker, who will plow through about 16 jobs during their working years. As a result, predicting that there will be major changes in the “recruitosphere,” that a major company will layoff thousands of employees or that a big name sports coach/manager will be fired isn’t so much a prediction as it is a statement of fact.

Some predictions from the obvious and not-so-obvious departments:

• Someone will register the domain recruitosphere.com and do something with it. Now…I wonder who owns that domain already…
• Monster.com will produce millions in revenue and will continue to be blasted for being unimaginative…
• IT staffing firms will hire Indian engineers on behalf of their clients, further proving that the world is indeed flat…
• Brian Billick WON’T be the coach of the Ravens (oops, too late). Rex Ryan will be? Hmmmm…maybe….
• Mick will have more grey hairs by the end of the year than at the beginning (thanks to little Mick, perhaps)…
• Jason Alba will network, continue his excellent blogging and generally continue becoming more of force in the employment “space”…
• Mick and I will write in this blog space more often than we did in November and December of 2007
• The Insourced operation will move to a new headquarters somewhere in Ellicott City, MD (mmm…nice)…
• Jason Alba (part 2) will be teased about Jessica being his sister at least ONE time during the year…mmmm….Jessica….
• Insourced will pass the 500,000 job mark by the 2nd quarter 2008…

That’s all I have for now. Back for more this month than last…I promise.

It’s been a while since I’ve written - ironically, it’s probably because my own work-life balance is out of whack. Not that I’m slacking, mind you - just been working very hard on other projects! I don’t think anyone would say that this concept, i.e. - the “work-life balance” is particularly new, but it’s certainly an idea that would have seemed quite foreign just 30 or 40 years ago. Back then, one expected to go to work for a company out of high school or college, work there until retirement, then settle comfortably (though not “wealthily”) into Boca Raton or some such warm-weather, middle class retirement paradise.

Now, we know that the average employee will likely bounce from job to job like a pinball. Perhaps workers’ shifting loyalty - from “company man” to “independent me-first thinking man” spawned the concept of work-life balance. And I don’t mean to suggest that there is anything wrong with a “me first” attitude; I mean, really, who SHOULD be first? The work-life concept has grown so popular, however, that even the giants of the job board world are picking up on it.

Yahoo! HotJobs actually has an ad that caught my eye the other day. While on Yahoo! (I may be the only person that uses the Yahoo! search engine as often as he uses Google), I saw the ad, which stated in bold letters: “Be a Better Work-life Balancer!” I think once you see that, you know the concept is here to stay. No longer will a qualified employee work long hours for meager pay without questioning it and, perhaps, specifically stating that question as “Is my work-life balance ‘in balance’?”