Sunday, March 30, 2014

create an app/ database friendly resume/ Peter van Stolk

Mar. 10 Create an app: It must be the law of attraction, because yesterday I was thinking about creating an app.  Today I read an article in Metro called “No, you don’t have an app for that.”  They talked to Matt Coombe, co-founder of the Toronto-based app development company Get Set Games.

You have to learn how to code. He says it’s getting hard to get noticed in Apple’s App store and the Google Play marketplace for Android apps.  

“In the early days, it was basically, if you could make a decent app and get it out on the App Store, you had a very good chance for success. You wouldn’t necessarily become a millionaire overnight but you could make a decent salary for yourself.

“I think those days are over because there’s so much quality out there. There’s absolutely an opportunity there. It’s still available and people are still doing really great stuff and having a lot of success, but it’s a lot harder.”

“There are a couple of really great things about making free apps. One is you absolutely get to reach out to the most people possible with zero barrier to entry. Everyone is willing to give your game a try,” Coombe says.

“That means your download numbers and people who get to know about your game and your brand are several orders of magnitude larger than a paid app. The second thing is, when you have a large user base and a lot of people playing your games, then you get to introduce those same people to your next games and your next games, which is obviously a fantastic way to market your whole (roster) of games.”

http://metronews.ca/scene/966572/no-you-dont-have-an-app-for-that-think-again-before-quitting-your-day-job/

My opinion: I don’t want to create a game; I want to create something that helps people.

Database friendly resume: I cut out this 24 article called “Secrets to a killer resume: kept it ‘database-friendly” on May 28, 2012.  The info is from the book Knock Em’ Dead by Martin Yate.  It’s about using words and phrases to describe the job you want and then your resume will be favored by algorithms. 

When you mention your skills the 2nd or 3rd time, it will double your resumes ranking in a search of those words.

Understand what your customer is buying- focus on the skills and experience you have to a specific target job.

50% of your success is in the prep work- Pick one single target job that you have experience and credentials for.  Collect 6 job postings and prioritize the common requirements.  “Capture all the words and phrases used to describe the job you want in your resume to enhance the probability.”

Use a target job title- 7 out of 10 resumes to have a job title.  By having one, it gives a focus.

Ditch the job objective- use the right words up front can stand out in a database.

My opinion: What’s the difference between a target job title and job objective?  I Google it and it says this: 

“There is a difference between a target and an objective. Objectives define an endpoint of concern and the direction of chance that is preferred. Targets are established first, this is where one wants to be in the end.”


http://www.ask.com/question/difference-between-a-target-and-objective

Performance profile- Take the most common requirements from the “success is in the prep work” and rewrite them as your performance profile.  Make it a list of bullets so it’s easier to read.

Professional skills- or core competencies.  If you put these at the top, each word and phrase has to suit the job.

At the beginning of last year, I was like brainstorming what the year would be like and one of the titles was “The Year of the Office Job.”

Keyword scatter- “Repeat each skill listed in the Professional Skills section in the context of the jobs where that skill was developed and applied.”

http://www.careercast.com/career-news/seven-secrets-killer-resume

Social media website: I remember writing about this back in 2012.  You don’t have be original to be in business.  Facebook was not the first social media website.  Prior to it there was Myspace.  Now there is also Twitter and Linked In.  

I don’t want to create another one.

Mar. 11 Clickbait: In the Metro, they have a section called “Clickbait.”  It’s where writers write about an app and what it’s used for.

Fax machines: Do people still use fax machines?  They don’t seem very common.

Mar. 18 Ikea: I was reading in the Edmonton Journal on Mar. 15, 2014.  The article is “Ikea light bulbs to help refugees.”  Ikea has partnered with UNHCR to raise money to light refugee camps.  Until Mar. 29, Ikea will donate $1.50 to UNHCR for every “ledare” LED light bulb sold.  The camps need light for safety, income, and education needs.

Mar. 20 Peter van Stolk: I cut out this Edmonton Journal article “City entrepreneur tapped pop culture” by David Finlayson on Sept. 24, 2010.  The quotes I bolded, I’m going to put in my inspirational quotes.   

Here’s an excerpt of the article:

When you decide to take on two of the biggest companies on the planet in Coca-Cola and Pepsi, you're either crazy or extremely smart.

Peter van Stolk turned out to be very smart when he founded the Jones Soda Company in Edmonton in 1996, but he also did a lot of crazy things to get his product noticed.

Instead, he sold fresh fruit on Edmonton streets, then started distributing fresh, flash-frozen orange juice and other beverages with his Urban Hand company, which by 1996 was bringing in $7 million a year.

"I hated it because we were selling other people's product," van Stolk told the Junior Chamber International conference Thursday in Edmonton.

"So I sold everything and started Jones.

"The world doesn't need another soda company, or another company of any kind. It does need a great company."

"It's all about thinking differently, especially as your competition is not in Edmonton anymore, it's in China and India."

"Write down the 10 things that make you happy, and then the 10 things that make you happy at work, and see how fast you become successful." 

"The most important factor in creating change is understanding the future, not reacting to the present. If you do the same things you did yesterday, why the hell would you change?" 

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=42bdd78c-1a2e-461e-ada6-3f6cea030e59

IT jobs: I got an email from Job Boom that they will open a new Information Technology and Multimedia employment sector.  They will call it Digital Technology and Media.

Savings: I was reading in the Metro article “Protect savings from life’s surprises" on Feb. 11, 2014.

“According to actuarial statistics, the average Canadian has a one-in-three chance of becoming disabled for 90 days or longer, at least once before the age of 65.  The average length of a disability longer than 90 days is almost 3 yrs.”

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