Why attackers can't take down Amazon.com

Hey all!  Not sure if everyone has been following the whole wikeleaks drama that has continued to unfold, but I have been paying attention to the tv news, NPR and stuff online.  Saw the hacker interview released on the tv news last night, heard some stuff on NPR and then was sent this article.  Worth a read.  Plus I love the final statement of the article........"So click away, holiday shoppers. Amazon's got your back."

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/09/technology/amazon_wikileaks_attack/index.htm

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Why work doesn't happen at work.

Hey there everyone.  Thought was interesting and wanted to share.  Definitely some things I can support from this 15 minutes as well as some things I can question.  At the end of the day I think we all do what "seems" to work best.  But hopefully it gets you thinking about how to work smarter and not harder.  Enjoy, BR

http://bit.ly/euze6B

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Amazon Launches Supercomputing In The Cloud

Hey there.  Cool things continue to happen in the cloud!!!

http://bit.ly/a6rq5a

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Tuesday Recruiting Humor

Hey there.  No witty entry about Sourcing or Research or our favorite buzzword, Candidate Experience.  Just a little humor to make you smile on this rainy gray day (Seattle at least).

Enjoy.  http://theoatmeal.com/comics/interviewees

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Hiring Talent in Sports and Business

Great little article shared with me via my Sourcing7 compadre, Marvin Smith.  Good read.

http://www.hci.org/lib/be-best-hire-best-sports-and-business?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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Worlds worst Recruiter video - worth a viewing

Hey there!  So if you have not seen this yet, take a few minutes and watch it. It can be your funny for the day. And when you get done watching it, if you are someone who is involved with hiring, and I mean anyone, ask yourself;am I walking into each and every interview (phone screen or in person) prepared to make a hiring decision. If not, then get it together people. If you don't know how much a bad hire costs, ask someone from your HR or Recruiting department, they'll be glad to let you know.

Have a good one, bryrei

http://www.youtube.com/user/DesignsOnTalent

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The AWS Start-Up Challenge 2010 is now open for applications!

Hey folks, just want to put the word out on the street that the AWS Start-Up Challenge is on.  See below for website and details.  Good Luck!!!

We are pleased to announce the launch of this year's Start-Up Challenge!

For those of you not familiar with it: every year, AWS runs the Start-Up Challenge to help young, promising start-ups get noticed and to compete for $100,000 (USD) in cash and credits. Full info at http://aws.amazon.com/startupchallenge/

We've made some important changes this year:
* We can now accept applications from 22 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
* We'll now recognize five regional semi-finalists from each of the three regions, at least six finalists, and one global grand prize winner.
* Start-ups must be currently using or in the process of using one or more of the Amazon Web Services. We will now accept entries from start-ups that have yet to launch.

We will be looking for applications which can grow into significant, meaningful businesses over time. We will look for implementation and integration of AWS services, originality and creativity, likelihood of long-term success and scalability, and overall effectiveness in addressing a need in the marketplace.

Again, full info is here http://aws.amazon.com/startupchallenge/ and if you have questions, feel free to post here or reach out to awsstartups (at) amazon (dot) com

Pass this on to anyone who is interested!

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Usage of Social Media by 500 Greatest Growing Companies

Hey there!  Hope everyone is doing well.  This is not my research, but I had to share as it's worth a read and to share.  This and other good articles can be found on the AIRS Alumni Group on Linkedin. Have a great week everyone. BR

 

This is quite an interesting study due to the fact it looks at the 500 fastest growing companies in the USA and how they are using Social Media.

 The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth recently conducted a new in-depth and statistically significant study on the usage of social media in fast-growing corporations. 

 The new study compares adoption of social media over three years (2007, 2008 and 2009) by the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest-growing private U.S. companies compiled annually by Inc. Magazine. For details about the 2009 Inc. 500 and the complete directory of the included companies, please visit Inc. Magazine’s website at www.Inc.com.

In 2007, the Center’s first study of this group and their use of social media was released and revealed that the Inc. 500 was outpacing the more traditional and larger Fortune 500 companies in their use of social media. For example, at that time, some research showed

•  8% of the Fortune 500 companies were blogging compared to
• 19% of the Inc. 500.

This difference continued in 2008 with

• 16% of the Fortune 500 blogging vs.
• 39% of the Inc. 500.

And it appears the Inc. 500’s lead in blogging will continue in 2009 with the Inc. 500 now blogging at a rate of

• 45%. (The update on the Fortune 500 is expected soon.).

Note: There has been a 237% increase in blogging by the USA’s 500 fastest growing companies,it is also interesting to note that significant 41% of those who don’t have a blog are intending to implement one.

This research proves once again that social media has penetrated parts of the business world at a tremendous speed. It also indicates that corporate familiarity with and usage of social media within the Inc. 500 has continued to grow in the past 12 months. 

Questions probed the familiarity of respondents with six prominent social media (blogging, podcasting, online video, social networking, message boards and wikis). In order to maintain the integrity of all comparisons, all those tools studied in the first two studies were included in this followup research.

In 2009, several new tools were added including the popular microblogging service Twitter and other popular social networking sites like Linkedin, Facebook, and MySpace.  

7  Highlights

1. Social networking continues to lead the way. The technology that continues to be the most familiar to the Inc. 500 is social networking with 75% of respondents in 2009 claiming to be “very familiar with it” (compared to 57% in 2008). Another noteworthy statistic around familiarity is Twitter’s amazing “share of mind” with sixty-two percent of executives reported being familiar with the new microblogging and social networking platform.
2. The adoption curves for different social media technologies are not all the same. Interestingly, while social networking and blogging have enjoyed growth in actual adoption, the use of message boards, online video, wikis and podcasting has leveled off or declined. The addition of Twitter (considered by respondents to be both a microblogging site and a social networking site) in the latest study shows that an amazing 52% of the Inc. 500 companies are already using this tool for their business.
3. Regardless of the particular technology, social media matters and is here to stay. Forty-three percent of the 2009 Inc. 500 reported social media was “very important” to their business/marketing strategy. And an incredible 91% of the Inc. 500 is using at least one social media tool in 2009 (up from 77% in 2008). In addition, as they ramp up their usage, the Inc. 500 companies are also seeking to protect themselves legally, with 36% having implemented a formal policy concerning blogging by their employees.
4. Social Media that has levelled off or declined are
• Message Boards 28%
• Online Video 36%
• Wikis 25%
• Podcasting 12%
5. Social Media that has increased
• Social Networking 80%
• Blogging 45%
• Twitter 52%
6. Online Video though slightly declining in use in corporations, their intent to to adopt appears strong with 36% planning to  to use online video, just behind Blogging
7. For monitoring conversations online on social media about their brand, 68% of companies were doing this in 2009

So are you planning to use social media or blog?

 

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Discovering the Bump app, the new business card.

Hey there. So I've been pretty heads down at work as we have been doing lots of hiring for Amazon Web Services, and we continue to hire as the year goes on. And with all the hiring going on and the continuous networking I/we do, I have not given out one business card in the 7 months I have been at Amazon.  Why you ask? For starters, I still have not ordered any. I know! Crazy huh.  Being that I spend most of my day "behind the scenes" sourcing, researching, "smiling and dialing", talking with hiring managers, etc. I share most of my contact information via email since that is how I connect with a lot of people.

Of course you can find me all over the 'net as well since I make myself fully accessible and searchable. But what about meeting people in person when I'm out and about? I used to do like everyone else and  either type their contract info into my contacts list on my phone or send them an email from my phone after typing in their email.  Then I came into 2010.

I loaded the Bump application (from Bump Technologies) on my iPhone and started "bumping" with whoever had the app.  Now it's not YET compatible with every phone, at least not that I know of, but I've been sharing it with everyone possible.  And believe or not, their are lots of people that still don't have this great little app for sharing contact info, pictures, etc.

Below is a nifty little video for you to watch about the Bump.  But it's really easy, and free. When we meet, I'll be sure to bump you my business card....because I probably still won't have ordered ones to hand out:-)

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Your Amazon Adventure starts today

Good Morning and welcome to a new work week.  As I'm pedaling into the office like I usually do, I spot this little figure on the sidewalk between a couple of our buildings in our new South Lake Union campus. Like most companies, we have New Employee Orientation on a regular basis for those that are starting their new adventure with us, and today is their day. Welcome aboard new Amazonians.  I wanted to post in case you find yourself starting to look around for a new adventure or are interested in having an informational conversation. 

Below is a link to my org's (Amazon Web Services) webpage, our Linkedin Group page and Facebook Fan page with some of latest tips, trends and happenings in the cloud computing space you can join.  You can also follow me on Twitter as well as connect with me on Linkedin to network.

Have a great week everyone.  BR

http://aws.amazon.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=49531&trk=anet_ug_grppro
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3321195485&ref=ts
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanreichert
@bryrei

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Funny idea

Hey there.  So lately my sourcing efforts have me "spending" quite a bit of time outside of Washington state.  California is one example.  I mean why not, as there is a lot of talent, tech and non-tech in the Bay area and some quality experience in the cloud computing space. 

And for the last few weeks, three times today alone, I connected with people that are interested in looking at new opportunities, but not looking to leave the Bay area.  In all three cases, all were employed and all have families (male and female leads).  I had contacted all three people in regards to one role in particular.

When I ran into my hiring manager last week, I told him about it and we both made a joke about getting yourself an instant family anywhere.

Now we were just joking around as he is a family man (wife and kids) so don't get bent out of shape.  We fully respect and support having a family, building a family, and the balancing act that goes into work and family. Relocation is almost always offered at all the companies I have recruited for, and is the case of this senior role I'm working.  As we were talking about recruiting/sourcing for local and out of state talent, I told him about www.instantfamily.com, my newest start up idea (it's a joke).

Home page reads as follows: In the market for a new opportunity and ready to make the move?  Relocating the family a problem? Not anymore with InstantFamily.  Leave your current one there and choose a new one with www.instantfamily.com.  As part of your relocation package, we will line you up with your own InstantFamily agent!  Never again will you miss out on that next great opportunity again because your family doesn't want to relocate.  I see advertising dollars dancing around my head!

Relax, I'm just kidding.  I've met a lot of great people in 2010 across the globe that have become a big part of my network and they haven't taken a job with us because it would require them to relocate.  They love where they live,love their current role and company or timing just isn't right.  And just because they aren't interested in relocating doesn't mean you should eliminate them from your network. 

So to all of those out there that have moved across the world for an opportunity and took your family with you, enjoy the adventures that come with it.  That is what life is all about. 

Safe travels!

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MyGofer (Sears and Retailing....really)

Check out this interesting article about Sears bringing you your groceries.  You heard right, Sears, via MyGofer.com, there year old service.  Check out the details.

http://bit.ly/bF79SA

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Teamwork - How is yours?

So one of the things I love to do is ride my bike, pedal power!  I commute, I do triathlons, mountain biking, bike racing, etc.  On Sunday, I participated in a road race and in my category there were about 70 of us in total that started.  The main pack of us were all together until we got to the base of this long nasty grind of a climb.  Long, grinding, winding, switchback and uphill.  The strongest riders were able to stay together, get to the top, and took off, while a good portion of the pack fell back a little bit and regrouped or got strung out at the top of the climb.

This was a three lap race, so this hill was going to put our legs to the test a couple more times. 

What I like about racing is the team aspect of it.  Lots of it within your own team; team rides, team tactics during racing events, etc.  But Sunday's race was like being a corporate kid, which I am.  It was about people from different departments (in this case from different teams) working together and communicating to achieve a goal/milestone.  For us, the goal was to work our way back up (bridge up in bike terms) to the main pack. We were sort of strung out, but as we got close to each other, a couple of us started talking about forming a pace line, taking short pulls, keeping a strong steady pace to bridge back up to the main pack.

And we did.  It took us a little time, but we got back on.  The hard work of each one of us "contributing to the goal" got us there.  In most cases, it could have not been done on just an individual effort.  Why? Because riding alone it's just you and the elements.  It's just your power pushing you through the wind and the rain.  While the main pack has 15, 20, 30+ people riding together, working a huge pace line, etc.  The main pack definitely has an advantage over the individual rider especially in certain conditions.

So now what? We're on lap two and here comes the hill again.  I'm a decent hill climber, but I know that I need to work my way to the front of the pack because I'm probably going to fall back a little bit as the stronger guys climb up the mountain.  And then it happens again.  I, along with a number of others fall off the back of the pack.  Again.

And again, even with a few of the same guys and a couple of different guys, we regroup after getting over the mountain and start talking about working together, how long our pulls should be, etc.  Because of our open line of communication, our willingness to contribute, we bridged back up to the main pack, and stayed with them to finish.

Both times this happened, our group was made up of 5-10 riders all from different teams.  We all had a goal in common we wanted and needed to accomplish and we worked together to achieve that goal.  When we all got back in to the main pack each time, we gave each other a smile, a head nod, a "nice work dude" because that is what team effort and working together is about.

I tell my racing story in this entry not to tell you how much I love riding (I do), but to tell you about working together as a team.  Working together as a team, not just in your own team but with other teams, other departments, and maybe even people from other companies.  Open up the line of communication more, leverage everyone's strengths (I hear this from friends from many companies), setting realistic expectations to name just a few.  It all starts with communication, including others (sometimes very early on) and planning how to attack the goal.

I'm not currently reading any books on this, but if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share it in the comments section. 

Have a great day.  BR

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Bike to Work Day

Aloha Friday everyone!  It turned out to be a great day to bike in for bike to work day.  While it was wet out, I had a good ride in.  Not to cold, the rain had already blown through and it was awesome to everyone participating.  Saw a handful of regulars out there and TONS of people that I have never bumped in to.  I hope for the masses that today was a day for them to kickoff their bike commuting efforts if they are not the hard core Puget Sounders that tough it year round.

Really want to give a shout out to all the volunteers out there, the businesses who participated and everyone who had a hand in making this happen.  Thanks for all the support!

The link below highlights my ride in this morning with my traveling companion SuMass.  He's a world traveler and likes to ride along on special occasions like this. 

Mahalo nui loa everyone and safe travels.  Pedal, pedal, pedal!  BR

http://picasaweb.google.com/bryrei/BikeToWork2010?feat=directlink

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Envy the Paper Boy

Hey there.  So I came across a new blog (for me) late last night and had to share, ironyuppie.com.  While he had some other good posts, reading the one on Envy the Paper Boy http://bit.ly/conCkS
was enough to make me rethink some of the things I have in place that keep me organized and on task.  It's an entertaining little read, go see for yourself. 

Enjoy the day, and someone please order me a triple tall mocha with some sunshine please!  BR

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Bike Commuting

Aloha Friday everyone!  I won't bore you with details because the article is a great read.  Virtual high 5 to the Bay!

Bicycles account for 75% of morning roadway traffic on Bike to Work Day

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/transportation/detail?entry_id=63532#ixzz0nvjSbzBl

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Puget Sound - The Silicon Forrest

So I remember this term being tossed around during the .com days as we were one of the hot beds for technology.  Considered smaller than what was going on in the Silicon Valley, but hot just the same.

While we need to figure out a new name for the technology mecca that we are, we remain a hot bed for technology companies because of the tech talent we do have in the area.  Google opened up a small office here and continues to grow it.  Now Facebook.  Yup.  For those of you who didn't see the article, here go.  http://tcrn.ch/aiLPWw

Time to pedal.  C-Ya

PS - feel free to send your name suggestions my way.  We should not be known as the Silicon Forrest anymore:-)

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Sourcing7 Social event 5/6/2010

Hey there.  I hope everyone's week has started off well here in the Puget Sound, stormy weather all.  Wanted to send out a little reminder as I believe spots are filling up fast.  We are excited about our sourcing special interest group and looking forward to our launch. 

All the details can be found at http://sourcing7.eventbrite.com/.  The Seattle Sourcing Social will be held on Thursday, May 6th from 5:30pm - 8:30pm at Twist.

Come socialize, meet the group and share your thoughts and ideas with us on what you would like to see shared in our Sourcing community. 

We look forward to seeing you there.  @bryrei

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Good article about "the cloud"

Hey there. I just got back from a 9 day technology free vacation.  I mean I was totally off the tech grid.  No email, no mobile phone, nada. Just the boat (catamaran to be exact), some good friends and the beautiful waters of the British Virgin Islands. But that's for another entry.

As I continue to play catch up and plow through mail, both work and personal, I came across this article I wanted to share.  So many things out there to read, and I know we all have our favs, so I wanted to share.

Have a great week everyone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/technology/19cloud.html

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Amazon Ninja Coder gets a mention in the WSJ!

For those of you who may have not read through the Wall Street Journal this morning about Ninjas in the marketplace, The Amazon Ninja Coder gets a mention! We are hiring Ninjas (aka SDE's). http://bit.ly/9tTvTQ

@bryrei on Twitter
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanreichert

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A people spotlight

Hey folks.  I have not blogged about my trip to Sourcecon in San Diego yet, but I'm going to use the work excuse.  Amazon is hiring and it's keeping me really really  busy (shameless plug I know, but it's true)!

On to business. Sourcecon had another great year and I promise to get my own little entry about it soon.  Following Sourcecon was the ERE conference and from what I have heard and watched on YouTube, it was a great conference as well.  I did not attend ERE, but had the opportunity to meet a wicked sharp and extremely funny Brand Manager by the name of Kat Drum.  Kat is a strong strong advocate for social media and employer branding, and from recent conversations, she really gets recruiting.

Starbucks happens to be down the street from Amazon (did I mention we are hiring? we are!)  and I have had the opportunity to do a little networking with Kat and a couple of her co-workers at Starbucks Recruiting who are really pushing their social media efforts and watching it pay off. If you and your company need a little motivation, a little guidance and even a little humor, you need to watch Kat's keynote presentation from ERE 2010 in San Diego.  Below is a shortened/highlighed 10 minute version.

Be sure to look for more from Kat and Starbucks as we roll through 2010!

Kat Drum ERE 2010 keynote presentation


Follow her on twiter: @katdrum
http://www.linkedin.com/in/katdrum
@starbucksjobs

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A day in the life of......at Amazon Web Services

Good day everyone. I'll keep this short so you can focus on the reading I'm sharing. You'll see me sharing more of this blog and it's post as time goes on as our group does like to share.  And in turn, I like to share with the masses to give you an idea of life at Amazon.  Keep in mind, this is just a short blurb to share a little bit about our Dev Support Engineer.  Daily the tasks and responsibilities challenge your skills, creativity, and knowledge. 

Enjoy and have a great day.  BR

http://aws.typepad.com/aws/2010/02/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-aws-developer-support-engineer.html

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Your job search, my rant.

Hey there folks.  Can you believe we are almost through Q1 of 2010? Q3 for my friends over at Microsoft. Crazy. I feel the need to write this little entry based on what I have seen the first three months of this year.  So those of you seeking a new adventure (work wise that is), this is for you.  By no means is it everything I have encountered, but just a snipit that I hope generates some thought.

The art, science, whatever, of "job hunting" has been going on for a long time and has been done in many ways.  No, no history lesson today as we need to focus on modern day because from what I'm experiencing in my recruiting efforts, people are not being savvy seekers.

I will start by saying, none of this will really be anything new.  So why put it out there?  Because I really want people to be successful in finding  their next great adventure and have the best job seeking experience possible.  And lot's of people are not working their search to the best of their ability.  The Do Nots in your search.

1) If you are applying for jobs online, ie - directly through a company's website, etc., apply for those jobs that best meet your skills and experience.  Yes, I know, it's not always black and white, but be smart about what you apply for.  For example, if you are targeting a Product Manager role, apply for those types of roles and ones similar.  Sometimes companies use different names; Product Manager, Program Manager, Project Manager, Product Marketing Manager, etc.  Don't just apply for titles, but really read over the job description and know what your applying for.  If you apply to 75 jobs at one company ranging from HR assitant to Technical Evangelist, no one is going to look at your resume because we (recruiting, HR, hiring manager, etc) assume that you have no idea what you want to do.

2) Leverage your network.  It will save you time and energy spent on applying online.  Most companies have employee referral programs and people get paid to referral qualified people that get hired.  So if you know somebody at the company, ask them if they would be comfortable referring you.  The saying goes, good people know other good people.  And who better to tell you what they think of where they work, than your friend or associate that works there. 

Now let's say you don't know anyone at the company, but you know someone who know's someone.  Ask if they are comfortable making an introduction to chat as you are interested in the company and possibly a role there and would love to hear what they think about the company and the environment.  

Ok, you don't know anyone who knows anyone.  LinkedIn.  Run a simple search on people that work at that company that are in Human Resources or Recruiting.  Send them a message via linkedin expressing your interest. You don't have to ask them to join your network, you don't know each other yet, but you can show your interest in the company and a position if you have found one that's a match.  Here is where I will say, do not waste people's time though.  If you do not have the background and experience the job/company requires, you may not hear anything.  While people don't mind doing a little career counselling for those making a job change, etc. Recruiting has a job to do.

3) Probably my biggest pet peeve in 2010; Not doing your homework and being prepared for your phone interview(s) and/or formal interviews.  This year I have seen more people sabotage their own search by not being prepared.  Resume looks good, check.  Your friend/associate referred you to the group and the position you interested in, check.  Landed a phone screen with the hiring manager, check.  Hiring manager asked if you checked out the site and what questions you had.Uh oh.  Didn't look at the site before the conversation.  Had no idea what services/products the group had to offer even though a link to the team's page is in the job description, so you didn't have any good questions.  Bad move.

We all know looking for a job takes a lot of time  But if you are serious about making a move, then you should take your job search seriously.  Bring your "A" game and things will go smoother than expected.  Successful phone screen(s) turn into formal interviews.  Successful formal interviews can turn into job offers.  It's hard work and not everyone is a match, but it's worth it for the right role.

There is so much more spinning in my head about people and the job search.  And while this entry might come off as a little rant, I really want you to have a great job seeking experience, a great candidate experience, and find that right role.

Good luck in the search.  Maybe later this week, I share a couple of To Do's in your search. 

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Who am I

Hey there.  My name is Bryan Reichert and I'm a Senior Sourcing Recruiter with Amazon Web Services.  I have been in the recruiting industry for over 12 years which includes time spent both the Agency and Corporate worlds.  While most of my career has been as full life cycle recruiter, over the last handful of years, I have found a strong passion for the Sourcing side.  I know that Sourcing is still really catching on at some companies, and others are finally seeing the value in Name Gen and Research (just to name a couple of things we do), and it's an exciting and challenging part of recruiting.  And while full life cycle Recruiters incorporate sourcing as part of their weekly responsibilities, they can't dedicate enough time and energy towards it because they are managing so many other pieces (ie - manage hiring manager candidate relationships, reporting, etc.). 

 

As a Sourcer, Researcher, or whatever catchy title you want to put on it, we have the time because it is our job and what we love to do.  It's all about leveraging the tools of the trade for candidate generation.

 

For now I will end this intro, but feel free to connect with me for networking or just general conversation.  Below is my linkedin profile as well as contact info.  I look forward to connecting, BR

 

Bryan Reichert
Sr. Sourcing Recruiter
bryrei@amazon.com  | 206.266.9815
www.aws.amazon.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanreichert
@bryrei on Twitter

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