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CYBER
CHATTER
Dig Deeper
By Arun
Katiyar
 The
last edition of Cyberchatter ("Digging in the Dirt") dealt with
job and career sites. Ever since, I've been reeling under an avalanche of
e-mail. Can I have the URL for Monster Talent Market? (Here it is, Mohan
-- www.talentmarket.monster.com). My strength is in researching data; what
kind of dotcom will employ me? (I've already answered that, Jyotsna). I
don't want to work for left-brained clients, so which online company
should I look at? (Dennis, there are left-brained clients everywhere).
Clearly, there's a trend here. People from
all walks of life want to dot their CVS with a com. While this is good
news for talent hungry dotcoms, it often leads to confusion in the HRD
team. How on earth do you screen a person for a position that didn't exist
until last year? How do you figure out if the guy selling package tours to
Mauritius will make a good vendor for an online product? Will he be able
to live up to the title of Manager, Business Acquisition? Will the girl
who claims to have sold VSATs be able to handle the position of
Syndications Manager? Will they all fit into the New Economy of the
Connected World? So, here are four rules for dotcom hiring and firing that
will help you identify top talent.
Rule 1: Follow an old saying: Them
that's got shall get. This means if a person was good at one thing, he can
be good at another. A finicky caterer may make a good online
customer-relations manager; a reliable gofer at a movie production house
may think of innovative ways to serve content. Basically, don't look for
knowledge of HTML; instead, look for those obsessed with learning and
understanding consumers needs.
Rule 2: Look for the deadline
obsessed. Those who work with clearly defined targets, dates and figures.
These are the kind of people who quickly move from one option to another,
ensuring that there are no delays. In the Internet business, delay can
kill a good product.
Rule 3: Hunt for vision. Wait for
the candidate who pushes an idea at you instead of quizzing you about work
conditions, compensation and hierarchy. There's nothing worse than getting
stranded with a person who has no personal vision that drives him beyond
the creation of a web page.
Rule 4: If the person you employ
doesn't add up to at least one of the above rules, help him find a job
with your competition.
NET SOURCING
A b2b marketspace allowing companies to
locate software development firms worldwide can be found at
www.itsquare.com. Clients and vendors can post their requirements here and
locate talent from around the world. it Square sources out projects
requiring development of Net games, web-based payment systems and dynamic
content management. These projects range in size from $2,000 to $400,000.
Basically, you describe your requirements at itsquare.com and vendors bid
for them. Harvi Sachar, CEO and founder of itsquare.com, says there's
great demand for bringing talent to a project without physically bringing
employees onsite. In other words, it matchmaking is here. If you run a
software firm, it's time you looked for a client at it Square.
SECOND CHANCES
Garage sales? Want to exchange your
precious 33 and 1/3 rpm records for an Enfield? Looking for antiques,
pets, household appliances? Try SecondSale at www.secondsale.com,
obviously a New Delhi-based site going by the Delhi-centric users -- Hindi
movie tapes from VSS of New Delhi, badminton racquets from Amit of Noida,
carpets from Bhuranih of Vasant Kunj, IIT-JEE preparation material on
auction from Dinar of Gurgaon ... you get the idea. The site's slogan is
"Why trash it when you can cash it?" So, the next time you have
some old toys, tools or trinkets to get rid of, try SecondSale with its
auctions, garage sales, barters and what have you.
CLICK IT
If you're into photography, a camera is
just a mouse click away at Tata Interactive's smooth new site
www.indiaphotography.com. It's packed with reviews, tips from professional
photographers, shopping guides, information about photography workshops, a
store to purchase photography equipment, a message board, etc. Although
the pages download pretty fast and the site is on the whole quite well
designed, the works of Indian photographers are sadly missing. For this,
try www.photoserve.com which may not be elegantly designed and equipped
with the features indiaphotography.com flaunts. But it showcases one of
India's more interesting talents in Farrokh Chothia.
MIDDLE MAN
Who said the Internet was not for the
middle man? Take a look at Jayant Damle's Internet Broking Pvt Ltd at
www.ibroking.com, an online trading portal that lets brokers get online
orders from clients for stocks listed on the BSE and NSE. Currently,
brokers can register for a free 30-day trial. Later, the site will charge
a subscription fee as well as skim a percentage off each transaction.
"With banks coming up with online banking and fund transfer
mechanisms, ibroking.com will be able to better leverage the huge online
financial services revolution happening in the country," says Damle.
One of these days, when the Net is delivered over a mobile phone, sites
like these will be the ones that set cash registers ringing.
Arun Katiyar is chief operating
officer of India Today Group Online. His e-mail address is akatiyar@india-today.com.
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