Update on petitions:

BLOGSUNNYSIDE has been informed that the discipline/termination hearing for Pam Sandifer and Terri Rhode will be moved to next week.  As a result, additional petition signatures will be gathered and presented at City Hall on December 14, 2009 at 5:00PM, instead of December 7 as originally planned.

The following is text of a press release being sent to local media:

December 6, 2009

4:00PM

***For Immediate Release***

Due to what appears to be the intent of INTERIM City Manager Jim Bridges to hold a discipline/termination hearing for City employees Pam Sandifer and Terri Rhode right before Christmas, a petition is being circulated to gather signatures supporting that all facts be considered before taking action.

One of the first actions taken by Mr. Bridges as INTERIM City Manager was to halt an investigation into the work environment at City Hall that was undertaken while Eric Swansen was City Manager. This is not the only investigation that has been launched into the work environment there.

Two different investigators, Larry Hellie (appointed by the City’s contracted legal firm) and Alan Key (employed by the City’s insurance carrier), have stepped forward, and are willing to meet with the Sunnyside City Council, during a Special Meeting Executive Session to discuss their findings regarding the environment for personnel working at City Hall. Their findings have never before been received by the City of Sunnyside.

Concerned citizens want the City Council to be fully informed before action is taken by the INTERIM City Manager on personnel matters. I agree, and am fully endorsing the petition’s call for a meeting to receive this new information.

The text of the petition reads as follows:

“We the undersigned, petition the City Council of Sunnyside to postpone the Discipline/ Termination hearing of Pam Sandifer and Terri Rhode until the City Council calls a special session and hears all of the evidence. Specifically the reports of the two investigators, Larry Hellie and Alan Key which the city has refused to receive.

The actions of the interim City Manager in this case, appear to be driven by personal malice toward Sandifer and Rhode. He has also stopped one investigation and refused to accept a report on another.

All we ask, is that the City Council hears ALL THE EVIDENCE not just that selected by the Interim City Manager.”

To quote City Council Member Theresa Hancock:

“I expect an open, transparent government with quality services delivered with honesty and integrity.”

The government should make informed decisions as well.

Copies of signed petitions will be presented at City Hall on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 5:00PM.

–

If you would like to print a copy of the petition and present it at City Hall with the others being collected, here is a copy you can download:

petition sandifer rhode

The IIM site: http://www.ioim.org.uk/WorkAsAnInterim/index.asp
The IIM Blog site: http://instituteofinterimmanagement.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/the-interim-management-value-proposition/

Download it at: http://filesocial.com/1rfplls

The government has published the results from its consultation on changes to Conduct Regulations. It had been feared that changes would be made to the Limited Company opt-out but thankfully this has not been touched for either limited company contractors or umbrellas.

Read the ARC News bulletin for more information.

Register for Interim Jobs

Saya Shah Iskandar dengan sukacitanya ingin memaklumkan kepada semua sekolah di Kedah bahawa Bahagian Audit Sekolah Kedah akan menjalankan pengauditan interim bermula pada November 2009 ini. Oleh itu ingin dimaklumkan supaya pihak sekolah bersiap siaga dan menyediakan semua dokumen yang diperlukan sehingga bulan Oktober untuk tujuan pengauditan interim ini.

Berikut adalah definisi dari Audit Negara [link]

4.0 DEFINISI

(a) Pengauditan Interim

Pengauditan yang dijalankan sebelum penyata kewangan diterima bagi membantu mengesahkan ketepatan Penyata Kewangan Tahunan. Terdapat 2 aspek pengauditan interim iaitu pengauditan sistem dan pengauditan transaksi.

(i) Pengauditan Sistem

Pengauditan ini dijalankan untuk menentukan sama ada tahap kawalan dalaman
sistem perakaunan yang wujud di pejabat auditi adalah mencukupi dan
memuaskan. Antara sistem yang perlu dikaji ialah sistem bayaran, terimaan,
pelarasan jurnal dan gaji di peringkat Pejabat Perakaunan.

(ii) Pengauditan Transaksi

Semakan terhadap rekod dan dokumen perakaunan yang diproses melalui sistem
perakaunan dan kewangan berkomputer atau secara manual yang beroperasi di
pejabat auditi. Tujuannya ialah untuk mengesahkan sama ada rekod dan
dokumen tersebut telah disediakan dengan sempurna, tepat, kemaskini dan
selaras dengan kehendak peraturan kewangan serta undang-undang.

p/s Mungkin ada yang tertanya-tanya bagaimanakah/ apakah pengauditan sistem itu? Sebenarnya untuk sekolah-sekolah pengauditan sistem adalah seperti yang terkandung dalam Bas-08 yang diperakukan oleh pihak sekolah. Contohnya seperti Kawalan Terimaan, Kawalan Bayaran dan Kawalan Pengurusan. Sila perbetulkan sekiranya saya silap.

InterimGAAPS are delighted to report a significant upturn in the Interim recruitment market.

New clients are joining the unbelievable world of Interim Management and NEW roles are coming in at a measured tempo, in particular, we are seeing a vast amount of clients understanding the significance of Solvency II and bringing in specific Interim for these important projects.

We are continuing to build on our foundation of ethics and experience together with client satisfaction and in so doing, are strengthening our position in the Interim market.

Register for Interim positions

Documentaliste bibliothécaire (H/F)

91400 Saclay – Intérim

L’agence Manpower GIF SUR YVETTE recherche pour l’un de ses clients un Biblothécaire Documentaliste H/F.

Vos missions :

- Prise en compte et suivi des demandes d’achats d’ouvrages bibliothèque et unités (relation avec les fournisseurs, gestion des statistiques et des factures).

- Assurer des permanences à l’accueil de la bibliothèque, apporter conseil et assistance au public dans les recherches d’informations (catalogue des ouvrages et différentes ressources en ligne).

- Assurer les opérations courantes de prêt et de retour des ouvrages, de catalogage succinct, d’équipement matériel et de mise à disposition des ouvrages.

Votre profil :

- Formation BAC + 2 ou 3 spécialité en documentation ou DUT métier du livre.

- Connaissance et expérience dans un métier similaire indispensable.

- Qualité humaines : Autonomie, organisation, capacités rédactionnelles et bon relationnel.

- Connaissance des outils de bureautique et anglais de base.

- Connaissance du logiciel Ex-libris et/ou des nouvelles technologies de l’information serait un atout.

Contrat : Intérim

Date de début : Dès que possible

Durée : 3 mois

Salaire : Selon expérience

Statut : Non Cadre

Lieu de travail : 91400 Saclay

Expérience demandée : 1 an

Agence Manpower : GIF SUR YVETTE

14 RUE HENRI AMODRU , 91190 GIF SUR YVETTE

Postulez en ligne : http://www.manpower.fr/manporedir.jsp?pid=671&url=http://www.manpower.fr/emploi/doRechercheOffres!searchByIdOffre.action?idOffre=901030%26partenaire=alerte-e-mail

Source : Manpower

Some great sales are going on at the moment.  First, is Dalkey Archive’s holiday sale featuring either 10 books for $65 or, for the person who wants to do all their holiday shopping in one place, 20 books for $120.  Shipping is already included in both packages, at least for shipping to a US destination.  Some recommendations to get your list started are Gabriel Gudding::Rhode Island Notebook, Warren F. Motte::Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature, John Ashbery::A Nest of Ninnies, Stanley Elkin::The Living End, and Jacques Jouet::Mountain R.

I’m not sure exactly if this can be called a holiday sale, but subscriptions for the 2010 Ugly Duckling Presse catalog are now on sale for $150.  You receive 20+ books over the course of the year (according to UDP it is “everything we make in an edition of 300 or more), which is a deal that is pretty difficult to beat, all published and printed with great care by UDP.  The subscription list is capped at 200, so you don’t want to miss out like I did for the ‘09 list.  I already have my ‘10 subscription nailed down, in case you were afraid I might miss out again.

The literary journal Ninth Letter has also begun a holiday sale (scroll down a bit to see the info).  1 year subscriptions have been reduced to $15.  1 year subscriptions + 2 back issues is $21.95.  And single copy back issues are $5.

Interim is also offering a discounted subscription price.  3 years + 1 back issue of your choice for $28 (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Brock Lesnar is very ill

While UFC 105 gave us the return of Michael Bisping and a controversial win awarded to Randy Couture, the largest news came after the event when Dana White annouced that Brock Lesnar was very ill and that an Interim Heavyweight belt could be in the works. Let the speculation begin!

With Brock out for, what appears to be, quite a while, the door to the heavweight division is wide open once again. With the likes of Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir and Antonio Noguiera all chopping at the bit to either prove themselves or redeem a previous loss, the next couple of months in the UFC should be exciting.

With that being said, there are several possibilities that can happen regarding a possible Interim Heavyweight Championship belt.  With Shane Carwin being the number one contender, as he was to fight Brock Lesnar in UFC 106, it is only right to assume that he has locked a spot in the Interim Heavyweight match.  However, Carwin just underwent knee surgery and should be out of action for a while. Regardless, he was the number one contender and if a interim belt is awarded he will be one of the two fighting for it.

That leaves the likes of Antonio Nogueira, Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir to serve as his possible opponent. Mir is scheduled to fight Cheick Kongo in an upcoming event so he can essentially be written off as opponent for the interim belt. That leaves Nogueira and Velasquez, who were originally supposed to fight to determine the number one contendership to the Heavyweight belt at UFC 108. However, with Nogueira out with a staph infection, that fight was postponed. That basically leaves Velasquez as the only fighter available to fight in the next couple of months.

It appears as though, as intriguing as the speculation is, the Heavyweight division will be on pause for a month or so until some of it’s stars including Carwin and Nogueira return to health. My opinion is that Dana White will put Velasquez in a fight in one of the next UFC events to get him fighting. Then if Nogueira returns before Carwin does, there will be a number one contendership fight between Nogueira and Velasquez with the winner facing Carwin. However, if Carwin returns first, we should be primed to see a Velasquez vs Carwin Interim fight. 

Now this is all speculation, hindering on Brock Lesnar not being able to return to action for quite a while. The UFC experienced an Interim Heavyweight belt once before and it provided some drama and much needed excitement, so whose to say that these injuries aren’t a good thing for the UFC. Only time will tell.

I’ve done 10 interim CEO / interim COO gigs during the last 10 years.  In my view, there are four cases when hiring an interim CEO make sense:

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.

.

1. For The First 3 – 18 Months of a Startup: As detailed in this post (which in turn was prompted by Flybridge Capital Partners venture capitalist Michael Greeley’s recent post) there are times when hiring an interim CEO at the formation of a startup makes sense.  Adding the experience of a senior, successful entrepreneur to the passion and vision of the founding entrepreneurs can increase the likelihood of the venture’s success.  (This is the role I played at Ember Corporation.)
2. Helping a Founding CEO: Often, later in a startup’s life, a founding CEO can use help.  Rather than terminating the founder and “throwing the baby out with the bath water,” a better solution might be to bring in an interim COO to counsel the founder, and – in many cases – to actually assume some hands-on, day-to-day duties for some number of months.  When the company moves to the “next level,” then the founder can again assume full control. (This is the role I played at Eink.)
3. Clean Up to Attract an Industry-Specific CEO: Sometimes a company wants to hire an “industry-specific” CEO to have the venture really take off.  But often an executive search firm will say that – until things are “cleaned up” – top-notch CEO candidates from the industry cannot be attracted.  An interim CEO has the very clear remit of cleaning up the place for the next person.  (This is the role I played at HeartSine in the UK.)
4. Due Diligence for Further Investment: Often the investors have been asked to invest further in a company that has not met plan. For a variety of reasons, the investors often want a person of their choice placed inside the company to manage this next round of investment.  (This is what I was charged with doing at CR2 in Dublin, though the way I started the assignment was a bit unorthodox.)

Do these interim CEO / interim COO assignments always work out?  No.  Startups and turn arounds are both high-risk ventures.  Some turn out well.  Others do not.  But in all cases I’ve worked with great people; and it was these great people – and not I – who, with a bit of guidance and leadership, took the company to the next level.

Many lessees enter into lease transactions that they believe are competitive based on faulty voting and assumptions. Most lease rate calculations do not take interim rent into account. Interim rent is the trap door that the owner can get the increase in rental volume. It is unpredictable and the amount can be arbitrary. By understanding how interim can impact your lease rent, you can close the trap door and enjoy the lease amount you thought you negotiated.

What is InterimRent?

Interim rent, also known as Rent's help, is the rent that accepts a landlord charges a tenant from the time the lessee the leased equipment until the official start date of lease. Most leases begin on the first day of the month following receipt of equipment. In a lease with monthly payments, interim rent is calculated as follows: Multiply the number of days in the transitional period by the monthly payment amount and divide the product by 30 In the extreme case, interim rent can add an almostcomplete periodic payment to the lease. In these cases, the effective lift leasing rate is dramatic.

The impact of interim rent in extreme cases can be seen in the following example: Suppose you take a 36-month rental of equipment, the cost of 100,000 U.S. dollars. Also assume that the monthly payment of $ 3113 per month is paid on the first of the month. Assume that the lease allows you to acquire ownership of the equipment for $ 1 at lease end. Therefore, your effective lease rate of 8%.

Nowassume that the interim lease period of 29 days. For simplicity's sake, we will reduce the time for a full month, and then add the lease. The new effective tax rate for 37 in the amount of $ 3113 is 9.7%. The new rate is more than 20% higher than the originally specified by the landlords. This higher rate is a trap door in your lease that produces more costs for you and a higher return for the landlord.

The purpose of the Interim Rent

Many landlords justify interim rent as compensation forundertake to pay equipment vendors on behalf of tenants in connection with leasing transactions. As further justification, the owners pointed out that tenants have use of the equipment during the transition period.

Problems with the interim rent

There are two flaws in the arguments offered by these landlords. First interim report is exorbitant rent, as it on the regular lease payment instead of borrowing the tenant based rate. Since each lease payment is a return of capitalComponent, the periodic payment of a suitable standard for interim rent calculations use. A calculation based on the tenant's borrowing rate is probably a fair measure.

The second flaw in this argument is that landlords often pay for the equipment during the transitional period. You can have no additional costs incurred during this period. The result is that the tenants caused a significant increase in the effective lease rates, while landlords are able to sneak an extraYield through a trapdoor in the lease. Can hire interim, a competitive lease turn in a relatively high transaction costs.

Solutions

Savvy tenants looking for ways to reduce or eliminate rent interim report. They seek to ensure that the lease deal, for which they acted preserved. Here are five strategies obtuse to rent the impact of the interim:

1. Eliminate rent interim report. Try a lease that includes interim rent negotiate. One way to eliminate interim rent, have seen a transitionconsidered as a partial payment period. Another part payment period may be added at the end of the lease, so that the two periods constitute a full payment period.

2. Interest paid rent instead of the interim report. Instead of paying rent for interim, the periodic payment, based on the interim payment based on the implicit transaction costs and vote, or your borrowing rate. This method will eliminate the return of capital component, which plagues most of the rent to preliminary calculations.

3. Limit, or the fixingfor interim rent. If you do not remove for interim rent, you can try to negotiate a limit on it. You can offer the landlord a fixed transition period, regardless of the equipment purchase date.

4. Managing devices deliveries. Another strategy is to coordinate with the equipment suppliers to schedule equipment delivery and acceptance towards the end of the month. End-of-the-month declines would rent a reduction in the provisional, since ensuring the interim periods would be short.

5. Sale-leaseback –end of the month. The last strategy could, if allowed, the landlord, you are planning a sale-leaseback transaction for newly acquired equipment end of the month. This strategy would also guarantee during a brief transition period.

It is important to understand the impact of interim rent for your lease. Rather than assume that you will receive the lease payment quoted to carefully review the lease agreement. If your lease includes rent, temporary, plan to negotiate this function. Use one of the above strategies to reduce these to potentiallycostly aspect of your lease. Even if you can not remove the interim-rent trap door, you can seal in the situation.

Riprendo la serie di “Notizie dalla periferia” perchè, finalmente, qualcosa sembra muoversi negli sperduti territori degli Ispettorati del Dipartimento per le Comunicazioni.

Cominciamo dalla curiosa questione delle ispezioni sulle società cooperative.  Il D.M. di riorganizzazione del Ministero ha affidato agli Ispettorati Territoriali questa nuova competenza, che però è nuova solo per noi ex-Ministero comunicazioni.

Infatti si tratta di un compito che fa capo al Ministero dello sviluppo economico fin dal 2001. Solo che, mancando allora le strutture periferiche, è stata fatta una convenzione con il Ministero del lavoro per utilizzare il personale delle Direzioni provinciali e regionali di quel dicastero.

All’alba della riorganizzazione del 2008, il MSE scopre di avere dei bellissimi ispettorati territoriali,  e allora perchè non affidare a questi ultimi anche questa competenza? Detto fatto, arriva la circolare “come diventare ispettori di società cooperative in tre settimane”, con tanto di patentino. Basta il diploma e saremo lanciati verso un futuro radioso di non ben precisate prestazioni “oggetto di specifica retribuzione” e “fuori dall’orario di lavoro”….

Un collega mi ha fatto notare che con lo stesso criterio potremmo, tramite apposito corsettino, trasformare gli amministrativi in tecnici e viceversa, a seconda delle necessità contingenti. Io aggiungerei che, se si parla di corsi,  non sarebbe male organizzare quelli che ci servirebbero per orientarci un po’ meglio nel labirinto delle attuali “comunicazioni elettroniche”. Ma questa è storia vecchia.

Nel frattempo risulta che chi già faceva (e sta continuando a fare, che io sappia) quel lavoro stia tentando di “trapiantarsi” negli Ispettorati, proponendosi anche come “tutor” degli aspiranti ispettori.

Tutta questa storia è nota agli addetti ai lavori da tempo, ma trovo singolare che non se ne trovi traccia in nessuno dei comunicati sindacali che parlano della circolare ministeriale.

Da una parte si dice che si dovranno proporre cose tipo “liquidazione coatta”, “commissariamento” e altre amenità nei confronti delle società controllate (non so agli altri, ma a me queste parole qualche preoccupazione me la provocano), dall’altra che ci sarà una retribuzione da 200 a 600 euro “a seconda dellla complessità della pratica”. Ma quale pratica? Di cosa stiamo parlando? E se si va a scavare un po’ in rete si scopre che ci sono grossi problemi di blocco delle attività ispettive e contenziosi in essere perchè gli attuali ispettori non percepiscono i compensi… (per chi volesse farsi una cultura, consiglio questo sito)

Alla fine della fiera però abbiamo solo quindici giorni per rispondere. Il tempo per fornire qualche informazione in più comunque c’è. Vedremo se qualcuno colmerà il vuoto, altrimenti viene il sospetto che si tratti di uno specchietto per le allodole fatto brillare per mascherare quello che sembra più che altro un salto nel buio. E poi non si era detto che gli Ispettorati fanno già  fatica ad assicurare i compiti istituzionali con l’attuale organico? Mentre qui si rischia di perdere una decina di persone a sede per svolgere un’attività che non ha niente a che vedere con ciò che abbiamo fatto finora.

Passando a notizie più rassicuranti, Liguria, Sardegna e Veneto avranno a brevissimo nuovi direttori ad interim. Per la Liguria abbiamo già il nome: si tratta del dott. Mauro Toni, proveniente dalla divisione V della Direzione generale pianificazione e gestione dello spettro radioelettrico. La soluzione dell’ interim non è delle migliori, ma almeno ora abbiamo una figura dirigenziale a cui fare riferimento (anche se a mio parere  finora non ce la siamo cavata malissimo anche senza) .

Infine, udite udite, tutti gli Ispettorati saranno collegati in videoconferenza entro fine anno. E qui permettetemi di essere un po’ scettico. A Genova la videconferenza ci sta da sei-sette anni, e finora l’ho usata solo io per parlare con qualche volonteroso della Fondazione Bordoni che periodicamente controlla se siamo ancora vivi.

Siccome non voglio essere accusato di essere un disfattista-sfascista-catastrofista e altri -ista a vostro piacimento, concluderò affermando che in ogni caso l’attenzione verso le periferie è positiva, e penso sia il caso di non negare a priori una possibilità a chi dice di voler cambiare le cose. Quindi,  auguri a tutti e buon lavoro.

Quick update: today, the suspense and anticipation that’s been building up for the past week was shattered in one fell swoop. Turns out I will heading off to Pattaya in March. Looking at the list indicates that the system is less “random” and more lazy than previously thought — it seems to be based on first names. Overall, the group is a bit random (no seniors, WTF), but the promise of more Coombsian shenanigans makes it all better.

Anson An Sheng LEE       M      9
Christa SCHMIDT     F     9
Christy WONG     F     10
Coco Zoelle CHEN     F     10
Elizabeth MOK     F     10
Felisa Wei HSIEH     F     11
Janet KWAN     F     11
Janet LIU     F     10
Jennifer TSAI     F     11
Jennifer WONG     F     10
Jordan LEM     M     10
Lauren DINWIDDIE     F     11
Lauren SIANO     F     10
Madeline SCOTT     F     10
Matthew ZHU     M     10
Maurice LEE     M     11
Michael CHIANG     M     11
Samantha LEE     F     9
Senna LAMBA     F     9
Stephen SUEN     M     11

In unrelated news, check out this hot-as-fire 80kidz mix of Metric’s track Help I’m Alive. I’m shivering with giddy delight as I listen.

Help I’m Alive (80kidz Remix) by Metric (download)

” Soluciones de gerencia para situaciones de crisis” , la experiencia de nuestros profesionales al servicio de las empresas en procesos de transición.

RISC Interim cuenta con un equipo de ejecutivos experimentados y sectorizados.

La contratación de nuestros servicios supone dedicación plena o por días de un profesional experimentado con muchos años de gestión en sus espaldas. Nuestros clientes contratan un ejecutor que lleva incorporado la sabiduría y experiencia de toda una organización, ya que todo el equipo de socios está detrás de la misión encomendada aportando su área de experiencia.

Más información

I agree with venture capitalist Michael Greeley of Flybridge Capital Partners who recently stated that building companies demands great passion, vision and intelligence but “it also helps to have done it before.”  He goes on to say that what the marketplace really needs are “senior successful serial entrepreneurs” to serve on the next generation of entrepreneurs’ boards, to open up their rolodexes, and to share what worked and what didn’t work. He ends by noting that, “such mentorship is difficult to find.”

I would like to build on that suggestion; rather than having these serial entrepreneurs simply serve on boards, I suggest that in some cases they should actually serve as the startup’s interim CEO while the company is getting off the ground.

Every startup has a myriad of details and actions that need to be done. Rather than having a board member who simply advises, “You need to do this; and you need to do that,” in many cases the startup would be better served by a hands-on CEO who rolls up their sleeves and actually does “this and that.”

Once the startup is off the ground, say in 3 to 15 months, then the interim CEO can “morph” into that board position that Greeley suggests.

I base my recommendation on having been the first businessperson to join five different startups. And I base it on having completed ten interim CEO / COO assignments during the last decade, some at startups and some at turn arounds.  In half the cases the founder asked me in, while in the others it was the investor that initiated the assignment.  Most have nice exits, but that’s not always the case.

Each engagement generally lasts 3 – 12 months.  And each has been a hands-on, operational role, not a consulting / advising role.

I’ve written a handful of short blog posts on interim management, answering questions like,  “When does it make sense? What’s a typical engagement like? What do you do the first day; the first week?  What does it take to be a good interim manager?

People who know me say that fifth or sixth post down – where I tell how the first thing I did at one turn around was to clean the kitchen! – says a lot about who I am.

If you’re forming a startup, consider finding one of Greeley’s “senior successful serial entrepreneurs” to join your board; then see if you can convince them to be your interim CEO / COO until your startup has, well, started up.

Honduras’ de facto leader Roberto Micheletti has agreed to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya in a deal aimed at ending the country’s political crisis.

Honduras’ ousted President Manuel Zelaya, second from left, Thomas Shannon, left, U.S.

“I am pleased to announce that a few minutes ago my negotiating team signed an agreement that marks the beginning of the end” of the four-month standoff, Micheletti said late Thursday in a statement from the presidential palace.

The deal would return Zelaya to the presidency, pending approval from Congress — not the country’s top judges, as the interim leader’s envoys had been calling for.

“We have always been firm that it should be the Supreme Court that decides the possible return of Mr. Zelaya, but we also understand that our people are calling to turn the page of our history during this difficult time,” Micheletti said.

In Islamabad, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the agreement as “historic.”

“I cannot think of another example of a country in Latin America that, having suffered a rupture of its democratic institutional order, overcame such a crisis through negotiation and dialogue,” Clinton told reporters as she wrapped up a three-day visit to Pakistan.

The political standoff has polarized and isolated Honduras.

Since Zelaya’s surprise return to the country in September, when he became holed up in the Brazilian embassy, protests supporting his return to power have shooked the capital.

The agreement, written by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a pivotal mediator in the crisis, also allows the formation of a national unity government and the holding of the November 29 presidential election on schedule, the interim leader said.

Negotiators for Zelaya and Micheletti earlier Thursday returned to the table as security forces once again used batons and tear gas against hundreds of pro-Zelaya protesters.

The rivals had been told by Thomas Shannon, the US assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, that they must reach an accord to ensure international support for the elections next month.

Micheletti in his statement called upon the international community “to lift all sanctions against Honduras and send international observers to the presidential elections.”

The United States, European Union and International Monetary Fund applied aid freezes to impoverished Honduras after the June 28 coup.

He also said he was “immensely” thankful for the contributions of the United States, the Organization of American States (OAS) and Arias for their work to resolve the crisis.

“Without a deal it will be difficult for the inter-American community to support the elections,” Thomas Shannon, the US assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, had told a news conference here earlier.

“The solution is on the table,” Shannon added, referring to the once-rejected San Jose peace accord, which called for Zelaya’s reinstatement as a base for negotiations, which Micheletti’s negotiating team ultimately agreed to.

The deal also calls for Zelaya to drop his plans to try to change the constitution, which angered the country’s elite and ultimately prompted the coup.

Hundreds of Zelaya supporters, blocked from demonstrating by a clampdown on civil liberties, have still faced off all week with police and soldiers in various parts of the capital Tegucigalpa.

“We have several injured and at least 10 have been detained,” resistance leader Rafael Alegria told AFP on Thursday.

Shannon said that Honduras needed to regain foreign support to legitimize the November polls.

“This type of support will ensure not only that it (the election) takes place peacefully, but also the reintegration in the international community and reopening the doors of international financial institutions,” Shannon said.

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I’ve managed to catch a cold but I have a couple posts under way.  Please expect a review on the Ryka Studio Flex Mid shoes and a series of dog toys by Kong in the next two days.  Thanks!

today was our last interim crit before the final one this friday. i have very mixed feelings about it.

i was a little confused as to what was actually required for the presentation, i spent most of last week working on the system for staff to use in their berth. i’ve never designed anything like that before, so it took a while to get my head around it. the graphics were very simple, as i knew i had this week to develop them and make it more sophisticated. i just wanted to express the experience and design as quickly as possible for today.

throughout the presentation it became clear that some people would benefit from speaking to others about their projects, myself included. another two girls were working together on the “mysleeper” website and an onboard passenger display screen. it was suggested we talk about a uniformed interface which made sense obviously. although when we did come together it felt difficult as they’d been working together for the past week and had a set idea of what they were planning to do, and we didn’t seem to be coming together very much. it felt almost as though my idea was being slowly disintegrated. does that make sense? it was a little frustrating though. but this is all part of designing in a group i suppose. the last thing i want though is for my idea to simply be dismissed, and i have a feeling that if i don’t try then that’ll happen.

the benefits i feel from my idea is that it isn’t too much of a technology jump for scotrail. it is a fairly simplescreen system that could be implemented very quickly. it does rely heavily on the idea of “mysleeper”, the personalising website, but still maintains that much more personal aspect of the system. so many aspects of life these days have become automated and unmanned, controlled by technology. in some cases this is great, but it can make things seem cold and lifeless. i feel the sleeper train benefits from the human contact. it just makes it feel much nicer.

Anyone can improve their LinkedIn profile and ‘hit-rate’ by using some straight-forward techniques. I wrote this article for the Institute of Interim Management’s blog site, but am mirroring it on my own blog as well

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With the growth of social networking and business networking sites like LinkedIn, recruiters are increasingly turning to seeking and finding candidates online. This can be accomplished more quickly, and with more under the control of the recruiter, than posting adverts and waiting for people who are out of work to ‘apply’ for those positions.

So as well as being good at applying for advertised positions, and networking with recruiters and networked clients, the ability to be found and discovered on LinkedIn and on Google becomes increasingly important.

And if you doubt the speed of pending change, it was not many years ago when candidates applied for jobs by sending paper CVs and covering letters by post (sometimes on quaint ‘marble-effect’ CV paper).

This blog articles focuses on use of the business networking site: LinkedIn, and

• Having a profile worth reading,
• Being found on LinkedIn

While many of the ideas presented in this article are relevant to any business person, it particularly addresses the marketing needs of Interim Managers

Having a profile worth reading

Because your LinkedIn profile is a preferred item searched by Google, your profile will show-up in searches about you. Treat your profile with importance and respect – too many profiles are ‘banged together’ or are incomplete.

Get the basic information right: This will be searched upon so make it count. Don’t have your name all lower case. Opinion is divided about letters after your name – I choose not to use these on the ‘name line’ but do reference them in the Summary and it may be appropriate to reference them in your “Headline”.

Your professional “Headline’: This should accurately represent what you want to have people search for, and what you are most equipped to carry out. If what you ‘do’ is carry out assignments as an ‘Interim XYZ’ then that should be your “Headline”, not that you are “Owner of XYZ Limited Company” unless you want to be found by people looking for owners of Limited companies.

Be sure to select an Industry: Recruiters will often filter by Industry so make sure you select one.

Have a decent professional looking Photo: A photo builds trust and credibility and makes you a real person. It’s the first thing people notice. Have your face visible (no long-shots, weird cropping or strange photo effects). Have a plain background (no cars, dogs, companions).

Write a powerful Summary. A powerful summary section that explains your ‘Value Proposition’ is a vital component of your profile. This explains ‘what you are about’ and is findable in searches. Don’t fail to describe what you want to be known for, what you want to be doing next, because again, if you don’t list it, a search for it won’t find you. This Value Proposition should reflect consistently through your marketing materials – it is your ‘elevator pitch’.

List applicable specialities: By supporting your summary with ‘keyword rich’ information highlighting your skills, competence and expertise, you make it easier to be ‘qualified in’ by those reading your profile, and to be picked up by LinkedIn and search engine searches.

Diligently complete the ‘Experience sections’: This is your ‘online CV’ so complete it accurately, highlighting evidence of your expertise and making sure to maintain a strong ‘keyword’ density of those words that will be searched for by those who are searching someone with your skills.

Because it is so public, take care not to share anything that will compromise a prior client (because they will look) and make sure it is congruent with and not contradicting any other CV you publish or submit. Naturally you may have different CVs that emphasise different facets of your expertise, but ‘facts’, where quoted, should match.

This section is key for being picked up in LinkedIn search, and also gets picked up in Google search.

Education and Associations: This just needs to be accurately completed. If an Association does not fit your brand, you don’t need to list it. Similarly you do not need to have LinkedIn groups that are not directly applicable to your brand ‘show up’ their logo on your profile (group settings).

Update ‘old’ job titles: This is a marketing document after all; particularly with older jobs, it is perfectly acceptable to update job titles to accurately describe the role in line with a current understanding of such a role. You don’t have to slavishly stick to out-dated or meaningless titles that will no longer be understood (by people or search engines) as long as such a change is honest.

Quote useful ‘Additional Information’: This section contains key information that will help you get found. Make sure you link to other virtual locations and help people to find you:

Specify ‘your’ website: If you have a website (if not, why don’t you?), select the ‘Other’ not the ‘My Website’ drop-down, because if you choose ‘other’, then you can name your website link, e,g.: “Interim XYZ Company”.

Select an easy ‘Public Profile’ URL – Select a ‘public profile’ URL that’s easy to use and easy to arise in searches. Typically, this will be your name, for example I use: http://www.linkedin.com/in/advanderrest.

Check your spelling: Paste your finished profile into a spell-checker (LinkedIn fields don’t do this) for a final ‘ok’ and you’re done.

Being found on LinkedIn

Having a strong profile is the ‘starting point’, but additional techniques will help you get found.

Build a strong network of connections: If you are not within the extended network of the person searching for you, you will not be found. Many commentators advise getting your connections to 500+ as quickly as possible, but I disagree with a ‘shotgun’ approach to doing this.

I prefer to maintain an active and steady ‘quality’ network growth, but am happy to be flexible. So I accept and invite decent quality connections that I develop in my business endeavours, including clients, client employees, recruiters, consultants and other industry key players.

Additionally, I will accept invitations from people I have had a meaningful intelligent banter with on LinkedIn groups, Q&A groups or on blog sites. I will not connect without a very good reason to an unknown “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” invitation. These invitations come with the risk of destroying your trusted network by leaving other connections open to being spammed and preyed upon.

When inviting – say more that the ‘default greeting’, show some enthusiasm for making that connection and if the invite is not immediately obvious, explain the reason for it. When accepting an invitation – send them a short message to reinforce your pleasure at being connected.

Connections that would help to develop your network more effectively are ‘node’ individuals – these are people who through position or force of personality have many real and meaningful connections; they are well worth linking to.

Finally  if a weaker immediate connection acts improperly or ‘updates’ you to death, there is nothing wrong with quietly de-connecting them – this is not something they will be notified of.

Be obviously available for assignment (if you are): Don’t confuse people. If you are currently employed by your Limited Company – make sure it is clear that you are seeking assignment.  Either through the creation of a job ‘Seeking assignment’ (you can always delete it again when working) or by making it very clear at the top of your own Company entry that you are seeking assignment. If you do little pieces of ‘ad-hoc’ for a client, don’t leave them listed as a ‘current’ employer to give the impression you are working. You can always keep updating that client’s end-date to be the ‘month before’ the present.

Keep it up-to-date: There’s little point still being listed as working where you are not. A quality LinkedIn profile justifies periodic updates, typically in conjunction with your CV or CVs and other profile listing on other websites. To keep it simple, if I am updating a role, or adding expertise to a section, I will do this consistently across my profile, CV’s and other sites in one session.

Have flexible contact Settings: Be as easy to contact as you can be (or your sense of privacy allows). If you’re hard to contact, a recruiter may not talk to you, but may instead speak to other qualified people ‘with’ easy contacts. The link to your website or blog gives you a further route to your contact information, and if you want you can share your phone number in the Personal Information settings (up to you…).

Issue ‘Network updates’ appropriately: You can issue ‘Twitter-length’ Network updates. Your connections will see your updates on their LinkedIn home page.

Your updates can vary from communicating a change, to asking a question, to letting people know you are alive. But treat network updates with respect; Keep to the guideline of not ‘selling’ more than 20% of the time. People will tolerate the occasional request or pitch if is dropped into a tapestry of informative updates.

If your Connections ‘eco-system’ includes Contacts, Clients, Recruiters, friends and associates, then your ‘thought-leadership’, activities and assignment availability or non-availability will be passively apparent to your immediate network.

Recycle your marketing: If you Tweet, ‘Network update’ your Tweet (if relevant). If you blog, signpost the blog in your ‘Network update’. Don’t forget when referencing your blog site or website to use URL compression sites such as www.bit.ly to shrink your hyperlinks – or they won’t fit. If a LinkedIn group comment is stunning, also blog it, tweet it and ‘network update’ it – how efficient a use of your ‘thought energy’ is that!

Advertise your LinkedIn identity by including your LinkedIn Profile URL in your normal e-mail signature.

Have recommendations: Recommendations push your profile up the search criteria; That’s why you may sometimes receive scurrilous recommendation requests (which you should not respond to), and it is even known for people to create bogus identities to recommend them (LinkedIn don’t like that at all).

The best time to work on your recommendations is when you are on assignment or when you are not under pressure because they must never look desperate, urgent or rushed.

Subtle method:

Proactively write recommendations of people you respect and have worked with, particularly in recent assignments. This acts as a ‘thank you’ for value you have received from them. Emphasise their professional behaviour rather than getting bogged down into technical skills because these will be more useful recommendations to them in the longer term.

A one liner explaining how you know them, followed by a short ‘story’ highlighting why you are recommending them is most memorable. Actively encourage the recipient to tinker with it and recommend how you could make it ‘just perfect’.

Direct method:

You can ask for a recommendation through LinkedIn. Do this only with people you are sure gained value from your work and would have naturally recommended you had they only got round to it.

I prefer to give them an ‘escape route’ by adding that they might suggest an alternative recommender instead, and not to be concerned if they don’t do one at all. Why give them an escape? The relationship is more important than the recommendation. There may be other reasons why they don’t like to recommend people – and putting them in a position through your request where they feel uncomfortable may prejudice that relationship.

Getting the most out of LinkedIn groups: We’re back to brand here; If you are commenting on relevant discussion posts in an intelligent way, you become visible and may make interesting alliances into the bargain. Find a site that fits your niche; join it; enjoy it.

Naturally, I recommend the LinkedIn group: Interim Management IIM, as an example of such a group for Interims, prospective Interims, Recruiters, Clients and others in the Interim Management eco-system to share their ‘thought leadership’.

If you are in a LinkedIn group that has died or has become spam-laden, leave it. Why, because high member-numbered groups will naturally attract more members and frankly, if they are rubbish – they don’t deserve to be at the top of the group searches!

Conclusions

Being savvy on LinkedIn is not an ‘instant win’ but is a long-term investment. The recession has taken a toll on many Interims and new technologies are changing the nature of the game.

When things properly perk up, being findable on LinkedIn, and having a coherent proposition once found will be a distinct competitive advantage.

Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant
www.visiblegoal.com

Acknowledgements

This article was triggered by a discussion post at the LinkedIn group: Interim Management IIM, posted by Juhi Bera entitled: “Has anyone secured a role using sites like LinkedIn, in this economy?”

Particular thanks offered to Jen Gemmel for his wisdom on the matter, which has been included in this article.

The Interim Management IIM LinkedIn group welcomes Interim Managers and prospective Interim Managers, Clients who utilise the services of interims, or are thinking about doing so, Service Providers / Recruitment Consultants who specialise in Interim Management, or who source Interims and Consultants and Industry partners or members of other interim and professional bodies with an interest in Interim Management

The Institute of Interim Management (IIM) hosts the Interim Management IIM group. Since September 2002, the IIM has been a fully independent professional Institute and incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation. It is the only independent UK body serving the interests of Interim practitioners on an international basis. www.iim.org.uk

Documentaliste (H/F)

94 Charenton le pont – Intérim

L’agence Manpower VINCENNES TERTIAIRE recherche pour l’un de ses clients un Documentaliste H/F.

Description du poste :

- Gestion de la bibliothèque juridique

- Gestion des fonds contrats et filiales

- Administration intranet juridique

- Administration base relations contactuelles

Contrat : Intérim

Date de début : 29/10/2009

Durée : 2 mois

Statut : Poste Cadre

Lieu de travail : 94 Charenton le pont

Secteur d’activité : Optique

Expérience demandée : 3 ans

Répondre à l’offre à cette adresse :

http://www.manpower.fr/manporedir.jsp?pid=671&url=http://www.manpower.fr/emploi/doRechercheOffres!searchByIdOffre.action?idOffre=896787%26partenaire=alerte-e-mail

Agence Manpower :

VINCENNES TERTIAIRE

4-6 AVE DE PARIS/RUE RAYMOND DU TEMPLE , 94300 VINCENNES

This has been a difficult year to find time to read.  I am also fighting off the idea that I love books, but hate reading.  If this is to work for me, I need to commit to spending more time in front of pages than screen.  Wish me luck in that endeavor or you will likely not see me post again .

Until next time…

Je m’attendais à un salon plus grand car décrit comme l’évènement majeur de l’emploi en Belgique.

Bien entendu ce salon était réservé d’avantage pour les personnes ayant des diplômes d’études supérieures et donc par rapport aux autres salons et en particulier celui du Jobs Day au Berlaimont  il y avait moins de monde, mais ceci donnait à ce salon non seulement plus de crédibilité mais aussi un visage humain.

L’ensemble des candidats que j’ai croisé, en général en col et cravate, étaient une population variée, des jeunes et des moins jeunes, la crise a beaucoup touché cette dernière tranche.

Une quarantaine de stands (42) représentant aussi bien des organismes fédérales, régionales, des sociétés privées dans les secteurs aussi variés que l’informatique (Real Dolmem, IBM, Sogetti,…), de la grande Distribution (Delhaize, Colruyt, Decatlhon,..), des interim (Accent, Hudson,Start people,,..), des banques (AXA, ING, KBC,…), les distributeurs d’électricité (Electrabel, Luminus,…), des sociétés d’ingeering (Tratebel, GDF,…), étaient répartis dans ce hall.

SELOR était bien présent avec un bureau pour chacun de ses partenaires (FOD Justice, Inami, Armée,…). Le SPF Finance ayant son propre stand tout comme le FEDICT et la Police.

J’étais assez surpris de voire si peu de monde devant le Stand de la SMALS qui pourrtant à en permanence des demandes sur les différents moteurs d’emploi, beaucoup de monde chez Hudson, Start People, Corlruyt, ING , SNCB et le stand où l’on pouvait faire vérifier la qualité et la présentation de son CV.

Je me suis arrêté presque dans tous les stands, partout un accueil chaleureux, des bics, des bonbons, un sourire et dans beaucoup de  stand j’ai rencontré des personnes qualifiées, que se soit en HR que dans les domaines aux j’ai des compétences et parfois même le directeur (HR, IT, Unit,…) était là en personne. On pouvait enfin discuter d’expérience, de compétences, vérifier si il y avait un intérêt, si il y avait un réel besoin…

restons honnête, dans la plupart des cas, on m’a répondu avec beaucoup de gentillesse que l’on va me recontacter dans quelques semaines, qu’il y aura des postes qui vont s’ouvrir, que je dois aller sur leur site et introduire mes données dans leur base informatique,…mais il n’empêche, j’ai pu nouer des contacts sérieux avec des responsables en direct et je pense que c’est un point important, ne pas être un CV parmi des centaines d’autres brassés par la moulinette d’un moteur ou les 15 sec d’un recruteur.

Dans l’ensemble j’en suis ressorti positivé, même si je reste réaliste et que je sens bien que le marché ne se redressera pas avant quelques mois.