Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

Dial ‘O’ To Speak to a Human…

About a month ago, I had to contact Time Warner Cable to discuss a problem that I was having with my Internet connection not working. Since I work from home, it was kind of a big deal, so I was hoping to speak to someone right away to help resolve the issue. However, like most other companies nowadays, when I dialed the customer service number, I didn’t get a human voice. Instead, I got one of those automated prompts. Several prompts later, I finally spoke to a human being who only wound up setting me up for the obstacle course of being transferred to approximately seven different humans before I finally landed on one who was able to resolve my Internet connectivity problem (around 2.5 hours later)

If You’d Like to Make a Call, Please Hang Up & Try Again…

I knew that the issue I was having with my Internet was not one that would be able to be handled by an automated response. I needed to speak to a human…a living human; and my frustration over this fairly new wave of automated response systems is not felt by me alone. In fact, there are many people who, while sitting through various automated response systems, actually become increasingly frustrated and upset. Now, whenever I need to contact the customer service department of any company, I simply keep hitting ’0′ as soon as I hear the first automated prompt come up. Sure, I may still get transferred a dozen times before I speak to someone who can help me, but is there really any other alternative?

GetHuman.com

The geniuses behind gethuman.com have come up with a fairly extensive list of popular companies as well as their customer service phone numbers and how you can reach a human being in that particular business without having to sit through the myriad of automated prompts. The site offers contact information for each of the companies (i.e. customer service phone numbers to dial) as well as the average wait time that you can be expected to experience. In most cases, the site also offers links to that particular company’s Twitter page or support page as well as recent user reviews. To see the complete list, visit their site. In the meantime, the following is one example from their site:

DirecTV- Say “Technical Support” or “CRG” if you want to cancel services. If you want to make programming changes, say, “ACE”. The robot woman will then say, “One moment while I transfer you” instead of asking you a billion questions.

January 4, 2010 | General Business Issues, Marketing, Resources, Using Technology, Work Related | No Comments »

Spotlight on: Google SearchWiki

Have you ever wanted to customize your search results on Google so that you don’t have to sift through results that you know aren’t going to be useful to you? For instance, I love to run. That being said, one day I might be interested in finding out what parks are nearby to where I live, so I’ll type in my keywords and wait for the list of results to pop up like they normally do on Google. As I go down the page of results, I might come across links to sites that I know will be useful. Using the Google SearchWiki, I can move the results up so that they appear at the top of the page. I can also customize the results even further by adding notes, which will always appear with that particular web link each time it comes up in a search.

You can also use Google SearchWiki to see how other people have customized their own searches. Keep in mind that the changes you make only affect your own searches and not the searches of others. However, Google SearchWiki is a great way to share your own insights with other people who might be searching for the same topic as you. There is also a spot located near the bottom of the page where you can click to “See all notes for this SearchWiki” which will allow you to see any notes or comments that you may have made about various sites. It’s a really neat feature, as you can see by watching the video below.

What is a Wiki?

A wiki is a website that uses wiki software, allowing the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked Web pages, using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor, within the browser. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as “the simplest online database that could possibly work.” [source]

July 21, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Resources, Reviews (non-paid), Time Management | No Comments »

20+ Ways to Find a Job Using Twitter!

Having trouble finding a job these days? Join the club. However, more and more people are realizing the value of Twitter. It’s no longer just about 140 word character blurbs. In fact, Twitter may help you get a job. Here are some tips on how:

5 Things to Consider When Finding a Job on Twitter

Revamp the Profile Appearance- If you still operate off of the original template that Twitter started you out with, shame on you! You’ll never attract any attention to yourself that way! There are some great (and free) backgrounds that you can find here.
Join the Conversations- Twitter is all about tweeting your message to others, having them (hopefully) tweet back and then sharing that message with others. You should be constantly engaging yourself with others. The more you network and build up your online presence/reputation, the more people will notice you.
Using the Search Option- Twitter has it’s own search option where you can type in key words for what you’re looking for. However, there is also something really cool called TwitterJobSearch, which is a search engine for twitter that was designed specifically for those out there who are seeking jobs. Try it out and see how it goes! Tweetmyjobs is also useful.
Be Wary of Who You Follow- These days, most companies are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. If you’re interested in applying or have recently applied for a position with a particular company, don’t be afraid to follow them or to even send them a useful message on Twitter. Also keep in mind that if you follow them, you’re probably going to want to hold off on the Tweets about when you last ate, brushed your teeth, etc…Also, you’ll want to follow people who you think will be most likely to follow you back, because let’s face it- no one thinks much of the person who is following 15,000 people but only has 3 following them back!
Use the Hashtags (#) & Make Your Message Count! There are a ton of job recruiters on Twitter nowadays. Don’t be afraid to use your hashtags and represent your availability clearly when you tweet!

People You Should Be Following for Job-Related Stuff

For a more complete list of twitter jobs, Sarah Evans over at Mashable has a very nice list broken down into various categories. To see the list, click here