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Movie watch: “The Social Network” (or how Facebook all started)

Posted by Norman on September 27, 2010
Posted in: 6 The Movie Corner. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

You’ve been spending days and nights chatting, updating, arranging dates and doing all sorts of wholesome (and not-so-wholesome) things via Facebook. In fact, some people can say that their lives won’t be complete without it. But have you ever wondered how the whole thing really started and how it made a geek of a guy insanely rich and famous? Then you should watch “The Social Network” because it details – in cinematic scope – the rise to fame and fortune of Mark Zuckerberg and his friends. I actually got to read a long-ish article in Fortune Magazine about the same and, while I am not too keen on seeing the relatively ‘boring-for-the-mainstream-audience’ turn of events that made Facebook the almost indispensable online tool it is right now, I trust Director David Fincher (“Fight Club”, “Panic Room” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) to make it work.

Watch the HD trailer below…


video courtesy of YouTube/SonyPictures

I will surely head to the multiplex when the movie opens here in Manila, but for those living in the US, “The Social Network” opens wide this coming Friday, October 1. If you ask me what its’ box-office prospects are, I’d be very uncertain because this is the type of flick that may or may not hit it well with the young crowd depending on how the whole thing is filmed. Good thing it got a PG-13 rating. The people behind may have decided to cut short some scenes which could lead to being Rated R. But playing it safe, I think a US$18-20 million opening weekend would be a reasonable projection.

“The Social Network” is from Sony Pictures. It is directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and Ben Mezrich (who wrote the book). The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg – in the role of Mark Zuckerberg – together with Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Joseph Mazzello, Max Minghella and Rashida Jones.

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Job (web)Sites: Do you honestly get work from them?

Posted by Norman on June 5, 2010
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Are you one of those job seekers relying on online sites for possible employment? Then give this particular topic a minute or two of your reading time. I actually read this article by Jena McGregor published in the latest issue of Fortune Magazine.

You may be a young graduate fresh out of college or an experienced rank-and-file employee looking for the next available higher rung of work opportunity or a well-trained manager ready to step up to the plate and assume more senior responsibilities. If you belong to any of these categories, chances are that you have discovered the practicality of entrusting your application with online job boards promising a possibly attractive job offer. And why wouldn’t you? It saves a lot of precious time and effort in legwork and instead, zero in on vacancies that match your qualifications.

But the question begging an answer is this: Do you actually get offers using this route, let alone significant feedbacks from your supposed headhunting ally? Read on the following excerpts from the article…

Job Sites: Are They Worth It?

If you’re newly unemployed, your first stop – after the nearest bar, that is – was probably your laptop, where you logged on to a big online job site. But are the likes of Monster and CareerBuilder really worth much time when seeking senior positions? Perhaps not, say recruiters and job counselors. “Clients tell me, ‘I’m so excited. I applied to 50 places today.’ ” says career consultant Bradford Agry. “You’re better off having lunch with one person in your network and going to the gym.”

For starters, only a small percentage of jobs are filled using the sites, which claim over 95 of the Fortune 100 as customers. According to CareerXroads, a staffing consulting firm, just 13% of all external hires at the Fortune 500 employers it surveys are filled using boards…..”Are companies actively searching job boards for senior-level talent? asks Master Burnett of HR Consultancy Dr. John Sullivan & Associates. “In most cases, no.”

That’s partly because the more senior the position, the more companies value referrals or “passive candidates” – those not officially seeking work. Hiring them once meant paying search firms thousands of dollars per job to open their golden Rolodexes. But with emergent social networks like LinkedIn, in-house recruiters now have another way to reach such talent….

All CareerXroads survey respondents said they were reducing job-board contracts or switching to other sources….

So it seems that LinkedIn is getting more thumbs up in reaching out to different companies who might be in need of someone new in the mid- to top-levels in their organization.

Bottomline…if you’re searching for entry-level positions, online sites can still be a rich source of prospective employers. But the higher you rise in the employment ladder, the better your chances of landing a better job if you try looking elsewhere like your personal network of professional contacts, LinkedIn and the like.

SHAMELESS PLUG: For those fresh college graduates still looking for work in and around Metro Manila, I am inviting you to drop by our office (ATM Personnel Assistance, Inc./ Unit 1610 Cityland 10 Tower 1, 156 H.V. dela Costa St., Makati City) or send your resume via fax (02-894-5897) or email (atmpai@gmail.com). We currently have a number of job openings you might want to consider. You can also call us at (02) 817-3315, (02) 812-2653 or (02) 812-2654.

What Reading May (be)Come

Posted by Norman on March 1, 2010
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , .

Reading is one habit that reared my mind since I was a kid. While a lot of the kids at school were playing around me, I would normally sit down in a corner and read a book that is usually way ahead of my age. I went through the usual stuff, though – Dr. Seuss, Hardy Boys, Roald Dahl….even Nancy Drew! At the age of 11, I started reading Agatha Christie, which is why I got so fond of characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. When I turned 12, I was introduced to and got hooked with Stephen King and his lenghty plots and quirky characters. Thereafter, my taste in books started evolving to a coterie of different authors and book genres. I must admit that getting an overload of horror/suspense novels rendered me prematurely ripe and jaded with scary stories so even before I end up avoiding them altogether, I switched to political dramas and juicy autobiographies.

But enough of my origins as a reader. What interests me right now is the advent of technology in this particular aspect of life. The days of hard-bound books, paperback novels and the like have literally started its countdown to a possible long-term extinction. And why not? The arrival of new gadgets like kindle or iPad is setting some sort of a worldwide trend in transforming your daily reading exercises (or leisures if you will) into something that won’t require carrying around these published works in your hand (or inside your bag) and even allowing you to fill in the unit with more than a dozen literature that can set fire to a string of deep reading moments instead of the traditional mode of taking them in one at a time and then waiting for or buying or renting the next book to read.

The (Amazon) Kindle

I read with gusto the article of Josh Quittner in Fortune Magazine entitled “The Future of Reading”. He actually posed a number of interesting questions about the tablet. Let me share a few with you:

Question 1: Will anyone be willing to pay for content delivered to a tablet when they get information for free on the web?

Any voracious reader is likely to say “no” to this question, but the author counters by pointing out that if the tablet is indeed a great device, you will simply want to up its usefulness with media. My take? There will always be people who will find the convenience irresistable. Sure, old media will always hold a soft spot in the heart, but not when everyone around is already jumping in on the upgrades. Besides, free information on the web won’t always be the stuff someone is looking for, or not 100% complete at the very least.

The Apple iPad

But aren’t tablets just a better way to browse the web?

Yup, tablets can be looked at as just cool web browsers. But if the thing can likewise provide for deep reading experiences, then that would be one angle many individuals will definitely give in to. In the end, if you can surf the net and thereafter do some real reading (without the need for wi-fi or broadband), I see no reason why the tablet won’t take off big time.

Question 3: Reading? Reading is dead.

Despite technological advancements, reading will never see its demise. In fact, the entry of the tablet will facilitate the habit. Some of the enhancements may be perceived as invented for the lazy, but at the end of the day, a good read will always be a good read. It may lull you to deep slumber one night, but you will definitely go back to the power of written words in the next.

Reading will never be dead! It just became more convenient, albeit pricier. 😉

Here are the 10 Best (U.S.) Companies to work for

Posted by Norman on February 7, 2010
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Fortune Magazine always comes up with its own list of “The 100 Best Comnpanies to Work for” every year. I always read this special issue with interest given the fact that I run a Human Resource Services company. I would check on organizations on the list which have already set up offices in the Philippines and explore the possibility of offering them our services. It always ends up a win-win situation if I end up approaching them at the right place and time.

Instead of giving you a long list of 100 companies who are ideal employers, let us focus on the Top 10 so that you will get a pretty good idea why they reached that level of global recognition.

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps customers improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.

1. SAS tops the list. Its average tenure is 10 years, and annual turnover is just 2% compared with the industry average of 22%. It is highly profitable and ranks as the world’s largest privately owned software company.

Edward Jones

2. Edward Jones weathered the recession without closing one of its 12,615 offices or laying off a single employee (the British division was sold in October). Salaries were frozen, but profit sharing continued.

Wegmans Food Markets

3. Wegmans Food Markets is rated one of the best groceries in the US. It has never had a layoff in its 94-year history. More than 4,000 employees, 11% of the workforce have been here more than 15 years.

4. Google, the search engine king, is hiring again. It plans to add thousands of employees to its payroll in 2010. Though a few perks have been cut in recent years, Google engineers still get to devote 20% of their time to projects of their choosing.

5. Nugget Market has been prompted by the tough economy by giving them cards good for 10% discounts on US$500 of groceries every month. At one employee-appreciation event, the executive team surprised everyone by washing the cars of all associates.

6. Dreamworks Animation SKG is where animators love the culture of collaboration and openness. Studio has upped releases from two-a-year to five every two years.

7. NETAPP execs increased efforts to take care of employees during a tough year, including an employee stock-option exchange and updates to incentive compensation.

8. Boston Consulting Group is tops in pay and benefits: new consultants are able to earn up to US$184,000 (counting salary and all bonuses).

9. Qualcomm works hard to provide an environment where “good people can do their best work.” Some elements: stock options on hire, baseball games, surfing lessons, kayaking tours, white-water rafting, bonfires, bowling, and volunteering opportunities.

Camden Property Trust

10. After stock of Camden Property Trust tanked from a high of US$80 in 2006 to a low of US$17 in 2009, founders Ric Campo and Keith Oden rallied workers across 13 states with messages such as “Turn off CNBC –the moderators know less than you do about the way forward.” By year’s end, the stock had rebounded to US$42.

I must admit that none of these ten organizations have direct operations in the Philippines (although there are some in the Top 100 like Starbucks, Accenture, Colgate-Palmolive, Microsoft and S.C. Johnson who are) but who knows what kind of international expansions some of them may have in the offing.

But if you’re based in the US, it won’t hurt checking them out and the remaining 90 in the Top 100 so you can widen your career options for 2010.

Here is the link to the complete list of “Top 100 Best Companies to Work for”

Happy job hunting! 😉

source: Fortune Magazine

Who are the 50 Most Powerful (Business) Women in the World?

Posted by Norman on September 26, 2009
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

According to the latest issue of Fortune Magazine, the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business (both in the U.S. and International) were revealed. My blog will focus on the international list since it includes women from different countries around the world. They represent a heightened level of women empowerment and make men think twice about their real worth as the supposed movers and shakers in the business arena.

It is interesting to note that 15 Asians are included, including the Philippines’ Teresita Sy-Coson of SM Investments. With the endless commercial and residential businesses & infrastructures of SM around the Philippines and China alone, I am not surprised that she consistently secures a slot in the Top 50.

#40 on the list: Teresita Sy-Coson of SM Investments, Philippines

#40 on the list: Teresita Sy-Coson of SM Investments, Philippines

To think that she is such a low-profile individual, Ms. Sy-Coson exemplifies the old adage “still waters run deep.”

The French, on the other hand, captured 12 of the Top 50 slots which set them at the forefront of world businesses with women at the helm. However, the Brits did not let their guards down as Cynthia Carroll (CEO, Anglo-American) topped the list and towed 5 other countrymen into the same. What could be amusing to some is the fact that only one American (#12 Maureen Kempston Darkes) made it, considering the fact that the world looks up to the U.S. as a superpower in business. However, Cynthia Carroll is also born American but runs a British company.

She's #1 on the list: Cynthia Carroll of Anglo-American (a London UK Mining Company which is the world's largest platinum producer)

She's #1 on the list: Cynthia Carroll of Anglo-American (a London UK Mining Company which is the world's largest platinum producer)


Here are the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business (International) listed by country:

Britain
#1 Cynthia Carroll (CEO, Anglo-American)
#3 Marjorie Scardino (CEO, Pearson)
#23 Katrina Landis (CEO, Alternative Energy, BP)
#24 Angela Ahrendts (CEO, Burberry)
#31 Kate Swann (CEO, W.H. SMith)
#32 Isabelle Ealet (Global Head of Commodities, Goldman Sachs)

France
#4 Anne Lauvergeon (CEO, Areva)
#5 Barbara Dalibard (President and CEO, Orange Business Services)
#16 Patrizia Barbizet (CEO, Artemis Holdings)
#18 Dominique Senequier (CEO, AXA Private Equity)
#21 Dominique Reiniche (President, Coca-Cola Europe)
#27 Maureen Chiquet (Global CEO, Chanel)
#34 Clara Gaymard (National Executive, GE France)
#38 Virginie Morgon (Director of Investments, Eurazeo)
#41 Dominique Heriard Dubreuil (Chairman, Remy Cointreau)
#42 Francoise Gri (President, Manpower France)
#47 Marie-Christine Caubet (Chairman, Volkswagen France)
#48 Valerie Hermann (CEO, Yves Saint Laurent)

India
#15 Chanda Kochar (Managing Director and CEO,ICICI Bank)
#37 Neelam Dhawan (Managing Director, HP India)
#43 Shobhana Bhartia (Chairperson, HT Media)
#46 Preetha Reddy (Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals)

China
#17 Yang Mianmian (President, Haier Group)
#20 Sun Yafang (Chairman, Huawei Technologies)
#30 Dong Mingzhu (Vice Chairman and President, Gree Electric Appliances)
#39 Marjorie Yang (Chairman, Esquel Group)
#44 Wei Christianson (SVP, Greater China, Morgan Stanley)
#49 Jing Ulrich (Managing Director, J.P. Morgan)

Chua Sock Koong of SingTel is the highest-ranked Asian on the list at #14.

Chua Sock Koong of SingTel is the highest-ranked Asian on the list at #14.


Singapore
#14 Chua Sock Koong (CEO, Singapore Telecommunications)
#19 Deb Henretta (Group President, Asia, Procter & Gamble)
#50 Olivia Lum (Group CEO, Hyflux)

Germany
#6 Barbara Kux (Head of Supply Chain Management, Siemens)
#36 Nicola Leibinger-Kammuller (Chairman and President, Trumpf)

Sweden
#7 Annika Falkengren (President and CEO, SEB)
#22 Antonia Ax:son Johnson (Chairman, Axel Johnson Group)

Netherlands
#13 Nancy McKinstry (Chairman and CEO, Wolters Kluwer)
#25 Ann Pickard (EVP Upstream International, Royal Dutch Shell)

Gail Kelly of Westpac may be the only one from Australia on the list, but she ranks #2, just like last year.

Gail Kelly of Westpac may be the only one from Australia on the list, but she ranks #2, just like last year.


Australia
#2 Gail Kelly (Managing Director and CEO, Westpac)

Turkey
#8 Guler Sabanci (Chairman and Managing Director, Sabanci Holding)

South Africa
#9 Maria Ramos (Group CEO, ABSA)

Italy
#10 Marina Berlusconi (Chairman, Fininvest)

Spain
#11 Ana Patricia Botin (Executive Chairman, Banesto)

General Motors' Maureen Kempston Darkes is the only one representing a U.S. company at #12

General Motors' Maureen Kempston Darkes is the only one representing a U.S. company at #12


U.S.
#12 Maureen Kempston Darkes (President, GM Latin America, Africa & Middle East)

Mexico
#26 Maria Aramburuzabala de Garza (Vice-President, Grupo Modelo)

Switzerland
#28 Monika Ribar (CEO, Panalpina)

Saudi Arabia
#29 Lubna Olayan (CEO, Olayan Financing)

Denmark
#33 Christine Bosse (CEO, Trygvesta)

Yoshiko Shinohara is the President of Tempstaff and the only Japanese on the list at #35

Yoshiko Shinohara is the President of Tempstaff and the only Japanese on the list at #35


Japan
#35 Yoshiko Shinohara (President, Tempstaff)

Philippines
#40 Teresita Sy-Coson (Vice Chairman, SM Investments)

Israel
#45 Ofra Strauss (Chairperson, Strauss Group)

It is quite clear that these ladies achieved their business prominence as individuals and with no allusion to their specific countries of citizenship. I doff my hat to all 50 of them!

Source of ranking: Fortune Magazine (Asia-Pacific Edition)