Mrshafrir.com

I haven't lived in Boston for over 3 years now. I don't miss it that much on a day-to-day basis (except Anna's Taqueria, of course); in fact, the "all Red Sox, all the time" treatment grows slightly tired after a few days at home. But when Big Papi hits ANOTHER walk-off home run (like he did tonight), well, it's hard not to feel a little far from home. After all, in New York, we get stuff like this:

I mean, is that really necessary? Did A-rod help you pick the scent?

Ah, much, much better. I would also like to go on the record as saying that Wily Mo Pena is an upgrade at this point in right field over Trot Nixon. There, I said it. Trot, good hustle all these years, enjoy your twilight years in Milwaukee, or KC, or Philly.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I haven't been blogging much lately. I know, I know...

But seriously, have you seen the weather? Mind you, this is New York City, not Dallas, Phoenix, Mexico City, etc.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

...I'm just buried at work.

Oh, and my foot is still the boot. Thanks for your concern.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On this Thursday afternoon, I'd like to give a quick shoutout to my boy Bill Belichick. He's embroiled in some legal controversy right now (apparently he's the "unnamed man" in a cheating-wife divorce proceeding), but when you've got the rings, you've got the rings.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

When Shea Hillenbrand was on the Red Sox, he always had this odd sense of entitlement about being in the lineup/being in the majors that seemed out of place for someone who was a good, sometimes clutch, hitter, but not much else -- he was an average defender and fit nicely into the 6th or 7th spot of your lineups. When he was traded for Byung-Hyun Kim in 2003 (who then moved into my parent's development), Hillenbrand badmouthed the Red Sox.

Well, it looks like the Blue Jays have grown weary of his bad attitude...my favorite part is when Hillenbrand calls the press "little people".

Random Rhapsody update: They have Katharine McPhee singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Can I just end the free subscription and start paying now?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kudos to Jobster for bringing in another $18 million in funding, raising their total haul to $48 million.

I'm going to skip the discussion of what $18 million means for Jobster (all the articles I read were the typical "wow that's a lot of money/why would they take it" type commentary and the typical "this allows for rapid growth" CEO-speak) and go right to the actual content of the articles.

I mentioned this earlier, but writer after writer focused on stuff like:

One of the aspects that distinguishes Jobster’s tool, which lets users search for jobs either nationwide or within a particular region, is that it also allows users to network socially.

For instance, a job seeker curious about the working environment at a particular firm can often read postings from people who already work there. Alternatively, it’s a way for employees to sound off on working conditions at their firms.

Clouded by those two magic words, "social networking", journalists are overlooking an important fact:

ISN'T THAT WHAT VAULT ALREADY DOES?!?!?!?!?

From Vault:

Vault's Electronic WaterCooler™ is the Internet's first collection of company-specific message boards for employees. Every day, tens of thousands of people visit Vault's expert-moderated message boards to share the latest corporate and career news, network with each other, ask for job advice and learn about trends shaping the workforce. (Called a "killer app" by The New York Times and "vastly popular" by NPR.)

Again, just to be clear, this is not a criticism of anything Jobster. This is a criticism of the press coverage of their product. In any case, good luck to the Jobster folks. If anything, it's making some people perk up and take notice of the online recruiting industry.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

3AM, Saturday night.
+
A few cocktails in the blood.
+
A credit card and my computer.
=
A 14-day free trial to Rhapsody.

Taking it for a test drive with Paris Hilton's new single -- that's what stuff like Rhapsody, a streaming music service (no downloads to iTunes), was made for. And you know what? Her song is, well, it's OK.

In my defense, I was looking for the Zombies song -- This Will Be Our Year -- from the Tiger Woods and his Dad commercial.

See where learning math got me?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

First my mom completely misses the obvious Dumb and Dumber reference in the post below, and then she sends my sister and me this email:

"so ben had to go 55 in the 100 meter freestyle to make the NYU team. he just made it."

followed by:

"wait i think it was 100 yards..."

Confused by this out-of-the-blue-but-potentially-relevant-because-both-my-sisters-and-I-were-swimmers email, I respond "who is ben?"...

Then this shows up in my inbox:

"did you ever watch felicity? it was felicity's california boyfriend."

I think it's time for the weekend...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Everyone's favorite feature is back! This time, a day earlier than usual! And this time, it was an email conversation which I've cut and pasted to make it look like IM.

Ski2Sun: I think this is how you should live your life:

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, beer in one hand, whiskey in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOOHOO, what a ride".

Mshafron: Had I died at age 20, I would have accomplished that. Unfortunately, I’m well on my way to the first part.
Ski2Sun: that's a sad story. What are you doing this weekend?
Mshafron: Not sure…I got a huge boot on my foot and am still on crutches…any suggestions?
Ski2Sun: lets play some poker at one of those spots. (editor's note: "those spots" refer to the Rounders-esque underground poker clubs in New York). you want to do that?
Mshafron: Not really…I’m pretty immobile right now.
Ski2Sun: come on...I have nothing to do this weekend.
Mshafron: Come over…I’ll play you in a series of heads-up matches…10 bucks a pop.
Ski2Sun: can we watch boiler room and rounders while we play
Mshafron: God that sounds like an amazing day…I knew there was a reason I was friends with you. You have poker chips, right?
Ski2Sun: no, but maybe I'll buy some. We'll drink beer during the day too.
Mshafron: You guys used to have them…drinking beer sounds good too. You should get a nice set, like this, just cause you can.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Interesting news in the recruiting world from Australia, where Jetstar has decided to start charging applicants $89 just to apply for a flight attendant position. That's right, they are charging $40 for a personality test and $49 for a security check as part of a "cost recovery process".

I think it's a great move.

Cost recovery process or not, by passing the $89 burden onto the applicant, Jetstar is ensuring that only serious and qualified applicants will apply. Sure, they may lose a candidate or two who doesn't want to pay, but you can be sure that many more will pony up the money for an interview.

After all, in this country, real estate brokers charge upwards of $100 for a "credit check and application fee", and (especially in New York), you don't always end up getting the apartment. The broker/landlord doesn't want to go through dozens and dozens of applications, so they collect a minimal "cover charge" to make sure only serious apartment-hunters apply for the apartment.

So why not charge jobseekers up front -- indeed, a cover charge -- in order to make them show that they are a) serious and b) qualified?

Oh wait. There's a company that already does that...

(Thanks to Michael Specht for the lead)

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

To bring you the sobering news that it looks like Israel is on the brink of war. I'm not much into politics, but as the son and cousin of Israeli soldiers, citizens, and residents, I certainly take an interest in this.

When I was there in February, we stood on the same mountains in the Golan Heights and around Netanya that Hezbollah rockets are currently hitting. Bombing the Beirut airport is an act of agression, to be sure, but I don't see how it's any different from invading Iraq. It looks like President Bush is on the side of Israel while understandably expressing concern over the overall stability of the region. Re-invading Gaza is one thing and attacking Lebanon is another, but it sounds like Syria and Iran are one step away from being involved on a much deeper level (don't forget, they currently fund Hezbollah, a recognized terrorist organization).

On my trip, we traveled with six active-duty Israeli soldiers. I can only imagine that what they're doing now is a heck of a lot different from what I'm doing. There is talk of calling up the reserves (which all Israeli men stay in through the age of 43-45. I remember when I lived there in 1986 my dad going each month to check in with his reserve officer), so I'm also thinking about my cousin Tamir, a former tank commander who is now in medical school.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the companies we keep an eye on is Jobster.

They've spent about two years building what they call "the online recruiting service that simplifies the difficult process of finding the right candidates. We help you proactively target and manage relationships with the talent you can’t reach today." Jobster has sold this product to over 325 companies, so they're doing pretty well on the sales front (the results and renewal front remains to be seen).

Today they released their first real consumer facing website which, as CEO Jason Goldberg explains, "the new site also includes more relevant search results. all this is designed to help go beyond today's "job search" to a more meaningful "job find" -- how do i find the right job for me as well as increase my chances of getting hired for it."

Armed with that exciting news, I surfed on over to Jobster to see what it had in store for me, a mythical jobseeker (editor's note: I'm not actually looking for a job, just evaluating other sites with a slightly jaded eye). What did I find?

Well, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the searches for the keyword "Boo" are rocketing up the charts to the tune of a 4715% increase. Now, I have friend we call "Boo", but I can't imagine a job (or an acronym) I'd be looking for that's related to Boo.

So far, I'm not seeing "more relevant search results".

To be fair, I logged in to LinkedIn because they like to show me what jobs "People in my network are hiring".

Now, I'm good at a lot of things. But GTK/Gnome Programming and MySQL database engineering are not among them.

Relevancy is a fleeting concept apparently.

Lastly, the Wall Street Journal article about the new Jobster says:

The new Jobster site, which so far has been tested on about 2,000 people, allows users to answer questions about their workplace. Their answers can give prospective hires more information about the employer and company culture, says Jobster Chief Executive Officer Jason Goldberg. The questions on the test version of the Web site range from what employees are reading to what the interview process is like.

Back in 2000, I interned at Vault.com, one of the pioneers of online employment/career information (they are still around). Their most popular feature was their message boards, where people could, yep, you guessed it, post and answer questions and comments are their current employer. The only difference is that Vault doesn't call their message board "social networking" and message boards are so Web 1.0 as to not deserve a mention in this article.

Everything old is new again.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The headset has settled in nicely. Although I did learn about the IntelliStand, which automatically lifts and lowers the phone's receiver off the cradle with a touch of the button. So it is possible to begin and end calls using my wireless headset at places other than my desk.

The orthopedist I saw this morning said that my foot injury had nothing to do with the new headset. He did say though that I need to wear an enormous aircast AND continue to use crutches for TWO WEEKS. I will now bang my head against my desk repeatedly and without remorse. Headset, you are off the hook.

Aircast, I will call you DAS BOOT!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

If anyone would like to join me, tonight I'll be celebrating my latest Alexa ranking.

That's right, according to Alexa, I'm the 4,179,474th most visited site on the Internet.

I'd really like to thank all my readers. Without you, rankings like this wouldn't be possible.

p.s. Mom, if you could just click around a bunch every time you visit, that would be great. Thanks!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

I got a snazzy new wireless headset for my phone at work yesterday -- I'm testing them out before buying them for the whole team. I did think that I was going to be able to use it without having the list the receiver off the cradle first (you know, so I could answer calls in the bathroom or something), but alas.

Anyway, coincidentally or not, I ended up the emergency room last night with a pain so intense in my right foot, I nearly passed out. I had to get my roommate and Shap Deez to interrupt their video game playing to walk me, injured-football-player style, out to a cab. 5 hours later, I had a diagnosis of severe tendonitis or perhaps a sprain of my right foot. Either way, I'm on crutches, taking some painkillers, and working from home right now.

So, headset, what's it going to be? You going to love me or hate me?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

We like to work long hours at TheLadders.com and then get our drink on.

Not all that out of the ordinary.

Except there's this divey bar around the corner, Antartica, that sponsors "Name Night". Basically, if your name is up on the wall behind the bar, you drink for free that night. The names are determined well in advance of the actual night and published on a calendar.

That calendar applies to everyone but us. We've poured a lot of money into that bar, dammit, and they repay us by giving us an open phone line, a magic marker, and the ability to call 5 minutes before going over and add whatever name we want to the wall. Cheers to you Antartica!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It's true -- I found my job on Craigslist.

What do people normally find on Craigslist?

- Apartments (mostly)
- Casual sexual encounters (or so I've heard)

And, in my case, people find jobs. I joined TheLadders in response to a relatively vague advertisement on Craigslist (I couldn't even find a website for the company on Google at the time). Turned out that someone who knew a friend of mine from home was already at TheLadders and suggested they bring me in for an interview. Two weeks later I was living on a couch in New York City and working at a company that had a little money, 11 really hardworking people, and more than just a glimmer of a huge, huge dream.

Fast forward more than two years later, and TheLadders has over 75 employees, occupies the entire 8th floor of a building down in SoHo, has money to the tune of $7.25 million in venture funding, and, yes, still writes me a check every two weeks. I'm now managing a team of 5 (soon to be 6), and reporting to a VP.

None of that though compares though to the recent news that I will be spending 10 days in Japan with Marc and 5 other colleagues this September. Marc has always preached the importance of employee development and training, and what better way to really learn the Japanese tenet of "The Customer is God" than to actually attend customer service training IN JAPAN. I'm super excited for the trip; I'm even more excited that I get to do this at a company of 75 people.

And there are rumors I will be the tallest person in the country by a good margin.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's time for everyone's favorite feature, Adventures In Getting Ready.

Ski2Sun: thats hot
MShafron: so hot
MShafron: i'm wearing cufflinks tonight
MShafron: and listening to led zeppelin
MShafron: it is party shirt time
Ski2Sun: i wish i had something good to add this time
Ski2Sun: do you know what would make my night though
Ski2Sun: really would
MShafron: it could be a weekly series
Ski2Sun: I am praying
Ski2Sun: for a table of 10 21 year olds
Ski2Sun: to be sitting right next to us
Ski2Sun: what do you think the chances of that happnening are?
MShafron: get on your knees and throw up an offering for ha' shem right now
Ski2Sun: you do it too
MShafron: ok
Ski2Sun: he can't refuse both of us
MShafron: i am on my knees right now

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)