So I’m graduating soon.  Too soon.  The CRC (Career Resource Center) here at Wesleyan has been telling me to apply to as many jobs as I can and hope that I get a bite from at least a few of them.  I refuse to do this.  Why?  Because why would I work at a place that writes mind-numbingly dull jobs descriptions when I could work at a place that writes job descriptions like this.  GlobalGiving gets it.  They understand that:

It’s pointless to hire someone based solely on a resume and cover letter. When almost every company’s job description asks for applicants that are “creative” and “innovative”, why does almost every companies’ application process involve the same old boring resume and cover letter?  GlobalGiving is actually asking their applicants to do something.  Not only will this give them an idea of whether the applicant will be successful at the job, it gives the applicant a sense of whether they will enjoy working there.  Win win for everyone.

Good talent looks for challenges. The second I saw this application, I was excited.  I think it’s proof enough that it is 3 AM and I’m still working on this application. Getting your applicants excited about working for you is the best way to distinguish between who wants to work for you and who is just applying because they need a job.

Hiring can be viral. GlobalGiving’s unique application process has already received a ton of attention on Twitter.  They asked applicants to use the #IWillLoveThisJob hashtag, creating a flurry of tweets from interested folks (like me) and their supporters. Let the battles begin!

So here I go. If you think I’d be good for the position, feel free to retweet this post (I cleverly put the hashtag in the title so it will automatically be included! I’m so sneaky.)

Photo: Matt Dunham/AP

There will be a large-scale botnet attack

Hackers have recently been mounting large-scale attacks on major corporations by using botnets.  Here’s how it works:   A botnet is a network of computers that are infected by a virus.  Hackers use this virus to take control of all the infected computers’ computing power and attack a specific target.

Hacktivist groups like Anonymous have recently made headlines by using botnets to attack organizations that criticized and withdrew support of Wikileaks.  Just a few days ago they were in the news again, threatening Egypt’s government for blocking internet access to protestors.  With more and more computers becoming infected, the botnets are growing exponentially in computing power.  I think we’ll see some major attacks this year, possibly to financial or government organizations.

Twitter will release a do-it-yourself ad service

This past year we finally saw an effort by Twitter to make some revenue.  Analysts say that their ad services may make as much as $250 million revenue by 2012.  Their challenge is going to be proving that these promoted tweets are actually effective, since Facebook offers the same service with a bigger user base.  Twitter has enough of a niche market that if they introduce something similar to Facebook and Google’s do it yourself ad services, they could start to be competitive.

Myspace will be bought, possibly by a recording company

Myspace is hurting badly.  It recently laid off about 50% of its workforce and continues to struggle to find a niche in the Facebook-dominated social space.  One thing that Myspace seems to have over Facebook is a good interface for sharing music.  Myspace continues to be a site for musicians looking to share their music and they still have recognition.  With some rebranding and significant downsizing, they must be useful to someone!

From tonymadrid on Flickr

iPhone on Verizon will crush Android sales

The iPhone is coming to Verizon in February and analysts predict anywhere from 12 to 25 million will sell in 2011.  That does not bode well for Android, which was able to compete with the iPhone in market share partially because of AT&T’s exclusivity deal with Apple. However, HTC and Motorola have some pretty nifty new Android phones coming out mid-year that will definitely be competitive, so we’ll have to wait and see!

Android Honeycomb will be beautiful, but iPad 2 will come out in the summer and dominate tablet sales

CES 2011 was a blizzard of tablets.  It seemed almost every single maker had their own tablet to announce.  Google will be showing off its new tablet operating system, Android Honeycomb, at a press event on February 2^nd.

This is the operating system that many of the tablets at CES will be running and I can’t wait to see what it looks like.  We haven’t heard anything about iPad 2 yet, but the first generation has been out for so long with little to no competition that even with all the shiny new Android tablets hitting the market soon, I think iPad sales will continue to dominate in 2011.

Net neutrality will make front page headlines

Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should put no restrictions on the type of content we receive and the methods in which we receive it.  Proponents for net neutrality argue that telecom companies are trying to enact a tiered model where the consumer would have to pay a different amount to access different data.

This model is ultimately harmful to the consumer because telecom companies would be able to remove competition to their services by controlling the flow of content and creating artificial scarcity.  This issue hasn’t had much effect on the mainstream media yet, but I think we’ll be reading a lot more about it this year, especially with the recent Comcast-NBC deal.

Yahoo will continue to lay off workers

I had this prediction written in early January and then it came true.  Yahoo announced more layoffs this month and I predict we’ll see more of that in 2011.  I also wouldn’t be surprised if Carol Bartz is out of there by December.

What do you think we’ll see if 2011? Angry Birds on gaming consoles? Apple shutting down it’s Ping service? Share your predictions in the comments below!

So let’s talk Twitter.  Twitter is a free micro-blogging tool that allows you to create messages of 140-characters or less.  It is a great tool for community building, self-promotion (yes those are two different things), and actively engaging fans in your brand.

1. Broadcast promotional material.

Twitter was not created as a Press Release System.  Some users employ twitter as a tool for one-way broadcasting.  Please don’t do this.  Social media is about creating a relationship with your community.  I want to connect to you, not promo tweets written by your marketing team.

Interact with people on Twitter that are interested in you, your product, or your field.  Use @ replies and Retweets to build relationships.  People often wonder “why is no one tweeting me?” or “why isn’t anyone writing on my wall?”  The answer is almost always because you haven’t invited them to.  Ask a question.  You’ll be amazed.  No one is going to interact with you without being invited to, unless your audience is 13-year-old-girls… and you are the Jonas Brothers.

2. Use a username with “gurl”, “hot”, “boi” or any variation thereof.

This isn’t your AIM screen name from high school, so resist the temptation of a “prettypony6794” or “monkeysRcrazy4242”.  Be consistent with your brand and choose something that people will easily identify as you.  You can change your display name in Settings without creating a new account. (acceptable options: your name, band, gallery, company, etc.)

Internet rural (Credit: Caliaetu on Flickr)

3. Only tweet at night.

Most artists work weird hours.  But keep in mind that a high percentage of Twitter users are on a 9-5 work schedule and that is when you are going to get the most visibility.  This doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything at night, but save a large percentage of your tweets for the day, when you will be most likely to elicit a response.

4. Tweetflooding.

Also known as spamming.  Your 30 tweets about The Real Housewives of New Jersey are unappreciated and unnecessary.  Overtweeting is a good way to get unfollowed.  Also, people are less likely to want to interact if you are overwhelming them.  Think before you post.  Exceptions: If you are live-blogging an event like a conference or breaking news story, it is acceptable to tweetflood as long as you use #hashtags.  Find out what hashtag other people are using and add it to your tweets to help connect with other people talking about the same thing.

5. Miss out on conversation.

I see this all the time and it kills me.  If someone is talking about you or something that you are knowledgable and passionate about, you should be right there in the conversation.

• Use Twellow to connect to other people in your industry.
• Set up alerts on Tweetbeep and Google Alerts so that you know whenever someone mentions you, your brand, or something you are interested in.
• Check out Tweetmeme for what links people are most talking about.