David L. Farquhar, computer security professional, train hobbyist, and landlord
One question I get a lot, as a former Amazon bookseller, is why some books are so cheap on Amazon. Namely, how can books sell for a penny? And why do they sell that cheap? I can tell you nobody wants to make a living selling books for a penny, but it is possible to do so and turn a profit, if a seller is careful and the market conditions are right. Here’s how they do it.
I didn’t talk about it much, but I sold books on Amazon for extra money for a little over a decade. There’s a lot of hyperbole out there about selling on Amazon and online in general. Here’s some straight talk about selling books on Amazon from someone who did it.
The topic of the dreaded job offer acceptance deadline came up in my circles this week. Unfortunately I expect these to become more common in the near future. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a red flag. Let’s look at why businesses put deadlines on offers, and what they reveal in doing so.
Job offer acceptance deadlines are a power move, intended to force an individual’s hand. But they are also a sign that the company is insecure.
I once worked for a company that used the stack rank system. It’s a method that Jack Welch pioneered at General Electric decades ago and it caught on elsewhere, but many companies, including famously Microsoft, moved away from it.
I’ve experienced firsthand what it does to people and what it does to teams. I’ll share my experience in hopes it drives progressive-thinking companies to seek alternatives.
An interesting question came up on Twitter the other day. Do you accept Linkedin connection requests from strangers? I used to. Today I generally do not. Here’s why I used to, and why I changed my mind.
Whether you accepted connection requests from strangers really depends on what you’re trying to get out of Linkedin. If those connections don’t further your goals, simply don’t accept them.
I was comparing notes on Twitter with some peers in the UK and Australia. The idea of benefits confused them. They asked what a typical benefits package for employees in the United States looked like, and if it explained the difference in pay between our countries. So let’s take a look.
A typical benefits package for employees in the United States includes health insurance coverage, paid vacation days, paid holidays, and some retirement. But the details can vary a bit.
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, I’ve heard some business consultants speak of something called an “infinite game” or “infinite mindset.” This, they say, is the key to surviving setbacks or even thriving in the midst of them. What is an infinite game, and what’s special about it?
The infinite mindset, or infinite game, simply means not caring about winning or losing in the short term. An opponent who is just playing to stay in the game is hard to defeat.
I’ve found Python is a useful skill in the workplace. It took me a little while to learn it, but it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. Here’s why I learned Python, and I think anyone who works in IT should at least consider learning it.
Unlike most of the job market, cyber security is a growing field with no signs of slowing down, lots of upward mobility, and good prospects for getting a raise once in a while. At the time of this writing, there are 500,000 security vacancies in the United States alone. There’s little hope of filling most of them. One of them could be you, if only someone would discover you. Here’s how to get an entry level cyber security job.
There’s no proven formula for getting into the cyber security field. But through a combination of networking and saying the right things on your resume and in the interview process, you can get into this field. Someone dumber than you has a security job. With some perseverance, you can get in too.
Being laid off isn’t something that happens to everyone. But it happens to more than you would think. It’s about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s the key. Remember it’s not a failing on you. Here’s what to do if you’ve been laid off.
The keys to surviving a layoff is to burn as few bridges as possible, use the resources available to you, and try to land on your feet somewhere else. Here are some tips for doing that.