There's Gold In Them Thar Hills.

OK, so all the ad nauseam talk of the worldwide Economic Downturn be damned…there are some very innovative and interesting companies still hiring, for example the ones I am highlighting here.

Want a job? If you are a qualified and interested candidate for anything listed in this post, please contact me and I will arrange introductions where appropriate.

Have a job, but sourcing candidates? I periodically circulate employment leads throughout my network, either on behalf of recruiters or as a favour to my contacts with direct employers. As previously mentioned it is not my day job, nor something I am looking at as an upcoming segue into a Recruiting career…think of it as more like a Pay It Forward exercise. So my disclaimer _slash_ explanation aside, if you want me to post your career opportunity here, just drop me a line and I will almost certainly do that for you at some point in the near future.

Now, here comes the good stuff…

***Director of Business Development***
A leader in a rapidly-growing segment of the Social Media category requires a business development leader. Only top-performing individuals with an understanding of (and passion for) leveraging social media solutions in a business context need apply.

> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Successfully build strategic partnerships, interacting directly with senior executives in Partner and Customer organizations
• Oversee and execute against the company's Channel Development road map

> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• Degree and 5 years+ related experience in B2B partnership development/management
• Demonstrated success in generating revenue streams from partner relationships and channels
• Must be technically minded and comfortable discussing complex "architecture-level" subjects with potential partners
• Must also be tenacious and resourceful, with excellent time management skills and most importantly a very good sense of humour

> Additional Information
• This position will be based out of a Virtual Office and therefore the new hire’s working location is flexible
• While a deep familiarity with social media and online social networks is preferred, this is not a firm requirement


***Senior Project Manager, Interactive***
A boutique East Coast firm focused on the development of interactive content for Web, Mobile and Offline is currently seeking a senior project manager with the ability and interest in taking a leadership role within the organization.

> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Identify optimization opportunities and in turn take action to improve the company’s current project management processes
• Ensure the end-to-end delivery of multiple concurrent projects, on time, within budget, with the highest possible level of quality
• Provide internal leadership and external relationship management on a wide range of projects, from micro-sites to game development
• Project scoping, proposal writing, requirements gathering, critical path ownership, liaising with Sales, Design, Dev and QA teams and management of project expenses
• Lead client status meetings plus collect feedback from work-in-progress presentations
• Offer mentorship and guidance to junior members of the project management team

> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• Have worked at least 2 years in a project management capacity within an interactive development firm or design agency
• Experience with multiple projects, successfully managing competing objectives and priorities in challenging time frames
• Understanding of the website project development process
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of both technical and non-technical teams, at multiple organizational levels
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office, Visio, Project, and Adobe Products

> Additional Information
• This position is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia


***Affiliate Marketing Manager***
> Overview/Summary
• Online affiliate marketing program expertise required, at minimum within the Casino Gaming, Poker or Sports Betting category
• Must understand the mindset and motivators of the online wagering community, and be able to “speak their language” when developing related B2C communications messaging
• This is a hands-on role…pure strategists with an aversion to the Execution process need not apply
• Candidates meeting the above requirements and also possessing media management experience are preferred

> Additional Information
• This position is located in Montreal…exceptional candidates with a preference for working remotely (from Toronto only) may be considered
• Salary is in the $70K Canadian range, with incentive compensation and benefits to be negotiated


***Email Marketing Manager***
> Overview/Summary
• Email marketing program expertise required, at minimum within the Casino Gaming, Poker or Sports Betting category
• Must understand the mindset and motivators of the online wagering community, and be able to “speak their language” when developing related B2C communications messaging
• Candidates will be required to demonstrated having previously leveraged email marketing channels for all of the following activist: acquisition, activation as well as retention
• This is a hands-on role…pure strategists with an aversion to the Execution process (and lacking basic HTML proficiency) need not apply

> Additional Information
• This position is located in Montreal…exceptional candidates with a preference for working from Toronto may be considered
• Salary is in the $70K Canadian range, with incentive compensation and benefits to be negotiated


***Sales Executive, Research Services***
Join a venture-funded technology company introducing its paradigm-shifting online market research solution to North American clients. This is an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated Hunter-type sales professional to get on board at the early stages and make a significant contribution to the company’s growth and overall achievement against its business objectives.

> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Evangelize and secure booked orders for the company’s Online Research services / Sampling solutions, both to Canadian and US market research service providers and also client organizations directly
• Build the business - identify prospective customers, qualify and prioritize leads, establish contact, forge relationships, make the pitch, counter objections to close the sale…and then repeat, all while documenting this process so the company’s management team can track Sales Funnel activity accurately

> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• Bachelors degree or equivalent plus 5+ years’ experience in sales development
Must have a proven track record of achieving (exceeding) quotas, ideally in selling market research services and/or advertising sales
• Candidates with a background in web analytics, audience measurement, and/or business intelligence are preferred
• Candidates with familiarity using Salesorce.com for management of sales activity management are preferred

> Additional Information
• This position will be located in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) or Mountain View, California (USA)
• The compensation package includes a competitive base salary plus commissions along with a comprehensive benefits package and stock options

I Drink Your Milkshake.

Read an article tonight referencing a fairly interesting development, ie. that the Yahoo! share of the Search market increased and Google's actually fell at the same time.

Some highlights:

* The results are based on comScore rankings - US data only - as summarized by JP Morgan's Imran Khan

* The big news is that the Yahoo! share of "domestic core search market" was up in January 2009, hitting 21.0% and increasing 0.5% from december's share of 20.5%

* This now makes 6 consecutive months of market share gains, reversing the long-time Declining trend of recent years

* Google's domestic core search market share dropped by 0.5% in January to 63.0% from the 63.5% level in December

* This could be interpreted as the first signs of Google's domestic search share reaching a plateau, something which many industry observers have predicted will happen inevitably

* MSN's domestic core search market share increased in January to 8.5% over 8.3% in December

* This small gain by MSN could be interpreted as a Good News story...or alternatively as a So What? data point since Microsoft clearly needs to make much more substantial gains than these if it is to become competitive, especially given the level of MSFT resources that are currently being allocated to winning in Search

* AOL domestic core search market share increased in January to 3.9% (from 3.8% in December) while Ask Network domestic core search market share dropped to 3.7% in January from 3.9% in December...a bit of a cancelling-each-other-out effect overall happening with these secondary players

So, while Microsoft's MSN and Online Services unit continues to add former top Yahoo! Search executives to its roster, Yahoo! appears to be holding its own, at least for the time being. On the other hand, with key players like Sean Suchter (former VP of Search Technology), Qi Lu (EVP Engineering - Yahoo! Search and Advertising Technology Group) and most recently (former VP of Search & Advertising Sciences at Yahoo! Labs) Larry Heck joining the "mother ship" in Redmond - and Yahoo! vets Scott Moore and Eric Hadley already on board managing media/programming and branding/global marketing portfolios respectively - I can't imagine how this won't eventually have an overall negative impact on the ability of Yahoo! to remain relevant in the Search category.

And with numerous signs pointing to a massive company-wide re-org of the entire management ranks happening very soon down in Sunnyvale, I predict continued growth in the Yahoo! Alumni Club membership ranks on the employee payroll at MSFT...with a corresponding Yahoo! death spiral in Search over the next 6-12 months.

So, will this all result in a Fire Sale by Yahoo! to Microsoft after all? Or perhaps another scenario, in which Yahoo! sells off its Search business or possibly attempts to partner with another online player?

I welcome discussion of any and all opinions and theories, so please feel free to post your thoughts in the Comments section.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Am going with a bit of a different format tonight...

First off, while it may be true that "Jobs become obsolete. Talent doesn't." this had better be an accidental or coincidental display of the advertisement alongside the article content. Otherwise it is a textbook example of taking online ad targeting to the extreme...and yes, I am only joking.

(Source = washingtonpost.com, via TechCrunch)

OK...definitely Been There, Done That and have even purchased the t-shirt on more than one occasion.

(Source = David Armano, via a Paul Burns blog posting)

Speaking of t-shirts, I think I might start wearing this one on a regular basis.

(Source = NoiseBot)

The New York experience, communicated artfully with Lego. Follow the link for entire I LEGO N.Y. series.

(Source = NYTimes.com via blog posts by Paul Burns AND Razor Creative)

It is funny because it is true.

(Source = Noise to Signal)