Brendon J. Wilson

 by Brendon J. Wilson

Job Search

We’re coming up to our break in between sessions in the final semester of my MBA program, so I’m starting to look around at where I can work once I’m done. I’m feeling less and less certain about which area I want to work in, but more frustrating is the six zillion different places to look for work.

In the past, I’ve always relied on job sites, such as Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, and T-Net, to find jobs. But in the time between my last job search and the present there’s a whole new crop of recruiting sites that have emerged: JobShark, Workopolis, CareerBuilder, Brass Ring, and numerous others. What used to be a simple way to identify interesting jobs and put your resume in the hands of potential employers has degraded to the point that the Internet recruiting sites are no more useful than the newspaper.

For example: for each one of these sites I need to input my resume; however, each one of these sites has a different way to input my resume. Some are simple, simply requiring me to upload my Word-formatted resume, while others require me to fill out a bunch of forms, and make selections from dropdowns. Can you say “time-consuming”? Not only that, each site offers diminishing returns for the expended effort – most of the sites feature the same jobs listings from either the same employer or the same recruiter.

What we really need is some kind of XML resume format that job-seekers can post on their web site or upload to job sites, and that search engines can easily index. This would allow employers to easily find potential employees. On the flip side, employers need some kind of XML job description format that job seekers can easily find through a similar search engine mechanism.

Of course, putting such a system in place would require tools to simplify the task for both parties. The system would also significantly reduce the need for these recruitment web sites; however, given their reduced ability to match jobs with job-seekers, is that really such a bad thing?

in Business / Technology 2 comments
 by Brendon J. Wilson

IT: The Electric Car

I stumbled across a neat electric car outside Urban Fare on the way to grab some dinner this evening. It is called, uh, IT, and it’s a sporty four-door Low Speed Vehicle made right here in BC by Dynasty Car Corporation.

I took some time to talk to the Sales and Marketing Manager, Richard Clarke, to get an idea of the car’s capabilities. In particular, the car:

  • Is built from glass-fibre
  • Has a top legal speed of 40kph, although it was unclear if this was the car’s top speed or the top speed the car is legally allowed to drive due to its classification as a Low Speed Vehicle
  • Sells for $20K

All in all, it looks like a nice unit but it still suffers from a few minor drawbacks:

  • Despite a fairly roomy area for cargo, a removable/foldable back row and front passenger seat would enable IT to carry a lot more cargo
  • The car is restricted to a maximum speed of 40kph on roads with a posted maximum of 60kph – and must have its hazard lights on, as well as a hazard triangle on the rear bumper. Additional crash testing is required to certify the car – something which is costly to obtain and might require something other than a glass-fibre body to guarantee certification.

What surprised me most: I’d never heard of these guys. On further consideration, I realized I had seen them in use around UBC by Plant Operations but didn’t realize it was a local company. Isn’t this the kind of thing that BC should be touting both domestically and internationally? Sometimes our desire to be polite seems to get in the way of us recognizing our own strengths – this kind of entrepreneurial company shows that BC kicks butt, and we should be giving companies like this the encouragement and support they need.

in Technology 4 comments