Ajarn Mark Caldwell Blog

Bringing Business Sense to the IT World…

Go Big or Go Special

Watching Shark Tank tonight and the first presentation was by Mango Mango Preserves and it highlighted an interesting contrast in business trends today and how to capitalize on opportunities. <Spoiler Alert> Even though every one of the sharks was raving about the product samples they tried, with two of them going for second and third servings, none of them made a deal to invest in the company. Read more →

How to Manage Technical Employees

In my current position as Software Engineering Manager I have been through a lot of ups and downs with staffing, ranging from laying-off everyone who was on my team as we went through the great economic downturn in 2007-2008, to numerous rounds of interviewing and hiring contractors, full-time employees, and converting some contractors to employee status. Read more →

Play Your Position Until the Play Breaks Down&hellip;then Do Whatever it Takes.

If I didn’t know better, I would think that K. Brian Kelley (blog | twitter) has been listening in on conversations with my boss. In his recent blog post Successful Teams: Knowing When to Step Out of Your Role, Brian describes quite clearly a philosophy that my boss has been trying to get across to everyone in the department. Read more →

Fixed Bid vs. T&amp;M &ndash; Take 2

One of my most popular blog entries of all time is my Contracting Tips: Fixed Bid vs. T&M post from January, 2004. This post consistently shows up in my referrers list, usually coming from a search engine. Read more →

What NOT To-Do

One of my favorite authors on the subject of Leadership is Dr. John C. Maxwell. Occasionally, he talks about how most people have To-Do lists, but more importantly, he recommends that leaders develop a NOT-To-Do list. Read more →

Defining Experience

I'm sure I've written this before, but while I'm on the topic of interviewing, it bears repeating... Do NOT confuse 1 year of experience repeated 5 times with 5 years of experience. Read more →

Honesty in the Interview

In my previous post about interview flubs, Jon dinged me in the comments for posting something that is too obvious. As he put it, "who DOESN'T know these?". Well, Jon, apparently a lot of people don't. Read more →

Escape From Cubicle Nation

For those of you who are already independent contractors, or thinking about taking the plunge and being your own boss, some good ideas and good humor awaits you at the Escape From Cubicle Nation blog. Read more →

The Interview - Don't Blow It

While I am putting together a few of my own tips based on my recent experience of interviewing candidates for developer positions, here are some tips from eWeek on 10 Avoidable Interview Flubs. Read more →

Geek Marketing 101

Found this post titled Geek Marketing 101 at Make Marketing History by way of Guy Kawasaki's Blog. Of the little I have read so far, the Make Marketing History blog looks promising for no-nonsense business/marketing tips. Read more →

Interviewing Tips & Tricks

As an independent contractor, I spent plenty of time as the candidate looking for work. Each time, I learned a little bit more about how to do it better, but I sure could have used some tips, especially in the early years. Read more →