It's Been a Whole Year Since Graduation!!!

  Wow, time does fly...... Where did it go???

As I see the countless updates from friends announcing to the world "They are done with school, and ready to take on the world," "they're graduating with their bachelors, or their masters and can't wait to claim their life back," I can't help but laugh and think to myself... wow that's how clueless I was!

It has been a whole year since I graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelors in Human Resources and as much as I thought I was ready to take on the world and conquer it one training at the time or at least one job at the time, life showed me otherwise.
All the time I spent in school getting ready for the real world, learning concepts, techniques, charts and writing thousands of pages, thinking I was preparing myself to climb the corporate ladder did not prepare me for what I really had to do.

Soon after graduation, I got into a little accident and broke my left foot so all my ideas to start interviewing and conquering the world were put on hold.  To top it off, right after I was able to go back to work, the company I worked for closed and all the personnel were laid off.
Talk about anxiety... I was at a point of my life where I could do literally anything I wanted, yet I felt so lost and confused. So what did I do? I broke my piggy bank and flew to Boston, Ma. It was the single best experience I could've had the entire year! That trip opened my eyes to a whole different reality.

I was concerned about the future and how I was going to support myself... whether to just find a job in retail management as quick as possible to continue paying my bills, go back to school and start a Masters degree right away, take time to really find a job that allowed me to start my professional career?
Then I realized I didn't need to have all the answers right away. I sat down and put in perspective what I really wanted and how feasible it was for me to chase my goals without compromising my responsibilities. I took advantage of the unemployment benefits I had accumulated over the years working in retail and decided it was time to focus on getting a job in my field. No more retail jobs for me! The search wasn't easy and as a matter of fact it was another lesson to be learned.

As a recent graduate, entering the job market without previous industry experience is a huge challenge. My work experience was limited only to retail management and customer service, all the positions I was applying to required minimum 3 years HR or administrative experience. I received calls from recruiters telling me how great my resume looked and the experience I had in management was very good, BUT they didn't think I was the right fit because I didn't have any administrative experience.  What a punch in the stomach! How was I supposed to start getting any experience if no one was willing to give me a chance?

Thank God for networking, family and opportunities!
I took a temporary position at a TV station for a couple of months until with the help of my brother and his amazing networking skills, I landed a job as a Human Resources Assistant at an aviation maintenance company... and boy oh boy have I learned to be at an office setting away from being in charge and getting my HR experience on for the past couple of months...  and I love it!

I'm eagerly waiting for January to start my MBA at NOVA, and couldn't be more excited! I'm looking forward to all the new lessons this coming year has to bring and all the experience I'm getting working on what I love and I'm passionated about.

This year taught me to be patient, humble, more responsible and even daring... It doesn't get any more Human than this!


What did you learn your first year after graduation?

Cutting Coupons??? Click on them Instead!!!!

When I first arrived to this country, my mom told me how the Americans cut coupons for everything. I was amazed (scared really) watching ladies flip through pages and pages of coupons to get only $1.00 - $5.00 off.  I still see many people flipping through cut out coupons at the registers of many supermarkets. As mentioned in last week's post, we ARE in the future. There is no more cutting, storing, looking for coupons any more.  I literally get them on my inbox EVERY DAY!

Have I ever bought any????  NO! But  I keep getting them because one day I will see the one that I really can't let go. But like me, there are tons of people who do not use those coupon services or who are always waiting for the next best deal.

Groupon, LivingSocial, Dealfind are some of the websites that offer these offers. But how long will they be on business? We all know the business plan is very simple and cheap when you really think of it.  All they do is connect A (merchants) with B (consumers) and they keep a percentage of the profit.  Merchants have found these sites as a double sided sword. They get the cash flow fast but then it becomes a drug that if they don't offer a deal; they don't get the customer... and how long can they survive by selling their product at a discount?
As a consumer, I rather save some money than show my "loyalty" to a business that at the end is taking my money. Also, some businesses don't like the reputation that offering deals bring to their business. One business owner said; "It created a lot of buzz..." but... "You don't want to cheapen your reputation".

I think Groupon should count its blessings while they have them, the e-commerce keeps evolving and who knows, tomorrow somebody may come up with a better strategy to capture sales without sacrificing merchant's profits.

 http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2011/04/03/coupon_services_aim_to_change_shopping_habits/?page=full

http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/groupon

The Jetsons didn't Have Facebook or Google! And We Thought that Was What the Fututre Would Be Like?

I remember when i would watch the Jetsons and all the Back to the Future movies and picture what the future would be like.  I loved thinking about all the robots doing everything for me, the whole meal in a beep, etc.  But what I have realized is that we ARE the future, we are living it day a day.

It was only until 1971 under the Nixon Shock that the US Government stopped backing up fiat currency with gold. Can you imagine? and now all we need is a chip that will store all of our shopping history and information.  What coupons we ave, what balance we have on gift cards, what stores we shop the most at, etc.  Starbucks had the idea and Google made it big. I think it will be only a couple of years until having cash will be a rarity... something that our grand kids will  be like.... "Really grandma, you still have to count those quarters?"

       Now the only thing we are missing is the personal greeting at the door with comments about our last visit at the store,  want to take a guess what movie had that?  Minority Report. It had the whole face recognition theme, back in 2002 and what are arguing about in Facebook and last weeks' post? how face recognition was becoming a reality and how it would impact our privacy rights. The truth is; we dream of these things and think they are super cool, but, once we have them or we realize they are here to become part of our day to day lifestyle we don't embrace them.

Facebook has become the next best thing to learn what interest humans and why not recognize it... We let it happen, it is our option to have a profile, to check the updates, to comment on every single picture someone else uploads, and we choose to "like" something.
Companies have captured and taken advantage of this free customer service outlet, up to the point that "Facebook has become an effective tool for overseeing  all departments of ... companies"

Even the government has used Facebook for enumerable things, from promoting political campaigns to catching criminals on the loose. Who would have thought the police had time to keep updates on Facebook???







http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Shock

http://www.allthingscrm.com/social-networking-for-business/facebooks-impact-on-customer-service.html

Public Face Recognition... Where to Hide?

As of September of 2003, public face recognition was a yet to know topic; It was lingering in the minds of app developers, investigator officers, private investigators, Facebook; but at the end of the day the government only "approved" or supported 3 stances.

 * International airports in Boston, Providence, San Francisco and Fresno, Use face recognition as a security measure since the terrorist attacks in 2001.

* In the 2001 Super Bowl, Face recognition was used to identify and tag at least 19 suspects or potential criminals (but nobody turned out to be more than a traffic violator)

 * In Ybor, Tampa. The police department used public sidewalks to spot criminals in the streets.

 A study conducted by the Detroit Free Press found out that In most cases, face recognition cameras are used or programed by humans and their biases. Either they aim or pay closer attention to a specific race or they abuse it by stalking women, if the controllers are male and if there are any interest on political fields, there are different ways to intimidate opponents.

And now we have to worry about social networks being able to tag all of our pictures by face recognition? Or being able to find people by snapping a picture from your phone and just google them? Give me a break... what about the people who are in the witness protection programs?
How do we know their identities are still protected and they will have the peace of mind to walk around the mall or a sidewalk for that matter and live their "new" life?

The government MUST take a closer look to this issue. Before we know it it will be out of hand and it will create a crisis of identities. Not only for the ones who do not want to be found but also for the ones who want to pretend to be someone else.

Technology keeps advancing at a faster pace than our fingers can text now days. It is up to us to be in the loop and keep ourselves informed so we can take the proper measures.

http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/qa-face-recognition
http://www.news-geek.com/blog/face-recognition-technology-online-progress-vs-privacy/

Facebook Me Vs. Check my Page on Myspace

The answer is so simple. what other network site became a verb? NONE! it is a lot easier to tell someone, Hey, facebook me than asking them to check out your page on Myspace.  It is just not COOL.  I'm sorry but when I've heard the word Myspace, I go back to the memories of glittery fonts, dancing dolls, endless music uploads depending on your mood, and all the other advertisement i didn't want to see.

    Tom Anderson created Myspace as a gateway to his midlife crises and his need for attention, (ok not really, but that's what it looks like) he didn't have an especific target.  He just created a platform where people could just do whatever they wanted to do; ok cool, but not for too long. People need structure and limits. If you give them too much freedom they get bored and lost and eventually they won't come back.  That is exactly what happend to Myspace. IT WAS BORING and BUSY!

    Mark Zuckerberg found a better strategy. Who are the ones who decide was cool and what's not? who will give the approval and buzz needed for my success?  US, the college related population that doesn't have time to change to glittery fonts, change a song. We want to know what happened with our friends and not so friends... "What's on your mind", what's your status and so on. He had to win our hearts first and make it hard to get by giving only access to the network by having a .edu email account. 

Myspace has little to no chance in coming back from the ashes, only because you can't force something to be different and cool. It just is! Myspace could try to explote their music advantage as much as possible, but still, it will be a very steep hill to conquer. Not all of us are logging into Myspace just to check out some artist that are asking us to "Find them in Facebook or follow them in Twitter"

www.2010.newsweek.com/top-10/heated-rivalries/facebook-vs-myspace.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Anderson_(entrepreneur)

May I Pay With FaceCash?

     You can love it or hate it, but technology is a non-stop growing monster. Some of us are still trying to get used to how to download an app for this or that, or how to sync my email contacts to my phone, how to upload my video directly from my phone to facebook, how to get notifications instantly... God knows how many things I still don't know about my android that are about to be obsolete.

     Recently, many merchants like Starbucks  and selected Subways have launched a new way to pay for their services... THROUGH YOUR PHONE!!! yet, another app to download. They claim that it's easier than paying with cash or credit card, honestly it just lowers their costs.

  Some credit card companies charge an average of 3.2% per transaction and an average of $30 for the monthly fee. Some mobile paying methods are FREE!  Also, merchants tend to lose a lot of money when they receive charge backs from cardholders who claim never to have shopped or eaten at that place,  not to mention the consequences of generating charge back red flags with Visa or Mastercard.  And what about the #1 concern? The customer's privacy and bank security.

For all those reasons, there is a new way to pay.  FaceCash it only charges your account if the merchant sees your picture in their screen when you give them the bar code from your phone.  It is the solution that we were waiting for for the big flaw in Starbucks' payment method. The only problem is FaceCash is limited only to California as of now and there is a limited amount of stablishments that are using this method. It works the same as a debit card or pay pal, all you need to do is open an account with a minimum amount of $20 and then recharge the account as you wish. 

I think that if Florida or at least Miami started asking more merchants for this methods of payment, we could expand the possibilities of having more customers in our shops without the fear of forgetting their wallets, or credit card fraud. 

https://www.facecash.com/individuals.html
http://platpay.com/chargeback-red-flags/