You may have noticed a new addition to my sidebar today. Unless, of course, this is your first visit to the site - in which case for all you know, it could have been there forever.

Either way, there is a new addition to said sidebar, in the form of Job Listings from Authentic Jobs. These job listings are aimed towards web professionals and in my mind offer a far preferable route to potential employment than your standard call-from-an-agency type affair.

For full disclosure and whatnot, the links to the job listings are provided here through an affiliate scheme, so I do benefit from people finding jobs through the service. However, I have no control over which jobs are shown or the details of those jobs so there is still full impartiality on my part.

Seems like everyone around me is changing roles at the moment, myself included… guess there’s something in the air - recruitment fever!

Today’s events have furthered my belief that when collaborating on a project, Version Control should be your first thought - not your last. Things got a little hairy back there.

If you’ve been “meaning to get around to it” then might I nod you in the direction of Subversion or CVS, for starters.

Earlier this year at the place I was working at the time, somebody asked what we (as a company) were doing to get in to Facebook and Second Life. My initial reaction was “why would we be doing anything?” - kept to myself, of course.  Whenever a social trend emerges, it seems businesses want to jump on board - and those that don’t are perceived as having been left behind or “not keeping up”.

I’m not suggesting that there is no benefit in involving yourselves in these trends, far from it - such an action (especially when adopted at the right time) can really add value to a company’s profile. But blindly having a presence - in any way, shape or form - just to participate can often have a negative effect.

Setting up a Facebook group to promote a new product and encourage viral interest is one strategy that could certainly benefit, but a general “this is our Company, we’re on Facebook as we’re down with the kids” group with no valuable content will just leave visitors uninterested. An unpopular group, or one filled with people mocking the group’s existence is surely worse than no group at all…

The main thing to remember, in my ever so humble opinion, is that the web is a communication tool and not a parallel universe. You wouldn’t commission an advertising campaign without a focus and clear purpose - the same applies on the web.

The company I work for is looking for another Junior Web Developer. I can recommend the working environment and the company as a whole - get in touch via the details below if you think you fit the bill (but remember to say I sent you!)

The Role
We’re looking for someone to work on the Microsoft account using a variety of online tools. Based in Bristol or Reading, but starting off with training on-site at Microsoft in Reading, you’ll work on a variety of tasks and projects, including their corporate CMS, building websites, writing documentation, creating Silverlight apps plus involvement with any advances in online technologies. Being proficient in all windows products is a must, plus you’ll have skills including: HTML, Css, JavaScript, Photoshop and ASP, and if you’ve got knowledge of Visual Studio, xml and C# then even better! To be considered for the role you’ll need at least 1-2 year’s commercial web development experience, preferably within an agency environment. Oh, and if that wasn’t much to ask, you’ll also need to be professional, personable and a friendly team player with strong communications skills.

The Agency
Mason Zimbler is a full service, integrated creative marketing communications agency that specialises in the technology sector. With offices in Bristol and Reading, we provide a range of marketing services from strategic planning and brand building, to advertising, direct marketing, design and interactive.

We work in a vibrant, creative environment where everyone gives 100% to our clients and to each other. We encourage people to think individually and ensure you have enough freedom to make the most of your capabilities.

Interested and want to know more? Contact Nicola Greaves (ngreaves [at] mzl.com or 0117 311 2000.)

Ohhh this photo is brilliant! This was taken on the pitch at Wembley last Thursday, talk about a boy’s dreams coming true…

Once I get all of Jessi’s photos together I’ll update this post

On the more serious side, the whole event raised a stupendous £54,000 for Wooden Spoon, the charity the whole thing was in aid of. Brilliant!