How to Keep Your Inbox Empty

At the end of the day, I get great satisfaction knowing that my inbox is empty. For the last 10 years, I have been able to stay on top of my email by following the tips I am about to share with you. Every time I get an email I go through this same process to keep my inbox empty.

1. Can I delete it?

I love deleting emails. I found most emails can be deleted with very little consequence to my work or life. I work in organizations where I am carbon copy on everything. I used to save these emails because I thought I will need it someday but this turns out to be false. Learn to embrace deleting emails and you are halfway to taking charge of your inbox.

2. If I can’t delete it right away, can I act on it in less than 2 minutes?

If it is a short email that requires a quick response, I can actually take care of it right away. If the email takes less than 2 minutes to read and act upon, you should just do it. It is a waste of time to read and re-read an email multiple times without deciding to do something about it. Most emails fall under this category. Once I have acted on the email (either by reading or responding to it, it will get deleted it or filed away for reference). After reading emails, I always take action on it. The goal is to keep my inbox free of emails.

3. Turn your inbox into a to-do list or reminder.

My inbox is sacred territory. Any emails still residing there must be important or requires my attention. For example, if an email has an action item that I need to do, I will leave it in my inbox as a reminder that I need to do something. Also, if I am waiting for a reply back from someone, I will leave the email in my inbox as a reminder.  

Start-up Hiring Trends

In 2011, the number of startup jobs jumped 23.5% from a year ago according to StartupHire.com. As you can guess, the state with the most startup jobs is California. I live in the heart of Silicon Valley. This is really ground zero for startups in America. I am surrounded by some of the most well known companies in the planet such as Apple, Google and Facebook. These giant companies were once startups too. It seems that every business park is cramped wall to wall with young companies hoping to make it big or get acquired. The amount of money being poured into new ventures is just incredible. Some of the best and brightest people in the world are coming to Silicon Valley to make their fortune. This reminds me of the Internet boom that we experienced in in the late 90′s.

This new gold rush is presenting an enormous opportunity for people with technical skills. Right now in the startup world, the jobs with the most openings are centered around the software industry. These are companies that are creating the next cool iPhone app or cloud-based service. The most common job title in 2011 was software engineer followed by senior software engineer. Not only are there more computer jobs than people but the pay is averaging closing to $100,000 annually in Silicon Valley.

There is no better time to be in the tech industry. The graph below shows some interesting information about startups.

Average Tech Worker Making $100K in Silicon Valley

Dice, an online jobs board, recently completed an annual salary survey that showed the average tech worker in Silicon Valley is making $104,195 a year. This is the first time it went above $100K since the survey began. That is a 5% increase from 2010. In addition to the increase in salary, 38% of tech workers are getting an average bonus of $12,450.

What this is telling me is that the demand for job seekers with technical skills in Silicon Valley is increasing rapidly. Due to the shortage of skilled labor, salaries are being increased to attract talented people.

There has never been a better time to work in the information technology field. Tech companies in Silicon Valley are doing very well at the moment. I recently read an article that Facebook cannot find enough good people for its job openings. I think this lack of skilled workers will persist for a long time.

Best Jobs in 2012

CareerCast.com recently listed the best jobs in 2012. The number one spot goes to software engineer. This is not surprising since the need for people with computer skills will only increase in the future. Software engineers are also some of the highest paying people in America with an average salary of $88,142. There are more jobs than qualified people to fill them. As someone who regularly hires people for tech jobs, I can tell you that it is very hard to fill these positions because we can’t find enough good people. We sometimes have to settle for whatever is out there. If you are contemplating a career change, I would highly recommend researching the information technology field.

World Class Online Courses for IT Professionals

Do you know you no longer need to be accepted by an Ivy League school in order to get an Ivy League university education? Academic Earth is an open courseware repository, which offers free online video courses from universities such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Harvard University, etc.

Examples of Computer Science related courses are: Introduction to Computer Science & Programming, Computer Science I: Programming Methodology, Understanding Computers & Internet, Building Dynamic Websites, and much more.

The beauty of free online training courses is that you can take these courses with world class university professors around the country at the comfort of your own home and at your own time. Although you won’t receive a degree from the free online university programs, however, the time you spend on training and educating yourself is one of the best investments you can give to yourself.

A New Trend in IT Hiring

Do you need a degree in Computer Science in order to land an IT job? The answer is no.
 
NPR reports ConAgra Foods Inc. has been hiring non-tech graduates for high tech jobs since 2008. ConAgra’s IT internship program is also designed for both IT and non IT majors. Debra Humphreys from the Association of American Colleges and Universities also cites Hewlett Packard and Siemens as companies open to hire candidates with liberal arts degrees for IT positions.
 
According to Gerrit Schutte, Chief Information Officer at ConAgra, they look for candidates who have more than a single dimension in terms of what candidates bring to the table. Technical talent is not enough.
 
Debra Humphreys said, “The big message for today’s college students is to remember that they’re preparing now for a lifetime of work, not just for that first job they’re going to get when they graduate.”
 
Based on our own IT consulting experience, people who do well in the IT field are folks who have solid technical skills and exceptionally communication skills (e.g., public speaking, writing skills, etc.) and who can translate business processes into computer logic to help the day-to-day business operation.