Feral Jundi

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Job Tips: Using RSS Readers For Job Hunting

Filed under: Blogs,Job Tips — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 10:37 AM

When it comes to looking for security contracting jobs, you need all the help you can get for staying up to date with what jobs are out there. You also need to be able to react quickly to job announcements. So any tools and procedures that can help you do that, should definitely be used for your job search strategy.

Now of course there are the basic methods that most guys use, like perusing the forums/FB groups, signing up for job list subscriptions, asking around within their networks (personal and online), and checking out the various job boards/career pages and sites. But when it comes to doing a search efficiently and with speed, it can be kind of time consuming.

The other factor is that some job announcements operate on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. I can recount at least two of my contracts that I got, purely  because I answered the job ad so fast. Recruiters, if presented a large pool of candidates that are generally the same, will often just go down the list as they get those submissions. And if those recruiters are on a tight schedule where they have to deploy guys ‘yesterday’, then they have no time to waste. They just go right down the list and start calling and emailing folks. So it pays to be quick on the draw when it comes finding jobs and responding to them.

So how do I make this process faster and more efficient? Well one tool I use is called an RSS reader.(Specifically one made by Feedly) RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it is a tool that bloggers/journalists/researchers use to receive and process lots of information with. And the really cool thing about an RSS reader is that you can set them up to give you updates as they are sent out by the various blogs and sites. Meaning as soon as someone posts something, it is sent out immediately to the RSS feed, which if you have that RSS feed link in your RSS reader, then you will get that post.

How does this apply to job searches? Well, next time you are at a jobs website or a career page, look for a little graphic in the corner or somewhere on the page that says RSS. They will look like these icons.(see top graphic)

Put your cursor over it and copy it. Then paste that link into your RSS reader search engine, and when it comes up, put it in a category that is applicable. When I find a cool jobs RSS related feed or interesting website, I will put it into my Feedly RSS reader. I set my reader to update immediately.

What happens next is that every time that site posts a new job, that post is sent out to all of the RSS feeds. Meaning you will get that job posting as soon as it is posted, and you will see it in your RSS reader just waiting to be read. What is even cooler is that you can set up an RSS reader on your smart phone or tablet, and check your reader on the go.

I find myself checking my Feedly online and on my smart phone all the time. But if I do not check it and mark it as ‘read’, then it just stays in the hopper until I do read it. So if I am away for awhile or do not have access to the internet, I will still have a nice collection of materials to read at my leisure. You can keep all those posts in your reader as well and just mark them as read. I don’t delete that stuff because sometimes I will go back and re-read stuff.

You can also share those posts on social media, or do emails, thanks to the tabs included with most readers. I do this every day for blogging and social media sharing, and it is how I keep up to date with the news of the industry. It is also how I keep up to date with jobs.

Once you build an RSS reader, you will find yourself constantly looking for RSS feeds (post feeds, comments feeds, etc.) and URLs to put into the thing. Look everywhere for them, and also know that sometimes you can just put the URL for the site into the reader and it might recognize that site and it’s feeds. Play around with it and you will see what I mean. It is a fantastic tool and it will dramatically expand your ability to efficiently process the information that is out there. Here is a list of all the job boards/sites I have in my reader, complete with links to the feeds/URLs. Definitely put these guys in your reader.

Close Protection PSD Jobs

Conflict Area Management

International Security Jobs

Paladin Jobs

Secure Aspects

Security Officer Jobs-South Africa

USA Security Jobs

I personally use Feedly and it is a great reader. I also used Google’s RSS reader, but that closed down and after some research I ended up at Feedly. There are other RSS readers out there and they all do the same thing with various bells and whistles. Below I will leave a great tutorial on how to set up a Feedly account.

Enjoy and happy hunting! –Matt

 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Cool Stuff: Matthew VanDyke, An American Freedom Fighter

Filed under: Afghanistan,Blogs,Cool Stuff,Libya — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 4:39 PM

Now this guy is interesting. He is famous for going to Libya and fighting for the rebels there. He was also captured, then released after 5 1/2 months as a POW, and then went back to the front lines to fight again.

He also enlisted in the National Liberation Army and was assigned the position of being the the DShK gunner. Although he claims to have not accepted any payment for his service, his experiences will definitely have value when he writes a book and does a documentary about it all. Hell, even a movie would not be out of the question. Call it the Hemingway method of war volunteerism–which turned out to be quite profitable for ‘papa’ in later years.

Which brings up the next deal about Matt. He has a website complete with Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube accounts. So he is going full bore on promotions of his work and future work. Not only that, but he has started a blog complete with free email subscription.

Now the question you are probably wondering is if he plans on going to Syria to fight?  I know he follows the situation there and has hinted about going back to the middle east, but I have not heard anything about him going there specifically. But you never know?

The other cool little tidbit is that he stopped in at Tim’s guest house in Afghanistan during his motorcycle trip. I wish him well and he definitely gets the Feral Jundi award for best pro-bono security contractor last year. lol –Matt

Website for Matthew VanDyke here.

 

The DShK Gunner!!

 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Cool Stuff: SOFREP, A Website ‘Organized For Victory’ And Authored By Spec Ops Veterans

This is a great resource and I highly recommend checking out this site. SOFREP is a website authored by some fantastic writers who are all veterans of the special operations community. If you follow Feral Jundi on facebook, or are a reader of such sites as Kit Up, you will recognize a few of them. Definitely check them out if you are interested in this aspect of military operations and like them on FB if you are active there. Also, if you have an RSS reader, here is their feed. –Matt

 

Brandon Webb, Executive Media Director
Jack Murphy, USASOC Editor
Bill Janson, MARSOC Editor
Glen Doherty, NSWC Editor
Laura Simonian, Media Coordinator
Contributing Editors – Fire Support
Clinton Emerson
Sean Nack
Steve Speirs
Mike Ritland
ORGANIZED FOR VICTORY!!!
SOFREP.COM (Special Operations Forces Report) is the number one site for authentic, accurate, and timely information related to the US and Allied Special Operations Community. In addition to daily reports and edgy media content, we offer an in-depth Special Operations “Wiki”.  We have taken content from all of the US SOCOM component commands and customized it in a way that is easy to understand and navigate.
What Makes us Unique?
Typical news and media sites provide perspective about the Special Operations Forces (SOF) community and have no Special Operations background or understanding of our community.  This lack of understanding leads to fundamental errors in reporting on SOF current events .  Until now…..
A Unified Team of Operators
For the first time a group of former US SOCOM Operators have united as one team.  We represent all branches of Special Operations; Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC), Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC), and US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).  Our Editors are ALL former Special Operations personnel with combat experience; they are responsible for managing their respective branch content and keeping the cultural integrity and authenticity intact.  What does this mean to you? It means that you are getting SOF news and information straight from the experts.
This is where interested individuals go to learn about all branches of the Special Operations community.  Want to learn about Air Force Special Operations? Go to AFSOC.  Want to compare Army SOF to Navy SOF? Go into USASOC or NSWC to get personal perspective and decide what community best suits your interests. What is Marine Corps Special Operations about? Click Marsoc. Concerned parent? Send us a Comms Check and ask a real operator that’s been there done that.
SOFREP TV
Look for exciting short series shows like our very own Inside The Team Room and Behind the Brand. These shows are directed and produced in house. Inside The Team Room will launch in April so stay tuned.
War Room
The War Room is the place to go for unique and legitimate content about Special Operations history and current events.
If you are a Special Operations enthusiast, future Special Operations candidate, or just a veteran just looking to re-connect, you finally have one simple resource to turn to for legitimate perspective.  The Team and I welcome you to the site and appreciate your participation and contribution as a SOFREP Team member.
Editor-in-Chief
Brandon Webb (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Class 215)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Blogs: To Be Or To Do, By J. Scott Shipman

Thanks to zenpundit for posting this. Scott has put together a great little blog and website related to all things Boyd. And you gotta love the title!  So definitely put this on your RSS reader if you are interested in following this stuff and I will put the site on my blog roll. –Matt

 

Welcome to the To Be or To Do Website and Blog!
January 25, 2012
This website and much of my work was inspired by John Boyd’s professional life-example, his “to be or to do” challenge, and his thoughts on teamwork. However I have included principles that do not apply to Boyd and drawn conclusions that Boyd may well have disagreed with. As I’ve told friends and colleagues, I have taken Boyd’s scaffold, or outline, if you will, and introduced my ideas and experiences. This is the substance of my forthcoming book, To Be or To Do and of my service to clients.
The core of the To Be or To Do material is based on five attributes that exemplified John Boyd’s professional life, plus two. The core Boydian attributes, or principles, are:
-Honesty
-Courage
-Curiosity
-Conviction
-Persistence
No doubt, others could find other laudable attributes, but these principles seemed to define the man for me. The two “extras” are:
-Humility
-Optimism
By most accounts Boyd was not a particularly humble man, nor optimistic, however I’ve included because I’ve seen the power of these two attributes up close. My late grandfather, Robert F. Shipman, was the most humble man I’ve ever known, and I’m pretty sure he’d be disappointed if I didn’t include humility as an essential principle by which to live. My late mother-in-law, Janet Turney Mulvaney, PhD, succumbed to breast cancer after an eight-year battle. She attributed part of her longevity to “optimism” and impressed upon me that optimism was a key part of a life well lived. On both counts, I agree.

(more…)

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Cool Stuff: Feral Jundi Reaches A Key Milestone–One Million Page Views!

Filed under: Blogs,Cool Stuff — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 2:15 PM

Yep, you heard that correctly. One million page views! This is great milestone for the blog, and I couldn’t have done it without such a fantastic readership.  It also shows how important a brand is, and having the right architecture to support that brand.

I would have to say that the most important lesson learned is focusing in on really good content. Then use the blog’s RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin to get it out there so people know the post exists. That is extremely important these days, just because there is a ton of information for the user to access these days, and the reader’s time and attention can be difficult to capture. This blog definitely competes with the media in this regard, but I am grabbing market share or readership.

The future is only looking on the up and up for the blog. I recently did some work to improve upon the mobile version of FJ, and I expect that to pay big dividends. My theory with this is that everyone is carrying smart phones these days, and it is very easy for someone to pull out their device during the little breaks in their life and check out what is going on at the blog. Standing in the line at the supermarket, sitting down at a doctor’s office, taking a break at work, etc., all of these are the times when folks look for something to keep them occupied or are just curious about what is going on in the industry.

What is also interesting is that more and more contractors and soldiers are using these devices out there.  As long as they have access to a wifi point, they can surf the web and check out their favorite spots online. So it is a pleasure and an honor to provide a place for this industry to hang out at and stay informed.

As to the chart below, the one spike downward was when I had to switch to a new theme and upgrade the platform. But as soon as everything was up and running again, the blog did just fine. It was kind of hectic though, and it was the equivalent to doing brain surgery–or so it seemed. lol –Matt

 

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