This search fails if the address from the incoming ticket is in the format uid@uvm.edu (as opposed to first.last@uvm.edu). This results in a significant number of tickets coming into the system with only an email address in the contact field.

It seems the only way to fix this is by copying the uid, clearing out the rest of the fields, and searching by uid again. This needs to be done for every affected ticket.

Firebugs, Greasemonkies, and Mr. DOM

Lately I’ve found myself spending too much time copying and pasting fields in footprints. So the other day I took a quick spin through the ticket editing interface with my trusty Firebug. Minutes later I was able to replicate the functionality needed to fix the problem, using Javascript and the supplied DOM elements.

The next logical step was to encapsulate this into something that can be used outside of the development interface, and triggered automatically.

Enter the Greasemonkey. Greasemonkey is an extension for Mozilla Firefox that allows you to run custom scripts on pages that you are visiting. Think of Greasemonkey as a little mechanic that lives in your browser. It has a bunch of tools that it uses to alter or fix pages that you visit. These tools are known as Userscripts.

Turns out it’s pretty easy to write these Userscripts. Based on my spelunking in the DOM cave with Firebug, I slapped together a Userscript to fix my address book problem upon opening the ticket. Now when I load up the ticket editing interface, the contact information is automatically filled out — even if the ticket was created with an inconveniently formatted email address.

Lazyweb to the rescue

I was in a hurry, and didn’t feel like digging through my old code or writing new stuff to handle some of the grunt work that this tool needed. I borrowed a handy email address parser from Ben Nadel at Kinky Solutions, and a url parameter grabbing function from Netlobo.

Installation and use

1. You’ll first need the Greasemonkey extension for Firefox. If you need this (or Userscripts in general) in Safari, I’d recommend taking a look at SIMBL and Greasekit.
2. Install the Userscript.

Assist faculty to design, maintain, and evaluate web applications for instructional purposes; facilitate faculty professional development workshops and provide general technical support as part of the Center for Teaching & Learning.

Bachelor’s degree and three to five years professional experience in related field required, or an equivalent combination. Effective organizational, project management and communication skills required. Demonstrated ability to design and build maintainable web applications and proficiency in user interface design and usability testing required. Fluency in XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL and relational databases required. Familiarity with MVC principles, Ruby on Rails, Unix/Linux environments, Apache, Flash/Actionscript, and Photoshop required.

Commitment to diversity and inclusion required.

Experience in educational setting and familiarity with instructional design principles highly desirable.

Applications can be submitted on the UVM Jobs site (go to search postings and look under Ctr for Teaching & Learning search for Job Requisition Number 032308). Once again, I’m on the hiring committee – I look forward to seeing your application!

Multimedia Development Specialist

To assist faculty and staff to produce and manage digital multimedia content for instructional applications. Provide coordination of a Mac/PC multimedia computer lab and develop and facilitate workshops for faculty on digital multimedia. Provide general faculty and student support in the Center for Multimedia Development facility.

You can find more information on this position at the UVM Jobs site (search for requisition #032064).

Since I’m on the search committee, here are some thoughts and resources related to recruiting web professionals.

I’m taking some liberties here, including the assumption that a “Multimedia Development Specialist” position shares enough of the characteristics of a web professional (i.e. demographics) that we can use the terms interchangeably.

Diversifying the pool

Kicking off a search at UVM requires approval from the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity (AAEO). As part of that approval process, the search committee meets with AAEO to go over search strategies. A lot of this focuses on finding ways to get the word out to a “diverse population of viable candidates”, with the larger goal of building a more diverse workforce.

Building a diverse workforce is a hard thing to do. Heck, it’s even hard to talk about. Recruiting in a field that is not known for it’s diversity doesn’t make the job any easier. Let’s put aside for a moment geographical location. I mentioned we’re in Vermont, right? Our AAEO contact sure did. Yet there has recently been more talk, and even some action taken to understand the lack of diversity in the ever growing world of web professionals. The results of The Web Design Survey are forthcoming, and will hopefully help shed some more light on the situation.

It’s also important to keep in mind that the idea of diversity also includes career and professional background. A team with diverse professional backgrounds, experience, and skills will be stronger and more versatile. Members backgrounds should complement each other. Ask yourself what the applicant with ten years programming experience brings to the table, versus the applicant who has only five years programming, and five in marketing or design.

Networking goes both ways

Networking is just as powerful from the recruitment side as it is for the job hunter. It’s not just who you know, but who that person knows. One of the things our AAEO contact suggested was that former colleagues can be excellent sources of “word of mouth” advertising for your position.

When asked who we knew in terms of professional contacts, I kind of drew a blank – only a few came to mind. It wasn’t until I got back to my desk that all the names started rolling in. Colleagues I had worked with (even peripheraly) at my current employer, colleagues from past positions and organizations, contacts from users groups, all floated to the surface. Pretty soon it got kind of overwhelming – especially when you consider that we have to keep a record of all the people and places we’re sending postings to.

So how does one keep track of all this stuff? Highrise looks like a perfect recruitment management tool. It would seem to provide the ability to keep track of applicants and interviewees, as well as contacts the description has been sent to, and where it’s been posted. I haven’t seen any specific examples of the tool being used for this purpose, but perhaps I’m not looking hard enough?

Speaking of networking, don’t forget your blog (personal or organizational). Someone in your readership base may know a possible candidate, or be one themselves. Better yet, if they are reading it, chances are they already have some knowledge of your organization or be in a similar industry.

Targeted classifieds

One of the best ways to recruit a diverse workforce is to look in a diverse number of places. Luckily, the job board market has seen some wonderful growth in the past few years. No longer are we restricted to a few sites like monster.com and the classifieds section of the local paper. What’s more, many of these are targeted at the type of professionals you’re looking for.

* Authentic Jobs – Our AAEO contact kept telling us to talk up UVM’s benefits. This site just unveiled a “perks” section of the job posting. Nice touch!
* The 37signals Job Board – You may know them from such feature films applications as Basecamp and Highrise (I mentioned the latter above).
* AIGA Design Jobs
* jobs.joelonsoftware.com
* Krop – “Creative & tech jobs”
* mediabistro.com Job Listings
* Dice – “The Career Hub for Tech Insiders”
* I.D. Magazine’s Job board
* Creativeheads.net – “Jobs for the Right Brains”
* … and there are even staffing agencies out there, if you’re into that sort of thing.

A lot of these I found just by going through my feed list, visiting some of the sites that I read every day, and actually clicking on the ads.

Getting it right

Of course it’s not just where you look. There has been some great discussion lately regarding successful recruitment.

It is, in any case, a demanding process, and not one to be taken lightly. Textmate creator Allan Odgaard, when talking about the prospects of hiring a development team, once said:

“Hiring good programmers can be difficult, and hiring a bad programmer can turn out to be worse than not hire anyone at all, but you will rarely know in advance.”

That stuck with me at the time, and is a sobering reminder of how much work this is going to be. Good luck with your recruiting (or your searching, if that’s the case).

It must have been hungry, because by the time we got back it had made some pretty good progress. Not quite as much as Steve thought it would have (I knew I should have wagered a beverage!), however. Perhaps it has been snacking on the remains of Carrigan.

The best part? You can watch it all live from the comfort of your home, office, or favorite coffee shop. For a bigger screening, try the East View link on the web cams page of the Davis site. I’ve heard we’ll be able to see a compilation clip of the whole process after it’s done. Stay tuned for more on that.

One directory up there is more information, some of it much deeper. See the History of Racial Diversity, LGBTQA History, and the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. All recommended reads, wether you are part of our “sleepy” New England community or not.

Speaking of the status of women, there has been some discussion recently out there regarding the presence (or lack thereof) of women in IT fields. The organizers behind the web standards conference An Event Apart have begun looking for more information on this issue, including commissioning a report, and launching what is to be an annual survey. If are in the IT field and you haven’t taken it yet, well, what are you waiting for?

Oops, I almost forgot to mention my standard writing-about-my-employer “disclaimer” – I do work at UVM.

By the way, how about that UVM Libraries Flickr account? Or the meebo-enabled Ask A Librarian live chat page?

This year they are camped outside of Royal Tyler Theater. Pretty impressive action for a cold, rainy, snowy week in April. Here’s hoping they get some sunshine, and some visitors! Here is a little history on the use of Tent Cities as protests.

Disclaimer: I should note that I am a UVM employee and alum.