Improve your professional composure with a few tech savy phrases

An increasing number of non-technical related positions are requiring applicants have a familiarity with enterprise wide applications. Small businesses are also look for sharp young professionals adept at staying current with industry trends and innovative new markets. Since moving to the bay area 6 months ago I've been competing with thousands of talented young professionals for positions in Graphic Design, Marketing, Customer Service, Software Development, Tech Support, Food Service, General Laboring, Transportation and just about everything else. A great way I found to stand out in a sea of amazing was to mention a computing concept or two that could potentially save my prospective employer money.

Got an interview with a big company?
A new trend in many industries for rolling out enterprise wide applications is Cloud Computing. In a nutshell, Cloud Computing allows large companies to focus on developing quality applications rather than excessively spending money on equipment and teams of people to support them. The intended purpose of cloud computing was to create ways for employees to access applications securely from anywhere so long as they have an Internet connection. These web based applications have access to company wide resources allowing someone to perform large time consuming tasks efficiently without worry of backed up methods and data security. Currently, companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing servers, software, and very expensive engineers. Cloud computing has eliminated the need for a company to locally house data centers.

If your applying for a large company and they ask you about what new ideas you can bring to the table, mention your "experience" with Cloud Computing applications and how much they enhanced the productivity with your previous company. Here is a list of companies providing Cloud Computing resources to companies world wide:

Salesforce.com (CRM)
Google (GOOG)
NetSuite (N)
Taleo (TLEO)
Concur Technologies (CNQR)
Info Technologies (IT)

If you'd like more info on Cloud Computing, you can go to http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/ for a breakdown and video.

Or here for a great article on new implementations:
http://gizmodo.com/5485804/ballmer-explains-the-cloud-in-5-easy-steps?skyline=true&s=i

Interviewing for a smaller business?
Small businesses are constantly looking for effective and cheap (if not free) ways to advertise their business making them more appealing and noticeable without the need for gimmicks or insane deals. This can often be a very tedious process of trial and error. Late last year I began outlining my own business blueprint and discovered a software category slowly emerging in popularity called Niche Market software.

Let's face it, Google has become a hub for getting information on product and service availability. If you need gardening equipment, perform a google search for gardening stores close by. If you're tired of the same old coffee shop, try something new via google. If your favorite store just moved locations, Gmap it! A business with 100% of their customers on the Internet now faces the challenge of climbing the search results ladder. A difficult task when the results are in the millions.

Niche Market Software helps a business decide how and what market to advertise in with the least amount of competition and highest amount of Google searches. By analyzing search terms related to your business, and the amount of business's that fall under each category, you can tailor your business's web page to use terms that will place your site higher on the Google search list. For instance, if I am setting up a t-shirt company I would probably avoid using search tags like "funny t-shirts" and "custom Tee's" for my website. I will undoubtedly be buried under my search competition. Since Google lists results by highest amount hits, a new business with little or no hits may never see the light of day. By finding a "Niche Market" rich with Googlers, relevant to my business, and little competition, I am sure to give my business the kindling it needs to attack larger markets. Niche Market software has a slew of features that are quite useful for achieving your marketing goals.

So, the next time you're interviewing for a small business, you can mention that Niche Market software was a great way your last manager had his/her marketing team compile data on the competition.

You can find a great piece of Niche Market Software @ http://www.marketsamurai.com/.