While Silicon Valley start-ups race to outdo each other with increasingly generous and creative perks, more established companies in less popular locales are finding it tough to attract tech talent. High salaries and increased bonuses aren’t enough. The pressure is on to compete on fringe benefits.

“Hiring developers is the bane of my existence; it’s a tight market,” says Christa Foley, recruiting manager for Henderson, Nev.-based Zappos.com. “Vegas just doesn’t compete.” When recruiting, Ms. Foley’s team plays up the monthly computer programming events, themed mini-parades at product launches, an on-site free life coach and lack of dress code.

No longer a start-up—the shoe retailer was founded 10 years ago and employs 1,300 people—Zappos feels threatened by the latest tech hiring wave in the Bay Area and Seattle. “We’ve started targeting more Midwest [and] East Coast to try to attract folks just because there is so much opportunity” on the West Coast, says Ms. Foley.

The company has about 100 open technical positions ranging from IT to project management to mobile development and three full-time “technical recruiters,” Ms. Foley says. Last year it took up to six months to fill a technical opening whereas now it takes up to eight months, she says.

While unemployment remains high in the U.S. and most companies remain reluctant to hire, it’s a different world for tech professionals, including software developers, engineers and telecommunications specialists. According to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics “demand for these workers will increase as organizations continue to upgrade their information technology capacity and incorporate the newest technologies.” Employers competing for these in-demand workers must figure out ways to stay appealing.

In Cary, N.C., SAS Institute Inc. offers a full roster of perks: racquetball courts, car detailing, even a subsidized summer camp for employees’ children. “The bottom line is we have under 4% turnover in an industry that’s seen closer to 20%,” says Jenn Man, vice president of human resources at the 35-year-old software maker. The company is less interested in offering employees the kinds of “cool” extras making headlines at a lot of start-ups and banking more on making its pitch as a family-friendly place to work.

A June survey at IT job site Dice.com found that 65% of nearly 900 hiring managers and recruiters anticipate hiring more technology professionals in the second half of 2011 than in the preceding six months. And according to a July study by human resources consulting firm Mercer LLC, 82% of IT companies increased spot cash bonuses, up from 77% in 2010 and 42% offered “aggressive” pay increases, up from 39%.

Perks can be less of a hit to a company’s bottom line. Many high-profile perks, like sponsored group sporting events, are “actually not expensive,” says Dave Van De Voort, a partner in Mercer’s human capital consulting business. “In total, if it’s 1% of payroll, it would be surprising—the reason is that not everybody participates.”

Later this month, Chesapeake Energy Corp., an Oklahoma City-based natural gas and oil producer, plans on opening an on-site child-care facility. This is added to a list of employee perks including its fitness center and health clinic and subsidized restaurants. On Wednesdays, employees can also head to the on-site farmer’s market.

The company, which has more than 11,700 employees, increasingly finds itself touting perks to nab hires.

One challenge is getting candidates to move to Oklahoma City—not a first choice for many in-demand engineers these days. “The thought of living [in Oklahoma City] at any point in the future never crossed my mind,” says Brian Donovan, who moved from New Jersey to be an engineer at Chesapeake Energy about a year ago. “But what they offer here is heads and tails above the other companies I was looking at.”

Unlike some start-ups, which push a 24-7 work lifestyle and offer perks like on-site meals, more established companies aim to attract more family-oriented employees. Recruiters play up seemingly less appealing locales by selling their cost of living.

“We have hired people from California, and it’s been a big plus for them to come here, no doubt,” says Brad Ramsey, vice president of engineering at 10-year-old NuStar Energy LP in San Antonio. “The cost of living is so much better here than it is there and in other places.”

NuStar’s benefits are generous even within the well-paying energy sector: The petroleum and asphalt transportation and storage company has a no-layoff policy, has an all-or-none bonus policy and offers use of the corporate jet for emergencies.

“It is a competitive marketplace for sure, and as a result [technical workers] are paid very well,” says Curt Anastasio, NuStar’s chief executive and president. “We have to pay them what the market demands to get them to come here—and we do. … You can have a really good quality of life here. …San Antonio is not a backwater.”

By CHIP CUMMINS

Research In Motion Ltd. said it will cut 2,000 jobs, almost 11% of its work force, the latest move in a make-or-break scramble to resuscitate its products and keep the company that essentially invented the smartphone from becoming an also-ran.

The BlackBerry maker has struggled to stanch its shrinking share of North American smartphone sales in the face of an onslaught led by Apple Inc.’s iPhone and products run on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. The company’s long-time co-chiefs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, have promised to revamp their own devices.

But investors have dumped the stock amid profit warnings, product delays, executive departures and dwindling confidence in the two leaders’ willingness to embrace big, strategic change.

RIM shares have lost more than half their value so far this year. Last month, the company warned it would shed jobs as part of a wider cost-cutting effort as executives promised to navigate the Canadian company through a “transition” towards more competitive products.

But Monday’s job cuts were deeper than expected. Nokia Corp., facing a similar erosion of market share, cut or transferred about 7,000 staff in April. While Nokia is a much bigger company than RIM, the cuts at the Finnish device maker represented just 5% of its global work force.

It’s also the first significant culling of staff at RIM in its short, super-charged history. In 2002, the company—then just 2,000-employees strong—laid off 200, marking its biggest retrenchment until now people.

In recent years, RIM has added thousands of workers to keep up with demand for its BlackBerry phone. It more than doubled the size of its work force over the last four years. After the cuts announced Monday, RIM’s work force will be about 17,000, the company said.

RIM also disclosed a series of senior executive changes, including the retirement of Chief Operating Officer Don Morrison, who had previously been on medical leave. The shifts didn’t appear to satisfy shareholders, many of whom have called for a more wholesale overhaul.

RIM shares fell 4.4% to $26.67 at 4 p.m. Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It now has a stock market value of $13.9 billion. By comparison, Apple’s market cap has swelled to $369 billion.

Robert McWhirter, head of Toronto money management firm Selective Asset Management Inc., sold the remainder of his 58,000 RIM shares about three weeks ago. He said he worries that RIM, which has always put a premium on the engineering that goes into its devices, will struggle to compete in a market now driven largely by the availability of applications for such devices.

RIM faces “significant challenges,” he said.

The company has bought itself some time with its restructuring efforts. It has promised a line of next-generation BlackBerrys in coming months and years that executives say will compete better with iPhones and other, newer competitors.

Sales of BlackBerrys are still growing quickly in many overseas markets, and the company has little debt and a hefty cash hoard. It had nearly $20 billion in sales in its latest fiscal year.

“RIM has a good strategy” for its turnaround, said Royal Bank of Canada analyst Mike Abramsky, who has a neutral rating on the stock. But the question remains, he said, “can they execute on it?”

The stakes in the turnaround effort go beyond the company’s tidy, corporate campus in Waterloo, Ontario, a few hours’ drive from Toronto. Canada’s economy is dominated by mining and energy companies, and RIM has long stood out as the country’s most important technology firm—one of the few Canadian corporations with a globally recognized brand.

It has also become an incubator for an eco-system of smaller companies that have created a high-tech corridor around Waterloo and its university that many liken to Canada’s version of Silicon Valley. Amid RIM’s recent troubles, the community has rallied around Messrs. Lazaridis and Balsillie.

“It’s not the end of the road by any stretch of the imagination,” said Ian Klugman, president and chief executive of Communitech, a non-profit support network for tech start-ups in the region. “It’s a new road for RIM,” he said.

Ian McLean, chief executive of the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, said Monday he recently bought about 10,000 Canadian dollars ($10,500) worth of RIM stock for his children’s education fund.

Still, many Canadians have seen parallels between RIM’s current woes and the meteoric rise and fall last decade of another Canadian tech giant: Nortel Networks Corp., which declared bankruptcy in 2009 after failing to find a merger partner to weather the global financial crisis.

RIM placated some disgruntled shareholders earlier this month, promising to review a structure that allows Messrs. Lazaridis and Balsillie to serve as co-chairmen and co-CEOs. Investors and analysts have criticized the arrangement for discouraging an independent board from pushing back enough on strategic decisions.

Neither executive was available for comment Monday.

One small, activist firm succeeded in getting a vote on the structure on the July 12 meeting’s agenda, but pulled it after RIM agreed to review the structure.

At RIM’s annual meeting earlier this month, Mr. Lazaridis said the company was taken off guard by a smartphone “arms race” that exploded in North America with the debut of the iPhone in 2007.

RIM was slow to realize the threat and upgrade products that could capture new consumers while holding onto RIM’s security-minded corporate client base.

During the last two years, RIM made several steps to right the ship, buying up companies to provide a new operating system, browser, and design shop. RIM now says it plans to launch its first phones and tablets using the new operating system, QNX, by early next year.

RIM launched its PlayBook tablet to mixed reviews earlier this year. RIM has acknowledged it didn’t do a good job marketing the product, and has promised more user-friendly versions of the tablet in the future.

RIM said Monday the size of the workforce reduction was in line with preliminary estimates it factored into earnings guidance provided last month. Details about the cost of the job cuts and other operating expense reductions will be disclosed in the company’s second-quarter results, expected on Sept. 15, the company said. RBC estimated the cost of the restructuring at about $200 million to $250 million.

The company said Monday one of its three chief operating officers, Mr. Morrison, will be leaving. Mr. Morrison has been on medical leave since mid June.

RIM had previously maintained his medical leave was temporary and that he would return to the company. The company said it will farm out his responsibilities to existing executives. Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of COO for product and sales, consolidating responsibility for all product engineering, including hardware and software. Jim Rowan will take on the expanded role of COO for operations.

Amid the turmoil at RIM, several senior executives have abandoned ship. The company’s top marketing executive left the company just weeks before the launch of the PlayBook, and several other senior marketing executives have left RIM since.

By DENNIS NISHI

After working for more than six years as manager of digital licensing for Warner Music Group in Burbank, Calif., Michael Locke, 34, felt like he wanted more. But there wasn’t much latitude for change within his job and department.

So Mr. Locke formulated a unique way to expand his role. He offered to represent unsigned and independent-label bands through Warner and promote them as a cheaper music licensing option for film, television and commercial deals.

His boss allowed Mr. Locke to work on the venture alongside his regular job and the new business grew quickly. A year later in 2007, he submitted a written plan to create a new division called Rhino Independent and was made director. He left Warner Music Group to start his own business three years later.

Everyone can relate to hitting a wall at work. Whether it’s feeling unchallenged or underappreciated, most of the reasons people get stuck in their role can be resolved with planning. But you must understand the nature of the problem and determine whether it’s a workplace issue, such as being topped out in the company, or a psychological impasse.

Shelly Curt, 41, got stuck while managing a casino restaurant in Reno, Nev. The trained sommelier was very good at her job so she was kept in a role that she felt underutilized her talents. So Ms. Curt volunteered for extra projects that went beyond her job description, including choosing wine and dessert pairings at events. Her managers were impressed by her knowledge and created a new job for her that involves developing the menu for seven restaurants and working at special events.

Start to formalize your personal-discovery process by writing an action plan that details how you are going to make a change. The idea is to acknowledge your problems, including those that may have become too painful to address like losing confidence in your abilities, says Timothy Butler, senior fellow at the Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Mass., and author of “Getting Unstuck: How Dead Ends Become New Paths.”

Also have a discussion with your boss and let him or her know that you are ready for more challenges. Be ready to answer some tough questions about why you’ve been stuck. “You’re going to have to change people’s opinions about you, which isn’t an easy thing to do if you have a bad or blah reputation,” says Stephen Xavier, CEO of Cornerstone Executive Development Group, an executive coaching firm in Chapel Hill, N.C. “It may require time and persistence so stick with it. Make it a long-term plan if you have to.”

Employees that get pigeonholed may find it difficult to move out of specific roles, which is why it helps to have a prepared transition plan — with replacement suggestions — when proposing job changes to management.

by Steve W. Martin

If you ask an extremely successful salesperson, “What makes you different from the average sales rep?” you will most likely get a less-than-accurate answer, if any answer at all. Frankly, the person may not even know the real answer because most successful salespeople are simply doing what comes naturally.

Over the past decade, I have had the privilege of interviewing thousands of top business-to-business salespeople who sell for some of the world’s leading companies. I’ve also administered personality tests to 1,000 of them. My goal was to measure their five main personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and negative emotionality) to better understand the characteristics that separate them their peers.

The personality tests were given to high technology and business services salespeople as part of sales strategy workshops I was conducting. In addition, tests were administered at Presidents Club meetings (the incentive trip that top salespeople are awarded by their company for their outstanding performance). The responses were then categorized by percentage of annual quota attainment and classified into top performers, average performers, and below average performers categories.

The test results from top performers were then compared against average and below average performers. The findings indicate that key personality traits directly influence top performers’ selling style and ultimately their success. Below, you will find the main key personality attributes of top salespeople and the impact of the trait on their selling style.

1. Modesty. Contrary to conventional stereotypes that successful salespeople are pushy and egotistical, 91 percent of top salespeople had medium to high scores of modesty and humility. Furthermore, the results suggest that ostentatious salespeople who are full of bravado alienate far more customers than they win over.

Selling Style Impact: Team Orientation. As opposed to establishing themselves as the focal point of the purchase decision, top salespeople position the team (presales technical engineers, consulting, and management) that will help them win the account as the centerpiece.

2. Conscientiousness. Eighty-five percent of top salespeople had high levels of conscientiousness, whereby they could be described as having a strong sense of duty and being responsible and reliable. These salespeople take their jobs very seriously and feel deeply responsible for the results.

Selling Style Impact: Account Control. The worst position for salespeople to be in is to have relinquished account control and to be operating at the direction of the customer, or worse yet, a competitor. Conversely, top salespeople take command of the sales cycle process in order to control their own destiny.

3. Achievement Orientation. Eighty-four percent of the top performers tested scored very high in achievement orientation. They are fixated on achieving goals and continuously measure their performance in comparison to their goals.

Selling Style Impact: Political Orientation. During sales cycles, top sales, performers seek to understand the politics of customer decision-making. Their goal orientation instinctively drives them to meet with key decision-makers. Therefore, they strategize about the people they are selling to and how the products they’re selling fit into the organization instead of focusing on the functionality of the products themselves.

4. Curiosity. Curiosity can be described as a person’s hunger for knowledge and information. Eighty-two percent of top salespeople scored extremely high curiosity levels. Top salespeople are naturally more curious than their lesser performing counterparts.

Selling Style Impact: Inquisitiveness. A high level of inquisitiveness correlates to an active presence during sales calls. An active presence drives the salesperson to ask customers difficult and uncomfortable questions in order to close gaps in information. Top salespeople want to know if they can win the business, and they want to know the truth as soon as possible.

5. Lack of Gregariousness. One of the most surprising differences between top salespeople and those ranking in the bottom one-third of performance is their level of gregariousness (preference for being with people and friendliness). Overall, top performers averaged 30 percent lower gregariousness than below average performers.

Selling Style Impact: Dominance. Dominance is the ability to gain the willing obedience of customers such that the salesperson’s recommendations and advice are followed. The results indicate that overly friendly salespeople are too close to their customers and have difficulty establishing dominance.

6. Lack of Discouragement. Less than 10 percent of top salespeople were classified as having high levels of discouragement and being frequently overwhelmed with sadness. Conversely, 90 percent were categorized as experiencing infrequent or only occasional sadness.

Selling Style Impact: Competitiveness. In casual surveys I have conducted throughout the years, I have found that a very high percentage of top performers played organized sports in high school. There seems to be a correlation between sports and sales success as top performers are able to handle emotional disappointments, bounce back from losses, and mentally prepare themselves for the next opportunity to compete.

7. Lack of Self-Consciousness. Self-consciousness is the measurement of how easily someone is embarrassed. The byproduct of a high level of self-consciousness is bashfulness and inhibition. Less than five percent of top performers had high levels of self-consciousness.

Selling Style Impact: Aggressiveness. Top salespeople are comfortable fighting for their cause and are not afraid of rankling customers in the process. They are action-oriented and unafraid to call high in their accounts or courageously cold call new prospects.

Not all salespeople are successful. Given the same sales tools, level of education, and propensity to work, why do some salespeople succeed where others fail? Is one better suited to sell the product because of his or her background? Is one more charming or just luckier? The evidence suggests that the personalities of these truly great salespeople play a critical role in determining their success.

It’s been likened to the Industrial Revolution in terms of its potential to change lives. But just what is cloud computing and how can companies turn it to their advantage?

By MICHELLE PRICE

The world of information technology is stuffed with bewildering acronyms and new-fangled fads, but cloud computing is one technology phenomenon not to be dismissed.

Likened by some technophiles to the Industrial Revolution, cloud computing is already transforming the world around us and it promises to shape our future world too. Despite its growing importance, however, many companies are struggling to pin down exactly how this technological miracle can truly benefit their balance sheets.

The practice of cloud computing is something with which consumers all over the world are already relatively familiar, even if the term itself leaves the lay technophobe scratching their head. Sending an email using a third-party Web-based email service provider, such as Google Mail, for example, is a basic form of cloud computing.

In this example, a user accesses a Web-based application maintained by a third-party via his or her Internet connection and browser. The email application itself and all the data it stores exists not on the user’s own computer but is delivered as a service via “the cloud” of the Internet. “Cloud computing represents a paradigm shift in how IT infrastructure and software are delivered and consumed,” says Christian Klezl, vice president and cloud leader, for International Business Machines Corp. in Northeast Europe.

This shift is most pronounced when viewed within the context of corporate IT. Companies have traditionally purchased or developed software application products and maintained that software themselves. Most large companies, for example, operate and maintain their own corporate email systems.

The cloud-computing model represents the “natural evolution” from this proprietary approach to software provision, says Mr. Klezl, by enabling IT products to be consumed as services. These services are provided by a third party over the Internet and can be consumed on-demand and on a pay-as-you-go basis.

“Cloud computing is built on the concept that you have a distributed spectrum of users who can source data or services from a centralized pool of resources, at any time in any place, when they need it,” he says.

Power provision is a commonly used analogy. Most homes and companies do not build and run their own onsite power generation but instead source electricity from the grid when they need it. This model allows consumers and companies with varying power requirements to scale their power consumption up and down at their convenience, and to pay only for what they use.

Simon Wardley, a researcher at CSC’s Leading Edge Forum, a global research and advisory program for CIOs
Cloud-computing advocates envisage the IT phenomenon in the same terms: “With cloud computing we’re seeing a shift from an IT product-led world into an IT service or utility world,” says Simon Wardley, a researcher at CSC’s Leading Edge Forum, a global research and advisory program for chief information officers.

The building blocks of cloud computing have existed for nearly a decade, but the IT model has only gained major traction in recent years as its enabling technologies, such as broadband, have developed, and as business processes and attitudes have matured.

Together, these developments have conspired to promote cloud computing as a major force in the global IT market, from NATO to manufacturing giants such as Siemens AG. By 2015 some 50% of Global 1000 enterprises are expected to use cloud computing for their top 10 revenue-generating processes, according to Gartner Inc.

For such institutions, cloud services offer many benefits, not the least of which is cheaper IT. “Cloud gives you economies of scale and allows companies to establish a closer link between what they use and what they pay,” says Mr. Wardley.

By allowing companies to mobilize IT resources quickly, cloud computing also improves business agility. “From an institutional standpoint, the benefits of cloud computing are concrete,” says Alan Goldstein, chief information officer for BNY Mellon Asset Management. “You’re able to more rapidly deploy infrastructure and applications and to scale-up horizontally. That ability to be able to rapidly provision is really meaningful in terms of expediting speed to market.”

Because cloud-computing is a Web-enabled phenomenon, the model also allows companies to access their IT services and the data stored in it from anywhere in the world. “The key for us is to be able to run our business and access our business data anywhere in the world,” says Dominic Shine, chief information officer for Reed Exhibitions, a conference company that uses around 10 different types of cloud-based services.

But while improved cost-efficiency and greater business agility are attractive, what really excites cloud enthusiasts are the macro-economic possibilities.

Many cloud evangelists believe that the phenomenon enables companies to boost overall productivity by allowing them to satisfy what Mr. Wardley describes as the “long tail” of unmet demand for IT resources found within most firms. This has led some experts to liken cloud computing to the Industrial Revolution.

Far-fetched though this may sound, research published by the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research in December seems partly to reinforce this view. It predicts that the increased productivity, job creation, business development and competitive advantage brought about by cloud computing will generate an additional €763 billion ($1.04 trillion) in economic value and will create some 2.4 million jobs in Europe during the next five years.

But not everyone will benefit equally. Cloud-computing—like the Internet it is enabled by—is a disruptive technology. By making IT cheap and accessible, cloud services threaten to lower the barriers to entry in a number of industries and in some instances may undermine the prevailing operating model.

“One of the unique things about cloud computing is that it’s a very democratic technology,” says George Hu, executive vice president for platform and marketing at Salesforce.com, the 10-year old enterprise cloud-computing company that is widely regarded as a poster-child of the phenomenon. “It’s the first technology that can service companies of all sizes.”

Reed Exhibitions’ Mr. Shine agrees: “Years ago, if you were a small company, you had access to a small number of vendors because that’s all you could afford. But today, small companies can access the powerful IT of their larger rivals. If I were setting up a start-up, I would run the whole thing from the cloud.”

Barriers are also set to be pulled down in the consumer world where cloud computing promises to make software increasingly accessible and easy to use. Take Google Inc., another icon of the cloud-computing age. In December, the IT services giant launched a prototype laptop that requires no software to be installed whatsoever: All applications and data are stored and delivered by Google via the Internet.

The Google prototype provides a glimpse of a future in which users are not required to pay up-front for software, or negotiate painful software installations, upgrades and anti-virus programs. Instead, all applications and data will be stored in the cloud, which consumers will be able to access from any location.

Mobile technologies are rapidly making this a reality. The emergence of the super-functional smartphone and tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad, are bringing cloud-based applications, such as the hyper-successful social networking application Facebook and the micro-blogging application Twitter, onto mobile devices—along with a wide range of other applications. By moving onto mobile devices, applications guarantee their own ubiquity and relevance.

In time, more and more cloud-led IT services will follow suit, including business applications, says Mr. Hu. “The Facebook model is now the new model for the future: Why can’t business applications be like Facebook? That is, inherently social, in the cloud, and accessed more and more through mobile devices.”

Cloud computing is still an evolving IT model, however, and some IT chiefs believe it will take time for all companies, particularly highly regulated industries such as financial services, to embrace it.

“The cloud will be important in people’s IT strategy: The prize is pretty considerable,” says Michael Fahy, global head of IT infrastructure at investment bank Nomura. “But the commercial model is not yet sufficiently developed to operate on the scale we want to operate on, and there are still questions around data security.”

The European Union shares these concerns; last year it recommended the creation of standards and a regulatory framework for cloud computing. But this is unlikely to impede the technology’s advance, believes Mr. Wardley: “Do you have a choice when it comes to the advance of cloud computing? Not really.”

By DENNIS NISHI
If you’ve been marking time at work and hoping to get a new job, you’ve got company. Employment experts caution, though, that moving too quickly could land you in a new job that you dislike even more. Here are some ways to improve the odds of finding the right one.

• Re-evaluate the situation. Think about why you’re dissatisfied at your current job. If you aren’t challenged enough, there might be a way to make a change without leaving. “There may be ways that your job can be changed for the better or your role in the company expanded to offer more challenges,” says Tony Mulkern, a management consultant in Los Angeles. Scout job openings in other departments or at higher levels that you may qualify for with some additional extended education or skills and ask your manager to support your effort to get the training you need.

• Reach out. If the opportunities just aren’t there or you’re simply dissatisfied and aching to move, tap your personal and professional network for information on who is hiring. Many job postings go up with a candidate in mind already, if you know someone at the companies you are targeting—or someone in your network does—work to get personal referrals.

But be discreet with your inquiries. Keep requests off social-networking websites like Facebook and Linkedin—they can be indexed by search engines and discovered by anyone, including your current boss.

• Do your homework. When you land an interview, use the opportunity to learn about the company. You should get as much from them as they will try to get from you, says Sharon Armstrong, a human-resources consultant in Washington. Salary and benefits are important, but so is fit. It’s difficult to tell what the workplace culture is like from casual visits. Don’t be shy about calling for more information and contact current and former employees, if possible, to get a feel for the company and opportunities.

If you get an offer, before you accept, consider doing more in-depth financial research on the company. Try The Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR Public Dissemination Service (edgarcompany.sec.gov). For private firms and startups, Gail Rosen, an accountant in Martinsville N.J., says to look for a profit-and-loss statement, a balance sheet, references, a business plan and a list of where the company is getting funding.

“You may not get that all but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and they might at least give you something else you can use,” she says. Some information also can be found on fee services like Hoovers or on business blogs.

• Leap carefully. Whatever you do, don’t quit your job until you’re certain you’re hired, says Ms. Armstrong. “Even if a job offer seems imminent, there are a lot of things that can happen at the last minute.”

If your current company wants to keep you and replies with a counteroffer, keep in mind why you’re leaving. “People seldom move just for money, so don’t be swayed by a bigger paycheck if everything else stays the same,” says Ms. Armstrong. “Job satisfaction comes from a lot of different places. If the boss offers to help change the other things that are making you unhappy, that might be worth at least discussing.”

With Concern About Hackers, Tools for Remembering So Many Codes; No More Pet Names or 123456 .

By STU WOO

For all its benefits, the Internet can be a hassle when it comes to remembering passwords for email, banking, social networking and shopping.

Many people use just a single password across the Web. That’s a bad idea, say online-security experts.

“Having the same password for everything is like having the same key for your house, your car, your gym locker, your office,” says Michael Barrett, chief information-security officer for online-payments service PayPal, a unit of eBay Inc.

Mr. Barrett has different passwords for his email and Facebook accounts—and that’s just for starters. He has a third password for financial websites he uses, such as for banks and credit cards, and a fourth for major shopping sites such as Amazon.com. He created a fifth password for websites he visits infrequently or doesn’t trust, such as blogs and an online store that sells gardening tools.

A spate of recent attacks underscores how hackers are spending more time trying to crack into big databases to obtain passwords, security officials say. In April, for instance, hackers obtained passwords and other information of 77 million users in Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Network, while Google Inc. said this month that hackers broke into its email system and gained passwords of U.S. government officials.

So-called brute force attacks, by which hackers try to guess individual passwords, also appear to be on the rise, Mr. Barrett says.

PayPal says two out of three people use just one or two passwords across all sites, with Web users averaging 25 online accounts. A 2009 survey in the U.K. by security-software company PC Tools found men to be particularly bad offenders, with 47% using just one password, compared with 26% of women.

Another PC Tools survey last year showed that 28% of young Australians from 18 to 38 years old had passwords that were easily guessed, such as a name of a loved one or pet, which criminals can easily find on Facebook or other public sites. Other passwords can be easily guessed, too. Hackers last year posted a list of the most popular passwords of Gawker Media users, including “password,” “123456,” “qwerty,” “letmein” and “baseball.”

“If your password is on that list, please change it,” says Brandon Sterne, security manager at Mozilla Corp., which makes the Firefox browser and other software. Hackers “will take the first 100 passwords on the list and go through the entire user base” of a website to crack a few accounts, he says.

People typically start changing online passwords after they’ve been hacked, says Dave Cole, general manager of PC Tools. However, “after a relatively short time, all but the most paranoid users regress to previous behaviors prior to the security breach,” he says. He and other security experts recommend people change or rotate passwords a few times a year.

To come up with a strong password, some security officials recommend taking a memorable phrase and using the first letter of each word. For example, “to be or not to be, that is the question,” becomes “tbontbtitq.” Others mash an unlikely pair of words together. The longer the password—at least eight characters, experts say—the safer it is.

Once people figure out a phrase for their password, they can make it more complex by replacing letters with special characters or numbers. They can also capitalize, say, the second character of every password for added security. Hence “tbontbtitq” becomes “tB0ntbtitq.”

No matter how good a password is, it is unsafe to use just one. Mr. Barrett recommends following his lead and having strong ones for four different kinds of sites—email, social networks, financial institutions and e-commerce sites—and a fifth for infrequently visited or untrustworthy sites.

Even the strongest passwords, however, are useless if criminals install so-called malware on computers that allow them to track a person’s keystrokes. Security experts say people can avoid this by keeping their antivirus and antispyware software updated and by avoiding downloading files from unknown websites and email senders.

Some security experts recommend slightly modifying passwords within each category of site. Companies such as Microsoft Corp. offer free password-strength checkers, but users shouldn’t rely on them wholly because such strength tests don’t gauge whether a password contains easily found personal information, such as a birthday or a pet’s name.

It’s especially important to have a separate password for an email account, says Mozilla’s Mr. Sterne. Many sites have “Forgot my password” buttons that, when clicked, initiate a password-recovery process by email. Hackers who break into an email account can then intercept those emails and take control of each account registered using that address.

Some websites, such as Google and Facebook, now let people register a phone number along with their account. If a person forgets his passwords, the sites reset the passwords by calling or sending a text message to that person.

Mr. Barrett says people should be able to remember four or five good passwords. If not, they can write them down on a piece of paper and stick it in their wallet, and then throw the cheat sheet away once all the passwords are memorized.

People who still struggle to remember them all can use a password manager. Several, such as LastPass, are free. LastPass prompts users to create a master password and then generates and stores random passwords for different sites. Some security experts warn against using managers that store passwords remotely, but LastPass Chief Executive Joe Siegrist says hackers can’t access the passwords because all data is encrypted.

The worst thing that people can do after creating their different passwords: Put it on a sticky note by their monitor. “That defeats the entire purpose,” says Mr. Sterne.

Heather O’Neill, a 27-year-old tech-company employee in San Francisco, had her Google email account broken into earlier this year. She says she used the same password for several sites, and that it was a weak one.

“I can’t have one password for everything,” she says. “Everything is going to be different.”

By CRAIG CHAPPELOW AND JEAN BRITTAIN LESLIE

Mid-career derailment can happen any time, but in today’s economy there is no room for complacency. With job opportunities harder than ever to find, it’s a particularly rough time to be fired or demoted or to hit a career plateau. You can reduce your risk for derailment by paying attention to your value and effectiveness and by focusing on interpersonal skills, adaptability, team leadership and bottom-line results.

Based on the Center for Creative Leadership’s ongoing study of executive derailment with clients around the world, here are 10 ways to avoid these pitfalls:

Ask for instant feedback. When walking out of a meeting, ask a colleague, “I think that could have gone better – what could I have done differently?” Listen to the response. Don’t defend or justify your actions and don’t interrupt. Sean Fowler, assistant vice president with insurance company IAT Group in Cold Springs, Fla., uses feedback from his co-workers as a reality check. “You have to develop a bit of a thick skin,” Mr. Fowler said. “Once you get past the initial shock, you really come to appreciate it. It’s a long-term effort made up of small steps, not a leap.”

Increase self-awareness. Become a student of your own behavior. Take stock of how you feel about your work and how you react when you are pushed outside your comfort zone. Explore the values that matter most to you and use them as an anchor during times of change, transition and stress. Amy Gillard, owner and operator of Gillard Enterprises, an event-management business notes that selecting work which is not the right fit will only create challenges with clients down the line. “Self-awareness is key in my business. You have to know who you are and what you have to offer,” she said.

Pay attention to organizational culture. To stay aligned with your organization as it morphs and changes over time, you need a clear understanding of the prevailing culture. Analyze how decisions get made and think about the underlying assumptions that guide the organization as it responds to challenges and opportunities.

Use empathy. Your direct reports, your peers and even your bothersome boss are all human beings worthy of your respect. Listen without judging. Take the feelings and perspectives of others into account. Don’t use humor inappropriately and always keep private conversations private. You’ll end up with stronger relationships.

Learn to listen. Hearing isn’t the same as listening. Turn away from your email and concentrate on the person talking to you. Don’t be passive. Ask questions to make sure you understand. Stay in the moment and take notes to help you remember key points. Show people you’re really hearing them. Air Force Col. Trent Edwards, Commander of the 28th Mission Support Group at Ellsworth Air Force Base, learned to listen differently in response to feedback from his team and his family. He realized he was using a “war zone” mentality in non-war zone settings. With tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Edwards describes his previous approach as “very action-oriented. Everything was always go, go, go. Now I try to listen with more patience, with an open ear to try to hear what is being said and also what is not being said.”

Collaborate. Try to not be the Lone Ranger. Be open and willing to disclose your decision-making process to others, along with important facts and feelings. Your influence and effectiveness will increase.

Deal with problem employees sooner rather than later. If a direct report’s behavior or lack of skills threatens the success of your team, confront the problem head on. Don’t let it fester. These kinds of problems almost never heal themselves. Document specific shortcomings and either dismiss the employee or create a development plan for improved performance. The cost of carrying poor performers can have a ripple effect across the organization – destroying morale and dragging down productivity.

Delegate authority. Don’t keep your employees tied down and stuck in the same roles and responsibilities. Allow them to test their wings. Assign stretch projects you think they can handle. As they prove themselves, increase the complexity of the assignments. Give adequate guidance and follow up to see how they are doing. Debrief shortfalls and use them as a learning opportunity. Above all, acknowledge positive outcomes.

Focus on the task at hand. While it’s great to have a development plan and to work on skills you will need down the road, don’t forget that your main job is just that – your main job. Organizations value managers who get work done. Focus on what you need to accomplish each day. Bring jobs to a close. Tie up loose ends. Document outcomes. Get closure, and…

Break out of a rut. Learn from the mistakes that you and others make. Stop talking about how things were done in the past. Bring a new idea or solution to the table. Break away from your lunch cliques. Identify a rut you are in and get out of it.

Become known for your skill at adjusting to change, building strong relationships, leading effective teams and getting results. Your colleagues will appreciate it – and you’ll reap the professional rewards.

By DENNIS NISHI

As vice president of a Los Angeles film-production company in the 1980s, Ronald Kaufman had nearly everything that he’d ever wanted in a job — great pay, friendly co-workers and interesting work coordinating product placements in films. Unfortunately, he hated the job.

“The owner of the company was a master at intimidation and would scream at everybody. An hour later, he would be a great guy. It made everybody unhappy to be there,” says Mr. Kaufman, now an executive coach.

But he knew he wouldn’t earn the same salary elsewhere, so Mr. Kaufman committed himself to making his situation work. “You can’t really change people’s nature, so I changed how I responded to him. I learned to align with his demands, instead of questioning them, and that made my 8½ years at the company so much easier.”

Toxic workplace relationships, failing company fortunes and limited advancement opportunities are just a few compelling reasons to quit a job. But career experts say many workplace problems that employees may think are irreconcilable can be improved or even resolved with some action and a change of attitude.

First, find out if your problems are unique. Reach out to co-workers in other departments, peers through industry associations or even call colleagues at other companies to compare notes.

“It’s a very individual perception that leads to people believing that others are receiving better treatment,” says Christopher McCarthy, professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, who researches workplace stress.

Separate the demands of work from your own expectations of yourself. If you’re unhappy about falling short of your own personal career goals, try breaking your big goals into smaller, more realistically achievable ones. This can improve your morale by reinforcing small successes.

Pitch your boss on a less formal and more goal-oriented workplace. And offer improved results in exchange for more autonomy. “Most people are generally happier at work when given more creative freedom to do their jobs,” says Mr. McCarthy.

If the operational processes of your job are leading to failure, alter your approach, if you can. Spencer Belkofer was an account representative for a telecom firm in Montgomery, Ala., and he didn’t like the way the company trained him to sell phone services. Unhappy customers frequently complained about bad contracts. So Mr. Belkofer decided to go off script and spell out every detail of the services offered, and he frequently sided with customers to resolve problems.

The extra effort didn’t improve his sales, but Mr. Belkofer felt better about the work and customers thanked him for being forthright.

By JOE LIGHT

LinkedIn Corp.’s splashy initial public offering of stock earlier this month underscored the company’s status as a major professional network. But several start-ups are banking that the future of career networking is actually on Facebook Inc.

These start-ups point to Facebook’s much broader user base: With 500 million users, Facebook is five times larger than LinkedIn.

But changing users’ mindsets might be a challenge. Some Facebook users are loathe to mix their personal and professional networks, fearing some private information might damage their work reputation.

Recruiters, meanwhile, say that LinkedIn has already established itself as the most robust source for job-candidate information.

This month, BranchOut Inc., which makes a professional-networking Facebook application, said it raised $18 million in venture capital, bringing its total to $24 million. On the day of LinkedIn’s IPO, Jibe Inc., which lets people use Facebook connections to bolster job applications, announced that it had raised $6 million.

Since January, BranchOut has gained more than 500,000 active users, Chief Executive Rick Marini said. The app helps users find Facebook friends at companies where they want to work.

Jibe CEO Joe Essenfeld said that its 200,000 active users have landed hundreds of jobs by sending applications through its service.

Mr. Essenfeld added that 26 large employers, including Amazon.com Inc. and MTV Networks, as well as 20 small businesses, accept résumés sent through the application, which lets users import connections from both Facebook and LinkedIn.

“Most people do not want to mix their professional lives with their personal lives,” said a LinkedIn spokesman, Hani Durzy, in an email.

Even though the apps are gaining in popularity among Facebook users, right now LinkedIn is still the go-to site for recruiters trying to find suitable candidates, said Debra Feldman, a job-search consultant.

“They’re using it over and above any other résumé databases, including their own,” she said. That means that if someone isn’t looking for a job but wants to field offers from headhunters, he needs a LinkedIn profile, she said.

Other job-related Facebook apps have been slow to catch on. Talentag, which lets users earn job-related “badges” and recommendations from Facebook users, had a strong debut last August, but its average number of monthly users has dwindled to 189 after peaking at 1,502, according to AppData, a market-research group.

Talentag couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Friday.