AJ OConnell

Being a temp worker isn’t easy. Running from job to job — walking dogs, delivering food, or Ubering people around — is exhausting, and it takes a chunk out of your free time. Did you also know it’s taking a toll on your wallet? Going from one job to another, it might be easier to pick up a meal than it is to cook, or you might drop off your laundry rather than do it yourself.
It’s called convenience spending, and it’s a danger to your bank account — the one you’re trying to fatten up with ext...

You’ve read about them in the news. Your friends talk about them online. Maybe you’ve watched a television show associated with them. But have you ever considered working for them?
There are so many gig economy companies making a splash right now for many different reasons. They’re changing the way we shop and commute, interacting with celebrities, and filling voids in the market — and all of them offer you a chance to make a little (or a lot, depending on your tippers) extra money.
Here, for...

IT consultants have a lot of options right now. This article describes what they should look for when they decide which technology consulting company to work for.

You’re a sales manager, and your sales team needs training on a specific aspect of their jobs. Your organization intends for this training to be just-in-time learning — if they need a little help, they take a learning module in your LMS, and then they return to what they were doing in the CRM, and perform the task.
It seems like an easy way to deliver learning whenever your team needs it without making them take courses when they’re off work, or losing too much company time to online training...

You’ve got a great idea for a gig economy business and you’re anxious to join Amazon, Uber, Lyft and a host of other companies in the sharing economy, employing independent contractors as your workforce. But wait — you also want to make sure those contractors know how to do their jobs, and represent your company well. They need training, right?
That’s where things get complicated. In the United States, most companies that rely on the sharing economy can't require their gig workers to take tra...

Need income immediately? You’ve likely heard plenty of job-search advice:
Make it your full-time job. Volunteer until you find work. Collect and fill out applications.
The thing is — if you’re looking for quick one-time, part-time, or temporary jobs — this is not the ideal approach. It doesn’t have to be an exhaustive endeavor. And going from establishment to establishment picking up paper applications is completely outmoded — that’s all now done online.
So, what works?
Consider these tips to...

Things change fast in the gig economy. A year ago, who would have guessed that the rise of dockless scooter companies like Bird and Lime — and their use of independent workers as chargers — would make 2018 the year of the scooter?
What will 2019 bring for the millions of part-time, temporary and contract workers in the U.S.? It’s hard to say, but based on what we’ve seen in 2018, here are some trends independent workers should be keeping an eye out for in the new year.
The gig economy will co...

Customer churn. If you haven’t heard the term before, it refers to the upheaval that happens when existing customers end their relationship with your business. In other words, it’s the opposite of customer retention.
No company wants a high rate of churn — it means their sales department is working hard to acquire new customers while the hard-won customers of a year ago are leaving. That’s not good for business. According to the Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer is between fiv...

Your server is down. Your organization needs custom software. But IT isn't your thing, so you've brought in a technology consultant. This post will help you communicate them so that everybody is on the same page.

You've got the perfect IT job, but you're bored and burned out. What do you do?

If you've ever been to the Apple store, you know that it's kind of an experience: you can buy products there; you can get your devices fixed there; and there are scheduled Today at Apple programs — like a music lab, a photo walk, or kids' programs.
Today at Apple may seem, at first glance, like a free Apple-themed summer camp where you get to sign up for a course co-designed by Florence of Florence and the Machine. But look again: the offerings are actually slickly-packaged customer training ...

It's an oft-quoted saying in IT: 80 percent of customers only use 20 percent of the features in the software they've bought.
This may sound like an exaggeration, but let's do an experiment: how many of your phone's features and pre-installed apps do you actually use? How many more would you be using if the company that sold you your phone onboarded you with customer training? How much more efficient would your use of your phone be?
Now imagine that every time your phone updated, you'd get a l...

When most people think about blockchain, they’re thinking about finance. But blockchain technology has the ability to impact higher education and the hiring process by eliminating fraud, giving graduates control over their own credentials and allowing employers to quickly identify who has what skills.
Because Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) has a mission to extend access to higher education opportunities that are workplace relevant, they are very interested in the potential of this n...

Wondering if blockchain is right for your business? Author Jonathan B. Morley explains blockchain basics.

5 myths about being an IT consultant, dispelled.