I was reading my friend, Walter’s blog recently (he is a relatively new blogger, and its fun to see him start to write more frequently), where he talked about an aspect of his job: interviewing.

Early in my career, I interviewed hundreds of people. I ran call centers and had large staffs. I enjoyed interviewing, and it became almost a set process for me. I had my favorite questions.

Of all questions, my favorite still is: “If I were to ask the person that knows you best, to describe you with one word, what would that word be, and why?”

The responses were always all over the map, from “christian” to “super helpful” (yes, I would mention that was two words, and they would rarely be hired, but it was a common answer.)

Back to Walter’s post. I was thinking about some of the points he laid out while buying groceries at King Soopers (a local non-Whole Foods supermarket). I was wearing one of my basketball jerseys (A Sixers Julius Erving if you must know), which allows for a full view of the tattoos on my arms.

Usually, I hate wearing clothes that show my tattoos in public, because I get a million comments. I think my next tattoo will say, “Thanks! I appreciate that you like my tattoos and taste. But really, I am walking because I am trying to get somewhere, which is not by your side to discuss my tattoos.” Of course, that might be a little lengthy.

As I walked out of King Soopers, one of the baggers said to me, “Nice tattoos. Are you an artist?”

“No,” I replied. “But I love the art form.”

“Me too. But, I cant show any of my tattoos while at work.”

As I walked to my car with my groceries, I thought to myself, what are my requirements for an employer? If as Walter outlines in his post, a company has requirements of potential employees, I should have requirements as well.

So here (yeah, I know, an amazing meandering narrative to get to this point) are my requirements.

Dress Code:

There can be none. I want to show up in shorts or a basketball jersey, or have my tattoos be visable, it shouldnt matter. After all, are you hiring me for my looks or for my production?

Smart People:

And not just intelligent people, but people that I can learn from. I want to go home every day thinking to myself, “wow, I wonder what I am going to learn tomorrow.” I want people that realize that I have something to offer, and leave every day thinking, “wow, I wonder what I am going to learn tomorrow.”

Real Challenge:

The company should be trying to solve a real problem. I should be an important part of solving that problem. I should leave on certain days concerned that the problem we have chosen is too big for the team we have; and on other days leave feeling that we have the problem licked.

Focus on Success; Expectation of Failure:

Success only occurs from the existence of continual measured failure. The more one is able to fail in an environment that accepts and welcomes failure as a process, the more often one is able to succeed.

Freedom to Expand:

Its important that I have the ability to be involved with more than the exact job description that I have been asked to do. I want to add value horizontally, not just vertically.

So, want to hire me?

For the past couple of months, my friend Todd Vernon has had Spotify installed on his computer at work. You can always tell when he is about to get serious about putting together a powerpoint deck, because the sounds of Rush begin to…well….rush out of his office.

Whats that? I would ask.

Spotify. It has every band/song you could ever want.

Do you have an invite?

Not for you sucka!

Thats pretty much how the conversation would go. It was like Todd was dangling the fact that he had something cool, and questioning my ability to get an invite.

I figured since I have more than 33,000 songs at home, and could access them from anywhere, that there was no technology that I would miss.

That was until I sent out this tweet:

To which I got this response:

Damn, I thought. This wasnt going to be easy.

Later, when I checked my email, I saw I had two emails. One from a friend in Copenhagen, who forwarded me an invite that was non-US specific (so it didnt work), and one email from the founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek.

Daniel’s invite worked, and I began to use Spotify.

Holy crap! That is one bad ass application.

It literally changes the way I listen to music. The library is solid (unless you listen to really obscure or random music) and the recommendation engine is sweet. It is really an amazing application.

But, being a single user isnt whats cool. I asked Daniel for a couple more invites, which I quickly distributed (it seems the demand is high - hint, hint!), and that is where the really power of the application revealed itself.

I can now IM links to songs or albums or artists, and with a single click, my friends (which is anyone using Spotify) can listen to the tracks. Even more interesting is the ability to create a collaborative playlist that, when shared, become truly, well, collaborative. Anyone with access to the playlist can add or subtract songs. Now, four or five of us will add songs that we think the rest will like, and suddenly we have a crowdsourced music recommendation engine.

Often, after test driving songs, I go and buy them at Amazon (with their mp3’s, I now refuse to buy music on iTunes). I wish there was a direct link in Spotify.

Spotify has quickly become an application that I use daily (for hours). I cant wait for it to become widely available in the US. I truly hope that its model is successful and not shut down by the RIAA.

(Unfortunately, I have given out all my invites. Im guessing, that if you ask nicely enough, that one just might show up in your email box…)

I was sick for New Years. Like really sick.

Which sucked. Like really sucked.

But it gave me a bit of time to reflect. Which is something I really like to do. I like to think about things learned.

In thinking about 2008, I saw that there was a pretty consistent theme. 2008 was The Year of the Mind for me. I learned that I suffer from Bi-Polar II and everything that goes with it. It was a great thing to learn, and something I am very grateful.

I wrote about relationships (at least my search for one). Or the changes I was trying to make to be better at them.

On a side note, the first song I listened to in 2009 was I Held Her In My Arms by the Violent Femmes. Why does that matter? Look at the lyrics:

Im gnawing on the knowledge
That I have been burnt
And Im learning things that i
Shouldve already learnt
Everyone I ever knew
Was so kind and coy
I was with a girl
But it felt like I was with a boy
I cant even remember
If we were lovers
Or if I just wanted to
But I held her in my arms

Kinda fits, I think.

As 2008, closes, I spent a lot of time in the previous year getting my mind straight, which for me is soundly attached to the heart. s

As 2009, opens, I have decided its time to focus on me. On my physical. Meaning, getting my body in shape. Getting my finances in shape. Building a routine that works and that I can follow. Basically learning how to take care of me.

Here is to 2009, The Year of the Body.