No Immigrant Day, Blackberry and Trendy Jobs!

So yesterday’s protests in the US by predominantly Hispanic immigrants was a big success where almost 1 million folks joined in! Even Larry King had this as the main topic in his last night’s program. Lou Dobbs was there and arguing at the lack of this Government’s efforts at stopping the illegal entries.. four and a half years after 9-11 – which I thought was fair! Tonight Anderson 360 will show the border problem as it unfolds – will be interesting I suppose!

Another new thing looming on the horizon in the US – the Hurricane season as it is just 30 days away…. and here the Senators and Congress folks are arguing to dissolve FEMA.. while its employees are exiting the organization. So is the country any better equipped to tackle the new season as compared to last year? Many top level positions are still not filled up.. even the top ones at the Director level!

There is another law suit against Blackberry.. will that mean the end of this email providing PDA? Visto has filled a suit.. and this company saying RIMM is infringing the wireless patent!

And while I talk of all that – here is a story on some trendy jobs!

Director of mobile computing: Thanks to the BlackBerry, Treo, laptop and cell phone, every job can be turned into a 24/7 message fest.

So integral are these devices to work life now that when the maker of the BlackBerry was facing a potential shut down of its services this year, you would have thought the business world was bracing for a loss of electricity.

Upgrading all those portable lifelines to the office and keeping them in good working order has now become a full-time job with a big title.

Director of internal controls: In the wake of the Enron and WorldCom debacles came the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 establishing more stringent internal auditing requirements for publicly traded companies.

From that legislation was born whole new departments staffed by directors of internal controls, chief compliance officers and Sarbanes-Oxley auditors, all of whom are dedicated to ensuring companies comply with the new law.

Business continuity director: The Sept. 11 attacks, major natural disasters, the SARS outbreak, and the threat of a pandemic have made more companies take seriously the need for “preparedness planning.”

Enter the business continuity director, who usually hails from a security background in information technology and law enforcement. The continuity director is charged with making contingency plans to ensure the company’s workforce and infrastructure can continue to function during and after a crisis.

Chief people officer: Remember the dotcom boom, when companies were practically groveling for good employees?

Well, it’s not quite so sweet this time around, but it’s sweeter than it’s been for awhile. So companies have dipped into their party-like-it’s-1999 files and pulled out the title chief people officer.

The CPO is expected to lead the charge in the war for talent, implementing creative ways to woo new hires and retain employees in a labor market that’s begun to see a shortage of qualified workers.

Besides human-resource experience, CPOs also have field experience working with a company’s customers and other employees, making them all the better equipped to spot the talent a company needs.

Parent coordinator: Contentious custody battles in divorce aren’t new, but how they’re handled is changing, at least when it comes to everyday disputes between warring parents — e.g., Mom wants Jr. to take piano lessons on Thursdays; Dad wants him to play soccer.

Such relatively small issues can take as much time and money to resolve in court as the more serious issues, so the judge and the parents now may elect to delegate them to a parent coordinator.

The coordinator typically is a lawyer or child psychologist whom the court appoints to issue binding decisions on the spot over such everyday disputes, usually over the phone after the parents make their arguments.

Residence concierge: The latest trend in luxury travel is the luxury residence club, and one of the biggest players in the field is Exclusive Resorts. For a very, oh-so-pretty penny you can join the club and gain access to 300 multimillion-dollar luxury vacation homes around the world.

Membership includes the 24/7 services of a residence concierge. Far more than a hotel concierge, the residence concierge will arrange for everything from stocking your refrigerator, managing your household staff, arranging for all your transportation and setting up customized events for you and your family. After all, when in Tuscany, why not have cooking lessons given in the kitchen of your house?

Blog editor: I blog, you blog, we all blog apparently, judging from the proliferation of blogs in the past two years. The success of influential ones like Wonkette.com has companies wanting in on the perceived edginess of the blogosphere.

“Blogging” is not only starting to creep into people’s job descriptions, but recruiters are starting to see blog-related job listings.

One on Monster.com seeks a blog editor “to manage and moderate blogs for clients and to write for the company blog on PR and new media topics.”