When Microsoft launched the Exchange Server 2010 beta back in April, they touted the three pillars of its development: Flexible and Reliable; Anywhere Access; and Protection and Compliance. With the imminent release of the final product, this is a mantra we're hearing again at launch events such as The New Efficiency, and I expect it will be a theme at next week's TechEd Europe in Berlin and Exchange Connections in Las Vegas. Today I'd like to take a look at the Protection and Compliance part of the picture—specifically, how you can implement email retention policies with Exchange 2010.
Earlier this year, Penton Media, Windows IT Pro's parent company, implemented an email retention policy based on managed custom folders in Exchange 2007. The basic policy is set up so that any email item is automatically deleted after six months unless a user moves it to one of a set of managed custom folders in the user's mailbox. Each custom folder has a specific retention length assigned to it ranging from 18 months to 8 years, corresponding to specific legal retention needs; items within a folder are automatically deleted when they reach that folder's retention length. One additional folder is labeled as Permanent and is used for items that need to be maintained indefinitely.
So the system is set up and pushed out to end users by the IT department. You can read about the process the Penton IT department went through in "Establishing an Email Retention Policy: The IT Perspective." With a bit of training, it's not difficult for end-users to adhere to the policy and save the appropriate messages in the correct folders. However, the system is fairly rigid; end users have no ability to either override the policy in specific instances or customize it to meet personal workloads or workflows. With Exchange 2010, administrators can choose to change that situation.
First of all, in Exchange 2010, you no longer need managed custom folders, although they're still available. Retention policies can be applied to any folder. In fact, there are different types of policies for different situations. Most similar to managed custom folders is the Retention Policy Tag (RPT). This type can be applied to Outlook's default folders (e.g., Inbox, Deleted Items, Sent Items); they can't, however, be applied to the Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Notes, or Tasks default folders. For overall mailbox management, Exchange 2010 gives you the Default Policy Tag (DPT). Policies of this type apply to any mailbox items that don't have a retention policy in force because of the folder they're in or because a user has set a tag specific to the item.
That leads to the third type of policy, Personal Tags. Assuming administrators have enabled this functionality, end users can use Personal Tags to apply policies to individual mailbox items and to folders they create (though not to default folders, which are covered by RPTs). This ability is where end users can really customize email retention in their mailboxes.
The tags work together in a smart way. For instance, if you have a Personal Tag applied to a mail message so that it should be retained for three years, and you move the item into a project folder that has a retention time applied of one year, the system keeps the longer date on the individual item. Even better, when you open an item or view it in the Outlook Reading Pane, information about the item's current retention is clearly displayed for you at the top of the message.
Along with each of these tags, you set an action to apply when the age limit is reached. For instance, you can have the item moved to the new Exchange 2010 archive or moved to the Deleted Items folder. You could also have items clearly marked as over the retention limit to bring them to users' attention; this is a nice feature particularly if you're just implementing a retention policy. This method brings items to the attention of users so they know something must be done—and with luck, they'll do the right thing.
During a recent call with Windows IT Pro editors, Ian Hammeroff, senior technical product manager for Microsoft, demonstrated how easy it is to apply retention policies with Exchange 2010. "Our motivation about doing it this way is that it really allows users to use retention policies and archiving policies in a way that doesn't interrupt their workflow," he said. "In Exchange 2007, we had a total folder based approach where the IT department pushed down a set of custom folders or default folders and the users had to drag and drop their messages into these different folders, and that was the only policy that you could apply to that mail message. Here you can do all the customization and be very granular if you decide to do so."
When Penton introduced its Exchange 2007–based retention policy with managed folders, it seemed like a fairly slick technological solution to the problem of managing what to keep and what to delete from that ever-growing Inbox. However, the Exchange 2010 capabilities make what we have now seem about like an abacus compared to a modern computer. It's that kind of leap forward. You can read more about this feature in the Microsoft article "Understanding Retention Policies."
It should come as little surprise that the resume is a critical part of the hiring process. Arguably it's the most critical piece, because without a good resume, you can't even make it to any other step in the game. And, after hearing from Jack Williams with Staffing Technologies that you shouldn't even bother writing a cover letter, it looks like your resume is your sole tool to get you to the next phase.
But writing a good resume is about a lot more than grammatical perfection, layout aesthetics, and an accurate work history. A resume is one of the most difficult marketing pieces most people will ever have to write. And that resume needs to be able to clear every hurdle in the process: the computer screen, the recruiter, the HR rep, and the hiring manager. This article will explore what each one of these foes is looking for.
The Computer Search
When sizing up this opponent, it's easy to get a satirical image of a C3PO-type bot scanning over your resume with quantitative checks in mind. And realistically, that might not be that far off. While not every employer will use a search to shrink the candidate pool, many will. And while a technically savvy recruiter or hiring manager could easily glean your credentials from your resume, you have to make it easy for the computer. Common search queries will be for relevant technologies, software, and certifications.
"As a job hunter, I can put key phrases on my resume, and then someone who does a database search and pulls them out, if they're looking for someone who's certified that's one easy thing they can pull out," said Matt Rodriguez, owner of Dunn-Wright Systems, LLC.
The moral: be sure that if the job description asks for proficiency in a given software program or requires a certain certification, that you make sure those pieces are on your resume. Even if you don't think they're that valuable or you don't keep them on your resume as a standard, don't let your name get removed from the pool for a stupid reason.
The Recruiter
In many ways, a good recruiter is the voice of reason in the hiring process. They're experienced in the art of hiring, and don't focus on mostly irrelevant things like good personality fit with the team or whether you like to fish. Therefore, figuring out how to succeed with a recruiter is far less of a science—demonstrate clear experience in the fields required and a strong interest in the position and company. Many recruiters are paid based on the length of time that their chosen candidates stay in the position, so you want to make it clear that you're very interested in the position and passionate about the job.
I go into much more depth about how to please recruiters in this article. But one last note: remember that recruiters are only as good as the company they're working for. So while being an overall smart, driven individual should be enough to get you to the next phase, recruiters need to cross their T's and dot there I's. In other words, also make sure you clearly demonstrate that you have the competencies requested on the job description.
The HR Rep
Human resource professionals can take on a number of roles in the hiring process—they might be in charge of the original resume screen, they might conduct screening phone interviews, or they may be used for salary negotiations. Potentially all of the above.
The main thing to remember with HR reps is that they're not technical experts. Therefore, they're going to judge you by their own set of pseudo-scientific criteria based on best hiring practices. Do you make eye contact, smile, and hold a conversation well? (This only applies to in-person interviews, of course.) Do you demonstrate confidence when discussing the details of the position, and are you able to communicate fairly complex and technical concepts in terms that they can easily understand? If so, you shouldn't have a problem clearing this step. (And, to reiterate: don't wait for the HR rep to ask you questions related to the job description. Make sure to demonstrate that you meet all the requirements of the job description as you go along.)
Lastly, make sure you have some answers to those questions such as "Give me an example of a time when you had to switch gears halfway through a project," or "Tell me about a time when members of your team disagreed on something, and what you did." I don't personally believe that these questions do much of anything to measure competency, but HR reps love them because they require very little planning or understanding on the part of the interviewer.
After the jump, we'll cover the fourth and final opponent, the hiring manager.
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