Do you want to pioneer safety and security in the mobile space, not just for children, but for adults and businesses?

Are you more than just a coder, understanding how development impacts a business and its customers?

Do you want to do all this in the shadow of Table Mountain?

Then let’s chat.

Mobiflock is looking for both a senior PHP developer and a junior PHP developer to develop new products and help tackle the development challenges that any rapidly evolving company faces.

We’re looking for developers who are not afraid to get their hands dirty. You need some MacGyver-style problem solving skills, and you need to be passionate about excellence, starting with your code and all the way through ease of use for the customer, and absolutely mind-blowing customer service and support.

Follow the links above for the job requirements, and to apply send a CV and covering letter to jobs@mobiflock.com

You must:

1. Save the CV with your name in the file name to save us much admin head scratching when we start reviewing the CVs.
2. Send source code and work examples with your application.

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To get the lowdown on making money on the internet in Africa, African Business Review chatted to four e-commerce outfits: two are selling local products internationally via the internet, one based in Ghana and the other in South Africa; a UK-based e-commerce site selling handmade products from Rwanda; and a Cameroonian business selling SMS services via the mobile web.

eShop Africa

eShopAfrica.com is one of the oldest e-commerce businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. This fair trade market for traditionally produced arts and crafts from Ghana, Ethopia, Zimbabwe and Mali started trading online in 2001. The company has grown into a sustainable business while still maintaining traditional supply chain dynamics. So, for example, a customer may have to wait for goods to be produced by the artisan, especially during busy agricultural times when the artisan has to attend to planting or harvesting their crops.

Read the rest of the article on African Business Review

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1. Salary
Employees earning between R10,000 and R24,999 per month are the least happy, and as income increases employees’ happiness levels rise as well.

“This unhappy group is likely to consist of young employees who know they have great prospects, but who still need to get some experience under their belts in order to advance in their career. This level of disgruntlement may point to Millennials’ trademark sense of entitlement, ambition and awareness of their worth,” said Kevin Laithwaite, managing director of JobCrystal.

It’s important for companies to realise, however, that even the happy high earners are looking for new opportunities – they know they are marketable and will consider new positions.

JobCrystal: % happy employees by salary band
Salary per month Happy employees*

R10,000 – R24,999 55%
R25,000 – R49,999 58%
R50,000 – R79,999 60%
R80,000 + 63%

*Percentage of employees rating themselves “comfortable” or “happy” in their current role when registering on JobCrystal, www.jobcrystal.co.za.

2. Job level
The JobCrystal Happiness Indicator shows a distinct trend towards employees with more management responsibility being happier. Senior managers with large teams and executives came out tops in the happiness stakes.

“It seems likely that the happiness level is linked to how well these senior employees are regarded in the company and how much control, independence and decision making ability they have,” said Laithwaite.

Again, the indicator raises a red flag for employers because even though almost two-thirds of senior managers and executives are happy in their roles, they are open to other opportunities.

JobCrystal: % happy employees by job level
Job level Happy employees*

Manage managers (team 20+) 64%
Manage managers (team 10-19) 63%
Executive 62%
Manager (5-9 staff) 60%
Manager (0 staff) 60%
Skilled (2-5 years) 58%
Manager (10+ staff) 57%
Junior (<2 years) 57%
Manage managers (team 1-9) 56%
Senior (5+ years) 55%
Manager (1-4 staff) 53%
*Percentage of employees rating themselves “comfortable” or “happy” in their current role when registering on JobCrystal, www.jobcrystal.co.za.

3. Location, location, location
According to the JobCrystal statistics, it appears that your employees are more likely to be happy if they don’t live in a major metropolitan area. Smaller cities such as Richard’s Bay, Durban and East London, have a higher percentage of happy employees than larger cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg.

There could be a range of reasons for this including better work-life balance, less stress and even experiencing less traffic.

JobCrystal: % happy employees by location
Location Happy employees*

KZN: Richards Bay 67%
Garden Route including Oudtshoorn 62%
KZN: Durban Ethekwini 61%
Eastern Cape: East London 60%
Gauteng: Pretoria Tshwane 57%
Gauteng: Johannesburg, Sandton, Randburg 56%
Cape Town: Southern Suburbs 55%
East Rand: Ekhuruleni 55%
Cape Town: Northern Suburbs 55%
West Rand: Mogale, Krugersdorp, Roodepoort 52%
*Percentage of employees rating themselves “comfortable” or “happy” in their current role when registering on JobCrystal, www.jobcrystal.co.za.

The first JobCrystal Happiness Indicator, released in April 2010, looked at levels of happiness amongst South African employees and found that less than half are happy. The second JobCrystal Happiness Indicator, released in June 2010,  looked at which South African companies had the happiest employees, and which employers were ranked as the best to work for. The low correlation between the two data sets indicated that even if employees bought into the company culture and values, they also needed to have their individual aspirations met to be happy.

The JobCrystal Happiness Indicator data is compiled from the 110,000-strong JobCrystal database of jobseekers. Employees are asked how happy they are in their current position (miserable, frustrated, comfortable, happy) when they register on JobCrystal. One of the ways in which JobCrystal improves the recruitment process and the hiring success rate for companies is by using this and other data to make the best matches between candidates and vacancies.

JobCrystal focusses on candidates looking to earn R150,000 per year and more. It charges a flat fee per successful placement, with no upfront charges. Companies including Nashua Mobile, Mr Price, The Ovations Group, Santam and Foschini are using JobCrystal to source candidates.

- ENDS –
About JobCrystal
JobCrystal turns traditional hiring on its head by placing employers directly in touch with a pool of 110,000 passive jobseekers. The online service is highly automated and cleverly matches candidates with employers, making the interactive talent management portal faster, cheaper and more effective than any other way of recruiting. Founded by Kevin Laithwaite and Karl Westvig and launched in August 2009, JobCrystal is used by companies including Nashua Mobile, Mr Price, The Ovations Group, Santam and Foschini to source candidates.

For more information please visit: www.jobcrystal.co.za (for jobseekers) or www.jobcrystal.co.za/talent (for employers).

Released on behalf of JobCrystal by:
Vanessa Clark
Twokats Communications
Ph: +27 82 335 1117
Email: Vanessa.clark@twokats.com
Web: www.twokats.com

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Last night was no exception when Delheim wine was served up at the bi-monthly GeekDinner. A delicious Merlot 2006 (and I am not typically a Merlot fan) as well as Sauvignon Blanc/Chenin blend. I am a bit of a glutton for red wine at the moment, so I stupidly forgot to taste the wine – will have to remedy that soon.

The list of geek-friendly South African wine seems to be growing: Stormhoek, of course: Perdeberg (not sure why they don’t sponsor GeekDinners any more but hooray for Delheim), Moreson has turned up now and again, and now Delheim.

Nice.

In my opinion Geek dinners are the black horse of the current Cape Town social media circuit. Always incredibly fun – and funny, you have to witness the slideshow karaoke at least once – and with the widest variety of topics at a dinner/networking event I have come across.

Last night was no exception, with Mandy Watson taking impromptu to a new level and testing out her new presentation pointer, slide mover thing in front of a live audience. It’s called an Apacer Wireless Presenter. You can see why she is queen of the tech reviews with her astute observations and questions about the technology’s capabilities.

Next up was Wessel Venter talking about Aspergers syndrome. Discussing it later, Kerry-Anne and I agreed that we live in amazing times where increasingly there is no normal.

Wessel was followed by poster child for “Saffers taking the world by storm with a pocket full of VC money”, Vinnie Lingham. Vinnie, head of Synthasite … I mean Yola, held a lively question and answer session about his move to Silicon Valley and observations on what’s up in SA. I am not sure he is totally convinced that Silicon Valley beats Silicon Cape Town hands down though.

And of course the ever-present Springleap team provided the geek schwag for the evening.

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RICG website: More companies dialling into mobile marketing

Digital Edge podcast

ITWeb: The successful entrepreneur’s secret

Getclosure! blog: Tip of the Week: Cape Town Summer Hot Spots, 24 October 2008

Getclosure! blog: Consumer Protection Bill Public Hearings, 3 September 2008

Getclosure! blog: Interview with Vanessa Clark, 13 August 2008

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Latest shops to use the site to promote their special offers include Foschini, the leading fashion retailer; Keedo, children’s clothing store; wantitall, online comparative shopping site; tour operator Thompsons Holidays; ShoeHQ, fashion shoe shop; and Springleap, crowd-sourcing online T-shirt site.

These retailers have taken advantage of this innovative way of reaching people who have money to spend, but want to make their Rands stretch further by taking advantage of sales and special offers.

The SaleSearcher site offers online listings of promotions from both online and offline retailers in South Africa. The site allows customers to search for sales according to merchant or by specific product category.

As well as giving retailers a new platform to promote themselves, SaleSearcher aggressively drives traffic to the site via targeted online advertising using channels such as Google Adwords and Facebook. It passes these traffic reports on to the retailers, demonstrating the effectiveness of the service.

In addition, the flexible pricing structure is based on a daily rate and contract so that retailers can quickly and easily ramp up a campaign around the time of a promotion, without being locked into longer than necessary contracts.

“Signing up for SaleSearcher was a no-brainer,” said Nelia Schutte, founder of Keedo. “We can quickly and effectively drive customers to our stores across the country and our website during a promotion, and then convert them into loyal and regular customers.”

“South African shoppers are incredibly savvy and love seeking out a good bargain, especially in tougher economic times,” said Ryan Ferreira, founder of SaleSearcher. “We’ve been getting a great response from our marketing initiatives and seeing traffic grow rapidly on the site.”

“A great idea in my opinion and a foretaste of things to come in the ‘on demand’ era,” said Chris Moerdyk, corporate marketing analyst and advisor, writing about SaleSearcher in Biz-community.

About SaleSearcher
SaleSearcher, www.salesearcher.co.za, offers a quick and easy way for consumers to search for sales and special offers from retailers located around South Africa. It allows consumers to make the most of their hard earned Rands by pinpointing the sales they are looking for, and gives retailers an additional platform to engage with South African customers that have money to spend. The site is the brainchild of young South African entrepreneur, Ryan Ferreira. After working and travelling abroad, Ryan spent six months researching the viability of SaleSearcher before launching it in November 2008.

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Have a read here.

(She also quotes some great people in the article )

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