One analyst said last night: Investors are simply getting fatigued by dot coms’ negative balance sheets

One analyst said last night: “Investors are simply getting fatigued by dot coms’ negative balance sheets.”Bottom of the dot-com table – or top, depending on how you look at it – is Nettec. The e-consultant, which was floated on the Ofex market in April, has lost 23.5 per cent of its value. Advised by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, Nettec cut its offer price at the eleventh hour to 240p because of negative investor sentiment.. Whether you’re a bored accountant who is yearning for the buzz of the sales department or you think your boss is stingy because he moans about the cost of cabs, National Job Swap Day could be just the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

Whether you’re a bored accountant who is yearning for the buzz of the sales department or you think your boss is stingy because he moans about the cost of cabs, National Job Swap Day could be just the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.
A joint venture between the online recruitment agency totaljobs and the Campaign for Learning charity, NJS day held on Thursday May 25 2000, is to be launched as part of the Government’s Learning at Work programme.Inspired by a survey which showed that 84 per cent of workers would like to swap or shadow other jobs, the scheme has attracted more than 500 organisations. “It helps people understand both the pressures and advantages of other people’s jobs, so it’s a good way to reduce inter-departmental friction, says Sarah Parsons, PR manager at totaljobs. “And it also gives people better insight into their own talents or shortcomings.”To test out the theory, I agree to act as guinea pig. Ms Parsons arranges for me to visit Ihavemoved – a free online service for people moving house who need to notify services such as utilities and banks of their change of address – and shadow its marketing director, Niko Komninos, for a day.Since I work from home with just a phone and a cactus for company – and my last experience of company life was working within the formal hierarchy of a London department store – I wonder what I will make of the notoriously high-octane, low-maintenance world of a dot com start-up.

What will it be like to discuss issues with real, live people? And what exactly does a director do anyway?Ihavemoved turned out to be a friendly, informal organisation. Located in an airy, open-plan office, complete with pool table, the firm comprises just 12 to 13 employees all in their twenties, including the four directors.After a quick round of introductions by Mr Komninos, I’m whisked into a “meeting” (four of us clustered around a single monitor) to discuss the redesign of the company website. As Milo the “techie” scrolls through the new-look pages, a heated but good-natured discussion ensues. Indeed, despite the differing views, a consensus is soon reached and the meeting is over within 10 minutes. Although communal discussion is definitely an improvement on bouncing ideas off a wall, I don’t envy Mr Komninos having to mediate daily between highly creative and opinionated minds.Next up is a decision on background sounds for the firm’s new promotional CD. After listening to a variety of “whooshes”, “clicks” and “blips”, we veto all of them as “seriously annoying”. Then it’s a series of emails and phone calls, including a strongly worded letter to an inefficient supplier.After lunch there’s a meeting with the advertising agency responsible for Ihavemoved’s first campaign.