I'm not saying that I am in denial that we are in a down economy, we are - no doubt about it. But the magnitude of the down-ness is exacerbated by the amount of people who use it as an excuse of some kind. But that's not really my point....yet.
I want to start with the way jobs are posted these days. The roles are posted looking for the perfect person to fill the role, some one whose resume reads like the job description, from the right companies and schools to back it up. That's great. I can't deny that a company should be looking for perfection...but it is not out there.
What is out there are people with talent. People who really want to work, prove themselves, and take the next step along their career path. If the company is looking for some one who has the same exact job somewhere else then what is to entice that person to become a candidate? New commute? Now office? More money? Not that these things may not be attractive to some candidates, but the companies hiring those folks will potentially be making a mistake.
The primary reason why people LOOK to make a change is management. However, their comfort level, tenure, etc. in their current environment will make then stick it out unless there is a significant pot of gold or greener grass to go to. Those who make the change for that reason often find the same issues with management and upon close inspection see that the grass is not as green as they thought (perhaps it is a sprinkler problem).
The primary reason people MAKE career changes is because they are offered the opportunity to grow. Their responsibility increases, the money is good, and they have new work to sink their teeth into that challenges them in new ways. These are the people companies want. These are the people whose resumes read as "so close" but not quite the perfect match to the job description.
These are the people that it takes a REAL recruiter to find. there are a lot of recruiters who work on the "match and attach" principle. They look for the match, attach it to the requisition and send it to the manager. Kind of like processing a sandwich order at a deli. If you want a sandwich with mayo lettuce and tomatoes but no pickles, we'll make your sandwich match your order. Or like picking the options on a new car. To sunroof or not to sunroof? We can easily do this with inanimate objects or food, but it is ultimately less effective with people.
The sandwich and the car will never be anything more than the sandwich or the car. In fact, once you eat the sandwich it is gone (short term satisfaction) and in a couple years the new car is obsolete (lack of long-term sustainability).
So, as the recruiter or hiring manager what do you really want to look for? You want to see demonstrated growth, you want to see that the candidate knows how to do a variety of things, that they have adapted over time, hit the ground running is some areas, evolved to meet the challenges in others. You want to find out what they think of the job you have posted, do they have a vision for success in the role and what is it. And here's the really really interesting part. That vision doesn't have to be what the recruiter or even the hiring manager is looking for. It just has to be a good vision. Because that means the candidate has vision. And if they show their adaptability, flexibility and evolution on their resume and through an interview, they'll be able to adapt, flex, and evolve to the manager's or company's vision.
In many companies today we need the people who can do this. We need tuna sandwiches that can become roast beef. We need to be buying a car that can become a truck down the road. We need candidates that meet a job description that won't be doing that same job in a year or two.
Ultimately the question does come down to what a recruiter really does for a company. A "match and attacher" is merely performing a service. But a recruiter can and should be so much more for a company. This is a person who sells the entire company to some one. Sales sells products, staffing sells the company, the culture, the vision, the future. It is an awesome responsibility that few executives really understand and often take for granted.
So a recruiter who keeps this in mind gets their hands into a lot of other very important areas for the company growth and success over the long term. If the recruiters are portraying a positive and exciting culture and that's the first view candidates have of the inside, then the recruiters are influencing the culture. If the recruiters follow the business effectively then they can go beyond "match and attach" and really help the manager's understand what they need and how the presented candidates will make it happen. In this way they truly are helping to grow the company in an incredibly value added way.
On another angle, many recruiters want to present candidates to the hiring manager that they hope the manager will just say, "OK, bring him/her in - they'll start on Monday". But that never happens. What needs to happen sometimes is the same hard-sell job to the manager that the candidate did to the recruiter. Show them why and how the candidate will do more than the job description, why the skills and environment they came from will help move the company in the right direction. Recruit the manager into taking the candidate.
I can't remember who I heard it from but I heard once that a business, "needs to treat it's vendors as it wants to be treated when it is a vendor." In this current economy we need to help hiring managers to understand that they need to give candidates the same consideration they want when they are candidates. And in this economy, that could be sooner than they think.
So I called the Down Economy "alleged" for a reason. It is a down economy, no question, but it is really opening up a lot more opportunities for people to get more creative, expand their horizons and quite frankly have an easier time shopping (for those who can still afford to). Stores are less crowded, parking at the mall is easier, and every restaurant seems to have a $5 deal of some kind (especially the sandwich places).
In order to get out of this funk we're all in, more people have to get to work - we know that's the answer. So to do that I am hopeful that we can find more ways to hire people for who they are and what they can do than exclude them for not being a perfect match.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Raise me up - Don't bring me down!
I had a great meeting with a good friend today. We both agreed that we are really really good idea men - we just need limitless bucket of cash and a staff to make the world a better place. And we're gonna try to figure out how to do it without the cash, but the staff would be very helpful.
We both used to be in the head-hunting business. that's a business where one day you are the person improving some one else's life with a great opportunity and the next you are just trying to talk them into doing what you want them to do so you can get a pay-out. At times it felt really good and other times it felt.....less than good.
Ultimately though we saw ourselves on par with the likes of Jerry McGuire. We were Talent Managers for free-agent engineers. We would befriend-sell-collect and move on to the next one. We often dreamed that the job was more important than it was and that we were making a bigger difference than we were. I guess on some level we were like the kid on the beach who is throwing sea stars back in the ocean. There may be too many sea stars to save them all and have an impact on the total population, but to the one he throws back it makes all the difference in the world. I guess that's what we did.
Well, my friend wants to take that to the next level, he wants us all to be throwing sea stars back in the ocean, making a difference one life at a time if that's what it takes. And he's going about it in a great way. He wants to, heck, he has introduced a new phrase into our lexicon for us to use as often as possible. I challenge you to use this whenever and wherever you can. The phrase is "Possibility Advocate". Let that sing in for a sec.
Okay, don't think of it as just a catch phrase, or a definition, but think in terms of the opposite of a Devil's Advocate. Think of it as a way of getting people to expand their horizon's from being a nay-sayer or a skeptic to one who is a yay-sayer or a ...whatever the opposite of skeptic is.
He tells a great story about how we are born, how the odds of us coming into being who we are are a one in millions chance. Without being crude (and to avoid getting another blog post pulled for content) he talks about how the one "seed" among millions elbows it's way to the front of the pack, swimming harder and faster than all the other to make to the egg for fertilization. We can all identify and picture that image......and then he spins it on its head in a way that made me jealous that I hadn't though of it first.
What if, he tells me, what if it wasn't about elbowing to the front of the pack. What if the pack knew that that particular seed had the best chance of success, what if the pack knew that that seed needed to fertilize that egg to insure a good healthy outcome. What if the pack was....pushing? What if it was supporting? What if it knew the possibilities and was advocating the best one? What if?
So my friend, Virgil Robinson, founder of http://www.possibilityadvocate.com/ would like you to use the phrase and adopt the idea that you can be a "Possibility Advocate" in your daily life. Whether it is encouraging a kid to tie their shoes or raise their hand in class, or to solicit more brainstorming in a conference room, or to give anyone an encouraging word so that they can see and have more possibilities to chose from, be the yay-sayer, be the "Possibility Advocate".
Virgil wants you to use it and I count myself as lucky to be one of the first few among what will hopefully be millions pushing him toward success.
We both used to be in the head-hunting business. that's a business where one day you are the person improving some one else's life with a great opportunity and the next you are just trying to talk them into doing what you want them to do so you can get a pay-out. At times it felt really good and other times it felt.....less than good.
Ultimately though we saw ourselves on par with the likes of Jerry McGuire. We were Talent Managers for free-agent engineers. We would befriend-sell-collect and move on to the next one. We often dreamed that the job was more important than it was and that we were making a bigger difference than we were. I guess on some level we were like the kid on the beach who is throwing sea stars back in the ocean. There may be too many sea stars to save them all and have an impact on the total population, but to the one he throws back it makes all the difference in the world. I guess that's what we did.
Well, my friend wants to take that to the next level, he wants us all to be throwing sea stars back in the ocean, making a difference one life at a time if that's what it takes. And he's going about it in a great way. He wants to, heck, he has introduced a new phrase into our lexicon for us to use as often as possible. I challenge you to use this whenever and wherever you can. The phrase is "Possibility Advocate". Let that sing in for a sec.
Okay, don't think of it as just a catch phrase, or a definition, but think in terms of the opposite of a Devil's Advocate. Think of it as a way of getting people to expand their horizon's from being a nay-sayer or a skeptic to one who is a yay-sayer or a ...whatever the opposite of skeptic is.
He tells a great story about how we are born, how the odds of us coming into being who we are are a one in millions chance. Without being crude (and to avoid getting another blog post pulled for content) he talks about how the one "seed" among millions elbows it's way to the front of the pack, swimming harder and faster than all the other to make to the egg for fertilization. We can all identify and picture that image......and then he spins it on its head in a way that made me jealous that I hadn't though of it first.
What if, he tells me, what if it wasn't about elbowing to the front of the pack. What if the pack knew that that particular seed had the best chance of success, what if the pack knew that that seed needed to fertilize that egg to insure a good healthy outcome. What if the pack was....pushing? What if it was supporting? What if it knew the possibilities and was advocating the best one? What if?
So my friend, Virgil Robinson, founder of http://www.possibilityadvocate.com/ would like you to use the phrase and adopt the idea that you can be a "Possibility Advocate" in your daily life. Whether it is encouraging a kid to tie their shoes or raise their hand in class, or to solicit more brainstorming in a conference room, or to give anyone an encouraging word so that they can see and have more possibilities to chose from, be the yay-sayer, be the "Possibility Advocate".
Virgil wants you to use it and I count myself as lucky to be one of the first few among what will hopefully be millions pushing him toward success.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Baseball Caps
This is a repost. I edited it recently, so if you are getting a notification about this being a new post, it isn't ...you have read it before.
Baseball caps.
I recently went shopping with my wife to update the wardrobe. Without going into details about my apparently uncreative fashion choices (she would say that what I have been wearing does not actually qualify as fashion) I got some new clothes. While picking out these new clothes together she also picked out for me a new baseball cap. I was already wearing one. She claimed that the one she had picked out was better because it goes with all the clothes we picked out.
Wait a minute....it GOES WITH stuff? Is that even the purpose or intent of a baseball cap? On a woman maybe (if she is not within 10 miles of a sporting event) but on a man? In what universe is what a baseball cap "goes with" a factor?
The cap gets it's name from a game, 'baseball', that is the very LAST stop on the bad fashion train (Astros uniforms 1975-1979). Well OK, generally all sports uniforms in general may share that stop.
So, I put it out there on a social networking site. Is this cap a utility or an accessory and many responded. Most women agree that it is a man's prerogative to wear whatever he want on his head and that it does not HAVE to go with anything. But for a woman it is never more than an accessory. Most, but not all, men who responded tend to agree with the utilitarian perspective, "it covers your head and keeps the sun out of your eyes." AS IS ITS ONLY INTENT.
However, now that we are finding these caps in the men's fashions department they are apparently evolving from utility to accessory. This is a load of crap.
The wife's complaint was that the hat I was wearing (purchased in a head covering emergency in a t-shirt shop in a touristy area of San Francisco only a few months ago), was now all sweat stained inside and gross. In other words - perfect. It was shapely enough to still be recognized for what it is, but grimy enough to hold my keys, wallet, phone, change etc when I take it off at the gym. Truly utilitarian and it had no John Deer logo on it.
Ultimately I relented and got the new, more fashionable hat to make her happy (oh her "happiness" is another blog entry or 1000 altogether).
Bottom line, a new more fashionable hat will be treated the same as the old one, it just won't clash with my shirt anymore.
Baseball caps.
I recently went shopping with my wife to update the wardrobe. Without going into details about my apparently uncreative fashion choices (she would say that what I have been wearing does not actually qualify as fashion) I got some new clothes. While picking out these new clothes together she also picked out for me a new baseball cap. I was already wearing one. She claimed that the one she had picked out was better because it goes with all the clothes we picked out.
Wait a minute....it GOES WITH stuff? Is that even the purpose or intent of a baseball cap? On a woman maybe (if she is not within 10 miles of a sporting event) but on a man? In what universe is what a baseball cap "goes with" a factor?
The cap gets it's name from a game, 'baseball', that is the very LAST stop on the bad fashion train (Astros uniforms 1975-1979). Well OK, generally all sports uniforms in general may share that stop.
So, I put it out there on a social networking site. Is this cap a utility or an accessory and many responded. Most women agree that it is a man's prerogative to wear whatever he want on his head and that it does not HAVE to go with anything. But for a woman it is never more than an accessory. Most, but not all, men who responded tend to agree with the utilitarian perspective, "it covers your head and keeps the sun out of your eyes." AS IS ITS ONLY INTENT.
However, now that we are finding these caps in the men's fashions department they are apparently evolving from utility to accessory. This is a load of crap.
The wife's complaint was that the hat I was wearing (purchased in a head covering emergency in a t-shirt shop in a touristy area of San Francisco only a few months ago), was now all sweat stained inside and gross. In other words - perfect. It was shapely enough to still be recognized for what it is, but grimy enough to hold my keys, wallet, phone, change etc when I take it off at the gym. Truly utilitarian and it had no John Deer logo on it.
Ultimately I relented and got the new, more fashionable hat to make her happy (oh her "happiness" is another blog entry or 1000 altogether).
Bottom line, a new more fashionable hat will be treated the same as the old one, it just won't clash with my shirt anymore.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The very latest in stupidity
I debated leaving a typo in the title, cause that's what it is all about. The pinnacle of stupidity in this modern age is a lack of proof-reading. I am an extremely fast "hunt and pecker" on the keyboard and I am also too impatient to read every single word I have written after I go off on a rant much like this one. Many of you have gotten from me in an email or IM the word 'teh' when I meant to type 'the' or 'god' for 'good'. Some one recently asked me via IM how I was and I replied, "I am god"(for the sake of clarification, I am not god).
My latest typo not caught due to my impatience and the lack of my spell-check's mind reading capability came in a cover letter I typed and sent a few days ago. I went back into it this morning to massage it for yet another prospective employer and fell off my own chair laughing. Not hearing from the company now made so much sense.
The company is Google. Known for only being interested in people with a GPA of 5.0 or better out of one of maybe 5 or 10 schools in the universe (I do not meet both of those qualifications). I had heard that they were loosening up and that their fresh out of college cadre of employees are willing to look beyond the academics and open their minds up to the idea that not everyone can afford to go to Stanford or MIT no matter how smart they are. And that right-brainers can be just as intelligent as left-brainers and it still won't be evidenced in their academic record. I can agree that the worst thing that ever happened to championing the cause of non-academic achievement was the election and subsequent presidency of George W Bush, but he is just one guy - don't lump us all in with him please.
So understanding that my resume and cover letter might pass through the hands of one of these academic elitists I had to make sure it was letter perfect. But my own eyes deceived me and as I said mind-reader check was disabled and in my letter I said....
get ready for it....
"I have been huge fan and user of goggle products..."
I have decided to resend the cover letter......to the Speedo company.
My latest typo not caught due to my impatience and the lack of my spell-check's mind reading capability came in a cover letter I typed and sent a few days ago. I went back into it this morning to massage it for yet another prospective employer and fell off my own chair laughing. Not hearing from the company now made so much sense.
The company is Google. Known for only being interested in people with a GPA of 5.0 or better out of one of maybe 5 or 10 schools in the universe (I do not meet both of those qualifications). I had heard that they were loosening up and that their fresh out of college cadre of employees are willing to look beyond the academics and open their minds up to the idea that not everyone can afford to go to Stanford or MIT no matter how smart they are. And that right-brainers can be just as intelligent as left-brainers and it still won't be evidenced in their academic record. I can agree that the worst thing that ever happened to championing the cause of non-academic achievement was the election and subsequent presidency of George W Bush, but he is just one guy - don't lump us all in with him please.
So understanding that my resume and cover letter might pass through the hands of one of these academic elitists I had to make sure it was letter perfect. But my own eyes deceived me and as I said mind-reader check was disabled and in my letter I said....
get ready for it....
"I have been huge fan and user of goggle products..."
I have decided to resend the cover letter......to the Speedo company.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Narrowing down the book idea
So while I am the expert at very few things but have a lot of opinions on other things I am limited in what I could fill a book about. I have a few ideas for some novels but I am no James Patterson (who must write in his sleep) leaving me to find something that I know a lot about, but that one does not necessarily have to have a degree in. the thing is that if I can come up with something that qualifies I am sure there are many others who can do the same. The trick is to come up with some level of authority or at least credibility on the topic I chose. And of course it has to be something that the Daily Show staff would find interesting enough to invite me on as a guest.
So here is the current idea that is gestating in my brain. "Why are we Stupid?"
First off, if you have not figured it out, I do believe I have some authority and credibility on this subject. I am not being self-deprecating here - let me explain.
I will argue that on the whole we are not actually stupid, but we often do stupid things. Whether it is as children, parents, customers, service providers, politicians, doctors, lawyers, student, teachers, and yes even rocket scientists - we all do stupid things. Things we do not think through, choice we make for short term gain, or choices we do not make in the hopes of long term gain.
It seems to me that with the multiple crises the world has gotten itself into these days (financial, housing, auto-industry, etc.) that there is no shortage of people doing stupid things. what is most interesting about those situations is the collective stupidity. But there is also the more common individual stupidity that we often get to see highlighted by politicians and celebrities. Whether is a gallivanting Governor or poorly parenting pop-star we all get to gape and judge at these ridiculous antics that stem from none other than stupid decisions.
And of course, the most common and least talked about is our own individual stupidity. We are more likely to talk about our successes from good decision making than our failures from stupid decisions we have made. But we all do them. We try to make the left turn before the on-coming car gets to close, we insult the waiter before our soup is served, we eat the cake even though we are trying to lose weight, we buy magazines from college kids that sell them door to door, we decide that "just this once" it'll be okay to go without the proper protection (not just that!).
We follow our friends, we under or over research an issue, we make assumptions about things we know nothing about - these are all the seeds that more often than not lead us into stupidity.
So there are no truly stupid people (gross generalization I will flip-flop on later) just people who do really stupid things. And that is all of us. Granted - some more than others, but definitely all of us.
So that's the idea/book flap/elevator pitch. I would love to hear your thoughts on the idea and, if you have some classic personal stupid story and want to get in a book either in name or alias (to protect you) I would love to hear it. Like I said I have some classics - like the time I voted to play tackle football on the beach that led to 12 weeks in a cast. Lots of time spent lying on my back pondering my stupidity on that one.
More to come....
So here is the current idea that is gestating in my brain. "Why are we Stupid?"
First off, if you have not figured it out, I do believe I have some authority and credibility on this subject. I am not being self-deprecating here - let me explain.
I will argue that on the whole we are not actually stupid, but we often do stupid things. Whether it is as children, parents, customers, service providers, politicians, doctors, lawyers, student, teachers, and yes even rocket scientists - we all do stupid things. Things we do not think through, choice we make for short term gain, or choices we do not make in the hopes of long term gain.
It seems to me that with the multiple crises the world has gotten itself into these days (financial, housing, auto-industry, etc.) that there is no shortage of people doing stupid things. what is most interesting about those situations is the collective stupidity. But there is also the more common individual stupidity that we often get to see highlighted by politicians and celebrities. Whether is a gallivanting Governor or poorly parenting pop-star we all get to gape and judge at these ridiculous antics that stem from none other than stupid decisions.
And of course, the most common and least talked about is our own individual stupidity. We are more likely to talk about our successes from good decision making than our failures from stupid decisions we have made. But we all do them. We try to make the left turn before the on-coming car gets to close, we insult the waiter before our soup is served, we eat the cake even though we are trying to lose weight, we buy magazines from college kids that sell them door to door, we decide that "just this once" it'll be okay to go without the proper protection (not just that!).
We follow our friends, we under or over research an issue, we make assumptions about things we know nothing about - these are all the seeds that more often than not lead us into stupidity.
So there are no truly stupid people (gross generalization I will flip-flop on later) just people who do really stupid things. And that is all of us. Granted - some more than others, but definitely all of us.
So that's the idea/book flap/elevator pitch. I would love to hear your thoughts on the idea and, if you have some classic personal stupid story and want to get in a book either in name or alias (to protect you) I would love to hear it. Like I said I have some classics - like the time I voted to play tackle football on the beach that led to 12 weeks in a cast. Lots of time spent lying on my back pondering my stupidity on that one.
More to come....
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Open Fridge Night
Ok people, here's the deal. I've been out of the workplace long enough and many people are telling me "write dammit, write!" So I will cut my teeth here and if all goes well I'll start working on the book I always said I would write (but about what I will use this space to figure out).
The goal of said book will be to get something published about something unique enough to get me as a guest on the Daily Show before Jon Stewart retires. It's good to have goals. I will rant about current events, ideas for new products, movie plots, thoughts on things I have seen or done, politics, religion, business, food....I guess I will blog like millions of others and hope that my ramblings are found to be amusing to you the reader and therapeutic for me the narcissist. I will endeavor to spellcheck every post, but if I miss something it will be your job to figure it out.
Enough of an intro. Lets get started.
Not that you really care, but the other night I got pretty irritated over something really stupid and it spun me downward into a bad place. My nearly 7 year old son loves Sushi. Well, not really Sushi, he loves California Rolls. So after sitting at a place recently and paying to much for 6 pieces we decided to just make them at home. We shopped and got everything we needed and headed home.
Since it was late afternoon and I was dealing with a child not quite 7 years old, of all the ingredients we purchased patience was not one of them. Enter the big mistake of the entire process - Minute Rice. You cannot make California Rolls with Minute Rice. HOWEVER - if some one CAN figure out how to "glutenize" the MR for proper use in making California Rolls please clue me in cause I nearly re-decorated the new kitchen with MR.....and avocado.....and both real and fake crab.....and spears of cucumber.....and smelly seaweed wrap.
Suffice it to say that instead of Homemade Sushi Night it was Open Fridge Night (OFN). Open Fridge Night is when you open the fridge, take out all leftovers that do not yet have mold on them, put it all on the table with paper plates and plastic utensils and tell your family to eat what they can find and to make it a meal. Modern day foraging. At the end of this bountiful feast (depending on your home) you toss everything not eaten and build towards the following week's OFN.
So there you have it. This will be my occasional OFN for you to read and hopefully enjoy. You will get stories about me, my wife, my kids, and a bunch of other folks who will be code s as not to offend (not that I mind offending, but I don't want to deal with the fallout from it).
Have a great day.
The goal of said book will be to get something published about something unique enough to get me as a guest on the Daily Show before Jon Stewart retires. It's good to have goals. I will rant about current events, ideas for new products, movie plots, thoughts on things I have seen or done, politics, religion, business, food....I guess I will blog like millions of others and hope that my ramblings are found to be amusing to you the reader and therapeutic for me the narcissist. I will endeavor to spellcheck every post, but if I miss something it will be your job to figure it out.
Enough of an intro. Lets get started.
Not that you really care, but the other night I got pretty irritated over something really stupid and it spun me downward into a bad place. My nearly 7 year old son loves Sushi. Well, not really Sushi, he loves California Rolls. So after sitting at a place recently and paying to much for 6 pieces we decided to just make them at home. We shopped and got everything we needed and headed home.
Since it was late afternoon and I was dealing with a child not quite 7 years old, of all the ingredients we purchased patience was not one of them. Enter the big mistake of the entire process - Minute Rice. You cannot make California Rolls with Minute Rice. HOWEVER - if some one CAN figure out how to "glutenize" the MR for proper use in making California Rolls please clue me in cause I nearly re-decorated the new kitchen with MR.....and avocado.....and both real and fake crab.....and spears of cucumber.....and smelly seaweed wrap.
Suffice it to say that instead of Homemade Sushi Night it was Open Fridge Night (OFN). Open Fridge Night is when you open the fridge, take out all leftovers that do not yet have mold on them, put it all on the table with paper plates and plastic utensils and tell your family to eat what they can find and to make it a meal. Modern day foraging. At the end of this bountiful feast (depending on your home) you toss everything not eaten and build towards the following week's OFN.
So there you have it. This will be my occasional OFN for you to read and hopefully enjoy. You will get stories about me, my wife, my kids, and a bunch of other folks who will be code s as not to offend (not that I mind offending, but I don't want to deal with the fallout from it).
Have a great day.
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