Are You Really #Veteran Friendly?

Posted by Steve on May 27, 2013
Posted in: Heroes, Memorial Day, Military, Recruiting, Veterans. Leave a Comment

For my generation, it was the World War II veterans; for newer gens it’s the War on Terrorism vets. Either way – and for all veterans in between – they’re very special people.

I wrote the words below for the Jones Beach Lifeguard Corps “Bucket and Buoy” newsletter back in 2004; the audience was my lifeguard family. The words and sentiments should never grow old to any Americans of any age…

As you walk down the beach this weekend – or any day for that matter – take a long look around; listen to the banter, the radios blaring, and the crashing of the waves. Some might think to themselves, “It can’t get any better than this.” Now imagine yourself doing the same thing 60 years ago, but instead of walking down to the stand, you’re one of 176,000 soldiers – nearly as many people who watched the Memorial Day air shows at Jones Beach. Most of these soldiers were your age – or younger. Saddled with nearly 100 pounds of gear, they waded in from amphibious landing crafts while bullets whizzed by and mortar shells exploded.

Gold, Juno, Omaha, Sword, Utah – innocuous names for beaches on a grand military plan. These beaches, (today they are beaches as beautiful as ours), determined the course of the next 60 years. When our crowds become large and unruly, when beachgoers leave their garbage buried in the sand, when drunkards become brash and boorish, remember the words of Pvt. Charles Neighbor, 29th Division, who landed on Omaha Beach, “As our boat touched sand and the ramp went down, I became a visitor to hell.”

By nightfall of June 6, 1944, the beaches were secure – the bullets had stopped but more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed. If you visit these beaches today, you would never know such carnage took place if it were not for the remnants of German bunkers and many American flags. The sands are soft to the touch and the waves often role in hollow. My Dad, 21 years old at the time, was part of 10th Mountain Division who defeated the Fascist armies in Italy one year later. He recalled how the defeat of the Nazis in France served to bolster the confidences of soldiers fighting Axis armies in other campaigns.

Dad is now 80 and frankly not in the best of health. But he is no different than any other old geezer you see at the beach strolling on the boardwalk, their heads covered with a VFW beret that is adorned with campaign pins, miniature bronze stars, and battalion buttons. These graying reminders of WWII probably sponsored your Little League team when you were a kid or gave you your first job. When they returned from the war, they never asked for anything in return despite the facts that many of their friends didn’t return with them after dying on the beaches in Normandy.

These men are your fathers and grandfathers; many wear hearing aids and knee braces – it doesn’t matter whether they’re nearsighted or farsighted, they can’t see too well. They live on fixed incomes and have to make decisions such as buying drugs or food for the month.

But I’m not here to offer a maudlin commentary on the treatment of WWII veterans. I’m here to implore you to do something that is long in coming: When you see these regal figures of our past at the beach, don’t walk by with your head down. Introduce yourself and shake their hands. Thank them for their sacrifice; ask them how they’re doing. Find them a place on the shore and give them an umbrella for the day. Make them Honorary Lifeguards for the day. Listen to their stories of D-Day.

Then as they leave for the day, smile and wave goodbye then turn around and look at the beach where we are privileged to spend a significant amount of our lives. Then think about Gold, Juno, Omaha, Sword, Utah and the thousands who died on those beaches 60 years ago so we can enjoy our beaches today.

Random Social Media Thoughts for #Jobseekers

Posted by Steve on May 7, 2013
Posted in: Recruiting. 3 comments

Lately, I’ve offered quite a few thoughts on how to use social media if you’re a jobseeker. Here they are in one place. What do you think of them?

Twitter

Before you start sending out 140s, do some homework. Identify the twitter handles for (a) target industries AKA industry associations – like @PRSA if you want to be in public relations, (b) target companies, and (c) target skillsets – like @Java if you want to be a software developer. Create Twitter lists from each entitled, MyTargetProAssociations; MyTargetEmployers; MyTargetSkills. When the “handles” see that they’ve been added to a list, many will investigate; this is one way to get onto their radar screens.

From here, go to each Twitter account and start looking at the bios of whom these accounts follow and who follows them. In many instances – especially for the company accounts – you’ll see many of the company’s employees as Followers. Make note of these people; we’ll return to these later.

Be sure you d/l Tweetdeck; it (and Hootsuite) are pretty good social media clients where you can create columns from your lists – and thereby “see” what’s taking place in your target associations, companies, and skills.

As far as content, each of these provides fodder for tweeting. DO NOT become a serial retweeter or favoriter; when you see a 140 that is interesting, engage the tweeter by adding an opinion or asking a question (as in, “I’m not sure what this means to a newbie; can you explain it a bit more? ty”). When someone responds back, Follow them and if they don’t fall into any of the 3 categories, add them to another list entitled, SmartKindTweeple (and also add this column to Tweetdeck/Hootsuite) – they’ll notice.

Twitter and LinkedIn go more hand in hand than any other 2 social media platforms – let’s see how.

Contrary to what some might think – Twitter and LinkedIn will be your primary social job search tools.

LinkedIn

So with these target companies, head over to LinkedIn and perform and Advanced People search. Plug in the name of a target company in the Company field and select “Current”; in the Title field, enter the name of the function where you want to work and select “Current.” Run the search. Now start looking at the search results; depending on what your level is, consider anyone with a title of Manager or above as a potential future boss.

With these names in hand, check to see if they have a Twitter account (I’ll talk about connecting with them on LinkedIn in a bit): Under contact info, you just might find their Twitter handle. If so, follow them and add them to a new Twitter list entitled, MyFutureBossMaybe and also add this column to Tweetdeck/Hootsuite. More people with whom you’ll actively engage.

Back to connecting with them on LinkedIn…you want to connect with all folks you add to MyFutureBossMaybe. When you do so, send this – or something like this – in the invite…

Frick-

I hope you don’t find this presumptuous but I’m in a quiet job search; not only have I identified XYZ as a potential employer but also YOU as a potential future boss. While this might appear to be stalkerish, I prefer to think of it as ‘professionally proactive’ and would like to stay in touch. Thanks!

Frack

Twitter? Check…

LinkedIn? Check…

Blogs

As a veteran of the Blogiverse, blogging takes time and the ability to not only ask the Andy Rooney question, “Ever wonder why?” but to come up with plausible stories that support your point of view. In other words, if you’re going to blog you better keep a little notebook handy to record all the random thoughts you have about topics to be blogged about.

I disagree that you want to be seen as a SME; IMO you want to be viewed as entertaining and insightful. If your purpose is to blog to enhance your social media footprint, then you’re going to have to address the past, present, and future of the area in which you want to work. It has to be a combination of yes, no, maybe, and I-don’t-know. When I recruit, I want to see people’s divergent POVs; suck-ups and egoists are quite frankly boorish and annoying. If you believe a target company’s posturing is offbase, tell them; if they don’t respect your POV and engage you because you hurt their feelings, that sure says quite a bit about them.

Branding Yourself

Whatever you believe your brand is, others will likely read into your social media footprint and think of things you missed. My advice is to forget about consciously branding yourself; instead, focus on engaging people on tough topics and offer your truthful POVs whether some might find them objectionable or not. It’s like lying – if you can’t be yourself, you WILL get caught up in a lie. Always happens – and will happen during an interview.

Facebook

Meh…as the commercialization of Facebook continues it will lose its luster as a social media platform for job search and recruiting. That’s my story…

Vine/Vimeo/YouTube

If you can tell me a story in a 6 second Vine video (Vine is owned by Twitter), you’ll win my recruiting love. A short and powerful message is very liberating. As for Vimeo versus YouTube – I don’t care; I look for creativity and content. Both are fine; your choice.

Bottom-Line

Job search – like recruiting – is a contact sport. For all the press given social media, in recruiting we like to say that the two most important social media tools are the telephone and the handshake.

Believe it.

The Social Tsunami

Posted by Steve on February 12, 2013
Posted in: Character, Communities, Facebook, Learning, Social Media. 12 comments

It’s so darned easy to get sucked into the social Tsunami called Facebook and ride the same waves that your Friends ride. You hear about music their listening to, places where they eat, teams they root for, pictures of them doing stuff…

You Like a page someone else likes and then you never touch that page again. You Like someone’s comment but you never comment yourself. You tell others when you’re happy, when you’re sad; when you found a new job, when someone close to you died. When your baby burped, when you burped. You tell someone you love them – as if it carries more weight when the entire world knows. You denigrate someone in a post and then feel sad and reflective when they commit suicide…

There’s also a preponderance of “look at me” posts – isn’t it enough to know you possess a six-pack? Or that your kid is an honor student at the middle school? These posts actually sadden me; are people’s self-esteems so damaged that the only cure is to post to Facebook in the hope of feeling the miniscule spritz of dopamine whenever someone clicks “Like” or comments?

The dangers of “social stupidity” are personal and professional: Facebook is identified in far too many divorce cases as “a cause” and far too many people rant about the professional shortcomings of their employers and bosses. Of course, I feel that I have to also mention the polarizing effects of political discussions: Does anyone really believe the hard left/hard right discussions of anarchy build real communities? Or do they simply foment something ugly and insidious without a chance for seeking a common ground?

Would it surprise you if I told you that although some view me as a moderately influential “social recruiter” I have grown weary of the Weight of Facebook? Although I can make any social channel “sing”, I’ve concluded that there are far more effective ways to recruit than with Facebook and there are far better ways to stay in touch with friends than with Facebook. It’s time to shut it down.

I’ve done quite well the better part of my life without it. How about you?

Gamification in Recruiting is Weird Science

Posted by Steve on December 26, 2012
Posted in: Recruiting. 2 comments

Congratulations for applying for a job at Gamification Inc – Just apply to Five More jobs and you’ll earn a really cool badge which you can proudly display on your resume! How great is that?!?!?!?

What does it tell you when the ability to win and display Cheesy Badges gets people hotter and “more engaged”? Do the he words “pathetic” and “demise” come quickly to mind?

On many levels, gamification is one of the better ways to engage the average 68% (plus/minus one standard deviation) of a talent community on a common task; for those in the upper 16% – the intrinsic reward of performing is likely to be sufficient by itself. The irony is that for those companies that claim to hire only the best, the presence of gamification in the hiring processes proves that in fact they don’t hire “only the best” but “tease the average.”

Perhaps it really is too difficult for many companies to have open discussions with candidates  about the real problems to be solved once hired.

Weird science, if you ask me…

Hey Luftmensch! Did I just hear you Faamiti?

Posted by Steve on December 4, 2012
Posted in: Faamiti, Luftmensch, Recruiting, Words. 1 comment

Some articles serve no purpose other than to cause one to utter, “Huh” aloud (but not too loud). This was one of them for me – words without an English equivalent. However, since this is the Recruiting Inferno, there’s always a recruiting equivalent…

Zhaghzhagh (Persian). The chattering of teeth from the cold or from rage. If ever there was an apt equivalent in recruiting, zhaghzhagh is what jobseekers feel upon attempting to apply to a job through most companies’ ATS as well as their response to having not received a job offer upon completion of the 6 hurdles, 18 interviews and 57 hoops through which they had to navigate just to get to the point of rejection. Zhaghzhagh…

Yuputka (Ulwa). A word made for walking in the woods at night; it’s the phantom sensation of something crawling on your skin. In recruiting, this is what many recruiters feel after meeting someone for an interview. Folks, as tough as this might be to be digest, the industry can offer many stories about people who inch close to your face while staring without blinking; of those with breath so bad it could curl steel; of anger so palpable that you begin to think about how quickly you can dial 911. Of course, as jobseekers, it’s also the same feeling you get when you just know that there’s no possible way you could ever work for this person. Yuputka…

Slampadato (Italian). Addicted to the UV glow of tanning salons? The day I interview someone whose skin has the same color and texture as a Thanksgiving Day Butterball is the day I retire. Slampadato…

Luftmensch (Yiddish). There are several Yiddish words to describe social misfits; this one is for an impractical dreamer with no business sense – literally, an air person. In recruiting, we see these all the time; generally these are jobseekers who apply to jobs that are in no way, shape or form associated with their skill sets, like financial analyst applying to an engineering job, or an admin assistant looking to become the head of digital marketing. Behind much of the incongruity between the jobseeker and the job are two factors: One, unemployment insurance “requirements” (have to show activity); and two, the unfortunate belief that recruiters and hiring managers are effective at “seeing” talent and will be able to find the jobseeker a more appropriate position. Now that I wrote that, I can easily see the degree of Luftmenchia in recruiting and job search. Oy vey…

Iktsuarpok (Inuit). You know that feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to show up at your house and you keep going outside to see if they’re there yet? This is the word for it. It’s also the word for an interview “No Show”. Who knew?

Cotisuelto (Caribbean Spanish). A word that would aptly describe the prevailing fashion trend among American men under 40, it means one who wears the shirt tail outside of his trousers. Of course in terms of the jobseeker, this also extends – or drops – below the belt line. I think I’ve seen more than my fair share of mid-butt-drooping trousers. Yes, the shirt-tail-hanging, mid-butt-drooping interview outfit. Next…

Pana Po’o (Hawaiian). “Hmm, now where did I leave those keys?” he said, pana po’oing – it means to scratch your head in order to help you remember something you’ve forgotten. Happens quite a bit during an interview when the candidate is asked to answer performance questions rather than the banal ones whose practiced answers can roll off their tongues. I will ask about performance – how you do things; I won’t – never never, never – ask you about your strengths and weaknesses. I want to see you Pana Po’o just to see how you think under pressure…

Gumusservi (Turkish). Meteorologists can be poets in Turkey with words like this at their disposal; it means moonlight shining on water. Ever have a perfect interview? You know – the one that doesn’t feel like work? The one in which neither side has to struggle or make up stuff? The one where both know that the search is over. This is the word for it…

Vybafnout (Czech). A word tailor-made for annoying older brothers; it means to jump out and say boo. Great recruiters do this all the time – these are questions for which there is no possible way to have “studied” a “right” answer. These are cognitive questions that tap into your lateral thinking abilities – situations where an answer (there are many) is not intuitive. The reason the word seems difficult to pronounce is because in an interview, an answer is just as challenging to produce…

Mencolek (Indonesian). You know that old trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them? That’s what this word describes. I love doing this in an interview; these are questions that we ask to back check what someone said earlier in the interview.  Yep, some of us do listen to what you say, put a neat little bow around it, and unwrap it when needed. Tap, tap…

Faamiti (Samoan). To make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child. I’ve never done this in any HR situation. Perhaps at the next career fair when I see you speaking to one of my competitors…

Glas wen (Welsh). A smile that is insincere or mocking; literally, a blue smile. Sure, we’ll get back to you within two business days to discuss the next step in the interviewing process…

Bakku-shan (Japanese). The experience of seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front (there must be a form of the phrase that pertains to men). In recruit-speak, someone who looks great on paper but couldn’t describe in detail anything they’ve accomplished in detail beyond what’s on the resumé. Beware of anyone who claims, “This person looks great on paper.” A corollary is “good from far, far from good.”

Boketto (Japanese). It’s nice to know that the Japanese think enough of the act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking to give it a name. From time to time, it’s how I felt while interviewing someone; sorry, it’s a fact – anyone who’s spent time in recruiting has those interviews where death is the only option (the recruiter’s). More often than not, it’s not the candidate but the recruiter who’s Boketto’ing. You have to know when to call it a day…

Kummerspeck (German). Excess weight gained from emotional overeating; literally, grief bacon. Typically caused by hiring managers who signed a Service Level Agreement then reneged on the terms during the 11th hour. Also as a result of that perfect candidate dumping you at the altar for a competitor (which is not as bad as deciding to stay where they are).  Now where’s that bag of potato chips?

If you couldn’t tell, I had fun with this one…

DriveThru Inferno

Posted by Steve on November 27, 2012
Posted in: BlogTalkRadio, DriveThruHR, Reality Show, Recruiting Inferno. Leave a Comment

Was reminded that I’ve done two episodes of the daily DriveThruHR BlogTalkRadio show; decided to share them here (with thanks to Bryan Wempen and William Tincup for having me)…

Steve Levy at Lunch with DriveThruHR 10/19 by Wempen and Tincup | Blog Talk Radio.

Steve Levy at Lunch with DriveThruHR 02/03 by Wempen and Tincup | Blog Talk Radio.

The Finger and Two Pink Slips

Posted by Steve on November 25, 2012
Posted in: GenY, Human Resources, Learning, Military, Millenials, Moron, Social Media, Veterans. 8 comments

If you’re part of the Millenial or GenY factions in society who whine when some nitwit gets fired for posting something stupid online, it’s time to stop cowering behind your collective sense of superiority, dump the labels that guide your actions, and join the rest of us who take responsibility for our actions and who know that an 8th place finish isn’t worthy of a Blue Ribbon.

She’s 30 years old and her picture was taken by her 38 year-old boss. Both were fired (more here). Outrage by those who are not attorneys yet Freedom of Speech experts aside, all you need to do to figure out why their employer gave these two pink slips is to look at the Board of Directors of “Living Independently Forever”; see why the employees were fired?

These two weren’t born stupid but they sure were raised stupid – to a degree by their parents, their school systems, by the friends they associate with, by the social platforms that allow someone to be more outrageous than the next person then be RT’ed or Liked by others, and by the belief that private means private. In other words, they allowed themselves to be stupid.

At their ages, it makes sense that at least one neuronal element would have figured that at the very least taking the picture was in bad taste. Another neuronal element should have fired back with “No, no, no” as they were about to press when posting the picture to Facebook (another reason for Facebook quickly becoming the global repository for stupid). A final neuronal element should have flicked on the light switch when the posters reiterated their belief that “Oh, my Privacy settings will ensure that this remains private.”

For those who believe that nothing is sacred (read the Gawker comments) or that what “someone does on their personal time” is immune from “social laws”, please keep in mind that the human cost of all US Wars since 1776 is somewhere in the vicinity of 1.3 million Americans KIA and 1.6 million Americans wounded. Whether you believe it or not, you simply wouldn’t be able to make an ass of yourself or be a hipster or post stupid to Facebook or listen to the music of your choice if it weren’t for Americans putting themselves in the paths of bullets. At the very least, if you’re going to learn to respect something in this life respect those who died in creation of this great country – or for that matter, any great Democracy (please don’t bore me with the faults of our system; it will always be a work in progress and you can both vote and run for office if you want to do more).

Now…should these two have been fired? Absolutely not. I would have made them volunteer at a VA Hospital for a good period of time and write about their experiences. Helping to clean the amputated stumps of soldiers who lost limbs, console those with TBI and PTSD, change the bed linens of those who are permanently bedridden all come to mind.

While we must be intolerant of abject stupidity, we must also be tolerant of people who have yet to learn the real meaning of being an American. Since Civics is no longer taught in schools, some people just take longer.

My question is now What will it take for this social nincompoopery to make a turn off the roadway that leads to a one-thousand foot cliff?