In the current era with the nod towards being influential, I’m afraid many of us – including me – have lost the true sense of what it means to be influential. First graders receive iPads and other computers from their parents in the hope that the little buggers will become computer savvy before puberty hits; teenagers tap away in the backseats of their parents’ cars or at the kitchen table during meal times when they’re but two feet away from having meaningful talks with the people who should be influencing them the most. Adults out for dinner sit across from each other paying more attention to their smartphones.

We’ve become dangerously tethered to communication devices large and small because we believe that a small dopamine spritz from a new text message, email, Tweet, Facebook post, blog comment, or LinkedIn message makes our lives complete. Instead, it compounds – in an often unseen way – the loneliness in our lives.

We’ve been conned into thinking that computer-literacy needs to be entwined into our DNA at the expense of being able to hold a conversation with a loved one, to ask how their day was. In reality, we need to be insanely interested in how the loves of our lives are feeling and the be able to pick up on the cues that make us human rather than the computer based messages that make us androids.

From now on, my phone will be off limits to anything but the phone from the time I leave work until the next morning when I leave for work. If you leave a voicemail, be certain that if it isn’t life or death it won’t be returned until the next day. I’m going to set up Sunday afternoon “office hours” to answer whatever other messages come in between leaving work Friday and then.

Of course, a “meaningful” blog post isn’t a substitute for talking to one’s heart throb but it’s all I have now. I really want you to see how YOU are tethered to computers and see if changes need to be made to make YOUR life more influential.

And I’m going to find a way to convince the love of my life that I’m not a computer addict and that I will pursue her as doggedly as she pursued me. I’m sure groveling and flowers will be involved but that’s between us (in case you’re wondering, I’ve written this more for her than for you).

In the end, her love is far more important to me than your message. And love trumps influence 24/7/365.

Click on the following links to take you to more detailed descriptions of each role:

Lead Java Engineer

Lead Front-End Architect

Lead Test/Software Quality Assurance Engineer

FYI, 2011 saw many technical accomplishments including:

• Implementing the groundwork for SOA
• Successfully modeling the core domains (jobs, jobseekers, recruiters)
• Developing a Continuous Deployment Roadmap that shortened deployment cycle time from every 2 weeks (requiring 6+ hours) to 2-3 times per week (requiring 30 minutes-1 hour)
• Increasing overall test coverage from fully manual to fully automated during development
• Introducing Scala into the stack

2012 and beyond will continue to be marked by innovation and growth.

Next Step?

Check out the links to the jobs above then email me about your interest; send a resume if you’d like. I’ll be happy to talk to you about the role of interest and answer all your questions.

In the end, TheLadders is all about high-tech meeting high-touch – and making a difference in people’s lives. If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing this is what you’re looking for…

On September 11 I stood on the corner of 5^th and 40^th in New York City at 9:59 AM and watched a generation of Americans lose the last elements of their emotional Utopia. My friend Sharon cried when the first tower fell; I held her for as long as I could until I felt pulled to run downtown. Around Union Square, I spied the looming death cloud of ashes that was beginning to envelope the southern part of Manhattan. I slowed. At 10:28 AM it grew even larger.

I suppose I was running downtown to help but the Angel of Death shocked me into stopping: For certain 20,000 or so people were dead. I believe that on a “good” day, at the Twin Towers 50,000 people worked there and another 200,000 passed through as visitors. These numbers were my brick wall. I stopped. I felt tears on my cheeks. I walked back uptown.

I don’t remember much of the rest of that day other than being really mad. I had called Marian Fontana sometime after 9 AM because I knew her husband Dave – my lifeguarding and rowing buddy for many years – was there. September 11 was their wedding anniversary. I had friends who worked at the SEC which was headquartered in the WTC. My sensei worked for Homeland Security; I knew he was there. Friends worked at Cantor Fitzgerald above the 100^th floor. I can’t remember how I made it back to Connecticut that night but I slept through until the next morning.

Not to live here in pain
Should not bring you shame
And the light is so hard to deter…

There was no doubt I was coming back to the city the next day; New Yorkers don’t shy away from a fight. The train station was quiet and far less crowded. Many had red eyes; it was clear that some hadn’t slept. Approaching the city, the plume from downtown was still heavy, ominous, scary, maddening; riders looked out the train windows and wept. One person was gabbing on his phone so loudly – the only person on the car who was anything but silent and introspective – that people were giving him evil eyes. He ignored them – he saw them – and continued talking to his friend.

I had enough; I was excruciatingly mad by now. I politely asked the fellow to consider not talking so loud, to be more respectful of what occurred yesterday. He told me to mind my own business; I grabbed his hand and his phone in one hand and politely told him that if he didn’t stop, I’d shove both up his ass.

He got off the phone and a few people in the car actually cheered and laughed. Don’t fuck with New Yorkers.

New York City was silent; not a single horn was blowing, no radios blared. People walked quietly. People held doors. Some even smiled. One of the people I had recruited to be a developer at a start-up where I was working thanked me for saving his life. He had two offers, one with me, the other with a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald. I didn’t feel anything good, just rage.

By now it was clear what had happened. America was attacked and people from many countries, who worshiped many Gods, who spoke many languages, who worked many jobs, were murdered.

Well did the Gates of Heaven look just as you thought?
Did Sister Mary describe them quite well?
Years of Catholic school were all good to you because
You were the angel who fell

That afternoon, I left work early and went to the Army Recruiting Station in Bridgeport, CT. Made up my mind that I was going to enlist and find the devils who had attacked our country. I was in the best shape of my life, had degrees in engineering and psychology, and my family has a great history of service to this country. As the Sergeant began to fill out the paperwork and came to the “Date of Birth” box, I told him “3 – 31 – 59.” He looked up with a sad face; I was too old.

Shortly after work on Thursday September 13, I stopped at the Squad 1 firehouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn and asked for Billy Redden. Billy, you welcomed me like family into your family and I’ll never leave Squad’s side.

One of the first things Billy showed me was Dave’s locker. Inside, taped to the door were two pictures: One of Dave, Marian, and their son, the other of an old Jones Beach Field 6 Lifeguard crew. I always stood next to Dave in our crew shots; most of the guys already knew who I was.

I am the one who will never die young
I am a martyr and I will not hide
But I’m not a winner, I’m just brilliantly bitter
I’m sealed by my skin but broken inside

Ten years later, as I’ve done for every September 11^th, I’ll be at Squad 1 as moments of silence are broadcast throughout FDNY for the times when planes crashed into the Towers and when the Towers fell. Family will always be family.

There will be salutes; there will be tears. I’ll stand by the right side of the house where hundreds of Park Slope residents gathered on Sunday September 16 when they heard that the FDNY HQ was going to close down Squad because 12 firefighters were murdered a few days earlier. I don’t remember why we pushed Marian out in front – perhaps she was just the angriest family member who lost someone – but I clearly remember the Squad 1 Lieutenant George Ebert and I typing out three paragraphs about the travesty and how Park Slope needed to rally around the firehouse and demand that the house stay open. And gave the sheet to Marian…

It worked and Marian Fontana became an eloquent activist and spokesperson for 9/11 widows, victims, and family members. I cannot tell you how proud I am of her because there are no words. Dave too was a single-minded force in supporting the communities where he was a firefighter; often the reasons why two people are simply destined to be connected forever aren’t revealed until a life-altering event happens.

When Dave and I rowed together, I could always tell how he was feeling. There were always “ways” to get him to pull the oars just a bit harder; I knew this because he would curse up a blue streak when we hit the perfect rowing resonance. I still find myself wondering what he felt as the tower fell…

Angels are fragile and devils are hard
And life is a masquerade
Colors will blend and hearts will all mend
Just tell me you were never afraid

I want to walk around the firehouse and remember what it was like all those weeks following 9/11; quite a few of the original crew have retired but always come back on 9/11. We’ll drink some coffee and go to Mass. I’ve made plans to see Marian and her son in the afternoon; I just want to hug them…tell them I love them.

And there are babies laughing and children running
Saying “read me a book, sing me a song”
And I was the one who I felt so, so sorry for
But you are the one who is gone

The number 343 haunts me; without fail, I’ll wake up at 3:43AM several times each week. I see 343 in the oddest of places. Do you know the movie, “Frequency” with Dennis Quaid as a 1960s FDNY firefighter? His street address? 343 42^nd Avenue. Same thing with 9/11; I see this number too:

I see 12 quite a bit: The firefighters of Squad 1 in Brooklyn…

BC Jim Amato, FF Brian Bilcher, FF Gary Box, FF Tom Butler, FF Pete Carroll, FF Rob Cordice, Lt. Ed D’Atri, Capt. Mike Esposito, Lt. Dave Fontana, FF Matt Garvey, Lt. Mike Russo, and FF Stephen Siller.

I think many more people now have the same connection to numbers. Perhaps an entire generation experiences the same thing. Maybe it’s just those of us who are close to New York, Washington DC, or Shanksville, PA. It’s really hard to tell because after 10 years I’m fearful that many people have managed to go about their business…

“Enough is enough; it’s time to move on.”

As a nation we promised – we made a tontine - that we would never forget.

8:46 AM
9:03 AM
9:37 AM
9:59 AM
10:03 AM
10:28 AM
12
343
2,749

No, these are not just numbers…

So will you save me a seat if I make it that far?
Will you even know that I am the one?
I will be old for the angels have told me
That I will never die young.

(Lori McKenna, “Never Die Young”)

Egads! Levy didn’t say Twitter! He didn’t say text messages! What’s the old man smoking these day?

The old man’s smoking “reality” because he knows how his target population thinks, acts, and communicates. Do you? Really?

I’m presently recruiting for several senior Ruby Developers. One thing to know about Ruby (Perl and Java too) is that as open source languages there are public repositories where authors contribute new and refactored code. These are goldmines for talent scouts. However, these are also places where the quicksands of conceit lie – as in recruiters who believe that the mere utterance of their melodious voices or short messages where the word “love” is used multiple times are sufficient to turn even the busiest technical talent into putty in the recruiters’ hands.

Such arrogance! Passives and actives are not here to serve us, we are here to work with them. Respect the people and not only will they respect you but they’ll also help you. You want a mantra for social recruiting? Repeat the last sentence.

So here you have it; here’s the email I sent to a large number of Ruby-esque Developers. I’m interested in your thoughts…

<name>,

Apologies in advance if you hate recruiters (or just emails from recruiters) but the top end of the Ruby world is very closed and I sure could use your assistance.

I’m helping the head of engineering to expand his team of expert Ruby developers in their new Tribeca office; we have the A-OK to identify and hire several developers with a craftmanship level commitment to quality software (as well as a SQA engineer). In a nutshell, the new folks will be part of the agile team, working with innovative tools, processes and people to engineer web applications that are distributed and consumed on a massive scale. There’s a real work/life balance: Office closes 5:30- 6 leaving people free to have a life.

Responsibilities

• Web application programming within a SOA to build SaaS solutions
• Daily pair programming with vocal participation in code reviews and retrospectives
• Aggressive refactoring (of both Ruby to Ruby, and Java to Ruby)
• Test-driven development
• Collaboration with other functional groups
• Active contributions to the continual improvement of process and product

Requirements

• Ability to jump in and contribute throughout the stack: client-side through the persistence layer
• Experience with Ruby-based test frameworks: RSpec, Shoulda, Test::Unit, Cucumber
• Javascript: The “Good Parts”
• Relational database knowledge and experience with alternative data store knowledge
• Ability to optimize and tune for performance
• Actively experimenting with new technologies
• Experience working with and/or designing external APIs

Incidentally, I’m an engineer (LISP, PROLOG, C) who crossed over to the dark side but who stays active in most of the major coding communities (Java, Ruby, Perl, .NET); I’m also the co-Founder of the Long Island .NET User Group (there really is no such thing as a former engineer).

So here’s how I came to know about you and your Ruby prowess: I wrote and Googled this Boolean…

site:github.com rails name email company location intitle:profile (~NY|~NJ|”, CT”) -inurl:jobs -follower

With this all in mind, is there someone I should be speaking with who might be interested in this opportunity? I’ll meet anyone anywhere, any time…

I’ve been receiving an incredible response (I’ll let ya’ll know what the final metrics look like next week). But what tickled me the most was this comment:

BTW – good work on that email… giving insight to the process makes recruiting seem less of a dark art.

Is your recruiting as dark art?

If it is, maybe it’s because you’re trapped in the quicksand of conceit…

Yes, SHRM’s Annual Convention is this week and it will all be about the relevance of human resources during a period of economic miasma. Consider SHRM 2011 to be one big ol’ group therapy session where everyone is trying to deal with the Ethan Allen Syndrome.

Unlike the Stockholm Syndrome where prisoners feel empathy for their captors, the primary symptom of the Ethan Allen Syndrome is the unrepentant need to throw oneself at a table – really any table. The Center for Disease Control took great pains to study the epidemiology of this horrible disease that seems to run a most heinous course for those who possess the PHR and SPHR certifications. Their findings pointed to the “Typhoid Mary”, “Ground Zero” if you prefer, to be a lovely Human Resources Professional who several years ago eschewed the “Vice President of Human Resources” title at a major transportation company in favor of a more table-worthy “Chief People Officer.”

Talk about adding a spark to dry tinder.

From here, HR professionals began their anointed ascent to the Land of the Furntiturephilic where Pledge is plenty and Mahogany is Gold. Each successive attempt to land a seat at the coveted table – Chief Human Resources Officer (four letters which is “better” than CPO’s three), Strategic Business Partner, and the now legendary Thought Leader – was met with consternation (and perhaps ridicule behind the back) by the existing Knights of the Roundtable (the more informal name for group of people who sit around “the table”).

“You want to sit where?”

[pointing] “At that table…”

“Feh!” [those seated at the table chuckle and guffaw]

[turning to other HR pros] “I think that means ‘No’; what do we do now?”

Yesterday, the Recruiter Chicks suggested that HR make them sit at the HR table. Is it me or does this scenario remind you of adults sitting at the kid’s table during Thanksgiving? Nonetheless, and in spite of the mocking tone of my words, the Chicks have a point. Has HR done the right things to generally sway opinions that their table is a place where others want to sit?

No…not even close.

The session entitled, 10 things your CEO will never tell you but HR needs to know by Susan Meisinger is a clear sign that the profession is spinning its wheels in a last gasp effort to gain traction. The title alone is telling – and by a former SHRM President! Why wouldn’t a CEO be compelled to tell the head of HR what they tell other Knights of Roundtable? It’s 2011 and someone influential in HR believes there are things a CEO isn’t telling their head of HR? Why, why, why?

Because most in HR say they know strategy when in reality they don’t understand the business model!

However, there are HR Leaders (notice how these people warrant a capital “L” – and not for “loser”) who do understand and take the business into account when creating HR initiatives; they’re easy to spot because they’re criticized for being one of “them” (the balance sheet people) rather than being for “the people” – when the point is that you need to work the people into the business model and not the other way around.

The table seekers typically fail to recognize that the goal of HR is to support the processes that drive business growth. HR is not sexual harassment training, it’s not employee relations babysitting, it’s not reducing HR costs at all costs; HR is about taking down the obstacles that hinder great recruiting, impacting how new products are developed, how sales are generated, and how product is moved to and from customers.

It’s about time for HR to forget about that coveted seat at a single table and concern themselves with the architecture and function of the entire house. When this is built invite everyone to a housewarming party…

It might mean seriously considering, without ridicule, the opinions of a co-worker or boss; maintaining a lifeless empirical decorum when your work is criticized by your manager; or speaking in only positive terms about the leadership structure of your company despite the internal fomenting of bad organizational tidies. Notwithstanding these differences, there is one universal element of being a professional that seems to be consistent: Being a professional means keeping one’s personal life away from work. Perhaps I’m not a professional because I’ve always failed at doing this.

My 83 year old, pain-in-the-arse-but-I-still-love-her-dearly Mom is starting radiation treatment for a form of cancer of her uterine lining. This on top of DVT, CPOD, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s (one good thing about Alzheimer’s is that we think she forgot about the recent death of her brother, God rest Marty’s soul).  Yet she hasn’t lost her great sense of humor.

When we learned about the cancer, the initial course of action was to schedule a hysterectomy. With my Mom, you never know what kind of reaction you’ll get from any news – good or bad. In this instance, Mom grew a little pensive then turned to Dad and asked, “Charlie, we’re not planning on having any more children, are we?” It was a brief second or two – and an utter look of horror on the face of my 87 year old Dad – before Mom just broke out into a hearty Mom-laugh. Yes, she zapped us.

Several weeks ago, we went to the Bar Mitzvah of my second cousin in Morristown, NJ. It’s easier for Mom to get around in a wheelchair (forgot to mention that she also had one of her hips replaced about 8 months ago) so Mom was sitting in the back of the synagogue during the ceremony. When my cousin’s entrance into Jewish manhood was complete and it was time to head over to the reception, the entire family stopped to welcome Mom (my Mom and Dad are the matriarch and patriarch of clan Levy). One of my relatives grabbed Mom’s hand and spoke in a relatively loud but slow voice, “ANITA – WE’RE – SO – HAPPY – TO – SEE – YOU – AND – GLAD – YOU – COULD – MAKE – IT” to which my Mom replied, “I don’t remember who you are but I’m not deaf.”

My sister and I simply shook our heads and chuckled.

I joke with Mom that because of the radiation treatment she’ll have to go to “The House of the Recruiting Inferno” for a new hairstyle; she smiles and says that I have a beautiful head. When she sees me, she smiles and gushes, “It’s my Stevie.” Her response is the same for my sister and brother. I know who’s comforting whom.

There are relatively few moments when I’m not thinking of Mom; but where I used to see her smiling face, I now see fear. Parents aren’t supposed to show fear; they’re rocks…invincible…they laugh at danger.

But now the roles are reversed and it’s sobering to be the parent of a parent. There are many books about being a great parent but very little about being the parent of a parent. My Mom wrote notes to me as I was growing up; the one I remember the most was when she told me how proud she was to have me as a son because somehow I was “smart” enough to set the dinner table when I was around 3 years old. She sure had low expectations of “smart”!

Keeping a safe distance from my family pains isn’t easy for me anymore. I think it’s important for others to know that I’m feeling angst over my Mom’s declining health not because it affects my work but because it affects me. It’s not about sympathy but reality; it’s not about work performance but about what drives me. We talk about human resources but too often neglect to take into account the whole person.

If only my Mom knew how proud I am of her for all she has given me. Sure I’ve told her but I’m just not sure if she remembers…

From somewhere on the Internet, I saw these questions; I think they hold potential:

• Which of the “Facts of Life” girls are you most like?
• If you were a deodorant would you be a roll-on, stick or spray?
• Do you prefer Emmanuel Lewis or Gary Coleman?
• Would you rather have Ebola or Smallpox?
• Would you rather have bamboo shoved under your nails, Chinese water torture or your ankles chewed off by a pack of wild dogs?
• If you were a fruit/marsupial/despotic leader of a third world country/[fill in the blank], which would you be?

Questions like these are asked in an attempt to unearth some special insight into a person’s psyche as a means to ascertain fit (or perhaps mental instability).

I just think they’re asked because someone doesn’t have enough sense – or ability – to define the performance profile of the job in question. When someone asks these, all they’re doing is creating a smoke screen so people can’t see how little they know about the real job.

#HFChat is where the #HireFriday community meets to help the #jobseeker find work…Noon – 1 PM EST today. It’s Social Media Week!

#HireFriday meets #socialmedia today Noon – 1 PM EST #jobs #jobsearch #recruiting #HR #sourcing

Margo Rose has asked me to assist in moderating today’s #HireFriday chat; she’s ducky, hunky and dory and will be back on the saddle next week.

Before we delve into today’s questions, the #HFChat team has a request to those who lurk but don’t participate…please, please, please – jump into the water! You won’t drown (I’m a Jones Beach Lifeguard – I can save you if you get over your head)…

If nothing else, introduce yourself before you head back to the lurking bench. However, we would very much like you to offer your perspectives and your experiences on today’s topic. We promise that #HFChat is a “No Judgment Zone”…

Did you know that there are hundreds of #socialmedia sites (Click on the link and check this out)? How does one choose? Which ones are most effective?

Q1: How has #LinkedIn changed the way you look for a job/look for a candidate? # HFChat
Q2: Do you use #Facebook to search for a job or look for a candidate? If yes how? #hfchat
Q3: Besides #HireFriday and #HFChat how do you leverage twitter for job search/candidate search?
Q4: What does your email address say about you? Recruiters: does the addy tell you anything? # HFChat
Q5: What other online tools do you use to search for jobs/candidates? # HFChat

Remember: Use Tweetchat with the hashtag #HFChat to participate in (or just lurk – it’s OK) in today’s #HFChat where we discuss #Socialmedia…

I came across my ERNIE review of 2006 while cleaning out files; reading one’s older work can be sobering especially if your MO is to stick your neck out. Overall, I think I did pretty well…

Top 10 in 2006 (V7)

(December 26, 2006) After years, we finally met Steve Levy this fall. For some reason, we had him pictured as a shortish older fellow with really big ears (It’s probably the impish quality in his writing). We were surprised to find a young energetic noticeably bald guy. At least we got the impish ears right.

That’s the way it is with people you read online. You develop these incredible, usually inaccurate mental maps and decide you know the guy. Usually, nothing is farther from the truth than an image you create with limited feedback. So it was with Mr. Levy.

Occasionally here, more likely here, Levy’s voice is biting, sarcastic and very, very clear. It’s a must read. As is usually the case in great writing, having an opinion matters. Levy knows how to have one. Here’s his take on 2006:

2006 has been no different that any other year in recruiting – really, the more things change the more they stay the same. Recruiting has always been like the Matchmaker song from Fiddler on the Roof. New technology comes and goes, productivity increases then decreases then increases – it’s like the building of roadways around New York City by Robert Moses in the mid-1900s: traffic increased, more roadways were built, these roadways became clogged again, build another road, etc. The basic premise here is still moving from point A to point B as expeditiously, comfortably and safely as possible. Just like recruiting – finding the best person for the opportunity as expeditiously, comfortably and safely as possible. How has 2006 changed this?

Not at all.

• Consider the passive candidate. In 1998, he wrote about an HR Manager from Chicago getting all worked up about recruiters peeling back URLs to find company directories and finding passive jobseekers – she complained it was like stealing someone’s wallet right off a table. John snorted (yes, he snorts), “The idea that recruiting so-called “passive candidates” is stealing sounds like a deep rationalization for poor performance on a critical strategic task.” In 2006, more people became aware of how to identify and recruit the passive candidate – not only the ones on the Deep Web but also those who can only be reached through old-fashioned brick and mortar, pick-up-the-phone and dial-and-smile. This is utterly fantastic – regardless of how one gets to these people – the magnifying focus on the passive person is a best of 2006. Ultimately those who can deep search and phone source will find themselves at the top of the market while those who cannot…
• Consider discussions on ethics. Was there something in the water used by Starbucks in their coffee or Coke/Pepsi in their soda? Was there a sudden infarction in one corner of the Universe that mutated the genetic code of recruiters causing them to suddenly feel guilty about recruiting people away from companies? The vocal outburst by a few recruiters has been noticed by those who do not see a problem in our industry – I think I may have been one of these people (lol). If nothing else, I was certainly opinionated towards the got ethics? debate at ERE San Diego. Ah, the halcyon days of ethics in 2006.

  The issue is not so much the use of what some may consider to be unethical techniques but is more so the pervasiveness of the problem. Whether you want to believe it or not, no data exists proving that we have a problem in our profession. I called my friend at the AESC and asked about surveys that measured the breadth of “unethical behavior in the executive retained industry…no data. All in all, an entire year of discussion…but no data. My hope is that our industry does not develop an industry wide code of conduct but rather promotes education to companies, recruiters and candidates. Once educated, I strongly believe that market forces would begin to weed out the “lesser” performers – especially given the number of communication vehicles available for sharing such information. As they say at Syms, an educated consumer is our best customer.

• Consider the increase in the number of recruiting blogs. Some good, some bizarre, some serious, some comical. But the sheer number of blogs portends that many viewpoints will continue to be aired – and this is a slam dunk for our profession. In 2006, recruiter-centric threads went nose-to-nose with candidate-centric ones: The nexus of these two has resulted in a mutual, “I never knew you felt this way” – as evidenced by the number of mutual posts and comments (see Steven Rothberg’s CollegeRecruiter blogs and Jason Alba’s JibberJobber blog). This has been a slam dunk and education for everyone. But what I’d like to see in 2007 are CEOs blogging about their company’s quest for talent – now this would be revolutionary.
• Consider the escalation of staffing in SHRM. No, I’m not kidding. There are still less than 20 EMA chapters and well over 500 general SHRM chapters in North America – and far too many generalists still believe cost-per-hire is a valuable performance metric for recruiting – yet when SHRM’s LINE report (leading indicators of national employment based out of Rutgers University), finally took off in 2006, SHRM took a quantum leap in the right direction. Please SHRM – more!
• Consider the definition of an applicant. Do we have to? Has any recent government ruling generated so many puzzled looks by recruiters than the one issued by the OFCCP? Simple FAQs aside, did this ruling ever create a cottage industry for our profession: Job boards, ATS’, consultants – it was the recruiting industry’s version of Y2K.
• Consider Radio Shack. Trash 80 is now Trash 06. See? No one ever really learns – companies and recruiters. And they won’t in 2007. Incidents like these just demonstrate that Groundhog Day exists in Recruiting.
• Consider Armed Forces Recruiting. You think you have a problem because people don’t know your company well and your salary is at the 50^th percentile? Try recruiting people to join a service branch – especially a frontline one – when the media details every death and injury each day. Yet the recruiters who sit in local stations and become part of the community and try and educate people about the benefits of being a soldier, a pilot or a seaman are cursed at, have doors slammed in their faces, and are lied to every day. Despite this, 2006 proved to be a success for them in meeting their goals. I’m proud to be a COI – Circle of Influence, someone who works with local recruiters to identify and implement alternative forms of recruiting. And I’m a better recruiter for it.
• Consider Monster. Naughty, naughty. And from the recruiting industry no less. Now, where are their ethics???
• Consider that even consumer product companies are changing their ads to reflect workers. We all know that Madison Avenue still primarily presents us as geezers, using likenesses for medical ads. Yet there are changes – even I’ve-fallen-and-I-can’t-get-up has gone younger…need we even mention Viagra? What this portends – and I’ve seen the move towards ads that accurately reflect their target audiences – is that the hiring of older people will continue to grow as companies view for workers who can help them generate greater revenues. So to the younger recruiters out there – do you think you know me?

These are my major happenings for 2006. What do they mean to most recruiters? Probably not too much. Recruiting is still like politics where elections are won by shaking hands and kissing babies. Technology may help remedy the administrative quicksand that seems to be growing deeper but we still have to get out there and press the flesh. So for 2007, why not stop using that job board for one week, and take a stack of business cards, a pad of paper, and some pens down to that coffee shop (I’d recommend Starbucks) near where some companies are introduce yourself.

#JerryAlbrightHasKlout

Bridgekeeper: What… is your name?
Sir Lancelot: My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?
Sir Lancelot: To seek the Holy Grail.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your favourite colour?
Sir Lancelot: Blue.

Bridgekeeper: Go on. Off you go.
Sir Lancelot: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

Sir Robin: That’s easy.

Bridgekeeper: Stop. Who approacheth the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Sir Robin: Ask me the questions, Bridgekeeper. I’m not afraid.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your name?
Sir Robin: Sir Robin of Camelot.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?
Sir Robin: To seek the Holy Grail.

Bridgekeeper: What… is the capital of Assyria?
[pause]
Sir Robin: I don’t know that.
[he is thrown over the edge into the volcano]
Sir Robin: Auuuuuuuugh.

Bridgekeeper: Stop. What… is your name?
Galahad: Sir Galahad of Camelot.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?
Galahad: I seek the Grail.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your favourite colour?
Galahad: Blue. No, yel…
[he is also thrown over the edge]
Galahad: auuuuuuuugh.

Bridgekeeper: Hee hee heh. Stop. What… is your name?
King Arthur: It is ‘Arthur’, King of the Britons.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?
King Arthur: To seek the Holy Grail.

Bridgekeeper: What… is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
King Arthur: What do you mean? An African or European swallow?

Bridgekeeper: Huh? I… I don’t know that.
[he is thrown over]
Bridgekeeper: Auuuuuuuugh.

Sir Bedevere: How do know so much about swallows?

King Arthur: Well, you have to know these things when you’re a king, you know.

And the long video…