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.
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?
Beginning empty handed and alone frightens the best of men. It also speaks volumes of just how sure they are that God is with them. (A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness) ~Gene Edwards
Her height varied from 4’ 11” to 8’ 3” depending upon the tone and pace of her voice but her heart was always in the right place. She was one of the hundreds of volunteers, and members of the ARC, FEMA, local and state law enforcement, and other religious and support organizations who have toiled under exceedingly physical and emotionally challenging conditions while working at the relief center located at the Long Beach Recreation Center following the rude entrance and ugly exit of a Hurricane named Sandy.
My niece and ex-sister-in-law lost their cars but other friends lost their houses, family heirlooms, and wedding pictures. Boats ended up in car washes; raw sewage coated square miles of suburban neighborhoods. Trees died.
People died.
Go outside and stand in front of your house; if your entry is on the street level and you have a mailbox next to the door, put your hand on the mailbox: This was the surge height of the water at sea level. We’re talking about a real car pool.
Sandy decimated the Long Beach High School athletics program, taking away facilities and whatever equipment remained at the waterfront school; the playoff-bound football team was unable to practice leading up to the game and its players relocated to other parts of the country – even to equally destroyed Staten Island – in search of places to live, many with their families who left with the just the clothes on their backs.
Boomer Esiason’s Foundation heard about the plight of the team; so did Hofstra University. The players heard about it too and found ways via carpools and the kindness of their coaches and parents to get to practice; they jumped around like they probably do on Christmas morning as they tried on their donated new gear. They were at this one moment in time faux-men acting like little boys in the middle of a storm. All wore the same clothes; there were the embodiment of a real team.
Sports heal post #Sandy: @7boomeresiason @nfl Long Beach (NY) HS #football team without a field, equipment yfrog.us/c9dqwddbwvhvkw…
— Steve (@levyrecruits) November 7, 2012
I saw the eyes in each person on the coaching staff dancing with the joy of getting football back and the anticipation of the upcoming game; no, winning the game. It didn’t matter that in the two weeks leading up to the game the team would only have three days of practice, a two week period in which many of the players lost their houses and had to wade through polluted waters to save what little that wasn’t destroyed.
There was Arnie Epstein, Long Beach’s Athletic Director, burning up every minute he had on his cell plan, fielding calls from high schools, major sports equipment manufacturers, and news reporters looking to follow the team’s path to the playoffs. There was also another side of Arnie – the person who offered consolations to all players and coaches who simply needed a hug. For three days I was with the team during their practices at Hofstra – unloading boxes, affixing “LB” and stripes to the brand new Zenith helmets with others who were helping, chilling water, and Tweeting out a few pictures and videos to anyone who cared (especially Boomer Esiason)…
Hey @7boomeresiason – the Long Beach High School #football team at the last practice b4 tomorrow’s game…THANKS to YOU yfrog.us/mjowoyoddosvdz…
— Steve (@levyrecruits) November 9, 2012
The mettle of a real leader is tested when all odds are seemingly against them; say what you will about educators these days but the Long Beach High School coaches, the teachers, social workers, guidance counselors, and friends of Long Beach Football – Boomer, you’re now a Lifetime member of the team – put together their collective arms and hugged these kids. They gave them a massive rainbow of hope. The team left Hofstra on Friday night believing they were going to win.
They lost the game…big.
The coaches gathered the team in the middle of the field after time ran out. When used in a sports context, pride is often quoted when a coach or a team leader wants others to raise their game to achieve a goal of not being humiliated by the other team. This was a very different category of pride; not one of forestalling humiliation but of pulling oneself from an abyss of despair all by the hands of a community.
“We are rarely proud when we are alone.” ~Voltaire
The players weren’t happy but more and more smiled as they left the high school field – some for the last time. Then there were the coaches…
I don’t think that truly great coaches are anointed (and I use the word specifically in a quasi-religious tone) the accolades they deserve. The Long Beach High School Football coaches were visibly downtrodden as they picked up the last vestiges of the game; some had housed players during the preceding weeks, all had reached into their pockets to help. I know these guys felt that somehow they had let down the players but time will show that the efforts had given the players lessons in “hope” and “teamwork” that under the circumstances would never have been taught in a classroom or on the field. Even more, I suspect that the players, coaches and Arnie learned that no matter how dire a situation might ever get, that they’d never be alone. Community pride is always more powerful than individual pride…
On one of the days at the Long Beach Relief Center, I’m certain I personally moved at least 5,000 pounds of pet food and at least that much in cases of water. How bad was it? When a member of Long Beach Police Department comes by and asks if he can have a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and a razor so he can clean up – because he lost everything – yeah, it’s bad. A middle-aged woman who clearly hadn’t time over the past days to take care of herself came to me and asked for, among other basics, cleaning supplies and #2 diapers for her grandkids. The center was running very low of some of the basics but I knew she really needed the few items for which she was asking (unlike some of the slithering people who came by to shop for “free” stuff – everyone working knew who these folks were – this person was also in dire need) so I ventured back to the hockey rink full of inventory, put together a care package and carried it out to her car.
It was a fairly new Jaguar…
Being the sensitive type, I asked her if she ever thought that she’d be driving a Jag and coming to a relief center for cleaning supplies (yes, I inserted my entire leg into my mouth) – and she burst into tears. Seems that the car had been designated as “totalled” by the storm – it smelled really bad inside – but it was where she was sleeping because her house – and the houses of her friends and family – were destroyed. Everything she had in the world was stuffed into the car.
I stayed and talked and made sure she had taken the necessary steps to meet with her insurance companies and FEMA; said if she needed anything else to come back and ask for me.
Then she said to me, “Thank you so much for doing all this.” All this? I made an insensitive comment and carried cleaning supplies to her car.
But she smiled as she opened her car door, dropped in and drove away. I’m sure she’ll be fine.
It’s easy to let “losing” shake you to your core and stay down on the ground. When you think that no one cares about you, it’s very difficult to get up off the ground. Yet when you realize that community pride can help unlock personal pride when personal pride has taken a beating – that there are always others around you who will help – it makes giving up a very unattractive course of action. Perhaps this is the best Thanksgiving message I can offer: Whether it’s after a natural disaster or with someone you know is having difficulty finding a job, communities do pull together to help.
People can lose but communities can win…
Cyndy Trivella interviewed me for her company’s blog: The Social Media-Recruiting Connection…
This showed up in my Inbox this morning – I didn’t edit before pasting (nothing is left out – even at the end); my favorite line is highlighted in orange: If you read nothing else today, read through this!
.Carnival Cruise Lines®
3655 NW 87th Avenue Miami, FL 33178
Email: carnivalcruiseliness-@wss-id.org
OUR REF: GRF/JB/VOL/05330/FILE0134/CARNIVAL
Dear Job Seeker,
Carnival Cruise Lines is The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line with 23 Fun Ships operating voyages ranging from three to 16 days in length to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Europe, and Bermuda. We seek to write to your response on a Job opportunity.
Carnival Cruise Lines have mandated a reliable agent who is working in US Embassy in all Continent to assure immediate visa processing for all appointed Candidate coming from China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Germany, Brazil, Cameroon, South Africa and UAE round the Asia and orders country to avoid delay causes by visa processing.
The companies need about 400 workers to sum up the already registered one because many workers will be leaving the company at the end of this year cause of the expiration of their contract with the company.
The Company has the following vacancy On Land-based Employment and Shipboard Employment A) Accounting/Auditing/Finance (b) Administrative and Support Services (c) Company Security (d) Cleaners (e) Customer Service/Call Centre (f) Human Resources (g) Drivers (h) Cook. Store manager (i) Sales Executive (j) Store Keeper (k) Chef
There will be no interview required since this is manpower job where anybody is fit to work except at the health and management Sector where the company required at least first degree holders in job related.
Email your CV to carnivalcruiseliness-@wss-id.org with Scan Copy of your International passport, and two size photographs by email for our review.
BENEFITS, PACKAGES AND ENTITLEMENT:
This is the Entitlement, Benefits and Packages from the Company. Paid airfares, Transportation, Quality single or family housing accommodation in company community, free medical/dental care, Excellent educational assistance benefits, Life Insurance and Paid vacation and Maximum security in work environment and housing community.
The company will give the applicants (employer) an accommodation that will last him for the period of two years in which their contract will last and it’s liable to renew it upon the company’s agreement.
The lowest salary among all job listed above is the post of Fish Packing jobs which is US$28 (Twenty Two Dollars)per hour and you will work for 8 hours per day and also there is a chance for overtime if you have the strength.
Candidates are expected to sponsor their travel expenses excepting air ticket, which will be sent to the applicant as soon as the applicant confirmed his work permit visa and all these fees will be reimbursed to the applicants after three days you joined the company and other emolument for your up keep in the first month once you show your payment receipt to the company.
WORKING HOUR = 8HOURS
VISA TYPE: 2 YEARS WORKING PERMIT
CONTRACT: 2 YEARS
3655 NW 87th Avenue Miami, FL 33178And other related disciplines. CONDITIONS/SALARY INDICATION:
(A) $40,000.00 – $100,000.00 US$(quarterly) depending on qualifications and experiences negotiable.
(B) All contracts are meant to last for 24months (2year) and liable to upward review on expiration of the contract engagements… Send Resume/Detailed Curriculum Vitae, Mobile Number via email attachment to the Contract/Project Administrator,
The relevant reference number should be stated on left – hand corner of any mail being sent in relation to this Job offer. We will enter into i
Regards,
Carnival Cruise Lines®
carnivalcruiseliness-@wss-id.org
The originating email is 1212@walterhowell.com. I WhoIs’ed it and discovered:
registrant-firstname: Walter
registrant-lastname: Howell
registrant-street1: 1131 donaire way
registrant-pcode: 90272
registrant-state: CA
registrant-city: Pacific palisades
registrant-ccode: US
registrant-phone: +1.3104590227
registrant-email: walterhowellwer@yahoo.com
So I forwarded the original email to walterhowellwer@yahoo.com; if I actually hear back from him, I’ll post what he writes…
Scams like these are even several levels below unscrupulous agency recruiters who call you, ply you with sugar, and then pillage your network.
These campaigns – this one is undoubtedly a scam – wouldn’t continue to thrive if people didn’t fall for the promises offered; it is a sign of something insidious that people are so desperate for work that they’ll fall prey to these scamming bastards…
“They [Women Marines] don’t have a nickname, and they don’t need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.”
Lt. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
“Narcissists like to be in charge, so it stands to reason that a new study shows individuals who are overconfident about their abilities are most likely to step in as leaders, be they politicians or power brokers.
However, their initiative doesn’t mean they are the best leaders. The study also found narcissists don’t outperform others in leadership roles.”
An unscientific study by recruiters – who themselves scored high on narcissism scales – included comments such as “if there’s one thing that boils my blood it’s a recent college grad who tells me they’re entrepreneurs because they started a successful business in college selling women’s thongs found in frat houses after a weekend of partying and that ‘s why they should bypass the training program – and an MBA – and move directly into a leadership position. I mean, are you kidding me???”
I made up the previous paragraph but the article is here.
The Recruiting Edge, 2006-09-20…how times flies and recruiting shortcomings linger.
I read far too many e-zines – some from finance (CFO.com’s newsletters are tah die foah – if you are passionate about business performance and metrics, these are must reads), some IT (Baseline and Techrepublic come to mind), CRM (CRM Weekly) and obviously some are from HR (I’ll list them all in a future post). One I really like is ExecutiveTalent.net because it’s so darn practical. [Note: Sadly…no longer alive]
In this week’s issue comes an article written by Peter Newfield is President of Career-Resumes.com entitled, “8 Reasons You Are Not Getting a Job Offer”, the eight reasons most commonly given by HR people for rejecting applicants:
Lack of enthusiasm
You don’t have to be a Zig Ziglar or a David Letterman, but you must express enthusiasm for a job if you don’t want to be weeded out immediately.
Lack of interpersonal skills
When a candidate even hints at an inability to get along with others, it dramatically weakens that person’s chances in an interview. While this sounds obvious, it’s surprising how open some people are about their faults.
What’s in it for me?
We know you want to know about the benefits, vacations, etc. but don’t lead with these questions! First, the employer will want to know what you can do for them. You can’t negotiate for more vacation time before you have been offered a job. Convince the employer that you are the right person for the job, be sure that you want to work there, then you can discuss pay and benefits.
Unclear job goals
Don’t be a generalist. Be clear about the job you are seeking. If the interviewer gets the impression that you are just looking for a job rather than a specific opportunity to use your skills, you will sabotage your chances.
Poor personal appearance
The key here is to fit in with the organization that you are contacting. I will defend your right to wear cutoffs and a baseball cap, but if you really want a job, you must dress appropriately. Many times I hear people who are irritated about not being given a job when they have a nose ring, bad breath, and unshined shoes.
Unprepared for the interview
If you fumble when asked basic questions, you will appear unprepared and uncaring about the process. When asked, “Tell me a little about yourself” you should have a concise 2 minute answer: 15 seconds about your personal background, 1.5 minutes about your work experience, and 15 seconds about what you can do for this company. Your time spent in preparing for the interview will be time invested wisely.
Not being clear on your strengths
You should be able to state without hesitation, three characteristics that would make you a great candidate for any given job you are applying for. If you cannot clearly identify your strengths, no interviewer will convince you what they are.
Not selling yourself
Even if you would not enjoy selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, you have to realize that in the interview process, you are selling yourself. Especially in today’s market, you have to promote yourself. Follow up immediately with a thank you note and a telephone call three or four days later.
So what about companies? Here are my “8 Reasons Candidates Reject Job Offers”:
Lack of enthusiasm
Recruiters and hiring managers who cannot convey the joy of working at their company might as well take out an ad in their local newspapers begging people not to apply. Word will get around.
Lack of interpersonal skills
Recruiters and hiring managers who are as personable as pieces of lint are telling candidates that if they think I’m dull now wait until you work for me. I’m always taken back when company ambassadors don’t make eye contact or give the impression that they’re fun to work with. Heck, I might as well spend my time in the dentist’s chair. Why work with creepy people?
What’s in it for me?
This truly is a two-way street – as recruiters, we want to make a hire and wipe a position off the docket. But too many recruiters and hiring managers take the quick road to disqualify someone before getting to know the true talents of the person. Did it ever occur to some that how you’re asking questions may be one reason why you’re not getting the answers you seek? Interview training is a process that is never complete…and great interviewers are noticed by candidates.
Unclear job problems
The job description is NOT what you’re interviewing against – if it is, you are clearly misguided. Do you know the specific problems the person will be addressing in the short and longer term? I mean down to the desired outcomes and measurement of success as well as some of the steps one might take to get to the desired outcome? Don’t you think you should? If you don’t make the opportunity compelling why would someone want to work there???
Individual appearance
Why do companies insist on eliminating individuality. I shave my head and have a soul patch on my chin in honor of my late Uncle who was my second father; nothing will ever make me shave it. Should my hairy chin prevent me from working at a company with a no facial hair policy? What does this solve? Embrace individuality so long as it’s not illegal, immoral, or fattening…
Unprepared for the interview
See “Unclear job problems” above; this also includes being on time, having read the candidate’s resume, being aware of future company moves, etc. Why are you trying to sabotage the interview?
Not being clear on the company’s strengths
You should be able to state without hesitation, three characteristics that would make the company a great place to work and grow in the person’s specific area and not have any of these include the phrase “world class.” If you’re no different from other places, why would someone want to work there?
Not selling yourself
Promoting the company is something that should be part of every interview – every opportunity should be made to re-sell the company. Sending a thank you note to the candidate – try it! If you don’t think the fit is there, tell them so ASAP. Keep them in the loop with newsletters and job updates. You never know…
It doesn’t have to be so difficult to make a great impression on candidates but one thing is for certain, making a great impression is more than words on your career page…
Original publication: RecruitingBlogs on 2.8.2009; I wonder how the Gen-er women feel about this stuff?
Female employees at the Bank of England have been advised to “Always wear a heel and some sort of make-up, even if it’s just lipstick.” And don’t forget that clients like tight skirts and cleavage too…
Personal branding coach Mary Spillane, a partner in the London office of executive search firm Whitehead Mann says, “People move on in their careers because of communication, influencing skills, being able to create the impact that conveys leadership and authority, and that comes from a range of things including grooming. It diminishes the age issue: by the time you are in your late 30s and 40s your skin has discoloration and you get dark circles; make-up takes that away.” Of course if you’re discolored, you’re no longer able to understand balance sheets, customers and logistics.
International make-up artist Bobbi Brown says, “In any situation make-up can be a great way for women to look and feel like themselves, only prettier and more confident.” Perhaps some recruiters I know – men and women – should consider wearing make-up during this economic period; it sounds as if it would make up for skill deficiencies.
“People want to look feminine but not vampish,” says a female co-director of one PR firm. “As a woman, you are often in the minority in a meeting, and you want to be remembered for the point you made, or for changing the course of a debate, not for the colour of your lipstick,” she says. I’m at a loss for making any pithy comments after reading this quote.
Seriously folks, there’s science behind the above quotes. A 2006 study found that when men and women were asked to assess photographs of four women with and without make-up, women who were presented wearing make-up were perceived to be more confident, and thought to have a greater earning potential and more prestigious jobs than those without make-up.
The road is still very long and bumpy…
Read the article here (will require a free sign-up)
Another former blog was The Recruiting Edge written by me and Maureen Sharib – we pushed out over 1,600 posts between 12.06.2005 and 4.11.2009. This one was from 1.18.2006 and was written around the notion that if we stop taking risks we stop living – the lesson applies to business leaders, talent acquisition folks, hiring managers, and jobseekers.
I haven’t bothered to check the hyperlinks – since it’s safe to assume that many links from the past will produce a 404. For those who have forgotten – or never knew – the Canadian Headhunter is now the beloved Recruiting Animal…
Canadian Headhunter, over on recruiting.com, brings up an extremely interesting subject today – he points out that those of us in the recruiting industry, by our very natures, must be risk-takers. The Edge concurs with him that some of us are, absolutely, this way, but that there are many more of us mired in the goo of convention that can’t get out of our own ways.
“Americans used to roar like lions for liberty. Now we bleat like sheep for security.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale
CH points us to, love him or hate him, the critic, commentator and novelist John Derbyshire and one of his articles written for the National Review. One of Derbyshire’s paragraphs follows, “… a world without risk will be colorless and tame…economically and culturally stagnant. Businesses hedged about with risk-reducing regulations and watched over by eagle-eyed trial lawyers will not innovate. A coddled, supervised, feminized, disarmed populace will create nothing of value and will live to no purpose — and will be dimly aware that it lives to no purpose. Brian Aldiss wrote a story about a smug, safe, bourgeois world of the future that found it necessary to license a small number of deviants to shock and smash and pillage, just to re-introduce some necessary randomness. Perhaps we shall come to that. Most of what the human race has achieved was done against the odds. Do we really want to drive risk out of our lives? And if we do, will it, as Horace said of nature, somehow find a way back in?”
The Edge concurs, CH, risk is what drives us; particularly those of us who skate out every day on the thin ice of the social norms. But are we the exception? In our heart of hearts, doesn’t the thrill of mayhem capture our attention? Hearts that beat at one pace sometimes feel they hardly beat at all. People worry about the Chinese taking over the world – why worry about a segment of the population whose creativity is muzzled by a government’s policies? There’s a fatal flaw at work there – paranoia will destroy ya’! But then, there’s this familiar and strangely ominous rumbling.
This aversion to risk that is so vehemently preached by some carries extreme danger, Will Robinson, extreme danger! It’s what allows corporate HR to handicap its own staffing departments; it delivers a moribund patient that seldom recovers. It discourages creativity and hobbles, with its harnesses, progress. It many times calls for the likes of us, deviants, if you will, that are willing to shock and smash and pillage, to do the work they have not the nerve to attempt. Marginalize us all you want, we’re not going gently into that good night.
Rogues, libertarians, outlaws, poets and geniuses before us have remarked:
Pablo Picasso (Rogue): I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poet): In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.
Susan B. Anthony (Libertarian): Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.
Andre Gide (Outlaw): One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
Annie Dillard (Genius): If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be too cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.
The Recruiting Inferno 