« March 2007 | Main | May 2007 »

April 2007

Bad Branding

A couple of months ago I got this email.

Subject: Partnership

I have enjoyed reading your blog posts. I have had a blog for quite some time now I... think it would be mutual beneficial for us to exchange links on our blogs(add each other to blogroll) and share information and traffic. Well let me know what you think and good work on your blog!

Thanks,

Neither my name nor the name of my blog was mentioned in his letter. Does that make it sound like he reads me? No.

But like the sucker I am I replied asking him if he had an active site. He said yes so I put him on the blogroll for Recruiting Animal and Recruiting Bloggers.

Tonight I got the exact same email as before so I checked out his blogroll. Do you think I'm there? Not. Does anyone know this guy? If so, tell him this kind of thing isn't good for his brand.

Books By Recruitosphere Bloggers

Under Construction

Guerrilla Marketing For Job-Hunters
Laurence Haughton
Career Hub: Free Job Search Guide
Penelope Trunk: Brazen Careerist


CEO Read Blog
Paperback Swap

Recruiter & Sourcer Training

Under Construction

Jim Stroud: Internet Sourcing Courses
Shally Elvis Steckerl: LinkedIn Cheat Sheets
Maureen Sharib: Telephone Sourcing Training
Glenn Gutmacher: Internet Sourcing Training
Bill Vick: LinkedIn Book

Recruiting & Career Podcasters

Dirty Jimmy Stroud: Recruiter's Lounge
Big Bill Vick: XtremeRecruiting.org
CM Russell: Secrets of the JobHunt
Recruiting Animal: The Recruiting Animal Show
Peter Clayton: Total Picture Radio

Oh, You Sexy Thang!

Yahoo's Smiley Face Award Goes to Diane Hill.

Diane recruits recruiters and according to Bull Doza she's been around the block a few times but is still "enjoyable to relate with".

Diane is an attractive MOT (mother of three) but, tell me if I'm wrong, Bull has two pictures of her on his site and they seem to be of two different people.

On her own, her hair is dark and her face is round. With Shally Elvis Steckerl, her hair is blonde and her face is slimmer. What do you think? (And did you notice? Elvis got a buzz cut).

Workfarce Interview On Animal Show

Listen Here

The Workfarce presented himself as a level-headed fellow who faced all the tough questions. All problems were thoroughly investigated.

However, he insisted that no names be mentioned so we spoke in code. Everyone was referred to as Mr X and Mr Y. We knew what we were talking about - most of the time - but I'm not sure that anyone else will.

Gen Y Hates Hippies

How come? Aren't they the same thing?

How can you possibly begin making a case against an entire generation by comparing them to the Hippies...

Is it possible that a few people are just a little pissed off that they never asked for more?

We don't just bite our lip and suck it up like you probably did. We show a little passion and emotion. We're seeking a change in a world that will soon be ours.

We don't waste time being angry in a situation - we find ways to fix it....

Posts like this are already second-nature to me. I have a hard time even considering this one an argument. It’s more like a bitter, incoherent couple of paragraphs from a person who is jealous of the opportunities my generation has…

And the best part of the whole situation is no matter what is said about us, YOU have to adapt to us, not the other way around…and that is beautiful.

-- Ryan Paugh, Voice of the Millenials at Work.

The way of the hippie is antithetical to all repressive hierarchical power structures.... Freedom is the paramount virtue in this system.... This engenders an attitude that allows for maximum personal growth.

Our society only permits you one or two weeks a year of freedom to pursue your own agenda... Hippies reject the 9 to 5 lifestyle and therefore are objects of ridicule by those whose lives run by the clock. Programmed people are jealous and resent the freedom we possess.

The unmitigated freedom that hippies represent is the greatest threat to any system in which control equals power.

-- Skip on The HippyWay

The Gen Y Hoax - Part 3

The backlash begins.

Remember how the hippies were going to change the world? All that stuff about love and peace? Well, the hippie dream lasted only a few months.

Lots of world-changers came to San Francisco and didn't know how to take care of themselves so they went home or degenerated and soon the world of psychedelia gave way to glam rock, disco, punk and rap.

The heyday of Gen Y hasn't lasted much longer. Their cheerleaders have barely begun to bray about how great they are and how they're going to change the world and, kaboom, the Wall Street Journal publishes a story that claims they're just spoiled sissy creeps.

Apparently, they've been raised by soft parents with very low standards who praise them for every inconsequential thing they do. Here's how a Gen Y renegade sees it:

"Employers and professors are finding it necessary to compliment every little thing that students/young workers are doing.... major corporations, like Bank of America, are hiring consultants to teach older managers how to deal with the sensitive younger crowd.

"The majority has been raised so weak that as soon as something doesn't go their way, they fold up like a cell phone. The strength of character is extremely low."

Is it possible that deranged boomer business men have been mistaking Gen Y's sensitivity for weakness when it is, in fact, normalcy? I don't know. Here at The Recruiting Animal, we're not taking any chances so a psychologist has been coming in to teach us how to deal with the new generation.

She has us role-play a scene in which one person gets angry. The victim shows a very sad face and the aggressor realizes something has gone wrong and shouts, "It's huggie time!" and gives the person a big hug. But it's only an air-hug to avoid any claims of harrassment. And I have to say that it's working. I feel much more confident when dealing with the younger people.

Gen Y Over-Coddled

Says No Nonsense Recruiter

Venus de Micro is riled about about sucky kids who become bad employees. Here's her advice for American moms and dads.

Parents, your kids need more discipline. But you don't have the guts to dish it out. They might get angry.

And, parents you need to teach your kids that life is full of disappointments they'll have to suck up and press on. But you don't have the guts to deliver the bad news.

And parents, don't praise kids for minor achievements. It sets low expectations and forces you to fake enthusiasm.

Encourage you kids, yes. Say: "I have total confidence you can do this!". Then leave them on their own to figure it out. That ought to teach them. Want more? Read this.

The Sourcing Corner

A new blog by Moises Lopez .

Moises Lopez is the National Sourcing Manager for PDS Technical Services. He's started a new blog called The Sourcing Corner

Like Amybeth Hale, Moises believes that your recruiting team can't be its best without well-defined sourcing procedures which, he complains, most companies don't have.

He also lays out the key sourcing and recruiting skills:

* Understanding the jobs you are recruiting for.
* Knowing the companies that hire these people.
* Knowing the compensation packages in the industry.
* Knowledge of sourcing skills
* Knowing which sourcing technique to use in a specific setting (eg. advertising, competitor raiding).
* Knowing how to handle objections.

In my world, a sourcer does not call the potential candidates so handling objections would not be necessary. But I met Bill Vick in Toronto last week and he told me that in his vocabulary the names-finder is a researcher and a sourcer is what Shally Elvis Steckerl would call a networker. That's someone who handles the initial phone contact and "candidate development".

Best of The Animal

Sound Bites

Telephone Sourcing School

Search The Animal


  • WWW
    Recruiting Animal

TWITTER