Recruiting Animal

Career Advice From Max Weinberg

From: Q&A Max Weinberg, The Forward, March 29, 2012 (edited) and Sticking To The Late Night Beat Max Weinberg - by Jeremy Helfgot, 2001 (edited)

At the age of 40, Weinberg started working as the bandleader on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He then followed Conan to The Tonight Show.

The musician voted best drummer in the 1986 Rolling Stone critics poll can’t read music.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the music business?

No matter the path, the journey has to start with a hungry heart.

If you have a vision for your life, make it a reality. Work everywhere and anywhere.

When the E Street Band was disbanded, I took bar mitzvah gigs so I could play the drums.

What can you say about your experience with Conan?

He reminds me of the parable: He got what he wanted, but lost what he had.

He thought the grass was greener before midnight.

He made a rash decision to blow up his career and did not care about the collateral damage.

What did you learn from the incident?

Listen to your wife. When we moved out to Los Angeles, my wife wanted to rent. I said let’s buy. It is “The Tonight Show.” What can happen?

How did you land the gig with Conan?

I hadn't played in several years but I wanted to get back to drumming. I wanted to get out of the business life that I was leading. So one day my wife and I walked out of a deli in New York, and right at the corner was Conan waiting for the light to change.

About a week before he had been announced as the new host of NBC's Late Night, replacing David Letterman. So I went over to him and started to talk to him.

He was in the beginning process of putting the show together and we started to talk about music right there on the corner. That led to a series of meetings and he asked if I would audition, so I quickly put a band together and auditioned.

At the audition, on our third song Conan leapt out of his seat and started dancing to it.  So I knew at that point that we were in pretty good shape. Literally, a week later, we were on the air.

Alex Levit - Blind Spots

The Recruiting Animal Show - October 15, 2011
Alexandra Levit on her new book - Blind Spots

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Alex claims that the recession has created a new world of work and lays out the moves you have to make to adapt.

In fact, she describes the eternal rules of work and tells us how she, herself, would apply them when there are few jobs around.

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PLAY - Alex Levit - Blind Spots - Full Show

PLAY - Intro - Alex Levit and The New Era

PLAY - The Dangers of Blogging

PLAY - The 80s were the same as today

PLAY - Are Blurbs Sincere?

PLAY - Broadcast Endorsements

PLAY - Alex on Goal Setting

PLAY - How improvable RU anyway?

PLAY - AfterShow 11 10 05

 

 

Career Carnivale - June 2009

Hi, welcome to Canada. And welcome to Career Carnivale

Please note that all submissions have been animalized for showcasing here with links to the originals provided below each entry.

Jerry Jerry Albright

What Makes a Lousy Job Hunter

1. You get up in the morning, read the paper, talk to your friends then spend the rest of the day on Twitter - trying to find a job.

2. You're boring. You deliver shopworn messages and when the response you get is "Girl, are you ho-hum!" you say "Did you just call me a ho?". (If they won't give you a job, you might as well sue them, right?).

3. You have so little respect for yourself that you're a little too easy when the employer tries to stick you with a low salary.

4. You only apply to jobs you find on job boards. The same jobs every nudnik is applying for. God forbid you should do some research and dig up an opportunity of your own.

See the original here.

Andy Gregory

I Pay My Boss

I don't like being managed so I work for myself. And, because I don't have a boss, I pay a coach to guide me. I hate strategy and he loves it so I pay him to strategize me. And, you know what? It's worth it.

So, don't be cheap. Invest in your career. And if you have a boss, use her the same way I use my coach and if you can't, get rid of her.

See the original here.

Dan Nuroo

Turn Lemons Into Sour Lemonade

Danny had some crappy jobs when he was a teen. I did too. And I learned something from them -- that I hate work. But Danny's different. He learned to learn from the hard times.

- If you hate your job, learn self-motivation.
- If your colleagues are creeps, learn how to deal with creeps.
- If the economy falters and the dead wood gets cut, learn how to do your job so you don't get axed again.

Read the original here

Scotty Gordon

USA: Ripe for Revolution?

Advice for the jobhunter in a bad economy: Take less money, drive farther, take a step back.

I'm worried about the current mood. The jobless see no light at the end of the tunnel and they're getting mad.

Mad at the big shots who got them into this mess and mad at the unemployment office that keeps them on hold for an hour and mad at the losers who bought houses they couldn't afford. Uh-oh. In 2010, will Washington resemble Teheran? Unthinkable.

Read the original here

Bill Boorman

Here's one from @BillBoorman. Bill's a Limey. You don't hear that term much anymore, do you? Wonder why?

When he's not eating egg and chips or putting down a Guiness, Bill teaches recruiters how to work properly. He's very concerned about not wasting time so he gave me a posting that he used on @JLipschultz blog just this past Monday. Sweet!

How To Get A Job Using Twitter

Write a few messages about your skills with a link to your Linkedin profile. Not many people are going to see them so you can repost often.

Send queries to recruiters just to get noticed. “Hey, Dude. I’ve always been interested in working at XYZ. Do you have any advice for me?”

Don't post when you're drunk. Google's going to pull that stuff up on reference checks and who's going to hire you then, you big goof. And don't use a dumb email address either. Like SmellyBelly@gmail.com. Grow up.

See the original here

Karla Porter

Hey, You, Hiring Manager: Don't Be a Dummy

“Hey, do you know a bilingual Recruiter for a part-time position who will work for $10.00 per hour?”

See the original here

Stephanie A Lloyd

Fools Rush In

HR is scared of Social Media. It might expose damaging information about my company! Listen, friend, don't you know people are saying bad things about you already?

You gotta get in there and train your employees to twitter about your brand. Or do cus service on soc media, like Comcast.

See the original here.

Jac Poindexter

She Drives Me Cravy

An Executive Resume can be 2, 3 or 4 pages long;
it doesn't matta! As long as:

- the first page is stand-alone.
- it's glimpse-able
- you showcase the value prop and
- you highlight take-aways

- The Value Prop answers: What's in it for me (in hiring you)?
- Take-aways: stuff that sticks in your mind

Recruiters tell Jacquie they crave what she offers.

See the original here

Dawn Bugni

I asked her for short and she delivered.
10 Free Job Search Resources Online.

See the original here

Cincy Recruiter

Dave Manaster says JJ McClure is one tall drink of water.
So I condensed one of her taller tales.

Think Like A Recruiter

I wish I could help every one of you - I'm a nice person - but I can't. So find your own job. Here's how.

Look for clues about opportunities in newspapers and trade publications. Then get someone in your network to connect you with the right people.

To tap into your network you have to get a network. Go to networking and prof assoc meetings. Help people with referrals, then they'll help you.

Keep key contacts warm. Make sure they know what you do and the kind of contacts you want. If you write bland stuff like this - I'm open to any opportunity where I can utilize the many skills I have in any industry - you don't deserve a job.

See the original here.

Benny Eubanks

Benny's the boss of this show. I sure hope he likes my work.

Get This Straight. You're Not All That

You think you're an expert but you're not. Let me say that again. You think you're an expert but you're not. You know what you are? You're a nobody, a small fish in a big pond and I'm going to prove it.

There’s a new old wive's tale going round that says it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. Reading a book and talking big, that won’t do it. A few years of casual practice, that won’t do it. How much practice does it take to be an expert: 10 hours a week for 20 years.

And you know what? You're not going to do it. And you know why? Because you don't want to be an expert. You want to be a big shot. But here's my advice Mr Big Shot: give it up. Give-it-up. Because being a phony expert, that won't make you happy.

I used to be an expert but now I''m not and I'm happier for it. It's no fun having to defend a title you're not fit to hold

But remember this: Your dreams are your ticket out. Your ticket out of a life of mundane hell. And you don't have to be an expert to follow that dream. A lot less than 10,000 hours is bound to make you happy.

See original here

Recruiting Animal

The Gen Y Quiz

Thanks for reading everybody. If you want to be the host of the next Career Carnivale, heeeeere's Benny. Talk to him.

Career Articles

Project Driven Career
Career Blogs
Accents
Indian Accents
Anger Management
Career Blogs
Non-Competes
Blended Living
Pressure Inhibits Creativity
It's okay you were born that way
Recovery From Error
Don't Trust Your Parents
Don't Hate Awful People
Ambition Makes You Better
Value of Branding

Opportunism and Careerism

An Opportunist abandons some important political principles that were previously held to increase her power and influence.

Careerism is the attempt to advance one's career by sacrificing other important concerns.

Source: Answers.com.

Career Advice From Helen Mirren

Aged 63, in a bikini.

Patience Is Essential

When she was 22, she was told by a psychic that she wouldn’t find real success before she was 50.

‘Which was absolutely not what I wanted to hear! If I could have told my 22-year-old self anything it would have been to have patience.

It breaks my heart when you read about teenagers killing themselves. ... He didn’t realise that in ten years’ time his life could have been completely different... So my advice would be to be patient, because things change.’

How To Change Jobs

Source: Venus de Micro

Here's the formula anyone should follow in planning her next move.
1. Identify your next big career goal
2. Assess the skill gaps between here and there
3. Look for companies that need what you already know and will give you the experience you need.

You can find information about companies via: corporate career sites, corporate bloggers, LinkedIn, conference presentations, networking, user group meetings, alumni meetings, recruiters.

Location
Short list a number of places that you would move to for the right position. Think about cost of living, weather, lifestyle, schools, social networks. Online tools like homefair.com provide comparisons of cities.

The Work Environment
The people you work with will the biggest impact on your job satisfaction but it's hard to find out much about this in advance of working with them. Some questions about the team can be answered in an interview but remember this: selling is lying. So says The Funny Banker and in an interview with an attractive candidate a company is trying to make a good impression and you only see what the company chooses to show you.

You might find references to the corporate culture, especially in larger companies, in articles and discussion groups. You might be able to access some information via social networks. But it's hard to find out if you're going to be working with a micromanager or a cheapskate or a bunch of dorks.

Here, however, are some questions you should ask yourself.
- What kind of environment is going to make you want to show up every day?
- Where have you enjoyed working most?
- What types of people do you want to surround yourself with?
- Who can you learn from?
- What kind of peers and managers help you do your best?

Career Progress In One Company
You might be able to work through much of your career progress within one firm. Look at the company’s career site to see if they have the types of roles you need for your career progress. See if you can find profiles of people working at the company (on LinkedIn, for instance) and see if the person has moved through a number of roles in the firm. You might approach employees and past employees you identify online for this kind of information. Note, however, that future employers might see your exposure to only one company as a limitation.

Compensation
It's not enough to know the base compensation. You have to take the benefits that are important to you into consideration. Consider things like child care reimbursement, medical deductibles/co-pays/flex spending accounts, transportation assistance (bus passes, car pools), reimbursement for cell phone or Internet, corporate discounts, levels of coverage for medical/dental/vision, legal assistance programs, paid holidays and vacation time, tuition assistance, health programs (weight management, smoking cessation).

Networking
You can't build a social network in a moment. To have access to a group of people you can call upon for insider information about a company or an industry, you have to make business friends whenever the opportunity is offered and maintain relations with them on a regular basis. And you have to help them in order to make them willing to help you.

The Key Idea
If you figure out what is important to you and think about it every now and then you won't be caught in the headhlights when a recruiter calls. You will know what you are looking for and will be able to ask the right questions to see if this opportunity might deliver it.

Think Like an Entrepreneur

You have an idea:

1. Prove that there is a need that is not being met.
2. Figure out the best way to implement the idea
3. Estimate the cost
4. Take long-term responsibility for it.

Source: Steven Strauss, USA Today, Hat Tip: Maureen Sharib

Father Knows Best

Had his father -- a poor baker and frustrated opera singer -- had his way, Mr. Pavarotti might have spent his life selling insurance or teaching elementary school, rather than becoming opera's greatest celebrity of the post-war era.

National Post

Do Chicks Like Chess?

In 2004, 8 of the 894 chess grandmasters in the world were women. Why so few? It's not a matter of ability.

"Where the participation rate of women and men is equal the disparity in ability vanishes." -- Chabris and Glickman

They just don't play chess.

Photo: Alex Kosteniuk. From normblog