Recruiting Animal

Networking Hitchens Style

From Bernard Avishai, Hitchens (edited)

 

I knew him fairly well in the early 80s b4 he really became Christopher Hitchens.

He had just arrived from England.

He had followed my writing in the New York Review, he said, and so called me to ask (quite boldly, and charmingly, I thought) if I would introduce him around.

I brought him to a meeting of the Dissent Magazine board at Irving Howe's apartment and we kept in touch sporadically the way one did back then, before email and free long-distance.

Once I hit my own professional turbulence and took refuge of a kind at the Harvard Business Review, we pretty much fell out of touch.

In 1991, we debated about the 1st Gulf War at Wellesley College. He was against it, I was for it tho neither of us really knew what we were talking about. Then we went out for a drink and that was pretty much that.

My Comment: The fact that he was charming made his boldness easy to take. The same behaviour by a less competent schmoozer would not have been as acceptable. And most people don't have that pzazz.

Schmooze: To converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.

The Most Generous Generation

I used to ridicule all kinds of GenY hogwash from the 2 Ryans and I used make fun of the Gen Y Princess too  and I was noted for doing so.

Eventually I got tired of it and I stopped following their stuff and I assumed that the GenY Baloney Sandwich had already been totally consumed.

I was wrong though, I suppose, because last week I discovered @ValueIntoWords and @ResumeStrategy discussing this article on Twitter.

Where GenY Shines: What Goes Around, Comes Around Networking - Jan 5, 2012 - By Alexis Grant

The typical complaint about GenY is that we act entitled, lazy and even rude.

But here’s a soft skill GenY has mastered far better than other generations: Millennials are generous. Particularly in professional situations, 20-somethings understand the value of helping others, that what goes around comes around, perhaps especially in an increasingly digital world.

Whenever I chat with new acquaintances who are interested in learning about me or my business, some look at the conversation as something that’s benefiting them. Regardless of whether I contacted them or they contacted me, they ask how-can-this-help-me questions.

But GenYers tend to approach these conversations differently. Yes, they’re eager to learn about how I’m selling digital guides online or helping small businesses with social media or whatever project they’re interested in. But they also ask how they can help me.

A Small But Powerful Network

From: Scott Allen, Networking Lessons From Gene Simmons

Who in your LinkedIn network would buy a $10,000 hot dog from you for charity?

Write your book foreword in a weekend?

Introduce you to their CEO personally?

Pick you up at the airport personally?

Let you stay at their house?

If the answer is “no one”, it’s time to change your networking strategy.

 

How To Talk To Strangers

From: TimsStrategy.com

I spent an hour on the phone last week.  Getting my teeth kicked in.

And I have to tell you that I stumbled a bit.  Something I’m not used to doing.  I was out of my element.  Speaking to a radio audience that doesn’t care how much time I spend working with and helping people with job search and career strategy in my free time.  They just wanted answers.  Rightly so.

And if you listened to my appearance on the Recruiting Animal Radio Show you may have an interesting view of my personality and strengths.  Animal has a well-honed way of sweeping your feet out from under you.

But the places I stumbled were not his fault.  They were mine.  I was not able to answer some pretty basic questions he asked.  Ones that, I think, seem pretty straight-forward.  Not intentionally deceptive at all.

So now I’m here to answer the big one.  In full detail.  For the world to evaluate and comment on.  Yes: You.

His question to me:

How do you start, maintain and end a conversation with a stranger?

Read the rest

It's Not Always Easy to Assess People

For anybody who has studied from Steinsaltz’s volumes, meeting him can be quite a shock. The Steinsaltz on the page is brief, succinct, and sometimes even terse.

The Steinsaltz who sits at his desk, puffing on his pipe while letting his tea go cold, responds to questions with long, winding answers, shooting off on tangents along the way.

There is even a diversion before we start: His warm and non-egocentric nature means that he insists on interviewing this interviewer before talking about himself.

This contrast, he admits, is no coincidence. “This work was in many ways to keep myself in rein,” he said, explaining that it disciplined his writing style and his intellectual direction.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/135953/#ixzz1GCjVHxNE

Nasty Twitter Pals

This Twitter pal sent me a Direct Message. So I asked him a few questions and he went sour on me. First look at his bio:

• Bio: Pithy, humorous, educational and hopefully thought provoking tweets from this Christian strategic thinking Human Resources Executive.

Then look at his actions: First the smilies. Then his true face.

InHISNameHR ☺ Please help us grow! We would love it if you “Liked” our Facebook Page! ☺ Sure would help us out! ☺ http://tiny.ly/hHN2 ☺

 

 

(a) did U send this to me or everyone? (b) I don't know U from Adam (c) Having people like your FB page doesnt do U any good @ all

 

 

InHISNameHR How about this a) don’t follow people you don’t want DM’s from. You followed me. B) Being rude really doesn’t get you anywhere.

 

 

We like nasty people on the @animal show @inHISnameHR - UR welcome 2B the hot seat guest if you're interested

 

 

I have to admit though that he did make some sense. If I follow him that means that I want his spam, right? But I made sense too. Having a bunch of strangers LIKE you on Facebook doesn't do anything for you at all.

UPDATE: Silly old me

Thanks to: Bridget (Weide) Brooks - http://www.rwdigest.com/

Funny story -- but there is no such thing as bad publicity -- I clicked on his FB page and saw he only needs 9 more "likes" to claim his custom FB URL!

 

Networking Articles

Types of Networkers
Life Cycle of a Personal Network
Networking For Job-Hunters
Ferrazzi
Ingrates
Shally's Networking System
Relationships Take Time
Friendship
Describe Yourself
Kickstart from Craig Silverman
Recruiters Are Ignorant

Don't Re-invent The Wheel

Keyword: schnorrer.

Productivity501 warns us to make sure that we don't waste hours figuring out how to do something that someone else can explain in 5 minutes.

He urges us to deliberately build relationships with people who have expertise in different areas than our own.

Offer to help them with your special knowledge, he says. Then they will want to reciprocate.

Problem:

This author is telling you, essentially, to set up an informal barter network for information sharing. The problem is that it comes in the guise of a personal relationship or friendship which really doesn't exist.

This amounts to using people for practical purposes.

Many outgoing people can do it easily. And, indeed many don't mind taking advantage of people, plain and simple. But lots of people don't like doing this. And they can't always offer something in return.

Moreover, often, you need a lot of preliminary knowledge before the expert can tell you something in five minutes. And the only way she can help you is to do the job herself. Or spend an age explaining it to you.

See also: How To Mooch

1. Hint that you need help.
2. Show a bit of pain.
3. When the offer comes, say something like "I don't know. Are you sure
   you can spare the time?" That shows you care about the donor. (haha)
4. Don't take too much.
5. Offer something in return when you can.

Boilerplate Annoucements Sound Funny

It is with sadness [yadda]... resign from Jobfox... past year... great.... XYZ.com reached out.... Director of Sales... Jobs category....

If you receive this message more then once [blah blah]....
Have a fantastic day!

An Inflated LinkedIn Invitation

I am an active Linkedin user and firmly believe that "€œthere is something in everybody to add value to the society and make this world a better place to live."€

With this believe I want to add you in my professional network so that we can be of a mutual help to each other. I am sure you will be benefited after adding me in your network.