Guest: Carl Chapman, Executive Restaurant Recruiter
Topics: Restaurant recruiting. Websites.
Participants: Anthony J Meaney
Introduction: Sincerity
Hi everyone. Today, I want to talk about sincerity. I'm reading a book called The Rise of David Levinsky. It was written around 1910 and it's about a guy who comes to America from Russia and makes his way in the needle trade in New York. And there's one thing he notices about Americans: they like to smile. In Russia, he says, people only smile when they are happy but in America everyone feels an obligation to be cheerful all of the time. And you know why? Because Americans believe in the pursuit of happiness. And if you have your eye on something good, you are going to smile aren't you. And I say what's wrong with that?
But, let's not go overboard. Lately I've noticed that whenever I meet anyone new online, he says, "How can I help?". How can I help? This guy doesn't want to help me. He wants to charge me. So please, pal, lay off. This kind of phony friendship is sickening. And don't "reach out" to me either. Just say hi.
Which brings me to something else I want to talk about. Online Spousal Abuse. You might not have heard of it before but, apparently, it's a very serious problem so let me tell you about it. Let's say you are writing a recruiting blog. So, when you write about errors in hiring, you moan about the errors you made in selecting your husband. For instance, you say, you didn't realize how Ed might change over time. He used to seem so chipper. And When you married him his pant size wasn't triple X. And you knew he had his habits but you never would have guessed that they would make you hate his guts!
You see what I'm saying? Maureen Sharib, was all for it. Her opponents -- all guys -- thought it was an invasion of privacy. They want her to wear the Burka of Silence as a sign of respect for her man but she says "Hey, no way. First of all, I live in the land of the free and I have the right to be as open as I want. Secondly, you can't solve your problems until you acknowledge them. And, third, why should I suffer in private agony anyway when I can ask everyone online to suffer with me? I mean help me."
Well, does she have a point? Remember when Joel Cheesman opened his blog to bitter critiques of Don JGo Jason Goldberg? When people complained about Don JGo, were they doing wrong? Or will JGo be a better man for it? And if a CEO can benefit from an open discussion of his errors why not a husband?
To answer that question, I've invited a real man and a real American to talk about it today. His name is Carl Chapman. He calls himself The Executive Restaurant Recruiter but those who fear him call him The Recruiting Rottweiler because he likes to fight. And fight he will, with me, because live from Toronto I'm the Recruiting Animal and this is the Recruiting Animal Show!
Online Spousal Abuse
Animal: Carl, I have to ask you a question right off the bat. Am I getting drunk on power?
Carl Chapman: You're defintely drunk.
Animal: That's it? Anthony, Anthony, say something to this guy. You know, I'm so glad, Anthony, you're here today because I am tired. I'm going to have to have you take over and take Carl apart. So, go ahead, attack Carl.
Anthony J Meaney: Attack him? I barely know him!
Animal: Okay, Carl, I have a question for you. What about online spousal abuse? Do you have an opinion?
Carl Chapman: Do I have an opinion on what?
Animal: OSA. Online Spousal Abuse!
Anthony: What are you talking about, online spousal abuse?
Animal: Anthony, do you want to say something about Online Spousal Abuse?
Anthony: I don't know. Where did that come from?
Carl Chapman: Animal, can you hear me?
Animal: Who is this? Is it Carl?
Carl Chapman: Yeah, it's Carl. You said you couldn't hear me so I called in on another line.
Animal: Okay, Carl, do you have an opinion about Online Spousal Abuse? I'm going to have to drop this topic. No one knows anything about it but me.
Anthony: Can you elaborate? Can you give us some background?
Carl Chapman: Penelope Trunk, Brazen Careerist blog...
Animal: No, that's where it started but I'm not talking about her.
Carl Chapman: I understand. Then Maureen picked up the gauntlet and wrote about it on your blog.
Animal: Yes. Should you talk about your husband or your wife on your blog?
Anthony: There used to be a blog...
Animal: Uh, uh, it's Carl's turn. Come on, we're really going... we're getting disorganized...
Carl Chapman: I, I, I...
Animal: Are you talking or are you barking?
Carl Chapman: Well, it's your fault. You're the host. You're the one who's supposed to keep it organized.
Animal: Oh yeah. Okay, okay.
Carl Chapman: Here's the real thing. If it's your blog, certainly you can talk about your spouse if you wanted to because nobody knows who you are. I mean you got a puppet for a picture. You got no name, no nothing except The Recruiting Animal. So, if you talk about your spouse, who's going to know who that is? But, me? Everybody knows who I am, my real name, my real picture, my real address, my real phone number. If I talk about my lovely wife, I'd better be complimentary.
Animal: Why? I mean why can't you discuss your problems in public?
Carl Chapman: Why do I need to?
Animal: Carl, haven't you ever heard of marital therapy? You've got a problem and you discuss it out in the open. Then you can work on it. And haven't you ever heard about open sourcing? You get contributions from all over the country. They give you a lot of input.
Carl Chapman: An open sourced project for your marriage therapy. Yeah, that sounds like it would work.
Anthony: I always thought an open sourced marriage meant something different.
Animal: That's open marriage, Anthony. Anybody else before I leave this topic? It's very important.
Anthony: It's very important? You may not remember there used to be a blog, it was called My Left Wing Girlfriend. He was a right-winger, she was a left-winger and he used to post about their disagreements. It was quite funny.
Animal: Anthony, you've got to get used to me. I'm going to silence you. And, it sounds like Carl believes in the burka of silence. Am I right?
Carl Chapman: No, I just believe that you're going to get yourself into trouble if people know who your wife is.
Anthony J Meaney: Why are you silencing me?
Animal: Because I silence people. I have to talk.
Anthony J Meaney:Why? I was making valuable input.
Animal: Yeah, okay.
Anthony J Meaney: You fascist. Don't oppress me.
Animal: Now, I want to ask you about your process. Is that alright?
Carl Chapman: Sure
Animal: When you get a search who gives you the search at the client end?
Carl Chapman: First of all nobody gives me a search. I decide whether I'm going to accept a client.
Animal: Okay, what does that mean exactly?
Carl Chapman: I have to evaluate whether...
Animal: How do you get a customer! I'm going to be rough with your Carl.
Carl Chapman: Go right ahead.
Animal: I heard you're a military man.
Carl Chapman: I'm a graduate of the Naval Academy.
Animal: Okay, so you can handle me.
Carl Chapman: I can handle you, no problem.
Animal: Okay, how do you get your business!
Carl Chapman: Well that's a good question. A combination of things. Cold calling and right now there are tons of referrals coming through my website.
Animal: Through your website! You're website brings in business for you? Is that true?
Carl Chapman: Tons.
The Name of Your Website
Animal: And how do they find you on the website?
Carl Chapman: I have over 55 number one rankings for search terms on major search engines. If you type in restaurant recruiter I'm going to be number one or two in almost all the....
Animal: And do people search those terms, restaurant recruiter?
Carl Chapman: If you were a restaurant owner and you were looking for a recruiter, you'd type in restaurant recruiter.
Animal: Then how come you didn't call your site restaurantrecruiter.com.
Carl Chapman: That name was taken.
Animal: Nothing closer than cecsearch? It doesn't mean anything.
Carl Chapman: It's the name of my business, Animal.
Animal: Yeah, but it doesn't mean anything in common parlance. I'm asking you tough questions but they're real questions. Are they fair questions?
Carl Chapman: Sure, you're fair.
Animal: So, I personally would never call a business CEC Search. I would call it Restaurant Recruiter or something similar.
Anthony J Meaney: Crazy Executive Chefs
Animal: So, you're not interested in type-in business like when people type into the address bar the name of the thing they are looking for. Am I being too hard on you?
Carl Chapman: No. First of all, I told you I've got over 55 number one listings.
Animal: So you're not worried about it.
Carl Chapman: And I have over 230 first page listings for key search terms. So, believe me, people find my website. I have over five hundred unique visitors a day.
Animal: So, you are a master of search engine optimization. Am I right about that?
Carl Chapman: I consider myself skilled.
Animal: So let's say on a scale of one to ten with ten being ultimate master, where do you stand?
Carl Chapman: Ummm.....
Animal: You don't have to answer.
Carl Chapman: I would say 7 or 8.
Source: 11.30 minute mark, Recruiting Animal Show, 07.07.25
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