Career Conundrums

Polyanna shut your trapper... Abe had it right!

2008-06-20T07:14:00.009-06:00

I was sent this craigstlist posting by an old coworker (as in I don't work with him anymore... not referencing his age folks) and was truly inspired by it's honesty. To sum it up for those too lazy to click the link: an owner of a cat has realized they are no longer benefiting from the cat/owner relationship and they want to give it away. Instead of posting misleading content like a photo of the cat cooking breakfast, or an exerpt from the Sign Language for Cats book inspired by Mr. Wiskerson himself, the owner tells it like it is.

In today's society we use terms like "prior owned" when referring to a USED late model Datsun and line our check out stands with airbrushed actresses on gossip magazines all in the name of "putting our best foot forward." I think that's why this posting was so refreshing. It makes me wonder how brutal honesty might change my profession if embraced by candidates and employers...

Candidate with the following skills and qualities seeks new opportunity:
- Makes it a point to round down when clocking in and round up when clocking out to the nearest half hour
- Considered forgetful by past employers, and posseses the ability to formulate an excuses at the drop of a hat.
- Habitually steals food out of the common frig, but always leaves one bite left as to not be rude.
- Quick to take credit for other's work. Put me in left-field when Barry Bonds is up to the plate and I'll be the reason he walks back to the dug out. (For those who don't follow baseball Barry Bonds always pulls the ball so the left fielder can pretty much sit down when he comes up to the plate)

Company seeks candidate with the following qualities and skills:
- Willing to take on additional work in the event of layed offs or reorgs with no expectation of salary increase.
- Embraces after hours calls from manager for "special projects."
- Considers the phrase "not in the budget" underutilized and completely satisfying
- Enjoys morning runs to local donut shop and fetching coffee

I might give some serious thought to my brutally honest "strengths and weaknesses" on my commute home in the typical friday parking lot our department of transportation deems a "highway." I am thankful for the opportunity my commute gives me to reflect on the day and just spend some quality time by myself. WHO AM I KIDDING?!?! I am going to leave the sugar coating for my breakfast cereal and call the commute what it is. A slow and painful battle between patience and rage and if I hear that "Bleeding Love" song more than once on the ride home I might just hiss. That reminds me... I've got to see a man about a cat!

"Work my fingers to the bone..."

2008-04-08T08:41:00.003-06:00

"What do you get? Boney fingers!" I know this old country song for one reason and one reason only. As a child my father would sing it over and over and when he got to "Boney Fingers!" he would take his knuckles and attempt to tickle me the only way a father knows how to tickle... painfully.

Those words repeated over and over in my head recently as my inspiration for my next blog post hit me like the treadmill greets the pecks of the guy in the new Voice Activated Ford Sync Commercial. It's okay that you laughed at that!

Onto the blog... you hear the phrase "work-life balance" thrown around a lot these days in the corporate environment. Company websites boast flex schedules and work from home to help their employees achieve this idea. I read an article last week about an advertising firm that allowed new moms to bring their newborns to work for the first six months. How many technological devices have been invented to help employees organized their lives and attain this harmony that so few can accomplish? Try googling "work life balance training" and see the links to company after company willing to take your money in exchange for insight into their 7 step process to total work-life domination.

I personally think companies and employees are making this too difficult. Companies are taking on the responsibility of helping employees manage their lives when if they would simply give them an appropriate work load the employees might find themselves empowered to handle it themselves. I listen as employees recount their 1AM email sessions, or their 45 minute phone interview conducted while driving their kids to school and I question if VPN and hands free are truly the work-life balance godsends our corporate websites are claiming them to be. I wonder if our spouses and kids are thrilled to have us at every soccer game and awards banquet with our little blue lights in our ear providing the pyrotechnics for the event, or if they wouldn't rather us just be fully there for half of them. Maybe to show up and leave the blackberry in the car and not be quizzed on if the venue has free wireless access.

It seems the more we dump on our employees the less likely they are to connect at home regardless of what device we give them. As a company we try to caution them from doing too much from home and even go so far as to dictate they are to take a day off. Isn't it a bit contradictory to expect them to stop working for 24 hours knowing good and well if they do they are simply postponing the workload and stress. Afterall, we trained them fully on procrastination just last month!

Too much work can also lead to and increased probability of erroneous output. I know when my "to do cup" is running over the last thing I need to be tasked with is something immenant and important... like brain surgery. So we are setting these employees up for failure and when they fail and are reprimanded who hears about it? Their spouse! It is packaged up, taken home and presented at the dinner table over a bed of mixed greens and balsalmic vinegarette. Don't worry spouses... you won't have to hear about it long because you will disrupted by a familiar buzz and your broken husband or wife excusing themselves from the table to take the call. Ahhhh work-life balance!

So in this day and age if you overwork yourself day in and day out what do you get? More money and more stress! A love of either could leave you happy with your results so you choose. Afterall, it's your work-life.

Sticks and Stones

2007-10-11T11:55:00.000-06:00

"... will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." I recall as a child unleashing this clever phrase at the resident 3rd grade bully during recess only to get clubbed up side the face with a tether ball shortly after. I don't recall what said bully told me to invoke my mouthy reaction, but I do vividly remember feeling like I had just run into a glass door after the ball on a rope struct my face. It would appear in this instance, Sticks and Stones: 1, Words: 0. When it comes to companies however, I think most would take a poke in the eye with a sharp stick over a filling buffet of libel and slander most days. Here's why...

On a daily basis I speak with candidates from a wide range of backgrounds and industries and there is generally one question I consistently ask that has the potential to be more loaded than a Fat Albert's baked potatoe. The way they answer "Why are you looking to change jobs?" usually gives me some good insight into the state of the corporate culture at their current employer. These candidates peel away the "Best Company..." awards and really get to the heart of what is going on inside and how it is effecting them. They offer up the information as if I am a confidant and that leads me to believe anyone who has shared oxygen with this person probably is aware of what I have just been made privy to. I try to use my best judgement on whether I am dealing with an eternally disgruntled employee or if there are serious issues going on and then at that point formulate my own opinion of the company and then I react based on it.

If a candidate is not a fit for what I am looking for and I know of another solid company hiring I will often times coach them on how to get into their recruiting process. My Who's Who List is constantly altered by the feedback I recieve from my standard question stated above. I am not saying my lack of referals can bring down a company with a ticker symbol, but if as an outsider I am not willing to give a referral then think about the ramifications of employee referrals? Internal referrals are proven time and time again to be the best source for quality of hire so why put this method in jeopardy by not meeting your employees needs.

Granted you will never please EVERYONE, but the best way to shut up the disgruntled employees is to be a good company. Don't foolishly probe them with the childish sticks and stones line. If you do get ready to be called pancake face the rest of the day.

"A Change Will Do You Good"

2007-08-21T09:28:00.000-06:00

If Sheryl Crow says it, it must be true. I can confirm the first cut really is the deepest and everyday truly is a winding road so why not take the pop star's advice? That being said, last week I accepted a new position with a wireless company as a corporate recruiter and so far so great!

The first week I spent meeting with hiring managers and executives learning the company's vision, strategy and processes. This will prove to be incredibly valuable down the road once I start recruiting full force. I realize this is fairly common place when training a recruiter, the individual tasked with selling potential candidates on the company, but do companies adopt some small scale variation of this for ALL employee orientation? They should!

It is certainly incredibly important for Nathan New Hire to know which child is required to hand over for his yearly medical insurance deductable or what time the yoga instructor arrives at the onsite gym, but equally important is getting him on fire with company history and vision. (Warning: this only works for companies who add value to society. Online child pornography rings need not trouble themselves with walking new hires through their core values.)

By equipping new hires with company knowledge such as history, strategy, and culture an organization is empowering every employee to be a company ambassador. All employees hold a piece of the company life line in the form of employee referrals. As a recruiter I have a lot more confidence in an employee referral than a cold candidate I find on a job board. There is an element of dependability that only resides in a candidate who has had someone else vouching for them. An employee however is not going to refer someone to a company they are not excited about.

Employee contentment of course goes beyond a company pep rally on the first day and also depends heavily on ensuring all you present is true and experienced once they get comfortable in their postion. The first dominoe however must be a solid employee orientation. Whatever content you choose whether you incorporate exectutive speakers or a powerpoint on the company timeline, just do something! All those who have stake in the success of the company will thank you.

Recruiter Seeks Man Made of Tin

2007-07-11T09:43:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh salary negotiations. I know what you are thinking... that tree looks familiar. Yes, I have broached this subject several times and unfortunatley I am still hunting for the map that leads me to contentment when a salary negotiation is over with. The last one I must say took a toll on me that would make the Texas Highway Department envious. The ingredients in this candidate vs. employer face off were greed and pride and well we all know how that ends (see Hungry Hungry Hippos post). After I surveyed the results, one imagine popped in my head and I think my goal for this post is to explore why...

I have to admit I have never seen The Wizzard of Oz in it's entirety so I feel a bit uncomfortable making this reference. After all, I am of the opinion you shouldn't be able to use the phrase "Catch 22" unless you have read the Joseph Heller novel, and thanks to a great high school english teacher, I have. I am going to buck my own opinion here though because what I know of the Tin Man, it's a reference that is right on.

So here's what I know about the Tin Man... all tin and no heart. If I delve a bit deaper into his tin exterior and what exactly that means I find that tin is a substance that has a high resistance to corrosion. Simply put, it is going to take a lot for the Tin Man's surroundings to pearce him and if they do, all they have waiting inside is an abyss. That's right, all that hard work to get to our dear tin man, and your grand prize is NO HEART! And that is why ladies and gentlemen, when I find myself with a ring side seat to a battle between candidate and company, with a lot riding on them finding a middle ground, I want the anatomy of a tin man.

I am being a tad dramatic. Before I head to the plastic surgeon with a photo of a man with a funnel on his head I should probably attempt to make some rational internal changes. Any advice out there?

Dwight's Interview for No.2

2007-05-23T19:29:00.000-06:00

Every recruiter has interviewed an "Andy" at some point. One of my favorite dialogues so far on The Office...

Dwight: What is the best color?
Andy: White, because it contains all other colors.
Dwight: Wrong. Black. It is the most dominant. How do you make a table?
Andy: You make a chair...but you don't sit on it.
Dwight: What is the capital of Maine?
Andy: Capital of Maine is Montpelier, Vermont, which is near Ithica, New York, where I went to Cornell.
Dwight: Okay, also, moratorium on Cornell talk. Don't wanna hear about it. Forget your personal history and learn the history of this company.
Andy: Should not be a problem, I minored in history in the Ivy League school which I attended.

"In My Mind I'm Gone to Carolina"

2007-05-08T15:32:00.000-06:00

Employees around this great nation wait the appropriate 8 hours before heading out to the parking lot to survey the workday's door dings on their cars, but often times mentally clock out long before the traffic begins to pile up on the interstate.

I've been wronged, trampled on, exploited so 6 hours in I'm going to catch up on my favorite blogger. After all... if questioned by the authorities I can confidently say I am doing "market research." I often wonder what disgruntled employees used to pass those last couple of hours when the internet was just a dim lightbulb in the mind of our former Vice President. Regardless of what non related work activity the employee chooses to take on, this mental disengagement from one's work has long wreaked havock on productivity... or has it?

Here is an article on the direction our country is heading in regards to attention span. Do you think there's a coorelation? Are employers expecting too much out of their employees requiring 8 hour days with an hour lunch break, or are those who mentally check out early from time to time slackers who have a misplaced view of entitlement?

The Employee Without A Face

2007-03-23T15:41:00.001-06:00

Conference calls, email blasts, web based training, instant messenger, virtual conferences and job fair, etc, etc. All these technological advances have removed human faces from normal business practices and increased our dependency on little black boxes with buttons. In a world where instant messaging the coworker in the cube next to you isn’t considered lazy I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what these “advances” have done to corporate America.

At a previous company I worked for the recruiters and sales people were spread out in three cities of the state and their working relationship paralleled the symbiosis of a tank full of betas. Lot's of finger pointing, rounds and rounds of the blame game, and of course the bi-weekly conference call that was about as team oriented as a game of tether ball. I am sure there are conflicting roles like this in every industry so I hope you all can identify regardless of if you have experience staffing.

The best thing that company did was get us all together in the same city for a two day "training." Of course I couldn’t tell you one thing I learned about technology terms (I take that back, I remember learning the term Meta Data) in that training class. I could however, tell you where the sales person on the Halliburton account went to college, or how many kids the sales person on the Exxon Mobile account had. That two day interaction did wonders for the cohesiveness of our team because it forced us to see these people as humans and not irritating stumbling blocks to our professional successes. When I would grow frustrated instead of immediately assuming I was right, I would try to see things from their perspective and guess what… I would realize my own inadequacies.

As cost effective and time effective it may seem to keep people on opposite ends of the country and have them communicate by phone and computer, there is a lot to be said for face to face interaction. People become people instead of voices and words so we treat them as such. Obviously I can't come up with a solution that fits every companys time and budget contraints to allow for human contact, but I can give a little advice to my readers. Candidates... if you come across a company who is dedicated to investing in avenues for face to face team building count it as a tremendous asset. I encourage you to expose their team building activities and strategies in the interview process. Technology has certainly done wonders for corporations travel budgets, but I would hope they take some of that savings and invest in team building. I can say without reservation their employee retention will be better for it.

Duct Tape and a Swiss Army Knife

2007-03-20T09:05:00.000-06:00

I recently read an article where the author compared proponents of education to MacGyver and I must say, I like that analogy. There are a handful of professions that come to mind when I think of a skill set that relies heavily on resourcefulness. Being creative with the tools you are given in a job is the mark of a driven employee, and I truly believe if you find the appropriate driving factor and exploit it, you can get most employees to work their tails off thinking outside the box in order to succeed.

For MacGyver of course, the constant life and death circumstances more than likely triggered his inner craftiness. For educators, the motivation is to insure the success of our children and in turn the success of our nation. Many smaller companies realize early on innovation and creativity generally leads to growth so they incorporate games and competition in the day to day activities to motivate resourcefulness.

For all the job seekers out there I would encourage you to think long and hard about what exactly drives you. Is it money? A worthy cause? Fear of failure? Competition? I think once you come to this realization and then align yourself with an organization, company, or job that could potentially cultivate this drive then you my friend might just find yourself creating success out of very little on a regular basis.

If all this sounds incredibly miserable to you and instead you would rather model your life after the popular Dolly Pardon hit, more power to you! Every hero loves a good audience. After all, where would MacGyver be without the viewers who kept it around for seven seasons?

Serve or Receive?

2007-02-15T14:16:00.000-06:00

M or W? P or D? As your opponent's tennis racket spins at your feet the next question is one you hope you get to answer... Serve or Receive? If you are familiar with tennis this line of questioning is all too familiar. If you are lost at this point, I will attempt to clear it up by pointing out that in tennis, players are able to dictate who serves first by spinning a racket (sort of like a coin toss) and the winner is left with the decision of serve or receive the first game. It was pounded in my head at an early age by my tennis coach that you ALWAYS choose serve because you are able to set a confident and dominate precedent early. Of course she followed up this lesson with a 45 minute intensive serving drill which allowed my skills the ability to back up my self-assured proclamation of "SERVE."

Is it always better to be in the driver's seat of our professional life, or at some point is it okay to sit back, survey, and play a little defense? I'll give an example of each and hope to get some feedback on this one. I am not so sure my opinion is formed quite yet...

Carl Candidate arrives to a final interview anxious to talk turkey about his compensation. Carl's approach to salary negotiations has been worn by the waters of experience and of course the online article he read just before he left for the interview. All signs point to patience and strategic placement of his volley back across the table. Wait for their offer and counter if need be. By the way, Carl's manhood would be questioned at this point by my tennis coach followed by his quick assignment to ball boy for the remainder of the practice.

A very important man shows up in a very important looking suit at a very important client site to pitch a very important deal. Let's just call him VP of VIT (Very Important Things for the slow learners). So our aggressive and confident VP begins his pitch on the in's and out's of his company and what they have to offer the client. He does such a tremendous job of researching the client and selling his resources the client cannot help but envision their union. No questions or patience, but an all out arsenal of intellect, research, and propositions. VP of VIT would be leading drills at tennis practice and nailing Carl with tennis balls when he wasn't looking.

The reality of it is though is Carl probably landed the job, and probably was content with the salary he got. Although, Carl may have been able to demand a higher salary had he staked his six figure claim early.

If the VP went in and asked question and dug deep into the pain point of the clients perhaps he could have better suited their needs. On the other hand, the VP may have realized from answers of his clients he was not the best suited company for the job and may have tried to close to deal anyway (face it, he's human) resulting in over promising.

I think with tennis, if you can gain the mental edge of confidence early on and follow it up with a high powered serve that rocks your opponent back on their heels, the point and more than likely the game, is yours. The match however, is not. It seems to me, our professional life parallels. There are times when aggression will win you the deal, but often times we don't find contentment and consistent success in our jobs until we grow to love both serving and receiving.

As far as Coach Beckham is concerned however, always SERVE first.

You Are What You Do...

2007-01-25T11:33:00.000-06:00

If you believe this then I would encourage you to visit everyone's favorite job board. Monster came up with quite the tool to identify your career personality, and then of course conveniently links the results to their current job openings. Smart folks... I like it. Here are my results if you were interested:

Life as an INFJ (Intravert, Intuitive, Feeler, Judger)

People of this type tend to be creative, original and independent; thoughtful, warm and sensitive; global thinkers with great passion for their unique vision; cautious, deliberate and planful; organized, productive and decisive; reserved and polite. The most important things to INFJs are their ideas, and being faithful to their vision.

Great careers for INFJs

Special education teacher
Alcohol and drug addiction counselor
Universal design architect
Holistic health practitioner
Diversity manager / trainer
Speech / language pathologist
Career counselor
Therapist
Director of religious education
Editor / art director
Writer

Hungry Hungry Hippos

2007-01-22T09:54:00.000-06:00

At 10 years old, a visit was not complete to my childhood best friend's house without a greed-driven game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. We would perch on the floor behind our favorite colored hippo and pound the lever until all the white marbles were resting safely in the bellies of our beloved warrior. The tallying of the marbles began immediately to crown the triumphant hippo and the options were win, lose, or more often than not because of an even number of marbles... a tie. Ties were optimal because it meant no hurt feelings.

The image of those gobbling hippos enters my head when I find myself in the middle of negotiations between candidates and companies. Each party begins devouring with the mentality of feast or famine and unlike the board game, rarely does it end in a tie.

At the drop of the last marble companies open wide and attempt to consume as many negotiation points as possible leaving the candidate feeling like a pawn all the name of risk avoidance. This works when the market is saturated and the candidates are desperate, but when there is demand for their services these candidates continue to consider other options at places where they are not treated like commodities but rather an integral piece to a companies overall strategy. When offer time comes companies are naively surprised to find the candidate is no longer available because they found a company that valued, not exploited their experience.

There are also candidates out there dead set on leaving the recruiting table having to undo a notch in their belt to accommodate all their marbles. Companies offer a more than fair salary, excellent benefits, are reasonably accommodating and still it's not enough. They need MORE time to THINK about it. It's enough to make you want to draft your own Jerry Maguire mission statement. These candidates are able to do this now, but the market will more than likely change and they will find themselves with a slightly smaller mouth than they used to have. My advice to them is not not burn bridges while you still have the upper hand.

So how does a society raised on games like Hungry Hungry Hippo's transition into the CarMax version of a win-win when it comes to the hiring process? Is it feasible for a company and a candidate to tie? It may not be, however I think it should be the goal.

My humble advice to companies... if a candidate matches what you are looking for, do what it takes to bring them on board as soon as they are available to start at their requested salary if in range. It will show the candidate they impress you enough to act fast. It will also free up your recruiting resources to work on requisitions in the early stages that need maximum attention.
And candidates... try to avoid stretching out your decision period by nickle and diming in the hopes something better may surface. If you like the company, pull the trigger. It will show the company your strong decision making ability and perhaps allow the recruiter you are working with to sleep a little better that night.

Putting the Resolute in Resolution

2007-01-02T10:18:00.000-06:00

I love root words and more specifically root word origins. They force us to relinquish the mentality of arrogance Americans so easily fall into because of our current position in this world and realize we are but a young country who has formed a language around the words of those who have spoken before us. I am not a big events history person, but I find myself mentally devouring the words of speakers who dissect the literature and writings of historical authors. At the end of the talks or sermons my index and middle finger are cramped from my attempt to capture all I can, much like a child licking clean their fingers after a bag of Cheetos. So many "Ah ha!" moments of mine have come after dissecting a word and drawing conclusions from context of the origin of the work. As 2006 came to a close I found myself obsessed with the word "resolution" because of it's frequent use this time of year. I wondered if people knew what they were saying so I researched and well, I hope you have an "Ah ha!" moment because of it.

You cannot say or read the root word of resolution without thinking immediately of someone or something that is flat out immovable. A resolute person in the business world embraces a company's strategy and stays the course because of a firm belief in it's goals and objectives. There's honor and character associated with this trait. It inhabited no doubt our fore father's who founded this great nation which is why we struggle with the arrogance I spoke of earlier. These guys believed and sunk in their pilgrim buckle shoes and we are a free and democratic nation because of it. So then why is it that if we associate resolute with words like firm, steadfast, and fixed, you discover it's Latin origin (resolvere) means to relax and untie? I think it's because in order to be resolute on anything it is smart to first untie and analyze our thought processes before we take a stand on anything.

For many of you your resolution this year is to find another job. You feel under-appreciated and not utilized. You are not passionate about what you do. You salary is not the amount you believe you deserve. Based on these and many more cons on your pro/con list of what do to you have decided to MOVE on and are resolute in doing so. I encourage you before you begin to update your resume first untie the messy knots of your current situation and get to the heart of what is bothering you. If you are going to take a stand, don't do it half way and just because you are frustrated. I assure you before any successful leader did anything worth while they took some time to resolve before they became resolute. If you skip this step you have cheated the word resolution out of it's meaning and cheated yourself out of being successful.

That was fun!

Tagged

2006-12-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

5 things you probably don't know about me...

1)I got B's in my English classes in college. I'm not great at organized writing!

2)I drive a golf ball an average of 220 yards usually fairly straight.

3)I was born at home... intentionally.

4)I hope to write a book someday which more than likely will have a spiritual focus. If it doesn't I have sold out.

5)I grew up on a dairy farm in a town with a population of less than 2000... people, not cows.

Just Say No

2006-12-12T09:35:00.000-06:00

This word has long been in the minds and vocabulary of human beings. To many parents it seems to be the only word their two year old knows. It is the response we are taught as children to have when confronted with illegal and damaging behavior. Teenage boys fear it because of its potentially tight hold on their romantic confidence. It is the enemy of the people pleaser and the friend of the prudent. In a world of grey hues and fence riders it is one of the last remaining concretes that allows us to take a stand verbally. It takes our hand and leads us through every stage of our lives, yet many businesses are releasing it's grasp and clinging instead to the hand of the "yes man."

In my short and incredibly humble time as a contributer to society I have noticed this trend with many companies who are in growth mode either as a company or regionally. They are so desperate for business they take on unrealistic or unclear projects the client throws their way in an attempt to gain market share or professional respectability. If the contributors are not able to deliver however, the opposite unfortunately occurs. Time and resources are spent and after weeks of spinning and churning the product is frustrated contributors and an unhappy client. Had Mr/Ms Salesperson declined the project and continued to dig for more feasible opportunities would the company have been better off?

Let me be clear. My stand is not to look adversity in the face and quickly retreat. The '66 UTEP Miners and the '80 USA Hockey Team were both historical proof that perserverence through seemingly impossible circumstance can end in victory for the under dog. The imperative aspect however is those two teams had a definite time line of either success or failure. When the buzzer sounded they were either winners or losers. Time outs, half time, and periods were their opportunities to make adjustments.

Perhaps time limits and intermissions are the answer to the difficult decision of whether or not to take an opportunity on. Have the contributors give it their best for a set amount of time with an intermission half way through to reevaluate and if they do not deliver to the client's specifications when the time clock expires simply walk. Of course this theory is incredibly simplistic and naive. After all the fault could be in the contributors and I acknowledge that. However, if you find yourself with a team of contributors you trust and no results for the client, take it from Nancy Reagan and "Just Say No." If you have the killer instinct in you and want to swing for the fences atleast put a time line on it. After all, even baseball sends you back to the bench after three strikes.

A Quick Lesson in Egocentrism

2006-11-30T13:38:00.000-06:00

I have the same knee jerk thought upon hearing of one of my fellow humans doing or saying something that is down right inappropriate. "Tonight we've arrested two suspects in the burglery of an 80 year old woman," or "Breaking news... police are asking for tips on what seems to be a car jacking of the local meals on wheels van." I am not sure what you are thinking after reading those two headlines, but my thoughts don't immediately go out to the victim, but rather the mom of the perp. Unless she's Ma Beagle she's dissapointed, crushed and wondering where she went wrong. Instead of her kiddo thinking of the consequences of his decision on the lives of other's, his mind was missile locked on his own selfish desires. This mentality transcends illegal behaviour and often times rests comfortably in the minds of many job seekers and employers. I will give you an example of both just to be fair.

It's decision time and you have two companies after you. After careful consideration you decide on Company A because of its onsite gym facilities knowing good and well you will more than likely never set foot in there. Instead of contacting Company B to tell them of your decision to "bulk up" you proceed to screen the company's call. You get that dip in your stomach when you see the familiar number and instead of taking it like a (insert gender) you SCREEN it. Of course time will erase that sinking in your stomach mostly because the company will stop calling, but I assure you, there's a dissapointed recruiter who is blaming themself and it could have been avoided had you owned up to your decision.

Fresh from a meeting with the heads of your departments you sit down to an email from a persistent candidate who desperately wants to know their status. You just had the VP of Finance tell you straight up they were no longer being considered because of their lack of experience but you hesitate to respond. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news so you wait days to respond an avoid the difficulty of telling someone no. What you may not realize is every day you wait is another day this financial analyst is picking apart every comment and conclusion they made in the interview. It's also feasible they are following the behavior of the candidate in the above scenario and screening the calls of less desirable Company B because they are waiting to hear from you.

Kind of like the old chicken and the egg delima. Who tipped the first dominoe in the bad communication train... the recruiter or the candidate? Finger pointing obviously gets people no where so the solution I believe is to simply act in a manner that would make your momma proud. Candidates, if you have an interview scheduled, don't cancel the day of. I am an avid believer in not slamming doors before you atleast walk through the threshold and an even bigger believer in being an individual of your word. Companies, follow Midas's favorite rule and treat these candidate appropriately. Perhaps if everyone considered the time and feelings of all parties potentially effected the whole recruiting process might be just a little more productive. Well that's my sappy idea anyway...

Pop-A-Shot

2006-11-15T09:39:00.000-06:00

BY FAR my favorite game at the arcade is pop a shot. The adrenaline of racing the clock, the challenge of a constantly moving rim and backboard, the feeling of accomplishment when tickets pour out of the machine, or the competitive nature in me that erupts when I get only a couple of tickets and quickly anty up for the next go. It's ironic that this scenario is appealing to me, yet I am completely deflated in a work environment when I encounter a task that is a moving target.

Employees face this challenge in every industry. IT project managers who work tirelessly to get a team cohesive and briefed and BAM "Mr/Ms PM, we have reevaluated and it's in our best interested to dissolve your team and go another way" or the Advertising Exec who pours their heart and soul into a campaign only to have it squashed at the last minute. After writing those two scenarios I am immediately mad for these fictional characters and have already have thoughts of what I would say in that situation. But why? Is it this so different than pop a shot? Why don't I immediately think "I can't wait to go back to the the drawing board and anty up my resources and knowledge and see if I can't win them over!"

I think it all lies in expectations. I know what is about to happen when I step up with a tiny rubber basketball in my hands and wait for the countdown to expire before I start firing. In work for some reason we have this unrealistic expectation that people are going to have ideas and opinions and keep them... FOREVER. It's like asking a child what they want in line at McDonalds and getting frustrated because at first they wanted the hamburger, but now it's chicken nuggets, but right before you order they scream "ice cream." Now granted in that situation I would not set myself up for frustration by asking a child's opinion, but in the work environment we don't have that luxury. We are forced to listen and adapt to the higher ups if we want to remain employed. There is of course the option of "chunking it all and starting your own think tank."

My advice to myself and of course any of you reading that share my frustration is to alter your expectations a bit. Acknowledge people and situations change and make your success about the experience and not necessarily the end result. After all more than likely I go back to pop a shot not because I win, but because I like basketball.

Innotech

2006-11-02T15:39:00.000-06:00

I spent the good part of yesterday at Innotech here in Austin as an attendee and have great things to report on my end. I thoroughly enjoyed my first session from Ciber on implementing SOA geared toward CEO's and executives. I scanned the room and realized I was probably the only person listening who could sing the lyrics to an entire N'Sync song. Originally I attended for the sole purpose of honoring my registration with them, for a free pass to the conference, but obligation definitely turned into a great learning opportunity.

The speaker, Dr. Khalid Mansour, did a wonderful job of presenting and certainly said a handful of things that added significantly to my understanding of Service Oriented Architecture. What struck a chord with me however wasn't his explanation of coupling, or reuse, or the importance of data, but rather his sidebar on the importance of a cohesive team during every phase from planning the roadmap to implementing the best practices. I got excited because that is precisely where I come in and have the potential to make a contribution to a service that is proven to add significant value to a business.

There was a time when I had the naive misconception that recruiting was a matter of matching skill sets to a well written job description. There are definitely industries that support this emphasis on sourcing, but as Dr. Mansour stated, successful SOA project aren't solely about finding candidates who know the language, database, or middleware the project requires. What is the stick in the spokes of this cut and dry method you ask? I would argue complacency. There is a world full of really smart people who simply walk around going through the motions without a passion or pursuit in the world. These candidates are excellent fits for certain positions that rely heavily on consistency and predictability, but from what I have gathered, that isn't the nature of SOA projects.

I think where the harmony comes is when each teammate respects the fervor of the person sitting next to them. They may not agree 100%, but they know their colleague has given serious consideration to what is coming out of their mouth, so odds are they're going to listen and respond back with equally thought provoking material. I definitely am still learning tips on determining early on who these people are by the questions I ask. Ideally I would love to get to the point where I can have a conversation with a candidate who may not be a perfect fit for the requirement I am working on, but can consistently direct them to companies, industries, and teams where they will thrive. In the mean time, I look forward to any insight into what I can do now to lay the ground work to get there.

Calling All Thought Leaders

2006-10-31T16:18:00.000-06:00

I was giving heavy consideration this weekend to if I could step forward leaving a world full of slackers and sheep behind to answer the call of thought leadership. I am not referring simply to thoughts in general or extensive knowledge for that matter. If this were the case I would quickly make my way to the front if the topic for discussion were College Football, Gilmore Girls, or Jane Austin novels. As I mentioned however trivia buffs need not apply to this one because knowledge is meerly the first step in forward thinking.

This is the world I have found myself in as a technical recruiter for a provider of Service Oriented Enterprise consulting. Our practice managers have set the bar at gurus and evangelists and show no signs of adjusting the limbo poll. It gets really interesting when they add on a side of 75% travel, coupled with excellent communication, and spoon on some humility for good measure. Humble thought leader? I am checking now if Webster gives that phrase as an example under the over used word "oxymoron." I can confirm they don't.

So are these managers being unrealistic? I used to think so, but I have found some pretty close contenders. Service Oriented Architecture is doing amazing things to bridge the gap between business and technology services, but where I get excited is realizing the impact it is making on business and technology CANDIDATES. No longer are MBA's concerned solely with dollar signs and profitability and developers and architects are now right in the middle of a heated discussion concerning bugets and profitability. Hopefull this means there are less boardroom duals where 20 paces and two drawn pistols are what seperates business and technology from productivity. But how did we get here you ask?

I have thought quite a bit about what it was that caused these individuals to break out of their molds that college degrees had long cast. Perhaps Big Bang... or what some like to call the .com bust. Did the techies realize they needed to start placing eggs in other baskets in order to support their families and their new acquired expensive taste? What about the business and financial analysts? What got them to cross the boundaries of supply and demand into the unknown of C++ and Java? I have no idea. You tell me! I suppose that's what a blog is for.

Bottom Line... candidates continue to amaze and impress me. More amazing than anything are the number of candidates who give themselves a 10 out of possible 10 for SOA during my phone screens. I never realized there were so many "Fathers of SOA." For those of you who I have screened and are reading my blog wondering if you rated yourself 10, don't worry I more than likely gave you a 9 regardless of what you said to help your chances... that is if I liked you. In all seriousness I am encouraged by the quality of candidate I am seeing and look forward to the continued evolution of the IT candidate.

By the way if you're interested in applying for a job with MomentumSI we simply ask that you prove your membership in Mensa as well as provide us with a tape of your appearance on Jeopardy (don't bother unless you were atleast runner up).