Thursday, July 28, 2011

Good Night America...

In light of the events going on in Washington....may I refer you to my blog entries dated December 4, 2010 and February 19, 2011.

Before you go to bed tonight, hit your knees and say a prayer for our nation.

Good Night America....Sweet Dreams

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Under Pressure

“Life at the Top: Rank and Stress in Wild Male Baboons,” published in the July 15 issue of the journal Science, found that in wild baboon populations, the highest-ranking, or alpha, males have higher stress-hormone levels than the highly ranked males below them, known as beta males — even during periods of stability. The study was led by a Princeton University professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, Jeanne Altmann.
The findings have implications in the study of social hierarchies and of the impact of social dominance on health and well-being, according to a statement released by Princeton.
Princeton researchers worked with researchers at Duke University, the University of Nairobi and the Institute of Primate Research in Kenya, Altmann said.
The stress, researchers suggested, was probably due to the demands of fighting off challengers and guarding access to fertile females. Beta males, who fought less and had considerably less mate-guarding to do, had much lower stress levels.
“We’ve known for decades that alpha males have an advantage in reproduction, but these results show that life at the top has a real downside, and that being an alpha male comes at a real cost,” said study co-author and Duke University biology professor Susan Alberts.
So how much application does this study have for humans? In my opinion, it all depends on the human and the situation. We know that NOT having control or NOT having the necessary resources for that “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” thing is very stressful. So being at the “bottom” has plenty of stress. Now we’re told that being at the top has more stress than being farther down the ladder. In general, that’s probably true. Being a “highly ranked” person just below the top is indeed sometimes the best place to be.

But is stress really all that bad? Again it depends. For those at the “top”, stress comes with a lot of perks. Power, status, control, money…it’s good to be the king. For those at the bottom, stress is literally about survival. Survival stress is really what the baboon’s stress is all about. The fact that the Beta baboons have less stress than the Alpha baboons may just be because the Betas are too stupid to realize that their survival is also at risk.

It comes down to this. The more you have to fight for survival the higher the stress. Stress is nature’s way of telling you to get off your ass and do something before a big and hungry Alpha-type has you for dinner. If you’re lucky enough to have one of those Alpha-types around for protection, go ahead and be a Beta. Perhaps the Betas, like the meek, shall one day inherit the earth. In the meantime, I’m betting that the stressed out Alphas will own the land and the mineral rights.

Friday, July 15, 2011

What Was Said, What Was Heard...Part 3

Well, we skipped a week. I spent my blog time planning a trip to the mountains. Need a break from 100+ degree weather. This is getting ridiculous.

So on to Part 3 of What Was Said, What Was Heard. This time the Headhunter speaks and the candidate listens. What Was Heard often depends on the Candidate’s outlook? Is it one of sunny optimism or dark pessimism?

What the Headhunter said:
“We are waiting on the client to give us interview times”
What the Optimist heard:
“We’ll have interviews nailed down in a day or two.”
What the Pessimist heard:
“Don’t hold your breath waiting for an interview.”

What the Headhunter said:
“In addition to a competitive salary the position also offers a great bonus plan.”
What the Optimist heard:
“It’s a great paying job.”
What the Pessimist heard:
“The salary is low and once in a blue moon you might get a bonus check.”

What the Headhunter said:
“The company will assist with relocation. That will be part of the negotiation.”
What the Optimist heard:
“Company paid relo. Woo-hoo”.
What the Pessimist heard:
“Hello U-haul”.

What the Headhunter said:
“There have been several people in this position in recent years. But the company now acknowledges that they didn’t reach for the right level of talent and experience. They are upping the ante and want someone like you.”
What the Optimist heard:
“This is a great opportunity.”
What the Pessimist heard:
“This job is a career killer. You are being hired to be fired.”

What the Headhunter said:
“Your chances of being hired for a job like this are one in a billion.”
What the Optimist heard:
“So you saying there is at least a chance that I’ll get the job?”
What the Pessimist heard:
“Finally, an honest answer from a Headhunter”.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

What Was Said, What Was Heard...Part 2

When the Candidate speaks, what does the Headhunter hear? Well that depends a lot on the headhunter. This week, we’ll consider what the Rookie Headhunter hears in comparison to the Old Veteran Headhunter. These are only slightly exaggerated.


What the Candidate said:
“I’m making around 100”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I’m making 100”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I’m making less than 100, actually a lot less and I like to add my bonus potential (not actual bonus earned) into my compensation since I really think I’m worth at least 100”.

What the Candidate said:
“I just decided it was time for a change.”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I’ve really evaluated my situation and decided that working with a search professional like you is the best way to advance in my career.”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I quit before I got fired”

What the Candidate said:
“I went to State U”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I graduated from State U”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I went to State U for a couple of semesters, partied, ran out of money, had to get a job and dropped out.”


What the Candidate said:
“My company does not make counter offers and I don’t see myself accepting one if they did. Once I accept a new job, that’s it”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“No way I’m taking a counter offer.”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“If my company surprises me with a counter-offer, I’ll consider it.”

What the Candidate said:
“I don’t include the month with dates of employment on my resume because I don’t recall the exact months on some of my old jobs”.
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I honestly don’t remember the exact months I was employed with XYZ company back in the 90’s”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I’ve got some significant gaps in my employment and it’s easier to cover them up if I just use years without months.”

What the Candidate said:
“I’m just not comfortable having you contact references.”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I’m concerned about confidentiality and nervous about you speaking with any of my references.”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I really don’t have any legitimate references who could verify the BS I have on my resume”.

What the Candidate said:
“I’ve only sent my resume to one or two other search firms and responded to a few job postings.”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I’m haven’t gone very far in my search efforts.”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I’ve blasted my resume out to dozens of search firms, it’s posted on multiple job boards and I’ve responded to virtually every job posting for which I am remotely qualified. It will be a freakin’ miracle if you have a client who doesn’t already have my resume.”

What the Candidate said:
“I have dotted line responsibility over several departments and functions.”
What the Rookie Headhunter heard:
“I have a lot of responsibility”
What the Old Veteran Headhunter heard:
“I’m a staff person.”

Next week we’ll flip it around. The Headhunter we’ll speak and the candidates will hear. We’ll see what the optimistic candidate hears in comparison to the pessimistic candidate.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

What Was Said, What Was Heard...

The following is from a recent article by Robyn Greenspan. Robyn is the Editor-in-Chief at ExecuNet, the leading business network for senior executives, where she is responsible for setting and driving the editorial content strategy across ExecuNet's online and offline publications and webinar programming. She also writes and produces the company's widely cited and highly recognized research project, the annual Executive Job Market Intelligence Report:
________________________________________________________________________________

Things are not always as they seem, and the same can sometimes be true on job interviews.
My colleague Laura Magnuson, who works closely with our recruiter members, and I were recently talking about the typical phrases said at job interviews and what might have been heard. Hope you find a few laughs ahead and nothing that hits too close to home.

Candidate to Interviewer:

What was said: I'm a very fast learner.
What was heard: I don’t have the experience you're looking for.

What was said: I would change positions for the right opportunity.
What was heard: Make me an offer.

What was said: I've been an independent business consultant for the past two years.
What was heard: I’ve been out of work for two years.

What was said: I'd rather not talk about salary yet.
What was heard: I’m hoping you make me an offer before I have to disclose my low salary.

What was said: I left my last position because I wasn't being challenged enough.
What was heard: My last company didn’t trust me with the higher level responsibilities.

What was said: I'll get back to you with the names and contact information for my references.
What was heard: I have to call around first and tell people what I want them to say.

What was said: My leadership style is very honest and very direct.
What was heard: I' m abrasive, have no tact and don't get along well with people.

What was said: I'm a perfectionist and very detail-oriented.
What was heard: I'm a micromanager and don’t trust anyone on my team.

Interviewer to Candidate:

What was said: This is a very hands-on position.
What was heard: You'll have limited resources and be expected to do things that are beneath you.

What was said: You have an extensive work history and are highly overqualified.
What was heard: We're looking for someone younger and less expensive.

What was said: Thank you for coming in today; we have a few more people to see and then we'll get back to you.
What was heard: You won't hear from us again.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll add some of my “What Was Said, What Was Heard” personal favorites….only these exchanges will be between the Candidate and the Headhunter or the Hiring Authority and the Headhunter.

For example:

Candidate to Headhunter:
What was said: I might be willing to consider relocation for just the right situation.
What was heard: I’ll move if there’s enough money to offset my spouse giving up their job and I can afford to put my kids in private school.

Hiring Authority to Headhunter:
What was said: We have interviewed a number of people for this position but just haven’t found the right fit. So we thought it was time to utilize your services. You guys are the pros.
What was heard: My boss won’t let me hire anyone unless they are the perfect fit and are willing to work cheap. Now I'm using you to show my boss that I've actually interviewed really good candidates and we just need to offer a better compensation package in order to hire one of them. I think you contingency fee recruiters are suckers.

More to come next week….

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Living on The Edge

Livin' On the Edge
You can't help yourself from fallin'
Livin' On the Edge
You can't help yourself at all
-Aerosmith

Congressman Anthony Weiner now takes his place in the line up of Dumb and Dumber public figures. I never liked the guy or his politics, but I sort of feel sorry for him. Not as sorry as I feel for his pregnant wife, the rest of her family, his family, all of their friends and his constituents.

But back to Weiner, the man. Why feel sorry for him? If you’ve ever been drawn to the dark side, if you’ve ever tasted the forbidden fruit, if you’ve ever been to “The Edge”; then you know why I feel sorry for him. Maybe you got caught, maybe not. But he definitely got caught and in front of the whole wide world. I’ve never tweeted my weiner or weinered my tweet; but I’ve done things for which I am very ashamed. Why did I do them? In some cases, I rationalized that my behavior really wasn’t all that bad. At other times, I knew it was bad but did it anyway. As the Aerosmith song says “You can’t help yourself from fallin” …. “You can’t help yourself at all”.

The Apostle Paul says essentially the same thing in his letter to the Romans:
Ch 7, Verse 19 - “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Paul goes on to talk about deliverance and salvation, but I remain haunted by his words…”the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing”. The battle is real. All religions speak to this issue, the struggle between Good and Evil, the Light and the Darkness.

So what are we to make of all this? For every politician or celebrity who publicly falls over “The Edge”, there are thousands of everyday Joes and Janes who do likewise. In some cases the results are badly damaged relationships that ultimately heal but never fully recover. In others, the results are broken families and children who grow up living on “The Edge”. Living on “The Edge” can lead to disease, crippling injury, imprisonment and death. And no one lives on “The Edge” alone, even though they may die there alone. Actions have consequences and there is always collateral damage.

The answer is painfully simple, but too many of us never learn it or learn it too late. Stay away from “The Edge”. “The Edge” is where you hear the Sirens’ songs, you think all things are possible and you feel invincible. “The Edge” is where lies become truth, it's always someone else's fault, you deserve to be happy and there are no absolutes. “The Edge” is where you ultimately get permission to launch and the final invitation to fall. Stay away from the “The Edge”. Just ask Anthony Weiner.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Uber Recruiting

First of all, my apologies for not putting the two little dots over the U in Uber. It’s too much trouble. If you haven’t picked up on it, Uber (OOO-burr), is the cool German word all the cool people are using (or at least was the cool word until someone like Donald Trump or one of the House Wives of New York used it.) So it’s probably not cool anymore, but since I’m an old redneck Texan, I don’t care. I like it. And Click is actually a German surname (Gluck or Glueck in the old country), so I get to use Uber if I want to. And besides, how many cool German words are there?

With today’s technology it’s easy to be a Recruiter. So there are a lot of recruiters out there. But most of them are Durchschnitt, few of them are Uber. Let’s take a look at a few things which separates the Uber Recruiter from the Durchschnitt Recruiter…the Super Recruiter from the Average Recruiter.

Durchschnitts cast a wide net for jobs and candidates. Ubers focus on their special areas of expertise when it comes to accepting jobs and candidates.

Durchschnitts know how to find prospective candidates. Ubers know how to evaluate and determine if candidates are a good match for the position.

Durchschnitts sell candidates on the opportunity and then sell the hiring authority on the candidate. Ubers tell candidates the good and the bad about the opportunity and are even willing to recommend that a candidate withdraw from consideration. Ubers are willing to speak the hard truth to candidates and hiring authorities even if it cost them a placement.

Durchschnitts only spend time with candidates and companies who can be of value to them immediately. Ubers invest their time in developing long term relationships.

Durchschnitts believe that if you throw enough s--- on the wall some of it will stick. Ubers believe that you just end up with a wall of s---.

Some Durchschnitts MAKE a lot of money. Most Ubers EARN a lot of money.

Durchschnitts think about making the NEXT placement. Ubers think about making the RIGHT placement.

So whether you are a candidate or a hiring authority you have a choice to make when it comes to working with a recruiter…..Durchschnitts or Ubers?