My Favorite Posts
Filed under: Cool Tool Alert, Networking/Social Media, Recruiting, Research
site:myspace.com keyword keyword keyword
What this did was bring up MySpace profiles of folks with the keywords I specified somewhere in their profile. I was amazed at the results I got. One of the keywords I used was “AIM” so that I would find a method of contact for these people. The reason I am writing this is because I got two completely different reactions from those I reached out to – one of total suspicion, and the other of real curiosity. In each instance, I introduced myself, my company, provided information for them to verify my credentials, and told them what my purpose was in contacting them. Here are two examples:
Suspect: this individual used the word “creepy” when I told him how I’d found him. He told me “Well, I have no idea who you are, and I could not possible take you seriously what so ever.” Even though he chatted briefly with me about a college co-op program he was in and about some political things, he obviously was suspicious of my sourcing method and told me that he “wouldn’t recommend going down this path.” I ended our conversation by letting him know that I would not contact him again, and wished him good luck in his co-op.
Curious: this person was a little sketchy at first, asking me if I was a spammer, but remained intrigued by encouraging me to “go on” with what I was asking. He said “what the heck” in response when I told him I’d found a way to contact him and thought what the heck? At the end he was asking what he needed to do to be considered for the opportunity, and I asked him for his email address and told him the name of the person I would be passing it to. That recruiter has since reached out to this individual and I’d love to see a placement come out of this.
Here’s the issue: where does one draw the line on privacy? Both of these individuals had put contact information on their accounts. (incidentally, I have my AIM name on our company MySpace account for people to freely reach out to me). Also, how would this be any different from sending an email to someone who listed it on their profile or on their webpage?
If you put your AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ, etc. screen name on a public profile, it would seem like you would welcome someone to contact you. Now, someone who abuses this and sends messages requesting dirty webcam sessions or assistance in moving money from foreign accounts, that’s not right. But in my case, I presented myself, gave my contact information and profiles for verification, and stated my purpose immediately.
Disclaimer: check with legal department to know if this would apply to the SPIM/spam laws
A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by Recruiter Life Magazine, inquiring about an interview with them. I of course jumped at the opportunity and returned the message, only to find out that they did not want to interview me; they wanted me to host a radio show on their website! I said YES – and the Research Goddess podcast on Recruiter Life Magazine will be going live in about a week. The interviews will center around research topics – how research benefits a recruiting office, techniques, advice, and I am looking forward to having some of the brightest minds in research as guests. Please tune in when the shows go live! I will be posting the links as soon as they are available, but I wanted to make this announcement so you can keep your eye out for this. I am obviously excited about this opportunity and looking forward to learning a lot from the experience!
Filed under: Uncategorized
…you reach this.
Filed under: Thoughts
…because you may not understand the ripple effect it will have on others around you! Dave, thanks for your posting on this topic. Ever since it passed here in Ohio, I’ve been waiting to see the fallout from this short-sighted decision. Check out the original article that Dave linked to here.
What lots of people may not realize is that in raising the minimum wage, you’re actually jeopardizing the employment status of those to whom the new min wage will go. I am not claiming to be an expert at this by any means, but any intelligent person can follow trends. Check this out:
Cincinnati has a lot of industrial manufacturing companies. For those who are unfamiliar with AK Steel, they have had a lock-out of their union workers since February of last year. I don’t know the specifics of the contract terms, but one of the inclusions was an increase in wage. Now, making more money is something we’d all like to do. Anyone who says otherwise is a big fat liar. But think about this: just simply increasing minimum wages is going to have a tremendous effect on every aspect of that business, including its workers and customers, not to mention the community impact which is already being felt.
Increasing minimum wage will drive up the cost of production. This in turn will force the company (which exists to make a profit and NOT to take care of its employees (YOU), regardless of what you may think!!!) to increase the cost of its product in order to cover overhead costs while maintaining profitability. This would probably occur regardless of marketplace demand. With the delicate balance of supply/demand tipped due to the increased cost of production, demand will most likely go down. Guess what happens next? Not as much product is needed and bought in the marketplace, which in turn causes LESS product to be produced by the company, which ultimately leads to decreased need of manpower and reduction of the workforce. Less raises, less hires, more layoffs, and guess what? More expensive products. This virtually cancels out the nickels and dimes that came from raising the minimum wage, because the people can no longer afford the products, or perhaps don’t even have an income now due to layoffs.
Look, I’m not writing this to offer up a solution. What’s done is done; the “people” have spoken. And I won’t even pretend to be some political or economic expert because I’m far from it. All I can do is offer up my personal thoughts on this issue. I personally do not work for minimum wage, though I did when I first entered the workforce. I can’t put myself in the place of someone today who is trying to support a family on minimum wage. But please, think about what you want before you ask for it. The long term implications might far outweigh the short-term fix.
Folks, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Somewhere along the way, someone’s got to foot the bill for everything. And you know who that someone is going to be in this case?
YOU.
Filed under: Research
Being a young kind in the ’80s, I remember reading a bunch of books from the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series. For anyone who doesn’t know what these books are, they are stories written in second person where, at key points in the plot, you pick what action you would like to take, and that changes the course of the story. Example: after an introduction to the story, the reader is given choices of how the story should progress. For instance:
If you decide to start back home, turn to page 4.
If you decide to wait, turn to page 5.
Filed under: Recruiting
I swear I wrote my article first 
I found this great article on Recruiter Life Magazine – enjoy!
Happy recruiting and good luck in finding the passive candidates which will turn into the best employees.
Filed under: Research
Filed under: Recruiting
I love ambition, especially when today’s younger generation exhibits it! From my viewpoint, a lot of Gen Y seem to be quite content with allowing their parents to continue to change their diapers and bottle-feed them well into adulthood. This is why I’m excited about SearchPath’s Young Entrepreneur Program! This program offers college-aged young adults the opportunity to take their first steps into being contributing members of society by owning their own recruiting firm while still being linked to a successful system that will help them hit the ground running.
Paul has taken his first steps to really getting out there and networking within his industry, which is green building. For those who don’t know what this is, Green Building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle. He has started his own company blog, SearchPath of Green Search, on which he recently posed a comparison of groups vs. networks. He has done this in an attempt to start building his own network and I think this is a great way to begin! 
