Friday 06 January 2012 at 5:49 pm
The United States has the highest percentage of internet users in the World with almost 80% of the population. However, Asia with less than 25% has almost 1 billion users compared to approximately 300 million in the U.S., an interesting statistic that has nothing to do with this blog or does it. What affect has internet recruiting had on helping organizations find and hire the right talent? Has it helped or hindered?
We know that Internet recruiting has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry with a plethora of job boards, niche job boards, career services, social and business networking sites and more. We know the number of unemployed job seekers using the web to search for jobs has increased to almost 75% among younger people. We know that CareerBuilder.com (the largest job site) has over 1.6 million jobs listed. That is a lot but represents about half of the actual number of job vacancies.
Where are the other 1.6 million jobs listed? Perhaps, on a niche job board or a company website however, I would argue many are not on the web. Imagine something as outdated as a trade magazine, newspaper or a Help Wanted sign posted on a store front window. I know shocking. The internet is considered a good source for recruiting white collar workers but that represents about 40% of American workers. This means you have to consider the possibility that the job you are seeking may not be found on the web. This includes white collar jobs as well.
But let's assume the job you are seeking is on the web. The goal of companies conducting internet recruiting is to attract talent. This means if you seek you will find. You would think employers would want their jobs to be easily found among the 1.6 million jobs. Instead, they leave it up to the job seeker to find them. Oh, companies post their job vacancies anywhere, at any time, and it generates plenty of job applicants. After all, you want them to find you and of course, they do. What has resulted is increased productivity for the active job seeker. The ability to apply for 40 jobs at a time. Unfortunately submitting applications on the internet often goes into a dark hole. Something that used to happen when it was a hard copy now happens electronically and faster.
Companies are engaging in more internet recruiting but the emphasis is often on checking candidate's backgrounds on Facebook and Twitter and not on attracting talent. They have invested in sophisticated software to screen candidate’s qualifications. The process of internet recruiting from an employer perspective is passive. It is based on post it and they will come. What has resulted is a multi-billion dollar industry to help job seekers find jobs on the internet.
Thursday 29 December 2011 at 1:11 pm
The Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities has sold over 200 million copies. It is required reading in most high school English classes. It is a classic. I read it when I was in high school as I am sure many have. Let me refresh your recollection. The book uses the French Revolution for its plot and the two cities are London and Paris. The main theme of the book is about resurrection. There are a number of famous quotes from the story that most have heard but may not have attributed to Dickens. For example:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
Dickens wrote this in 1859 and to me it could have been written about 2011. I think many would agree. However, it is a timeless quote as the same could be said about most years, including 2012 which has not yet begun. What got me thinking about this quote was an article in DealB%K titled The Worst C.E.O.'s of 2011 by Sydney Finklestein, author of "Why Smart Executives Fail".
As each year ends there are a lot of lists that get published. Usually they are in two categories. One is always titled the "Best" and the other of course titled the "Worst". Regardless of what the list represents sometimes people have been mentioned on both lists mainly in different years. This fits the theme of "resurrection" from A Tale of Two Cities perfectly. Life is a series of ups and downs, wisdom and foolishness, good and evil, light and darkness, hope and despair, plenty and want, good choices and bad, and were it not for resurrections all would be lost.
Thursday 15 December 2011 at 1:28 pm
I read the following quote in the Wall Street Journal attributed to Bruce Lee that "the best sparring partner is a madman who goes all out." It was a reference to the Republican Primary candidates, preparing to go up against the heavy weight contender (to continue the boxing metaphor) the incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, by poking and jabbing one another mercilessly. There are many who are tired of the attacks but they are part of the process. Whether it is politics, business or whatever being a leader is not for the faint of heart or those who cannot take or give a punch.
The reference to a sparring partner made me think of the sparring matches that occurred in various executive and board meetings I have participated. Some were knock down drag out matches complete with round houses, upper cuts, jabs, and low blows. Some were looking to win on points while others clearly were going for the knockout punch. Many of the matches were stopped in order for the cut man to repair the damages. I am not a big fan of extreme cage challenges. I prefer a more strategic, business approach to destroying my opponent. Batter them with irrefutable facts that send them back to their corner stunned. However, they don’t remain in the corner, but come out fighting before the bell rings and you have time to put your guard up. They flat out deny the facts are facts and continue to hammer their point.
As much as Corporate America values confrontation most organizations don't know how to engage in constructive confrontation. As if there is such a thing. There are books and consultants who will tell you confrontation is a good thing and they will even tell you how to do it skillfully. Such as look for common ground, focus on listening, and gain cooperation all the while a madman (Bruce Lee's word) is going all out. Fighters don't win by being defensive but they do have to protect themselves. There is a difference. They must be aggressive but not wild.
I had a friend who was a boxing golden glove winner. He went into the Army and was training to spend his time boxing. One day he was in the ring with a fellow competitor. My friend was more skilled and was winning the fight on points when he got hit with a punch that sent him to the canvas for a ten count. He was stunned. How could this happen? Clearly, he was the better boxer. It so shattered my friend's confidence that he quit boxing. Here is the lesson. When engaging in conflict you need to "float like a butterfly but sting like a bee." (Muhammad Ali)
Monday 12 December 2011 at 2:00 pm
Whether you are currently employed or in transition, there is nothing more encouraging then an unexpected phone call or email from someone in your network or an executive recruiter asking you to consider a job opportunity. You are flattered that someone is interested in you. These surprise calls or emails immediately get your adrenaline flowing. Albeit, your interest and their interest may be short-lived once the job opportunity is described. Nevertheless, the encounter no matter how brief is a morale booster.
Such inquires can be a source of encouragement and disappointment. However, it beats the alternative that no one is thinking about you. I recently received the below email. You may have received something similar. I always read them and found this one humorous. Below is the redacted version.
From:
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 6:49 PM
To:
Subject: Job opportunity, ID: R03217...
Hi!
Let me introduce you a new work offer. We have reviewed your personal information, and determined - you are the right person to become our employee in our mail department.
If you are interested, please reply to ...@gmail.com
Ok it reads like one of those emails where you inherited 10 million dollars and all you need to do is provide your banking information. You delete it and move on. But I was pleased that someone thought my executive experience qualified me to work in a mail department. That’s the place where many executives have started so it seems right to run full circle.
I like out of the blue inquiries since they are unforeseen, unanticipated, happen at unexpected times and are not by accident. That's right, they occur because someone told someone about you. Recruiters rarely cold call a candidate without a referral. That referral can be from a human being or through a social network like LinkedIn or Facebook, etc. These sudden calls and emails serve as a reminder that nothing happens out of the blue. It takes a great network. One that is robust and diverse.
A network is more than the number of people you know. Although it helps if a lot of people know you. However, it is not about the numbers. In theory, through my LinkedIn network I am connected to over 7 million professionals. That is a lot of ears to listen for opportunities. But how many of those ears are actually listening for me, for you? If you are having trouble coming up with a number consider this. How many people are you listening for opportunities? The answer is most likely only a few. So that's the answer to how many are listening for you, just a few. But that is okay. A network is not a popularity contest. I know people who limit the number of people they follow on Twitter because they know they can't focus on everyone. That is true about people in your network. So, what is the right number of people to have in your network?
In my opinion, the answer is as many as you want. However, if you don't want them to be just names in a social network phonebook then you need to be "connected." Write a blog (like this one), a newsletter, update your social network sites, tweet, send emails, and the old fashioned way, meet people for lunch, coffee, etc. Use your imagination.
LinkedIn has an interesting statistic. They can tell you how many times your profile turned up in a search in the last 7 days. Ever wonder why your profile appeared 30 times in a search and no one contacted you? By the way, all of my out of the blue experiences were the result of people in my network and I got some really cool job opportunities. Some of them I took and I don't think I am unique in this experience.
Monday 03 October 2011 at 2:39 pm
There are hundreds of protesters in the Wall Street area of New York City. According to the New York Times, the protests are against corporate greed, unemployment, and the role that financial institutions have played in pushing the country into its continuing economic malaise and are starting to spread to other U.S. cities.
It seems to be a grassroots effort with no central organization. Each protester has their individual list of reasons for demonstrating. They have used social media (Facebook and Twitter) to recruit more supporters, collect money, food and blankets.
What are the protesters hoping to accomplish? At present, they are simply "sending a powerful message to corporations that we know what you are doing." Exactly what is it that corporations are doing?
Since the protesters are against greed that must mean corporations are being greedy by overpaying their executives, not paying taxes, and making huge profits. In addition, they must not be hiring people or paying fair wages and benefits. Moreover, we can't forget the financial abuses that resulted in taxpayers bailing out corporations too big to fail. Perhaps, the protesters are right because there certainly have been examples of abuse and greed.
John Wesley, a Church of England cleric, and Christian theologian, once said, "Gain all you can, save all you can and give all you can." Interesting words from a theologian. How is it possible to gain all you can, save all you can and give all you can? I think Warren Buffet could tell us because it is what capitalism is all about. However, apparently, those who have gained and saved have not given all they can and greed is the reason at least that is what some believe. Perhaps, they are right. Except, while greed is an excessive desire to possess wealth, it is also inappropriate expectation.
There are two kinds of people in this world. There are givers and there are takers? Are Billionaires givers or takers? Are Corporations givers or takers? Are protesters givers or takers? Are you a giver or taker?
I came across a short quiz that could help shed light on how much money, possessions, and status mean to you. It is found on Beliefnet.com entitled "How greedy are you?" (Click here) It takes less than 5 minutes to complete and the results might surprise you.
Monday 29 August 2011 at 12:39 pm
"Obama offers 2012 election supporters change they can believe in -- next term" read the headline in the Washington Post. Perhaps the theme song for the 2012 campaign should be Rose Garden. The lyrics go like this:
I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.
Along with the sunshine,
There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.
When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,
Or let go.
I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.
The song is appropriate the issue is who should be singing it, President Bush, President Obama, The Congress or the American people? I don't think it matters. David Gergen writes in Eyewitness to Power that every President cleans up the mess of the former President. Note, every President, no one is exempt.
I believe this is true for anyone who has ever replaced someone else in a job regardless of level. I guarantee you there are things left behind that need to be cleaned up even if the person being replaced was highly successful. You can also count on it being something that the predecessor knew about but was either unable or unwilling to fix or the replacement thinks it was wrong and needs to be changed.
It has been said if it's not broken don't fix it. However, others have said if it is not broken break it. So, what's a leader to do? Many leaders believe it is their job to change things so they change their team, bring in new people, reorganize, and focus on new products. In the process, they fix something that needed to be fixed and sometimes break something that was working. What you hope is that they fix more things than they break.
Thursday 25 August 2011 at 5:15 pm
Would you like to solve the U.S. debt crisis? Well, now you can, sort of, The Committee for a Responsible Federal budget has created an online simulation that allows you to make the tough choices to reduce the U.S. debt to 60% of GDP by 2018.
I tried it and I am pleased to report that I reduced the U.S. debt to 56% of GDP by 2018. What can I say I am an over achiever. Click here to go to their site and begin the simulation. My choices required reducing domestic spending and Defense, Health Care, Social Security and the Federal Budget in general. To my surprise, my adjustments also increased revenue. Specifically I had to let all the Tax Cuts expire. Not a popular decision if I were running for office but the simulation gave me no better alternative i.e., reforming the Tax Code. Clearly, revenue had to be part of the equation the question is how do you achieve it.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is a bipartisan, non-profit organization incorporated in 1981 and consists of some of the nation's leading budget experts. Bipartisan, now there is a word you don't see used much these days, that's because it rhyme's with compromise and that means agreeing to something you disagree with. Not really, but that is the interpretation.
Bipartisan is associated with the two major political parties in this country the Republicans and the Democrats. However, another way to think about bipartisan is in a business context. Bipartisan would be revenue and expenses and you need to balance both if you want to stay in business. The same should be true for the federal government but it isn't.
When sales are down every business cuts cost. No one wants to but when sales dry up there is no other choice. Most executives' project higher sales to avoid reducing costs but sales are harder to predict with certainty but most costs are known and can be forecast with much more accuracy. Thus, it is easier to achieve a bipartisan agreement, between revenue and expense in business. If only the same were true for the federal government. It could be were it not for one major difference. A business can go out of business and the federal government cannot.
Stop, not all businesses go out of business, those TOO BIG TO FAIL haven't. So, where does that leave us? It leaves us believing that we don't need a bipartisan agreement to solve the U.S. debt crisis.
Monday 08 August 2011 at 9:16 pm
Tim Allen may be the star of Last Man Standing, a new sitcom on ABC but according to CNNMoney.com, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is the last remaining member of President Obama's original economic team. That team included people like Austan Goolsbee, Lawrence Summers, Peter Orszag, and Christina Romer. Their resumes were impressive but their advice and policies, well to use an overused phrase "how is that working out for you?" No matter how talented, a leader is only as good as the people they hire.
The President inherited a mess but politics aside, he asked the American people for the job and the American people hired him.
There is a theory of leadership that was popular in the 19th Century and some aspects are still alive today. It was called The Great Man Theory. Leadership in the 19th Century was viewed as a quality only a male possessed the first flaw in the theory.
As the name suggests it was fashioned around the notion that effective leaders were born with certain characteristics. Characteristics such as charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellianism were what made them great leaders. The Great Man Theory portrayed leaders as heroic, mythical, and destined to rise when needed.
The American people expect the President to fix the countries problems. This is an unrealistic expectation but it is our system of leadership. The leader gets the credit when things go right and the blame when things go wrong. Like most things, not everything is in the control of the leader. However, a major flaw with the great man theory is that some believe historical events are the result of the impact of great leaders when the opposite is true. Great leaders are the result of the impact of historical events.
Wednesday 03 August 2011 at 3:35 pm
What if this economy and job market is as good as it gets? I heard a report recently that stated if the U.S. experienced a growth of 200,000 jobs per month; it would take about 6 years to erase the number of people currently jobless. Of course, this assumes no further loss of jobs and a zero rate of unemployment. The national unemployment rate has hovered around 9% however, there are at least eight States with an unemployment rate of 6% or less. North Dakota is the lowest with 3.2% unemployment and Hawaii at 6%. What does this mean for the recent college graduate?
The year I started my first "real" job the unemployment rate was 7.8%. That was over 30 years ago and not much has changed. During those 30 years, the unemployment rate fluctuated achieving a high of 10.8% and a low of 3.8%. It was quite a roller coaster those 30 years. While today's economic outlook is distressed and the job market depressed it is much different then the past 30 years?
When I graduated college, I had no clue where I was going to work. That is the bad news. However, the good news is I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted an entry-level position in personnel, today that would be human resources. That gave me a distinct advantage over other graduates because the majority did not know what they wanted to do. You would think 4 years of college was plenty of time to decide on a career path. Apparently not and today is no different. How was it I was able to determine my career choice? It was quite simple. I read the course catalog and saw some subjects that interested me and decided to study them. As I got further in I settled on a major and the rest is history.
For young people today, it has gotten easier. Most colleges and universities offer a variety of career development services and if they don't you can access some on your own. For example, Career Leader, which is available online, helps you determine your "career interest universe." Universe, I like that, there are more options than you think. There are other assessments as well. The point is it is never too soon to start discovering what motivates you and what you are good at doing. College should be as much about career development as it is getting a degree.
It is also never too late. If you are a recent college graduate still looking for work or are employed, but not happy you still have time to take a career assessment. Remember, a job is a means to a career.
Monday 01 August 2011 at 2:47 pm
I am like most of you. I have attended networking functions, book signings, conferences, etc., where I got a chance to meet some famous people who some might call movers and shakers. I have stood in line waiting to shake their hand and sometimes pose for a photo. You have little time to say much of anything except smile, shake hands, say hello or nice to meet you, I am a big fan, I enjoyed your book or movie, and then you move on. These encounters are not designed to engage in a meaningful discussion. However, sometimes you find yourself in the right place at the right time with the right person. When that happens are you prepared with more than a firm handshake, a smile and a hello?
I just finished reading Frances Hesselbein's book entitled My Life in Leadership. Prior to finding this book on the bookshelf in my local library, I never heard of Frances Hesselbein. Frances was the former CEO of the Girls Scouts of America. She was the first CEO to come from the rank and file. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her by President Clinton. So, despite my limited knowledge, Frances has done quite well without me. She is currently the President and CEO of the Leader to Leader Institute formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management. I was curious to learn how Frances got involved with Peter Drucker.
Frances writes about when she first became the executive director of the Talus Rock Girl Scout council. "The first day I walked into the office, under my arm were six copies of Peter Drucker's The Effective Executive, one for each staff member. I did not know Peter Drucker..." Frances became a big fan of Peter's work and incorporated many of his ideas. Fast forward eleven years and Frances is invited to an event where Peter Drucker was the featured speaker. The dinner included a 5:30 pm reception.
Frances arrived right at 5:30 pm and the only people there were two bartenders. However, that changed seconds later when a man walked in. Can you guess who it was?
Good guess, that's right, Peter Drucker and he said to Frances, I am Peter Drucker. Frances was stunned and instead of saying, how do you do, she blurted out, do you know how important you are to the Girl Scouts? Peter said, no tell me, and Frances proceeded to tell him. That chance encounter resulted in a lasting friendship and professional relationship.
I know some of you think this could or would never happen to you. I believe this happens quite often. However, before you dismiss it as an unlikely possibility answer the following.
Was Frances prepared for a chance encounter? Are you?
