I agreed to host a blog carnival today but I did a really bad job promoting it! So, hopefully the following bloggers are cool with me pulling in some of my favorite links. I’m only going to do five because my last carnival had way too much reading, plus I have a business to run and a book to sell! Here’s the first carnival and today, at JibberJobber, is the second carnival! These are some of my favorite posts…
John Reinke is one of my favorite off-topic bloggers – he is smart and unafraid to say what he thinks. His post about the recruiter from Hell makes me laugh, my worst recruiter was never that bad, but I’m sure there are punks out there with complete and utter disrespect for the anxious, hungry job seeker! Read about his experience here. (John, by the way, is the only person that reacted to my quiet call for posts for this carnival – thanks John!!)
Carl Chapman wrote So how did you think I got to be a recruiter? last November, and explains his very interesting story. I love this post because it helps remind that, for all the no-call-backs, no-e-mails, and all that other stuff we endure when we are desperately looking for help in a job search, recruiters are human too. They aren’t our silver bullets, and they aren’t our whipping boys (and girls)… and sure there are things that are broken and that suck about the process, but they are human. And they deserve our respect.
Harry Joiner got kicked off of Facebook, probably because he’s a no-good, degrade-the-quality-of-our-network recruiter. He did nothing wrong, really. Well, he only did what Facebook designed into the system, which was upload his Gmail address book and invite his contacts. Over 4,000 contacts. FB got ticked and kicked him out, for using the tools they made. Harry wasn’t aware he was doing something wrong. But they kicked him out. Here’s the kicker. Harry is one of the more popular recruiters that I know. He has a super-strong network, and is connected to a lot of bloggers (and non-bloggers). He got slapped in the face and wondered what the heck went wrong – so he went to his network. Bottom line: Keith Ferrazzi says that recruiters are power connectors. Two lessons here: 1. don’t offend a power connector. 2. Try and network (and build a relationship with) a power connector! If you can help a recruiter NOW, when you don’t need it, imagine how they will help YOU when you do need it!
So now we know recruiters are human, and they are connected, and they can be absolutely rude. I’ll tell you what, when you are looking for a recruiter to develop a relationship with, the one that you don’t turn requests down from, you want to find a smart one. This will vary depending on what your profession/industry is, but let me give you an excellent example of a recruiter who is very smart in his space: Rob Merrill. How do I know? His blog drips of IT geekness. It may be a turnoff for the non-techie but guess what, Rob is developing relationships with techies. And when they can come see that he knows something about design (like calling LinkedIn out on bad design) or marketing and personal development (like getting excited that Guy Kawasaki is coming to Utah, and tickets are only $10!!!), or something as techie and abstract as the hCard format, you know he is going to be seen not as the clueless tech recruiters, but as a guy who knows his stuff. All recruiters can blog if they can do it like Rob does.
Dave Lefkow further proves that recruiters are human. How human? So human that there is turnover in recruiting. He was a recruiter until last month when he invented Bacon Salt (you gotta read about it here), and sales took off to the point where he decided to move on and, well, push fake bacon! Dave, best wishes to you as you try out this new venture! If nothing else it’s a great experience! For the rest of us, it’s a good reminder that aside from pushing papers around, calling people to only hear “NO!” and doing all that other recruiter stuff, they have a life, with dreams and ambitions, just like we do!
Recruiters are ultra-clever, and always on the lookout for new tools. Jim Stroud shows us non-recruiters what one of the common problems are, and how they are handled (this post is about Sullr, something useful for you when you don’t recognize a caller ID number). Yep, recruiters have problems and challenges and are astutely looking for solutions. Just like the rest of us.
Okay, so this is sappier than I meant it to be – I wanted stories (good or bad) or your recruiter experiences but since I didn’t advertise you are stuck with links to things that show that recruiters are human, too 🙂
Pursuing a home based business opportunity is not worth the effort if you see imminent loans or mortgages right in the beginning. Granted, that personal loans are oft involved during startup, but in limits only. One should first have a look at the free insurance quotes before going ahead with the deal. Prevention is always better then looking for an effective debt management solution.
>>”off-topic bloggers”???
Hmmm, perhaps JA meant “oft topic”? “often to pick”? Or, “oaf topic”?
I think I’m concerned that I am just misunderstood. Maybe because when I look thru my pane in the Johari window (or is it pain), I see things that should be and ask why the heck not. Often. I admit that! Often! I’m outraged so often, it’s easy to get lathered up several times a planetary rotation. It’s just that some days the Planet in question is Mercury.
And, blogger?
I’m not so sure I qualify as that.
When I look at all the erudition slathered over the blogosphere, maybe I’m more like MySpace.
When I see some folk blogging for branding, I remember I’m unique.
My brand is ZBS! (zero “barbara streisand”) Call ’em as you see em’! And let the chips fall where they may. (Isn’t that being “colorful”?)
I call what I do “plogging”. A “personal (whine) web log” of what I find. My motto is “Wasting your time with things I find interesting, amusing, or enraging.” So maybe that IS the definition of an “off-topic blog”.
I always wanted to be an exemplar.
I can hear JA and others saying “See what happens when you don’t network, … when you don’t brand, … when you don’t manage your career … … you wind up like HIM!!” while pointing this way and looking down a Pinnochio’s nose.
In any event, I’m glad I was “listening” when JA put out the “bat signal” for crazy fjohn to participate. At least, I was first at something.
🙂
Guess, I should be happy to be invited at all. Maybe I should be more circumspect? To paraphrase Grouch, “I wouldn’t want to be part of any club that would have me as a member!”.
fjohn
the big fat old turkey hisself
P.S.: In counseling job seekers — usually FOWGs who didn’t see the axe being swung — I have a collected a slew of recruiter stories. Maybe one of these days, I’ll chronicle then in a series of blog posts. I’ll probably get sued if I name names. Be a different kind of carnival?
P.P.S.: Seekers can visit my “turkey farm” at https://tinyurl.com/lxu93. Just mention Jason’s name at the gate. (Just joshing, there’s no gate.) I give it all away trying to repay all the people that have helped me along the way.
Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824
Webform that creates an urgent email => https://2idi.com/contact/=reinkefj
Web page => https://www.reinke.cc/
My blog => https://www.reinkefaceslife.com/
LinkedIn url => https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinkefj
I think by off-topic I meant “not a recruiter” :p
But geesh John, after reading all this, how can you say you don’t have a brand? It’s definitely there 🙂
– Jason Pinochinose Alba
And those are really nice words, Jason… too nice, actually… but the end of the day I’d like folks to be clear that the “like Rob does” is secret code for “get PASSIOANTE about stuff… and WRITE about it!”
Rob, it’s hard to say what I want and still work on keeping a post short. Here’s what I wanted to say:
I’ve seen too many recruiting blogs that are either written for recruiters, or cold and cliche. You have a very personable, relevant style for your candidates. As a reader, a techie, you have my interest. And through your blog I feel that I get to know you better. I can feel that we have some kind of relationship, even if we don’t meet.
And then when you approach me about an opportunity, I know you are a real person that I can relate to. Or when I’m ready to make a change you’ll be the first one I approach.
Other recruiters seem to me to be cold, and standoff-ish… so what I’m saying is that your blog (and style) is facilitating a certain type of relationship that non-bloggers don’t have with me. Make sense?
If I were a recruiter I’d be doing the same thing that you are doing. Others that are doing this (building a brand that target candidates can relate with) well include Carl Chapman and Harry Joiner.