No I didn't come in contact with an alien but the exchange with a recent staffing firm made me feel that I had.

Rewinding back to my experience as a staffer and prior to the accessibility of social media, I remember calling and calling, trying to get linked up with a decision maker who could 'help me, help them...'

SUCCESS!

A short-fused appointment on the calendar later in the week and I'm sitting in front of the manager and his recruiter.  I had previously done all my research via their web to determine what I'd focus on, obviously to make sure that on some level, they knew I would produce for them or talk their language, even if it was something I wasn't overly familiar with.  I would do absolutely everything I could to actually 'help' provide them what they needed.  Have things changed in such a manner that anyone would be less proactive prior to a meeting (same could be said for interviews... that's a different discussion...)?  To me, this is a skill that is the cornerstone of staffing, let alone a skill that would serve well in any venture.

Fast forward to the recent exchange that went something like this (after an in-person meeting, by the way):  "So you guys do what?  Oh great, we do that all the time.  Sure I'll be your point of contact for every engagement…"

After another meeting:  "Well if that's the position you'd like to staff, we already have people like that sitting around, and I'll also put you in touch with the right people..."

After providing a thorough job description and a meeting with 'those' people:  "So you know, we also provide sub-contracting personnel...and I've never heard of your business development director’s name.  Oh yea, the job you gave us, our people are working on that now."

Needless to say, my proverbial fuse was already running pretty short, on a Monday no less, and I've seen less and less from staffing firms in the past six months to make me somewhat incensed to the idea in the first place.  But seriously...  Get back on your mother ship.