Digging Into RecruitingBlogs.com v2.15 Odd Coupling

Odd Coupling

(April 17, 2009) Today, I'm going to tie together several things from the past week: the interactive unemployment map, the Recruiting Animal's Bill Vick Interview, spreadtweet, Susan Boyle, Paul Potts and the Antwerp Do Re Mi Dancers. If you haven't encountered these six elements, you are probably one of the few people left working. Do yourself a favor and click the links. Your faith inhumanity will be restored.

(Disclaimer...I can't vouch for the safety of spreadtweet. I haven't installed it.)

The mood of the planet has gotten so dark that it's causing random explosions of optimism. The the interactive unemployment map shows the job loss sequence over the past two years in the US. The big picture seems really bleak (of course, there's a trick...the coloration is not related to population density, just job loss density). But, it's a good graph of how it feels.

Everyone's been hit and no one's talking about it. The guy next to you also lost his 401K and 57% of his house's value. The credit card companies are reducing his credit line, too. Still, no one discusses the reality.

Fear, as in "How in the world am I going to continue to work when I am too old to?" or "How do I tell the kid that he can't go to college?" or "How do I tell my family that we're moving?" is everywhere. It is effecting every one of your relationships right now. The reason it's so hard to get stuff done right now is that everyone is scared and no one is talking.

That sets the stage for one of two things. The first, hyperinflation and the rise of fascism is hard to stomach this week, so I'll pass on it. The second, a shift in the things we think are important is happening. There is a new message floating in the culture:

"Look what people are capable of"

Twitter, reality game show winners, street dancers in train stations, boatloads of improv all point to a single thread. The very definition of things is changing.

Are you seeing it?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on April 17, 2009 at 7:07am

But John, it's always changing - the difference now is that everyone is writing about it using 140+ characters. We used to trust our parents and teachers to educate us about change; we used to believe that the government had our cradle to grave welfare in mind.

I'm sorry I missed all six (do I really need to hearing Michael yelling - again?) but the difference between those who need to have their faith in humanity restored is that they've been living on the periphery - at best. You can be positive, upbeat, happy, madly in love, and smile at yourself in the mirror every morning AND be realistic at the same time.

Perhaps this change profile will be different; perhaps more people will come out of it committed to helping others. Perhaps the recruiters who remain will take the phone call, answer the email, agree to a coffee meeting, whereas in the past they would have declined as a result of their high self-absorption index.

You can't change if you have no idea what you're changing from and where you want to change to...

As always, hugs and kisses!

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on April 17, 2009 at 8:48am

"Perhaps the recruiters who remain will take the phone call, answer the email, agree to a coffee meeting, whereas in the past they would have declined as a result of their high self-absorption index."
New Acronym
SAI
Self Absorption Index
What's yours?

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Permalink Reply by Slouch on April 17, 2009 at 11:24am

I just saw it for the first time yesterday

Rayanne said:

Steve~

Wait a minute, you MISSED Susan Boyle? You are someone who would hire her in a minute..., click on the link, c'mon..., all your friends are doing it....
And you missed Antwerp? - it makes me smile every time!

SAI, I like it.

~Rayanne

Steve Levy said:
But John, it's always changing - the difference now is that everyone is writing about it using 140+ characters. We used to trust our parents and teachers to educate us about change; we used to believe that the government had our cradle to grave welfare in mind.

I'm sorry I missed all six (do I really need to hearing Michael yelling - again?) but the difference between those who need to have their faith in humanity restored is that they've been living on the periphery - at best. You can be positive, upbeat, happy, madly in love, and smile at yourself in the mirror every morning AND be realistic at the same time.

Perhaps this change profile will be different; perhaps more people will come out of it committed to helping others. Perhaps the recruiters who remain will take the phone call, answer the email, agree to a coffee meeting, whereas in the past they would have declined as a result of their high self-absorption index.

You can't change if you have no idea what you're changing from and where you want to change to...

As always, hugs and kisses!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on April 17, 2009 at 11:37am

Rayanne, I can't believe I'm writing this but I'd work for her. Antwerp? Slumdog Millionaire... But having been to the Centraal Stat, it was nice to see it again.

Rayanne said:

Steve~

Wait a minute, you MISSED Susan Boyle? You are someone who would hire her in a minute..., click on the link, c'mon..., all your friends are doing it....
And you missed Antwerp? - it makes me smile every time!

SAI, I like it.

~Rayanne

Steve Levy said:
But John, it's always changing - the difference now is that everyone is writing about it using 140+ characters. We used to trust our parents and teachers to educate us about change; we used to believe that the government had our cradle to grave welfare in mind.

I'm sorry I missed all six (do I really need to hearing Michael yelling - again?) but the difference between those who need to have their faith in humanity restored is that they've been living on the periphery - at best. You can be positive, upbeat, happy, madly in love, and smile at yourself in the mirror every morning AND be realistic at the same time.

Perhaps this change profile will be different; perhaps more people will come out of it committed to helping others. Perhaps the recruiters who remain will take the phone call, answer the email, agree to a coffee meeting, whereas in the past they would have declined as a result of their high self-absorption index.

You can't change if you have no idea what you're changing from and where you want to change to...

As always, hugs and kisses!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on April 17, 2009 at 8:44pm

Times are tough so people start watching the Recruiting Animal.

Why the Recruiting Animal? Because he's just like Susan Boyle. But who's Susan Boyle? She's a frumpy middle aged woman who appeared on the English version of American Idol. No one expected much of her at all and the fact that she could hold a tune threw the judges into a state of absolute amazement.

As Dr Johnson said, it was like a dog walking on its hind legs. Its not done well but you're completely surprised it can be done at all.

According to John, Boyle is popular with people in a depressed economy because it helps them feel hopeful. (Just president Obama).

But how am I like that? I've been doing the same thing for a number of years.

Steve Levy commented above: "do I really need to hearing Michael yelling - again?"
And Shawna Armstrong said (on Twitter): "quite entertaining as expected!"

And, one great day I might hit the big time but surely you can see that as of yet the wretched of the earth have not discovered me.

Oh, Papa, you are my friend and ever since you trashed Heather I've been begging you to sumserize me. So, surely I deserve better than this? (Are you jobbing your hits out to India now?)

By the way, I'm not sure it's easy to prove that many works of art, let alone TV shows or podcasts are a sign of the times. Otherwise it wouldn't be so easy to refer to the typical sitcom or Hollywood movie as being just that.

And, finally, here's the most important thing about my Bill Vick interview. My tonsils are in very rough shape. I've been acting like I'm James Brown or Little Richard. And I'm not.

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Permalink Reply by John Sumser on April 18, 2009 at 12:51am

And, here's another video that's just like the Recruiting Animal. Hundreds of street musicians from all over the world joined together to sing "Stand By Me". And, it's really a trend.

If you squint, you can see the subliminal writing in the background of each scene. It says, "Watch the Animal". It's amazing that he can even walk down the street without being mobbed by throngs of fans begging to touch his beaver hat.

What do Susan Boyle, Twitter, Paul Potts, the hiphop Trapp family and street musicians from all over the world have in common? They want to be the Animal. They think they're Little Richard, too.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on April 18, 2009 at 8:08am

"What do Susan Boyle, Twitter, Paul Potts, the hiphop Trapp family and street musicians from all over the world have in common? They want to be the Animal. They think they're Little Richard, too."

This begs to be asked...John, who do you want to be?