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Topic: My Horror Story: The Short and Long of It: ar of the unknown." (Wikipedia) So what could be so horrific in a recruiter’s job experiences that would qualify as a “horror story”? Who would think that such a job, the one of being a recruiter, would have horror attached to it? Well it’s here and there and the stories shared in this contest reflect a variety of aspects of what horror is in certain circumstances for recruiters. For me my horror came in the job itself. Frankly, the horror of dying on the job. No joke. My fear was a combination of the known and the unknown. Allow me to explain—did you know that in California State Prisons there is a “No Hostage Policy”? It is interpreted as: “If you’re taken as a hostage by prisoners in a prison setting there will be NO negotiation for your release.” You’re essentially SLO. My Horror Story: The Short and Long of It Long story short--I left a Civilian Recruiter role in the Army when my enlistment was up in 1974, just after Nixon was impeached, Watergate had the headlines and the recession was on, magnified by the oil shortage crises that started in ’73. Unemployment in California was 11% in many places. Jobs were scarce. However, my professional network directed me to a Federal, State and Minority Community Based Not-For-Profit organization trying to make a recruiting, training and job placement grant work within the California Department of Corrections. A job opening existed for an Administrator with Recruitment, Training, Job Development, Job Placement responsibilities. I qualified, was hired, and arrived at a prison in Northern California with linkage to Folsom, Soledad, San Quentin, Vacaville and Tracy—all famous and infamous State Prisons in California. My job was to interview, select/recruit, coordinate training, help counsel, and help directly and indirectly with job placement efforts of felons scheduled to be released in 1-2 years. My first presentation to an audience of inmates and inmate leaders ended with my life being threatened. I made the mistake of suggesting, “That if you’re not interested in our program which is designed to help you prepare for parole back into mainstream society—thank God you’re locked-up. You belong here.” After that presentation a Chicano inmate leader approached me and said, “Ese, this program can be a big help to those inmates here who need it and want to participate. That’s on them. But if you ever talk to us like that again--we’ll KILL YOU! Mfker!” As the reality of my life being threatened hit me this same inmate then said, “Vato (dude), your heart is in the right place. You want to help us help ourselves and this program is failing because they fired the last set of free people who tried to run it. I’m going to school you on how to survive here so that your program could be a good thing for us. But if it’s BULLSHIT and you’re BULLSHIT. Vamos a tener que matarte aquí o donde quiera que vaya (we'll have to kill you here or where ever you go). He then smiled and we shook hands. He was my mentor in all things related “prison survival” from that day forward. He represented the Hispanic inmates on the yard. I received similar threats from the White and Black inmate leaders as well. Frankly, any job that starts with your life being threatened qualifies as horrific and this truly was. And nothing signifies that better than the statement made to you when you enter a California State Prison as a free person for the first time. As you enter from the outside going in you pass through what is called a “sally-port”. This is the in-between space that you step into from the outside where the gate is closed behind you and just before another gate is opened allowing you to enter the prison proper. It is at that moment, between those two gates, that all free people are read the no-hostage policy, “If you are taken hostage here today, the Governor of the State of California allows us to inform you that there is a no-hostage policy here. We will not negotiate for your release if the prisoners here take you hostage and want to bargin with your life. Do you understand” That’s their on-boarding statement that brings shivers to the toughest men I’ve seen pass through the sally port. Many decided not to enter. I did. Next came the recruitment selection process wherein 100 inmates had to be interviewed for selection and placement into the training/counseling and job placement aspect of the program. Again, one-on-one interviews with murderers, serial killers, crazies, repeat offenders—all criminals with known and unknown backgrounds sit at arms length—face-to-face with me to determine if they are a fit for the program (a program designed BTW by four-time losers who saw all the hurdles paroled inmates faced that contributed to 60%-70% recidivism). This program was brought in to stem that flow. The yelling matches I had with some inmates who were not accepting being rejected put contracts on me on the yard. The only thing that saved me were the inmate leaders who intervened on my behalf for the good of the program. Nevertheless, I was coached by security on what to do if I was attacked and how to signal them. To my good fortune, though there were near hits—I did survive and manged to win most of the inmates over in terms of the good we did on their behalf. During my approx. four years with the program I ended up directing but still with hands-on recruitment, training/counseling/job placement responsibilities. I directed three counselors and three external job developers. We ran a program that actually made a significant improvement resulting in only 9% recidivism, 92% job placements over a three year period with the likes of: IBM, Xerox, HP and many other California employers. The horror of the work there was the occasions when young men would turn themselves in to me to escort them to security for solitary confinement because they were being raped on the yard. The horror of the experience was the threat of violence at a moments notice. Example, Mexican National inmate newly incarcerated made the mistake of removing a salt shaker during chow hall from a Black Gorilla Gang members’ table. It was considered an insult—he was killed and the Hispanics rampaged killing a black inmate in retaliation threatening to kill 2 for every one they killed. We, my team worked in the midst of those gang wars…always on the edge of a violent work environment. The final horror story of my/our experience there at the prison was when the famous and infamous Proposition 13 passed in California—which was the Tax Revolt that defunded many social services type programs like ours. The horror being that we were gaining momentum in minimizing recidivism and getting ex-felons back with their families; back on the job; and contributing as tax paying career minded citizens who prior were rampaging and causing pain in suffering in their wake. I often say I would still be working in such a role and place had Prop 13 not passed and the program survived. Horror experience yes, but on positive impact side of the equation I have nothing that compares to it. …; Added by Valentino Martinez at 11:38pm on November 18, 2011

Topic: The Sourcers We Are (And Aren't) Part I: sourcers in the world and is the star of the video posted on the main page of the MagicMethod Network. If you’ve never seen the “Impossible Mission” clip it’s over on the right at the site, down some and it’s called “Phone Sourcing YouTube Video.” Go watch it. It’s not long and it’s fun and it kind of sets the stage for this story and I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back. *** Back so soon? Fun, huh? Anyhow, Pam and I ventured down to the AfterDark event and the following event transpired. It’s the first part of a series I’m writing about phone sourcing. This is a TRUE STORY about phone sourcing based on real characters and this time, names have not been changed to protect the – well - we won’t call them innocent or guilty because, to tell you the truth, the participants really had no idea what they were getting themselves into! All that being said, here we go. *** Sourcecon Seattle just ended and I have a story to tell. For those of you who have attended SourceCon After Dark, the place where Sourcecon revelers meet on the event's first night to mingle and tingle you know the fun goes late into the dark night where all sorts of nightmarish scenarios tipple on the edges of sourcer/recruiter imaginations. You know, the kinds of things that take the fun out of living. One such nightmare became reality around 8:30 on the first night of the unparalleled and innovative sourcing event for Sourcecon attendee Bill Staadt (Twitter: @macwin11se) My associate Pam and I had arrived around 9pm to a lively and jam-packed room where most of the crowd gathered around the Sourcecon Grand Master Challenge Bar where several contestants were earnestly whaling against each other for the industry’s treasured crown based around Internet sourcing. Pam wandered off while I went to get a cup of coffee. A young man with a light-grey hoodie pulled up over his head with a half-open laptop in his hands approached Pamela and said to her, very seriously, “I need a phone sourcer.” “What’s wrong?” Pam asked, noticing his troubled expression and serious countenance. “I just got an email from my boss. He’s angry. A candidate we had scheduled for a second interview tomorrow just pulled out of consideration. The client is ready to make an offer and we don’t have a back-up!” “She said she’s accepting another offer from another company.” About this time I walked up to the two standing there, off to the side away from the madding crowd and, noticing the earnest discussion going back and forth, nudged Pam and asked, “What’s goin’ on?” Pam leaned out sideways and quickly brought me up to speed on the situation and I asked the young man what he thought could be done to remedy it. “I know she has three coworkers. I’d like to find out who they are,” and with that he sat down and opened his laptop fully and the bright screen revealed that old, familiar LinkedIn profile of a young woman whose right column connections were being eagerly harvested as potential fill-ins for the candidate who had the nerve to just drop out. “You think they’re in there?” I quizzed, pointing at the laptop screen with the bright LinkedIn glare. “This might be one – this looks like it could be one – she’s a consultant who works at the airline the candidate works for,” he replied, hopefully. The tale grows dark. “A consultant? This woman is a consultant working for an airline? What consulting company does she work for?” “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head ominously. “Your client was about to make an offer and you don’t know what consulting company she works for?” He blinked. “Let me see her resume. What does her resume say?” I asked bossily, thinking maybe he overlooked it and surely with my old phone sourcing eyes I’d see what his young Internet sourcing eyes had missed. It wasn’t there. All that was there was that she was working as a “Project Manager” at a major Midwest airline in their IT Loyalty Integrated Marketing organization. “She and probably about a thousand others,” I thought to myself. “Do you have her work number?” I asked. “I don’t,” he admitted. About this time our presence had attracted the attention of two other phone sourcers and we all began excitedly poring and pecking and pawing over and at one another over ways and means of attacking this problem. We had our own Phone Sourcing Grand Master Challenge going on at the other end of the room (near the bar) and nobody even knew about it! What’s worse, and what niggles at me in my dark hours, is the belief (my own stinkin'thinkin' - the thing I'm always warning others against) that nobody would have cared (or understood, really, what was going on) even if they did know! Over the next few days I’m going to regale you with the tale of how two lowly phone sourcers with the help of one extremely dejected and worried Sourcecon attendee at 7:15 the next morning successfully found not only the Consultant with the missing work phone/company affiliation but also the three Consultants (and their direct dials and company affiliations) who worked with her, their manager and the other people in the same group who were employees of the airline and also several managers, senior managers and the entire group (all with titles/direct dials!) under another manager as well as the director of the Loyalty Integrated Marketing organization group they all reported under. All names this poor dejected and worried Sourcecon attendee could send to his own boss by 11 that same morning and learn by mid-afternoon that two of the names had been not only phone screened but also scheduled for interviews the very next day (Friday, October 4)! Stay tuned. Bill has promised to keep us apprised of developing events. This story is exciting. You’re going to enjoy it. I guarantee it. I’m going to tell you how we did it and Bill is going to bear witness to the facts, as he hinted in his October 3, 2013 tweet from Sourcecon to the world: Bill Staadt ‏@macwin11se 3 Oct #sourcecon I just witnessed Phone Sourcing magic! You guys rock! (you know who you are). Yes, Bill, we know who we are! Part II…; Added by Maureen Sharib to Phone Sourcing at 6:29am on October 19, 2013

Blog Post: Department of Labor looking to crack down on independent contractor misclassification: Added by Tracey Friend at 1:16pm on April 7, 2010

Blog Post: The harsh reality of redundancy (but how it can also actually make you a better, stronger person): I still remember the feeling to this day. The gut wrenching feeling that comes with redundancy is unlike anything I had ever felt…; Added by Alasdair Murray at 2:24pm on April 27, 2010

Blog Post: Are Mo, Larry and Curly Doing The Hiring At Your Company?: Originally posted on http://blog.keenhire.com

I'm serious.

Let's get real, have you…; Added by Margaret Graziano at 12:33pm on May 13, 2010

Blog Post: The Dead Meat Theory – Why Counteroffers Don’t Pay Off: John Q. Executive walks nervously into his boss’ office to announce, “Mr. Employer, I’m really sorry to have to tell you this, but I’ve decided to accept another position. The…; Added by Mark Bregman at 6:46pm on October 15, 2010

Blog Post: Sourcing through Facebook: From “Nah” to “Yeah!”

“Facebook and Sourcing? Nah…”

The debate about Facebook’s revolutionary role in online sourcing rages on. Some recruiters, citing the site’s reputation as a purely…

Added by Dana Feigel at 5:15am on September 19, 2011

Blog Post: I am A Nurse Practitioner, For Gosh Sakes! Hire Me…Please!: Talk about a catch-22! Let’s use Sally, the average Nurse Practitioner (although there’s nothing average about NPs), as an example. She has been a nurse for many years and has been working on her…; Added by Cynthia Doyle at 8:13pm on July 17, 2012

Blog Post: “How would you react if I told you that this interview has been terrible so far?”: Active job seekers can find an abundance of information available online to help with topics such as resume formatting, job search, interview preparation, appearance and how to follow-up after an…; Added by Rob Havey at 12:15pm on January 8, 2013

Blog Post: Hard-Hitting Job Interview Questions and Answers: Job Interviewing is all about preparing properly, confidence and creating a…; Added by Gavin Redelman at 12:04pm on December 11, 2013