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Topic: Meet Beth Havens, A Corporate Recruiter with a Physics Degree & Love Ancient Architecture: ue. Personal Causes: Saving Edith Wharton’s Home in the Hamptons, it’s a very unique bit of history Office/Cell Number: 805-212-0612 Personal Email: msbhavens1@yahoo.com *** Beth is Available for New Opportunities Beth Havens has been a Full Cycle Contract Technical Recruiter with more than 12 years exempt recruitment experience in high-volume, high profile technical and scientific fields. Beth takes pride in her expertise in areas such as risk reduction, ability to work independently or in teams, vendor negotiation, collecting and defining business requirements, executing strategic searches, workforce planning, strong flexibility to adjust to demanding environments with attention to details and deadlines. Q&A with Beth Havens Six Degrees: Tell us about your home world Beth Beth I am an empty nester with a busy year ahead of me! My youngest Daughter Graduates from the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, on the 9th of May. (Yes that is the week after the Kentucky Derby, for you horse racing fans out there) My Oldest Daughter is getting Married in August, and finishes her Masters at USC in December (her BA is from UCLA, she has a fine sense of humor) otherwise it is just me and the critters at home these days! Have Dog will travel! Hobbies! Oh my! Aside from the obvious hobbies of gardening and hiking, I am known to write poetry, I have a book on lulu dot com that I put together for the friends and family who complained, “Toads Pond”. I’m known to hang out with the Society for Creative Anachronism on occasion. I enjoy medieval engineering, heraldry, textile hobbies and other interesting tidbits to be found within that group. I love ancient architecture. I’m far more likely to be found in the museum or the garden than on the beach. I’m terribly unsocial in my private life for a recruiter. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Beth I started recruiting in 1995. My BS is in Physics and Computer Science and finding a job in that market was a bit tough, when I stumbled across a recruiter who thought I’d make a good recruiter. I think a good many recruiters stumbled into the industry via odd roads. I had the pleasure of working for an IT staffing company called XXCAL for a good many years before I went into contract recruiting. Since then I have been doing contract and freelance recruiting. Generally I get called for one of two things, either hard to find Scientific, Engineering, IT or Technical people, OR oddly enough, hard to work with hiring managers. I have worked with both very large companies like Citibank, and Sony electronics, and small companies(less than 100 employees), like Xencor. I find either can be great opportunities as long as there are interesting requirements to work on. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Beth Full Cycle Contract Technical Recruiter with more than 12 years exempt recruitment experience in high-volume, high profile technical and scientific fields. I am dedicated and work to give a high level of professionalism. My abilities include strong written and verbal communication, risk reduction, ability to work independently or in teams, vendor negotiation, collecting and defining business requirements, executing strategic searches, workforce planning, strong flexibility to adjust to demanding environments with attention to details and deadlines. Most recently, Beth serviced at Sony Electronics, Inc. through Integrity Placements, performing full cycle recruiting, mainly for ISSA, Legal, Marketing and Controller groups. Recruiting mainly SAP manufacturing and finance project lead and management for ISSA. Participating in research and development for a strong print ad campaign, as well as searching for and developing stronger presence in recruiting online in niche arena’s for specific job functions, mainly seeking Project experience for large ERP projects. Helped to re-create the in house staffing function at Sony. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Beth Transitioning from Agency Staffing to Contract Recruiting - it allowed me to really do the parts of recruiting I like best! Working directly with hiring managers to fill needs, and working on finding the candidates to fill those needs, while not having to do the part I dislike which is hunting for prospective opportunities. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Beth I have to say the person I learned the most about recruiting and business in general from, was Marv Hoffman. Marv not only provided a great deal of recruiting training, but encouraged his recruiting teams to participate in groups that they could learn more from. For instance while working with XXCAL I belonged to several users groups that were great souring pools. (NT users group and a VB Testing group for example) We attended recruiting conferences and Marv had his own training sessions as well. It would have been hard to spend any length of time in that group and NOT learn a great deal. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position, (responsibilities, size of your staffing organization) : Beth Currently I am doing freelance work, taking on requirements from staffing firms who need a bit of help, and doing splits while seeking that next contracting opportunity! Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Beth I am hoping the Trend in new Energy Development and Deployment will have a great boost in my future opportunities, as I’ve been keenly interested in alternate energy sources since I was a teen. Be it thermal heating systems, Wind turbines, solar (recently read a great white paper from MIT on some solar energy changes that would radically alter the amount of energy you are ABLE to use from solar cells) or even passive energy creation or conservation. (for instance if you don’t lose as much heat from a home, you don’t need to create as much, etc.) But then I’m always interested in engineering and architecture, so this shouldn’t’ be too big a shock for those who’ve been reading along. I am a geek by nature, and no! That is not a negative statement! Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: (Do you attend conferences? Which ones? List/detail speaking events, awards, publications, where you have you represented your company) Beth I have attended conferences in the past, SHRM, ERE and many conferences that were directly related to my recruiting needs, Like the Optical Electronic Industry conferences, or Computer conferences which were related to industries I was recruiting for. My personal favorite is the OPIE. I have to admit, I have a couple Schott glasses from the Schott glass company. That has to be one of the best give aways ever. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Has it effected your job or that of your fellow team members within the organization - If so, to what extent? (If you have been laid off, tell us about the experience, when it happened) Beth My last contract ended at the end of January in 2008. I was very surprised that I didn’t have several opportunities in the wings when it ended, but still, I didn’t think I’d be working freelance as long as I have. I had remarked to some friends in 2007 that some banking transactions I’d had reason to observe worried me as to the state of several banks stability. I really hate to be right some days. It seems to me that the media began paying attention to the recession in Late 2008, but that the recession itself began early 2007. I began seeing a great deal more recruiters looking for work peaking in the winter months of 2008 and finally starting to subside in about March of this year. Of course in times like this, Good Sales Staff are worth their weight in gold, but they aren’t automatically created from thin air, so both staffing agencies and corporate business have found themselves going through sales staff and training at a rather intense rate (good training is far too under rated and under utilized in my opinion) while other business find themselves holding their collective breath, so to speak waiting to see what is happening on the world stage, or even failing in the interim. We will recover, economies do, sometimes more slowly than others, but we will recover. Now, where we will all be at the other end of that recovery, that is the question! I admit to having some Thoughts about the viability of changing direction, but to what purpose? Important questions these! I think one of the best indications that the bleeding of the economy is slowing down is that there are more advertisements for recruiters and a big slowdown in the number of NEWLY unemployed recruiters. If there are Jobs, there will be a need for recruiters, so it is, I think, the number one job listing to look for in a recovering economy. Interestingly there seem to be a great deal more ads for the east coast than west coast coming up on my searches. That too may be an indication of what we need to watch in the coming year. Are other economies recovering faster than the California economy? And which industries are recovering fastest. Which seem to be failing completely? I enjoy searching through this information on a regular basis lately. Also I would expect some staffing agencies to do really well when the economy begins to heal because when applicants are abundant, what manager wants to wade through hundreds of resumes to find a few gems? So the pick up in Agency hiring is to me another indication that the recession is beginning to ease just a bit. I am looking forward to a happier year! Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects? Beth You know that is a great question! I have joined a few interesting groups in an effort to get more visibility. I joined the “Ruthie List” and “Carecruit” (California recruiting) groups. I also started receiving other industry communications that I thought might be useful for finding companies that might need my services. I found a few browsers that have been uniquely helpful. Indeed.com is a site that lets you see jobs on several boards and even private company sites at once. Which also just brings to light several possible companies that might be useful. Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? Be specific Beth I should advise against sharing too much personal information, there really is (and I believe, should be!) a difference between your personal and public life. Other than that, be interested in others as much as you are interested in promoting your own needs, because if you don’t listen to others, you will miss opportunities for yourself! (or maybe even an opportunity for a friend) Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Beth There are a couple things I’d like to do. One objective is to work with a small company helping build a solid team from the ground up. Possibly working that effort into an operations Lead position later on. Another thing that I’d be interested in doing is leading a recruiting team for a large company. Either objective is highly dependent upon opportunity. I have my eyes open for just such an occurrence! “HOW DOES BETH IT?” Six Degrees: How many applicants at your present employer do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals? Beth When corporate recruiting, it has been my experience that the overwhelming vast majority of the hiring was the result of sourcing efforts on my part, which included, corporate advertising, searching internal and external databases and networking. I found that a good candidate was just as likely to be found by anyone of these methods as the other, which is why I employ all these methods. . Six Degrees: What is the source of your "LOWEST COST OF HIRES" - (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality) at your present employer? Beth Without doubt the lowest cost per hire I have found has been with previously known candidates, or internal transfers. An internal transfer does not always mean another opening. One of the things smart companies do, is to review the personnel they have to let go from One team, for the likelihood they can fill openings in another group. The cost savings can be tremendous there. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Beth I generally focus on hard to find IT, Engineering or Scientific candidates, though I’ve been asked to fill legal openings as well. While at Sony my main focus was in hiring High level SAP management and design level candidates and Law candidates. While at Amgen it was chemists and other high level R&D scientists, at Citibank embedded Unix developers, and Oracle programmers. If it is a complex opportunity, I may be the recruiter you need. Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit? Beth I have probably used just about every ATS system out there, at one time or another, having an ATS is invaluable, which one you have is certainly up to you or your company, my favorite is Bond. The one I’ve used most is Taleo. Secondly I think one should have access to posting on Some job boards, one doesn’t necessarily need every board out there, but one universal board, and a few niche boards that fit your company needs really do make networking easier. Not to mention advertise your company and give you more opportunities to network. And contact with niche groups that support whatever activity you most need in your hiring, be it MBA groups or some users group that services a particular type of prospective candidate, these can be invaluable. My brain, is also known to be a fairly useful tool, though I don’t claim to share all its contents. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? Beth I came into recruiting when databases and search engines were already in use. And being a geek I really don’t think I would have gotten into it otherwise. If I file it, it isn’t likely to be seen again for years. I file things that Might be useful sometime, not things I use on a regular basis. That is why databases are so useful, its filing for things you plan on using regularly. I also think I drove my first bosses crazy because I hired more candidates on email than I ever called, and that drove the metrics crazy. But then a lot of the candidates I deal with don’t like(and occasionally don’t answer) the phone. Six Degrees: How did your expectations of being a recruiter compare to the actual, first time you got on the phone or in the cubicle? In your opinion, how do people's assumptions about our vocation differ from reality? Beth I didn’t have any idea of what to expect when I first started recruiting, since it wasn’t anything I ever imagined I’d be doing! So no expectations to live up to or crush. I think the biggest assumption people have about recruiting is that it in any way is an HR function. Recruiting is a management function, and is diabolically opposed to HR. the sole function of HR is to protect a companies assets. This means if you have someone in HR doing your recruiting, they often will not show resumes to hiring managers that they think are a pain to HR. a recruiter puts the position and the hiring managers needs before HR preferences. Recruiting assumes the responsibilities of a hiring manager to detail, advertise and find suitable candidates for an opening. Some of the odd HR jobs recruiters take on in order to fulfill that duty, are for our own convenience, to get the job done. They aren’t a recruiting function per se’. The most foolish thing any business can do in my opinion, is to put recruiting under the auspices of HR. If they aren’t under their own separate heading altogether, then they should be under operations. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? Beth I will have to hold a contest to see. Though possibly the one I thought the silliest was parking in boss’ favorite (though unmarked) parking place when I went for an interview. Six Degrees: How do you personally expect to facilitate change within our industry, and/or at your place of work? If you started that process, outline the problem, your solutions, and the vision. Beth I think that the best way to make any industry better is to do your best at what you do. Lead by example and change will occur naturally. Well it’s a theory anyway. Six Degrees: “Best practice” you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career? Beth The best recruiting practice is to stick to process. Six Degrees: What are some of the frustrating aspects/obstacles to your day to day as a staffing professional and in general? Beth I think the biggest obstacle to recruiting, are hiring managers whose personal hiring goals clash with their companies hiring goals. They most often take up the most time. This time waster is followed closely by un-necessary meetings. Six Degrees: Considering all of the frustrations you have experienced in your career as a recruiter, -- what inspires you as you continue in your career? Beth I’m happiest when working on an interesting opportunity. Finding that one odd placement no one else can find. Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2009? (OR) Six Degrees: What one thing do you find most ideal given the opportunity to develop/ implementing/ invent professionally that has yet to be done. Beth Actually I’d like to see an MRP (manufacturing resource planner) that is similar to a job board for investors and communities to use to help manufacturing stay strong. The idea being that resources, inventors and investors really need a place to network to make opportunity happen. The thought comes out of my recruiting experience. Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? Beth Only the hole in the economic dyke…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:54am on May 18, 2009

Topic: Meet Larry Gonzales, 20 Year Veteran "Blessed To Give Blessings": te Photography, Cooking, Good Wine, Reading Interests: College Football, Art (Impressionist, Old Masters, Roden's sculptures), World History Favorite Music: Everything from The Beatles to Hendrix to Opera to Lady Gaga Favorite TV Shows: CSI Miami, Csi Vegas, Leverage, Love Saving Grace!, Burn Notice, Damages, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Favorite Movies: Casablanca, All About Eve, Citizen Kane, Trading Places, Errol Flynn Movies, James Bond, The Princess Bride, Jason Bourne, Tombstone, Armageddon, Army Of Darkness Favorite Books: James Patterson, John Sanford, Of Mice And Men, Osterman Weekend, Dostyesky, Dante's Inferno, The Prince, The Art Of War Favorite Quotations: The Proverbs of Solomon: "The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all, is the person who argues with him", "Youth is wasted on the young", "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" • Office/Cell Number 408-838-0637 • Personal Email Larry Gonzales is actually a colleague I worked with when I consulted at Palm. Unfortunately, as a virtual sourcer I never had the honor of meeting Larry face-to-face, but his reputation then as it remains now was well established as a 20+ year veteran of the staffing industry. I was well informed of Larry's formidable resume - a man of all seasons: experienced in the design, implementation and administration of recruiting strategies, staffing planning, and process improvement programs. Larry has managed a recruiting departments, including budgeting, metrics reporting, and recruiting technology. He has a broad working knowledge of HR practices including compensation, performance management, diversity, branding, and employee retention. Larry is proficient in federal and state employment practice regulations, applying and interpreting employee-relations policies, Affirmative Action, Diversity Hiring, EEO-1, VISA Processing and employment law. His Specialties include the following: Mobile Device Engineers, Human Factor Design, Media Designers, Mobile TV, PC-TV, Embedded Software Engineers, Home Entertainment Solutions, RF Engineers, CDMA handset, Risk Management, Sarbanes Oxley Compliance, SAS70, Specialized areas of finance (AML, FAS109/123R, SOP97-2, and SEC Reporting), Sales/Business Development, and Product Marketing. Q&A with Larry Gonzales Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Larry: I am fortunate to be married to a beautiful and wonderful “Texas Girl”. My wife and I were born and raised in Texas and regardless of how long we live in California, we will always be Texans! Our fourteenth wedding anniversary is coming up next week and I thank God for blessing me with such a great partner in life. I have been involved in charitable fundraising since I was in Middle School. Although the charities and my levels of participation have varied over the years, I feel it is important to give back. My minister always reminds us that “We are blessed, so that we can be a blessing”. I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with cancer in January 2003 and through the efforts of prayer, positive attitude, and the fantastic physicians at Stanford Medical, I have been cancer free since May of that same year. After my full recovery from chemo and radiation, I focused on supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through TNT. I decided to train and participate through Century Bike Rides. I hope to become a mentor next season and help train (mentally and physically) new participants to the program. I am an avid reader of fiction/mystery along with many business periodicals. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Larry: I have been in the staffing industry for over 20 years dating back to index cards, real cold calls, and ruses. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Larry: Like many of us, I never expected to go in to the recruiting. I had been working for AT&T, designing and selling telecom systems for the transportation industry. I primarily handled air transportation to include airports, airlines, and airline sales offices. I was referred to a “headhunter” that was looking for someone with my background. When the opportunity did not materialize, my recruiter asked me if I would be interested working for her company. I told her that I would rather be a “pimp, than a headhunter”. Famous last words! Needless to say, the reputation garnered by headhunters in those days was less than respectable. She nurtured the relationship and had me meet with the owner of the firm, which was based out of Atlanta. I also meet with all (12) of her colleagues in the Dallas Office. I found myself drawn to the group and to the challenge the job represented. About 90 days later I ended up working for her firm. Since then my experience has included agency, professional services, corporate, and RPO environments. I have held individual contributor, director, and managing partner roles. Regardless of title and responsibilities, I have always been a hands-on contributor. I am a person that gets easily bored, so the ever changing world of technology has been my salvation. To be successful you have to stay abreast of technology trends, understand the industry and known how it applies to business. This requires research and a certain amount of trial and error. Typically, experience helps you shorten your ramp up time to production. You have to continually learn to excel. One of the keys to my longevity is that I always try to specialize. I choose the hottest or up and coming technology and become a subject matter expert. Through the years, I have supported specific software and hardware technology. I get involved in SIGs, Alliance Groups, and conferences. I do not want or expect to be everything to everybody. A “Jack of all trades is a master of none”. However, my experience allows me to talk intelligently across many disciplines. I am equally adept at discussing the hardware design of mobile devices to financial audit and SOX compliance. Right now the mobile device industry is still very strong and within the Silicon Valley area you have a large mix of industry leaders and start-ups. Even with the high unemployment, almost all of my candidates have multiple offers. Find your niche and work it. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Larry: Moving to San Jose in January of 2000 and suffering through the highs and lows of the dotcom era probably affected my life the most. I relocated from Texas and had never really gone through a downturn in business. The economy in Dallas was very diverse and not dominated by any one industry. Even the oil and gas industry represented only about 10% of the total employment population. So when one industry stalled, you had others as backup. 2002 was a rough year. You saw many recruiters leaving the industry (for the mortgage broker industry!) and we see what inevitably happened to them. You also had a large group of recruiters that held on to the belief that they were actually worth the outrageous rates they were being paid before the bust. They would not even think about going to work for less than they were previously making. I find that arrogance is a very ugly trait. I think that it is a combination of at least 3 of the 7 Deadly Sins (Greed, Vanity, and Pride). I think most of us in the recruiting business learned or reinforced our idea of the value of humility. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Larry: I often recall the story about the headhunter that got me in to this business? Her name is Dee Jabaut and she exemplifies all that is good in our industry and in life. She is a valued and loyal friend and everything that I would hope to be in life. She is a consummate professional, wonderful parent, always gracious, diligent, charitable, and patient. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position, (responsibilities, size of your staffing organization) : Larry: I have spent the last three years primarily in an individual contributor role. My responsibilities have included project management, client manager relationship, sourcing, recruiting, and new business development. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Larry: Without firsthand experience, it would be hard to designate who has the best recruiting practices. If you look at the top 25 in Fortune’s Best Companies to “work for list”, I had heard horror stories about some of their staffing organizations. Regardless of the success of the company, I think that the overall candidate experience is vital to managing employee branding. Whether or not the candidate is hired, what they tell their circle of influence is ultimately important to the future of their recruiting. I think that this is even more magnified with the advent of applications such as Twitter and Facebook. I think that it would be a healthy, although not practical exercise, to make corporate recruiters interview externally at least twice a year. This would remind them how it feels to be on the other side of the equation. I also feel that the true measurement of recruiting comes 90-180 days after the hire. Measuring employee and manager satisfaction, employee performance, and attrition are key metrics. There are definitely some companies that stand above the rest, companies where employee and customer loyalty rank high. I admire companies like Southwest Airlines, Whole Foods, Frito Lay, Qualcomm, Ernst & Young, and Boston Consulting. (B) In what aspects are they superior? Larry: Branding, internal and external. Treatment of employees, quality products, and customer satisfaction. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Larry: More tech firms innovate in Silicon Valley but sell overseas! Companies that focus on mass market (China, India, Africa, and South America) are finding greater success. “In down economic times, every company should be thinking: Do I have my balance right? Instead of spending so much money on marketing in some of these depressed markets, some of that should be diverted to parts of the world that are not as negatively impacted.” These markets have typically been ignored. Successful examples are companies like Telegent Systems, Ruckus Wireless, UTStarcom, and Legend Silicon. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Larry: Outside of local SIGs and affiliations with IEEE (The Consumer Electronics Society and The Antenna and Propagation Society), I have been regretfully reticent. I have been focused on international recruiting to include EMEA, Africa, India, APAC, and South America. I do plan on attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next year. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Larry: I am fortunate that my current client has not been greatly affected by the global economic downturn. We have been actively hiring for the last 14 months and have aggressive hiring goals throughout 2010. Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Larry: Over the last three years I have intentionally built out my Linkedin network by industry segment, targeted companies, and international exposure. That foresight has allowed me to actively search for my current needs. It is an evolutionary process or one might say intelligent design! It is better to be in a revolutionary rather than reactionary mode. Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? Larry: Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Most people are willing to help you achieve your goal if you ask politely. Aristotle stated that “man is a political animal, meaning an animal with an innate propensity to develop complex communities”. By nature we want to help people, preferably if that help doesn’t require a great exertion of time and energy. Using Linkedin as an example, if you use the route of requesting an introduction in order to present an opportunity, most people will forward that introduction when approached professionally. Granted, the degree of assistance increases with the proximity to the person we are helping. Of course for expediency, you should simply try calling your intended candidate. People are also more willing to help if you are offering value to their cooperation. Whether that is an offer to help a friend, an offer to help them in the future, a monetary offer, or sometimes a simple thank you. Remember not to be demanding or too persistent. I prefer the term, gently persistent while trying to achieve a goal. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Larry: Ideally I would like to secure an opportunity as a staffing director/manager. The best position I have ever had was managing and mentoring a staffing organization. I like being responsible for the overall talent acquisition process. There is a great deal of satisfaction growing your own company. That is the one element missing from project based staffing. I need to find a start-up or small company willing to give me the opportunity to run their staffing organization. Either that or a regional staffing management position for a large international corporation. Recommendations For Larry “Larry is an excellent and very professional recruiter. He is very dedicated, hard working, committed, and driven to results. I’ve had the chance to work with him at Palm as a technical recruiter for my system electrical engineering design team. He was very thorough in his search for potential candidates and has successfully provided quality candidates. He is excellent in identifying good candidates and recognizing their talents and the fit in my team. He is very proactive and follows up with the candidate regarding interview schedule, information about the position, feedback, and negotiating offers. He also is very good in communicating with me regarding progress and updates. He is definitely a pleasure to work with and an asset to a company!” November 11, 2008 Bernadette Lozano, Hardware Development Manager, Palm “I worked with Larry in two different ways. First of all, he was instrumental in getting me hired to my current position at Palm. Larry was in Palm's HR/staffing department but it almost seemed like he was my own recruiter. He always kept his promises, followed up on time, and worked hard to meet or exceed my requests. Even after I accepted the offer, Larry followed up with me and wanted to know if there was anything he could do. This has definitely been my best recruiting experience so far. Secondly, Larry also helped me find candidates for an open position at Palm. I have been very pleased in his abilities to provide me with candidates that matched the job description.” August 25, 2008 Thorsten W. Hertel, Sr. Antenna Design Engineer, Palm “I am appreciative to Larry's consistent and thorough search for candidates during this critical time for our project to find qualified candidates. Larry did an excellent job following up with the candidates to arrange for interviews, giving feedback and negotiating offers. Worked closely with us and he is proactive in returning e-mails and phone calls.” July 13, 2007. Top qualities: Expert, On Time, High Integrity Sameer Haddad, Sr Staffing Consultant, Spansion “I had the opportunity of working with Larry at Spansion, a leading supplier in flash memory. Larry is a seasoned recruiting professional who brought leadership and stability to Spansion’s recruiting team. As a senior technical recruiter Larry’s focus was in the device space, which is a very difficult area to recruit for in the semiconductor industry. Larry established solid relationships with hiring managers, was a valued business partner and was able to consistently met expectations. Larry was definitely a team player and a pleasure to work with.” October 30, 2007 Wayne Widdig, HR Manager, Spansion “Larry supported our Connected home and mobile device business at Motorola. In a short period of time, Larry was instrumental in making several critical hires on a high profile project. I found Larry to be a strong E2E staffing professional. Moreover, the clients (hiring managers) found him to be a valuable asset, identifying highly qualified candidates for hire.” October 23, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, On Time Nick Mailey, Staffing Manager, Motorola “Motorola hired Larry through his company i-Hire to do some recruiting for us in the N. CA and S. CA areas. I found Larry to be very professional, have good technical knowledge and deliver great customer service in a timely manner. I would work with Larry anytime.” July 22, 2007. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity Lynda Harris “Larry is excellent to work with and is results oriented. He is very responsive and professional and knows his business.” July 13, 2007. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative Leo Barnes, Staffing/Business Development Manager. RemX IT “Larry and I worked together to staff one of my projects. I found him to be a joy to work with under demanding deadlines in a high pressure environment.” December 28, 2006. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity Scott Wright - hired Larry more than once “Larry is a professional in the true sense of the word. He has an uncanny ability to communicate and understand conceputal issues at all levels. Larry gives 110% to ensure the project you are assigned is satisfactory. It has been a pleasure working with Larry and I will be glad to do so in the future.” August 2, 2006 Manoj Goyal, Independent Consultant, Squar Milner Reehl Williamson, LLP “I relied on Larry to staff two critical roles in my company's Marketing organization. Through Larry's diligent search capabilities, his attention to my specific criteria, and his follow-up throughout the negotiation process, I recruited two "anchor" members of our current team. They significantly deepened my team's bench, and both exhibit the capability to advance to higher leadership roles.” January 9, 2006 Kristin Jordahl Hansen “I have had the pleasure of working with Larry over the past year. He is not only well polished but also has a high level of integrity. Larry has proven to be a very effective recruiter and account manager and thus is within the top 2% of producers at our company.” April 13, 2005 Chris Stewart, Account Manager, RemX IT Staffing “I was first introduced to Larry when his company brought a recruiting plan to my organization to help us source hard-to-find technical jobs and fill positions that had been vacated due to the dot-com frenzy. Larry led the effort as project manager and offered workable solutions that allowed us to surpass our hiring goals. Larry gets results because he is a professional recruiter who knows technology and offers exceptional customer service.” October 2, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value Brenda K. Brown, MS “As a manager and leader, Larry is someone who is committed to developing your skills and knowledge. He's the type of leader that likes and wants to help you out as much as he can. He's a great listener and is very empathic. I know that he has grown a lot of valuable relationships because of these characteristics. As a Sr. Level recruiter, Larry is the best I know. He's a great networker, aggressive, and is very creative in finding the right candidates.” October 1, 2007 Racquel Cariaso, CIR, Recruiter, eJobs “Larry is always focused on the task, ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done. He's an exceptional leader, as well as a committed team player.” June 22, 2007 Garry King, several, Ejobs…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 11:31pm on August 9, 2009

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Topic: Transcript - Talent Talk Cafe: Week of Nov 17th - Lance Haun on Background Checks: es. Here's an overview of his topic follwoed by the Chat transcript. "How Invasive is Your Background Check Process?" With the Obama administration opening up application for appointed positions, they have also opened up one of the most invasive application processes in history. 63 questions that delve into the contents of your online activity, financial information and even contents of personal diaries. How appropriate is this for this particular situation and how much should you be going into? You can also find Lance online Here and connect with him on Twitter as @thalance! 12:00pm Lance Haun we'll go ahead and get started 12:00pm Tina Huckabay at show or online Maren? 12:01pm Maureen Sharib Hi - good crowd Lance! 12:01pm Lance Haun So today I wanted to talk about background checks 12:01pm Lance Haun Thanks Maureen for coming!@ 12:01pm Lance Haun and how I wanted to start talking about it is something from the news 12:02pm Lance Haun basically, the incoming presidential administration has released its application for appointed positions and it is a 63 page monstrosity 12:02pm Lance Haun 63 question 12:02pm Lance Haun not pages 12:02pm Maureen Sharib Yup 12:02pm Lance Haun but it is still huge 12:02pm Maureen Sharib Read it- could any of us get away w/ that?? 12:03pm Maureen Sharib Some of those questions? 12:03pm Lance Haun well, has everyone read some of the questions? 12:03pm Maureen Sharib Yup. 12:03pm Maureen Sharib allof them with great interest 12:03pm Lance Haun Here is one that might be of particular interest: Writings: Please list and, if readily available, provide a copy of each book, article column or publication (including but not limited to any posts or comments on blogs or other websites) you have authored, individually or with others. Please list all aliases or "handles" you have used to communicate on the Internet. 12:04pm Maureen Sharib LOL 12:04pm Maureen Sharib TMTM 12:04pm Maureen Sharib (Too Many To Mention) 12:04pm Lance Haun as a blogger, I have written hundreds of pages and I am sure you have to Maureen 12:04pm Lance Haun over the course of how many years? 12:04pm Julia Stone but under how many handles lance? 12:04pm Lance Haun so far, only one Julia :)12:05pmMaureen Sharib It'slaughable and if you forghet tolist something? I 'magine all hell will break loose... 12:05pm Julia Stone so it is an easy question to answer, right? 12:05pm Lance Haun well, collecting all of my work might be a bit more difficult 12:05pm Lance Haun as well as getting it to them in some readable form 12:05pm Lance Haun that's hundreds of pages of text for a single question 12:06pm Maureen Sharib Please list any (yadda yadda) your OR YOUR SPOUSE... 12:06pm Maureen Sharib ...there's a bugaboo. 12:07pm Maureen Sharib you OR YOUR SPOUSE 12:07pm Lance Haun the question that I posed on my blog on crimcheck is who is checking all of these things? what kind of staff would you need to even vet this many applicants with this many questions? 12:07pm Maureen Sharib Is that s'posed to be for a package deal? 2for1? 12:08pm Maureen Sharib Buy 1 Get 1 free... 12:08pm Lance Haun it is if your name is Clinton, right Maureen? 12:08pm Maureen Sharib Spose. 12:08pm Lance Haun they are vetting Bill Clintons connections right now 12:08pm Maureen Sharib Thats'what Bill offered way back when 12:08pm Julia Stone it was my understanding they are doing it to make sure they are sticking to their lobbying rules. 12:08pm Maureen Sharib He knows a deal when he sees one. 12:09pm Lance Haun certainly Julia! Obviously there needs to be vetting 12:09pm Lance Haun I think we all expect that from the President 12:09pm Recruiting Animal Same old faces 12:09pm Julia Stone and not to put a damper on the conversation, but haven't like 150,000 already completed the application process? Sounds like they have their hands full already 12:09pm Julia Stone you talking to me RA or the conversation? hello 12:09pm Lance Haun Hi Animal 12:09pm Maureen Sharib Have any members of your family...been arrested... 12:10pm Recruiting Animal talkin' to you. who said i was talking to you. hi hr guy. 12:10pm Recruiting Animal is there a class or something here today? 12:10pm Lance Haun schooling people on background checks 12:10pm Lance Haun a subject you should be familiar with 12:10pm Recruiting Animal k. i'll shut up. didn't know i was late 12:10pm Recruiting Animal (no maureen, never been arrested) 12:10pm Lance Haun Julia, you bring upo a good point 12:10pm Julia Stone thought it was a conversation, didn't realize you were schooling us Lance, I will shut up too 12:11pm Lance Haun no, that was a joke 12:11pm Recruiting Animal no julia you talk you know something 12:11pm Lance Haun if they have so many applicants, than who cares what questions they ask? 12:12pm Julia Stone I think that we are talking about a procedure that only affects a small % of high ranking officials. If you have gotten to that point in your career & haven't watched your online presence, time to retire anyway 12:13pm Lance Haun My understanding is that this application covers the 7,000 appointments Obama will have to make 12:13pm Lance Haun that's high and low it seems like 12:13pm Julia Stone no 3000 of those will be covered from my understanding 12:13pm Julia Stone Those under consideration for high-ranking positions must answer a seven-page questionnaire with 63 questions about their personal and professional lives. Applicants will have to provide significant details about their jobs and those of their spouses, their financial status and personal associations. 12:14pm Shannon Myers I know it's excessive but it can also be used as a deterent for people who really should not be applying. 12:14pm Julia Stone sorry, wrong cut & paste...Political experts say about 3,000 of the jobs will be awarded by Obama and his transition team to those who helped with the campaign or are well-known for their work in specific fields appropriate to the positions. 12:14pm Lance Haun Hi Shannon 12:14pm Shannon Myers Hi Lance 12:14pm Lance Haun good point, it can deter bad people from applying 12:15pm Julia Stone it can deter everyone from applying, right lance? except for the 144,000 who applied in the first 5 days 12:15pm Lance Haun In some cases, I think it can deter the types of people you want to bring into the administration 12:16pm Lance Haun quantity is great 12:16pm Maureen Sharib Names, addresses and phone #s of cohabitants? 12:16pm Julia Stone agreed. but if I got a call from Obama or Emmanuel explaining that this was a pain in the arse but I needed to complete it to be their secretary of superheros (or whatever) I would do it. These are high ranking positions. 12:16pm Lance Haun but if you need the best middle east analyst, do you know that they are willing to go through this process 12:17pm Maureen Sharib IMAGINE if members of our community asked some of these questions... 12:17pm Lance Haun Well, I don't know what HR positions they have available but if they called me and said we have this Deputy position available, maybe I am more willing to go through it than for a lower ranking position 12:18pm Julia Stone maureen, with all due respect, we are not running the country 12:18pm Lance Haun I worry about applying the same standards to secretary of state as we do to a policy advier 12:18pm Lance Haun adviser 12:18pm Lance Haun and it seems like policy wonks are covered under this application as well 12:19pm Lance Haun is that just a me concern? 12:20pm Paul DeBettignies We could all volunteer for a week to help do the background checks and not make a dent in them 12:21pm Lance Haun Hi Paul 12:21pm Paul DeBettignies (word) 12:21pm Lance Haun I guess that's my second question, what are the logistics to checking all of this information for 3000 people? 12:21pm Lance Haun well, 3000 positions 12:21pm Lance Haun probably will be doing more checks then that 12:22pm Paul DeBettignies that is the one that has me curious 12:22pm Julia Stone If it were me, I would want the info on file, not to check it but to have it on record 12:22pm Maureen Sharib Julia - do we have two standards here? 12:22pm Lance Haun me too Paul 12:22pm Lance Haun so is it just so they can reference it later Julia? 12:22pm Julia Stone you mean one for applying for a position to run the country and one to volunteer to run a group on RBC? yes 12:23pm Julia Stone Either to reference it later or to have a good NLP to sort through for potential conflicts of interest (lobbying types) 12:24pm Chalapathi hi everybody 12:24pm Lance Haun hi! 12:24pm Lance Haun okay Julia, I can see that 12:24pm Chalapathi i need sugestions in regards with DAYAK 12:25pm Lance Haun do you believe in the deterent value or do you think it isn't effective since 150k people managed to do it just fine? 12:25pm Chalapathi i have just signed in this portal and not yet started using this as my phone lines are out of order so i have not used this 12:26pm Chalapathi OHHHHHHHHHHHH 12:27pm Maureen Sharib No I mean for one applying for a job in govt and one applying for a job in industry. 12:27pm Chalapathi my email id is vtslchalapathi@yahoo.com 12:27pm Maureen Sharib Not sure where the applying to run a group here on RBC comes into this... 12:28pm Shannon Myers It still doesn't mean they are qualified, that they filled them out completely, just applied. 12:28pm Lance Haun Maureen, I think there are going to be double standards though 12:28pm Maureen Sharib Oh? 12:28pm Maureen Sharib I see. 12:29pm Lance Haun I mentioned this elsewhere but I worked for a company that did credit checks on janitors 12:29pm Maureen Sharib What's good for the gander in this country is not good for the geese. 12:29pm Lance Haun that didn't make much sense to me 12:29pm Maureen Sharib the janitor check or the goose remark? 12:30pm Lance Haun the janitor check 12:30pm Lance Haun I love goose though 12:30pm Lance Haun with a niceorange glaze that is 12:30pm Maureen Sharib Do you or any members of your family own a gun? COME ON! 12:31pm Lance Haun How about this one? Please furnish copies of all resumes and biographical statements issued by you or any other entity at your discretion or with your consent within the past 10 years. 12:31pm Maureen Sharib Please describe your overall health and any medical treatments you are receiving. 12:31pm Lance Haun wouldn't it be interesting to see how people have revamped their resume over the course of time? 12:32pm Julia Stone I am never happy when I walk out of an interview knowing the dosage of anti depressants they are on 12:32pm Maureen Sharib Pl include info abt any members of your family that might later be uh,,,errr....embarrassing to the President-Elect.n 12:32pm Lance Haun haha 12:33pm Lance Haun I don't want to know anybody's medical history :)12:33pmLance Haun not even my own 12:33pm Julia Stone me either, but a good recruiter often finds out more than they mean to 12:33pm Maureen Sharib I mean, come on, how many of these questions would be ILLEGAL to ask in an interview??? 12:33pm Julia Stone guess the supreme court will decide, lol 12:34pm Lance Haun well, it is interesting because the executive branch would be the one to enforce those rules...on itself 12:34pm Lance Haun I am guessing they let it go 12:34pm Maureen Sharib There is an intrinsic problem here - and nobody's really talking about it! 12:34pm Julia Stone In madison, they issued a local law which says that you cannot check peoples backgrounds further back than 3 years, unless it is superceeded by state or feds 12:35pm Lance Haun yeah, that's not uncommon these days either. Many states have limitations now and municipalities are cutting down as well. 12:35pm Julia Stone Last year I had my 1 and only case of something coming up on a background check in 12 years, it turned out to be nothing either 12:35pm Paul DeBettignies Seems to me anyone who could fill this out and be accepted would not be someone I want in there 12:36pm Lance Haun I think why this has become newsworthy is because of the level of disparity between what can be researched and done in the private sector and what can be done with White House positions. 12:36pm Julia Stone you are making an assumption that they have specific answers in mind to the questions though, Paul 12:37pm Maureen Sharib Insolvent in the past? Bankrupt? 12:37pm Lance Haun I don't have an issue with people getting extra scrutiny but I think the level this takes it to is really incredibly 12:37pm Lance Haun I am trying to think of the right adjective 12:37pm Lance Haun maybe just incredible 12:37pm Julia Stone I think that it is smart. if they don't want to be bogged down by news stories which take away from running the country. 12:37pm Lance Haun because there is a lot more information than there was 8 years ago 12:38pm Lance Haun now entire collections have been moved from offline to online 12:39pm Lance Haun and researching and accessibility is incredible 12:39pm Julia Stone maureen, have you finished your application yet? which position did you say you were applying to? 12:39pm Paul DeBettignies Let me try this again, anyone who can supply all this information, who can "pass" these steps, has had a career in D.C. Not sure how much "change" that is 12:39pm Lance Haun Paul, do you think that's the point though? 12:39pm Paul DeBettignies I don't know 12:39pm Lance Haun They want people who are used to being this exposed in the administration 12:40pm Lance Haun because that's what life is like there? 12:40pm Maureen Sharib Julia LOL 12:40pm Maureen Sharib No I'm workin' thru it - I'm struggling though... 12:40pm Paul DeBettignies See, I get the need to be transparent when applying and their need to do the background stuff. 12:41pm Paul DeBettignies But it seems the only ones able to jump the hurdle will be the ones alreay there 12:41pm Maureen Sharib When it's all over I'm gonna file a lawsuit...;) Unfair something-or-other. It'll make me rich beyond belief. ;)12:41pmPaul DeBettignies class action 12:41pm Paul DeBettignies we will all be rich 12:41pm Lance Haun well you better start applying Paul 12:41pm Paul DeBettignies or in this case lipstick on a ... 12:41pm Julia Stone sourcing czar? czar is a popular term this year, car czar, healthcare czar, etc 12:42pm Paul DeBettignies I doubt I could find all the stuff they want 12:42pm Maureen Sharib After all, this is easier'n working for a living...;)12:42pmMaureen Sharib I thought of it first. ;)12:42pmLance Haun I do think we need to change all of our secretaries to czars 12:42pm Lance Haun I think that is a more attractive position 12:43pm Lance Haun and secretary is so out moded 12:43pm Julia Stone madam czar, you have the stage? 12:43pm Lance Haun and I don't think assistant of state would work 12:44pm Maureen Sharib Admin Asst of State 12:44pm Maureen Sharib is the new title these days. 12:44pm Paul DeBettignies I have always been annoyed with the Under Secretary title. 12:44pm Maureen Sharib And for goodness sakes don't abbreviate it. 12:44pm Paul DeBettignies Who TF thought it was a good idea 12:45pm Lance Haun so I haven't seen any statement from the transition team about their application process but do you think they could have improved the process at all? 12:45pm Lance Haun or do you think it isn't a problem? 12:45pm Lance Haun or that it was done perhaps on purpose to limit the types of people applying? 12:45pm Maureen Sharib OFCCP suggests that it is best practice to only ask a question to ascertain Veteran's Preference status. Further, the OFCCP explained that it is "best practice" not to ask about type of discharge in the interview process as it can lead to equal opportunity type issues. 12:46pm Julia Stone I think it is much like many HR policies. They are designed with one purpose and end up with unintended side effects. In this case, they want to stick to their guns about lobbyist rules, but the side effect is turning people like all of us off 12:47pm Lance Haun Great point Julia 12:47pm Maureen Sharib http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/faqs/emprfaqs.htm#Q34 12:47pm Maureen Sharib But Julia, WHAT DO THEY CARE? 12:47pm Lance Haun so maybe, in the end, they don't change a thing but they understand that to an outsider like us, it doesn't make sense 12:48pm Lance Haun so turning to your own background check process 12:48pm Lance Haun I think we need to be thoughtful too as to what questions we are asking or hoops we make people jump through 12:49pm Lance Haun and even if we do leave them in place, we need to understand we may lose people or possibly dissatisfy others with the experience 12:49pm Maureen Sharib Exactly. Because Big Brother does it doesn't make it okay for us to do it. 12:49pm Julia Stone 2 issues with background checks. I don't make the rules since I am an agency recruiter. 1 is setting expectations, the other is limiting the hoops. 12:50pm Lance Haun True Maureen, that's the case for many many things though :)12:50pmLance Haun so set the expectations that "this is what you will be going through" 12:50pm Julia Stone for example, my husband took a contract w/ an insurance agency. Before the process was done they had run 2 background checks and made him take 3 drug tests (all negative, just beauracracy) 12:51pm Lance Haun ouch 12:51pm Lance Haun that's a rocky start to a relationship too 12:51pm Julia Stone I think 1/2 of all probelms can be solved by setting expectations 12:52pm Lance Haun right, but you still might not be happy even if you know you have to do three drug tests 12:52pm Lance Haun but at least you'll be informed 12:52pm Maureen Sharib "...that's the case for many many things..." THAT is the problem Lance. 12:52pm Julia Stone don't you think? 12:53pm Lance Haun I do agree, it can certainly smooth over even a rough pre-screening 12:53pm Julia Stone now that I know I won't even get pretzels on most flights, I pack food. I am no longer the crazed woman on the 3rd aisle 12:54pm Lance Haun good point...but when you do get food on an airplane, it is a pleasant surprise 12:54pm Lance Haun so couldn't the private sector use this to their advantage? 12:54pm Julia Stone most of the time people just want someone to tell them, "yes this is a ridicolous process. thank god the rest of the company isn't run by HR!" 12:55pm Lance Haun nothing is as bad as the government's background check! 12:55pm Maureen Sharib So when the govt DOES THE RIGHT THING it's a pleasant surprise? 12:55pm Lance Haun would you disagree Maureen? 12:55pm Lance Haun I mean, unfrotunatley I think that's what many have come to expect 12:55pm Maureen Sharib There's way too much at stake, IMO, for surprises. 12:56pm Maureen Sharib How could the private sector use this to advantage? Interesting question Lance. 12:56pm Rayanne wow, sorry I missed this one. Great chat here guys, from what I have read thus far 12:56pm Julia Stone lively discussion for sure, hi Rayanne! 12:56pm Lance Haun Hi Rayanne 12:56pm Rayanne Hi there... 12:56pm Maureen Sharib I wouldbe remiss not to say Hi Rayanne! 12:56pm Maureen Sharib ') 12:57pm Rayanne Hi EVERYONE! 12:57pm Lance Haun Maureen, I think the private sector could say "Hey, we don't put you through fire to work for us. Don't let insane processes get you down" 12:57pm Lance Haun haha 12:57pm Lance Haun anyway, we are running out of time and I can't believe it 12:58pm Maureen Sharib Interesting. So the 63 Questions works as an example -see how BAD we could be? 12:58pm Lance Haun anybody have anything else to add? 12:58pm Julia Stone like a 64th question, lol 12:58pm Maureen Sharib LOL 12:59pm Julia Stone does your dog own a gun? 12:59pm Maureen Sharib "If you know what's good for you work for Industry and be thankful they'll have you!" 12:59pm Maureen Sharib What abt your girlfriend -does she? 12:59pm Maureen Sharib And her child - what abt him? 12:59pm Julia Stone um, not that I have anything against that, but I don't have a girlfriend 12:59pm Lance Haun oh 12:59pm Lance Haun but what about your dog? 12:59pm Maureen Sharib His girlfriend? 1:00pm Maureen Sharib And her offspring? 1:00pm Julia Stone I once had a gay dog, but that was a long time ago & no guns Do I get the job? 1:00pm Lance Haun sure 1:00pm Maureen Sharib You qualify for sure! 1:00pm Lance Haun alright everyone thanks for the chat 1:00pm Lance Haun Maureen and Julia keeping it lively 1:00pm Julia Stone thanks Lance, nice job 1:01pm Lance Haun Paul even said a few things 1:01pm Lance Haun and Shannon 1:01pm Lance Haun can't forget her too 1:01pm Julia Stone paul had a long weekend, slower than usual 1:01pm Lance Haun I heard he signed up a boatload of recruiters for his event 1:02pm Rayanne I will definitely catch it next time!!!…; Added by Susan Burns at 10:45am on November 21, 2008

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Topic: Meet Simon Meth, A Contract Recruiter SittingXlegged in San Diego: egged • 619-303-7094 • simon.meth@sdcorprecruiter.com When I was first introduced to Recruitment Blogging, I entered through ERE blogs, venturing into Simon Meth's musings about contract recruitment, in addition to Shally's Cybersleuthing and then viewing outwards into Dennis Smith's Wirelessjobs.com. Simon has brought insights into the value proposition of contract recruitment consultants for several years now. We first met in person at ERE, San Diego in 2006 and I was fortunate to meet him again much to my delight at ERE San Diego a few weeks ago. After all these years reading one another I am honored to finally have the opportunity to tell the tale of this Australian expatriate who is passionate about our profession and has so consistently paid it forward since the blogosphere introduced us as fellow travelers. Simon was educated at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia where he earned a B.S. (Honors) degree in Physical Geography. He began his professional career as a physical geographer writing environmental impact statements. He then started his technical sales career selling machines for Canon Copier Australia. He joined Triad Software in 1984 as a salesman where he developed a nationwide distribution company specializing in the Pick database operating system and related hardware and software. Triad Software achieved international recognition as one of the top Pick resellers in the world. Simon moved to the United States in 1987 where he provided coaching and consulting services in business management, technical sales, and marketing to Triad Software and several other clients. He sold his share in Triad to his business partner in 1995. Simon continued to develop his expertise in staffing, career counseling, and coaching. He has worked with industry leading companies including ViaSat, ENCAD a Division of Kodak, Bond International Software, Adecco , Stac now known as Altiris and Symantec, and Source Services now known as Kforce Professional Staffing. He is a Certified Independent Trainer for Competency Based Interviewing®. SittingXlegged is his blog on ere.net about Corporate Recruitment: what works and what doesn't plus other musings. Simon is an accomplished author of technical articles, a monthly news column, press releases, and company newsletters. He has been published internationally in print and on the Web. Simon lives in San Diego, California with his wife and two children. He is a passionate golfer who asserts that most of life’s lessons are available on the golf course. Q&A with Simon Meth Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. SIMON: The four of us live in sunny San Diego. Our daughter is off to college in the fall and then we’ll be three at home. Our son is a champion junior golfer and much of our lives revolve around golf. Fortunately I’m a golf tragic and hanging out at the golf course is just about the most fun thing I know to do. Life has been a little odd lately with my wife traveling to golf tournaments or to colleges with our kids. I’ve had more time alone than I’m used to or really quite enjoy. I’m very outgoing and prefer to be with others than keeping my own company. However, time alone at home gives me a chance to take care of a myriad of things and to exercise my obsessive compulsive tendencies. I’m pretty hopeless at goofing off and have always been that way. Doing nothing usually evolves into being productive and working on something. I do love watching golf on TV. Some of my favorite shows are House, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch. My guilty pleasures are Doctor 90210 and Nip/Tuck which I watch on Hulu. I listen to most kinds of music and usually do that on Pandora. When I’m driving I almost always listen to a book on CD and usually it is fiction. I just love Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. I’m also the resident PC Tech so when anything goes wrong with something on the network I get a call. Come to think of it that’s one of the few times when my daughter initiates conversation with me . Aren’t 18 year old girls just so much fun? Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? SIMON: Well it depends how you count it. I’d say since I started with Source in ’95. That would be about 14 years. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? SIMON: Funny you should ask. I started as a recruiter way back in my native Australia before I realized that was what I was doing! I was a partner in a software company and we sometimes placed Prime Information consultants at our client sites. Only the very seasoned readers will have ever heard of Prime Information. If you don’t count that then I got into recruiting in the U.S. by accident. After I sold the Australian company I was looking for something to do. There was a recruiter at Source Services Corporation, now Kforce, who had sourced Pick programmers through me for a couple of years so I called her. I figured that she could help me find a job. She did. Working for Source! Funny how often that happens. She made a nice little commission after I started. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? SIMON: I was consulting with a company called Stac that later became Previo and then went out of business. We worked with an industrial psychologist to evaluate candidates above a certain functional level. I got really interested in what he was doing and eventually read a lot of the technical literature and even became certified to teach his Competency Based Interviewing course. Doing that enhanced my innate ability to assess what people are good at and to predict their future success. Time and time again I’ve had clients tell me that that ability is something that distinguishes me from others. I’m always surprised by that because it seems so obvious to me. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? SIMON: Not really. I’m a great gatherer and processor of information. I observe and study everyone and every process and choose what works for me and what I think will make me and those who work with me more productive and efficient. Sometimes the best teachers are those who are failing and aren’t great at what they do. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position: SIMON: I typically work as an independent consultant. Currently I’m at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. Before that I spent 5 years at ViaSat. I work a full desk with typically 35 to 50 requisitions. Often it’s a mix of technical and non-technical positions. I’m an Applicant Tracking System nut and I love to learn everything that the tool can do and I do mean everything. I also document the heck out of everything I do. I look at every resume for everyone who applies and love to get lots of things going. One of my first managers always stressed the importance of activity. I find if I do lots of the right kind of activity then everything works out well. As I mentioned earlier, I’m pretty hopeless at goofing off so you’ll almost always find me doing something productive. Of course you can easily engage me in conversation and I’m likely to tell you more than you want to hear. I know this about myself and am never offended if people cut me off. In fact, with folks I work with a lot, I actually ask them to cut me off if I ever run on too long. Oh, and another thing, I return every voice mail I receive. Six Degrees: What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? SIMON: There are so many different ways to do it. I know one international company where the recruiters don’t review resumes. The hiring managers are responsible for identifying people of interest and the recruiters screen and work them through the process. I’m sure it works for them but that’s not how I’d do it. I’ve heard horror stories about how long it takes to get hired at some industry leading companies. I’ve worked at places where hiring by consensus is the way they do it. Everyone who interviews a candidate has an equal vote. I could never see the sense in that. Everyone should be listened to but some people will or should have a clearer idea about who fits the position best. I admire companies that treat applicants with respect, that have a fast and efficient hiring process, and that get back to applicants every time. I admire companies that have recruitment teams that are passionate about the company they work for and about their craft. I admire companies that embrace technology and that have recruitment systems that make sense and that work well. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? SIMON: It’s old news now but the whole area of social networking is absolutely where it’s at! I can’t predict where we’ll end up in the next few years but I see more and more transparency of information, I see everything linked to everything else, I see a time when we’ll be able to really understand a candidate and their background. Candidates will know what it’s like to work at your company before they start work. They will have the tools to accomplish that. If they don’t use those tools then don’t hire them. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: SIMON: I recently attended ere expo in San Diego. It was great catching up with industry colleagues both new and old. That’s an easy conference for me to attend since it’s in my home town. I haven’t ventured to other conferences but ere expo really piqued my interest. I’d certainly love to attend more. I started writing my blog, SittingXlegged, January 9, 2006. That’s been loads of fun. While I don’t get a ton of comments I do get the occasional reader who lets me know that they appreciate my writing. I’ve started cross-posting to several other sites to expand my readership. I’ve gotten the best results on RecruitingBlogs.com. RecruiterSpace San Diego is a local social networking site for recruiters that I started to help connect recruiters both agency and corporate. I post local opportunities and lots of folks have used the site as a tool to connect. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? SIMON: I’ve been affected directly by the recession. After 5 years working as an independent consultant at ViaSat I could see that my requisition load was dwindling. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t pay me what they were paying me to carry that load. I talked with my Director and Vice President and worked out a separation. I feel very fortunate to have found General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc where I consult today. The economy seems to have been improving but I was getting lots of calls and emails from industry colleagues who were looking for work. I’ve also noticed that agency recruiters are more or less desperate for work. I get lots of calls from them too. There has been lots of downsizing of both staff and office space. Of course the strong will survive and will grow again when the economy turns around. Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? SIMON: That’s a great question! What NOT to do? My best advice is don’t delay in trying out any networking opportunity. Early adopters have a huge advantage. If the particular site takes off then their own network will grow much more quickly than those who engage later on. Of course you may spend some time on some duds but that’s OK too. Learn what you learn and delete your account. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? SIMON: I don’t have one or at least I don’t have a goal to do anything differently to what I’m doing now. I love to recruit. I’m passionate about it and I’m always looking for ways to be more efficient and productive. So more of that! I’ve held management positions in the past and they can be extremely rewarding. I’d do that again if I could lead a team and continue to work a desk. I have limited interest in playing the corporate game and dealing with all the stuff that corporate managers deal with. I’m not saying that stuff isn’t important I’m just saying that I have limited interest in it. I can imagine working for a very well funded start-up where there is no process in place and there is a huge need to hire highly talented people quickly. I could build that and have fun doing it. “HOW DOES SIMON THEY DO IT?” Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit? SIMON: The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that I use every day is smartsearch. I really like the user interface (UI) and have learned to be really quick and efficient with it. I used Kenexa Recruiter BrassRing at my last gig. I liked it too and it’s probably more capable for really large international companies. I also use TalentHook for sourcing. It’s a solid tool that is well worth the time investment to learn to use efficiently. I think that I have the advantage of having the computer “geek” gene that makes me really dig into any tool I use to get the most out of it. Other than that I use my various networks most days. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? SIMON: I remember wondering how to keep track of so many discrete events and all the paperwork. I talked with every recruiter in the office and found that everyone used some form of day planner. This was before Franklin and Covey merged and I used the Covey planner. Of course I’m almost 100% digital today but the lessons learned are still valuable and in use each and every day. Six Degrees: How did your expectations of being a recruiter compare to the actual, first time you got on the phone or in the cubicle? In your opinion, how do people's assumptions about our vocation differ from reality? SIMON: I don’t remember having any expectations. I didn’t know enough to have any! I also don’t know about people’s assumptions about our vocation. I do know that when someone is looking for work that we are all their best friends. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? SIMON: Ah! The million dollar question! The one that distinguishes the strong candidate from the exceptional candidate. I’d better answer it then . My first recruitment manager drove me absolutely nuts. I didn’t care for her and I amassed lots of evidence about why that was. I also gossiped about her with my colleagues. And despite all that I was successful there. I have no doubt that if my production had been lower I’d have been given an opportunity to work elsewhere. What I learned from the experience is that we all have different styles of working. I do my best to work in situations that are a good fit for me. If I work with someone who I find challenging I look for ways to work well together. Mostly that’s just finding things about them that I admire or that work well rather than focusing on the things that I don’t care for. Six Degrees: Considering all of the frustrations you have experienced in your career as a recruiter, -- what inspires you as you continue in your career? SIMON: I just love it! That is all. Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? SIMON: Not so much a plug as a request for everyone who has read this far to find a way today to give back to our industry. Find someone you can help and help them for no reason. Recommendations For Simon “Simon reviews every candidate we hire. His insights often point to attributes that we missed during the normal interview process. More importantly, Simon has uncanny knack for understanding how new employees will fit into the team. People are our most important asset -- thus Simon's services are a critical component to our ability to sustain growth at the superlative levels we have achieved under the leadership of our new CEO.” February 23, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Good Value, High Integrity Olin Hyde “Simon is a very savvy and experienced career coach and recruiter. I worked with him multiple times to help with my job search. Each time he provided me with invaluable knowledge that tremendously improved the response rate to my resume submissions and lead to successful employment.” November 26, 2006. Top qualities: Expert, High Integrity, Creative Ron Santschi “I've worked with Simon on a variety of web, marketing and staffing projects and have always found his input and/or direction of far higher quality and clarity than most top level executives. Simon's ability to look through the surface of a situation, to focus on the most important aspects and goals of an activity, promotes results that retain an enduring luminence.” June 9, 2006 James Metzger, Owner, Video Diamonds “I've worked with Simon several times since we first met in 1996. Each time he added exactly what was needed, and our busy employees interviewed just a few highly qualified candidates before we filled the postion. Simon adds a lot of value to the hiring process, from management to hands-on interviewing, screening, and making the offer -- and he's very focused on getting the positions filled.” June 2, 2006 Tom Dilatush, CTO, FutureTrade “I worked with Simon in 2003 when I quit my job at FotoNation and was looking at new opportunities. Simon developed a special program for me, flexible in direction, intensity and duration. He was listening to me, helping me to discover and tackle issues I was suffering from. His help really made a difference in my life and my attitude. I would highly recommend Simon to those in need of coaching.” May 30, 2006 Boris Berkman, CTO and Senior Systems Architect, FutureTrade Technologies “I have known Simon almost 25 years. We have been business partners, played golf, and had many conversations. Simon has earned the title of my most trusted friend. I have found his counsel to be insightful, clear, and useful, time after time. I recommend Simon as a coach, consultant, recruiter, and friend. He's a pretty good golfer, too. " May 30, 2006 Steve Alexander, President, ENG Resources, Inc. “Simon is the only recruitment consultant we've worked with at Integrant since 1999. We always use him to evaluate potential hires and value his take on candidates highly. We have, on a few occasions, gone against his recommendations and we've always regretted it. I highly recommend him to you.” May 31, 2006 Ben Lacomble, Practice Manager, Integrant “Simon is a professional recruiter who has ensured the companies staffing requirements are met in all dimensions of qualifications, corporate culture and financial contraints. He was always an honest source of advice and coaching in building a high performance team in a challenging San Diego market.” May 30, 2006 Al Haddad, CEO, Indyme “Simon is a very thorough Staffing Consultant. I have worked with Simon for over two years now and he has brought a level of insight when considering potential candidates I would have thought difficult if not impossible to obtain in a 1 hour interview. Simon is a straightforward and direct person who can understand our business needs and help us qualify prospective candidates.” May 30, 2006 Jeromy Giacosa, Director of IT, Integrant, Inc “Simon is one of the best recruiters I've ever worked with. He stays on top of things. Reminds the team of what each has to do. He also has outstanding team skills. In a competitive and stressful environment like we're in it's paramount to have team leadership skills. My thinking is that strong recruiting skills is necessary but not sufficient. An outstanding recruiter must have those skills but must also have strong team leadership skills. Simon has those as well and that's why I consider him an outstanding recruiter. He's an excellent 'face' of the company for prospective candidates.” December 15, 2008 Chris Wren, Director, ViaSat “Simon is someone who is very knowledgeable in corporate recruiting, from screening applicants to selecting only those people with the right skills and personality to fit our high standards at ViaSat. He worked at ViaSat for years in a very fast paced, competitive time in the technology industry and produced great results. Sharing time in the same hall I can say he is very dedicated and put in the hours he needed to make things happen.” October 27, 2008 Bruce Rowe, Director, Marketing Projects, ViaSat Inc “I have worked with Simon at ViaSat, Inc. for almost one year. Simon was very helpful when I first started in getting me up to speed and answering all my questions in a thoughtful way. Simon is an outstanding recruiter, he thinks things through and understands the implications of his actions. He can read people extremely well and knows how to communicate effectively. He knows intuitively when to be assertive with candidates and managers and when to be more receptive. He has an excellent grasp on technology and his organizational and time management skills are some of the best I have ever seen. He prides himself on always being prompt. Simon is a strong, independent thinker and yet is amenable to constructive feedback. I have learned a lot from Simon during the time we have worked together and hope I have the pleasure of working with him again in the future.” October 24, 2008 Alana Martyns, Technical Recruiter, ViaSat, Inc. “Simon handled all the recruiting for the Corporate Accounting Group. Over the last couple of years we have doubled the size of the Corporate Accounting Department. Though this intensive hiring Simon played a key roll and only brought us the top candidates. Simon has a great understanding of what is needed in great Corporate Accountant and will not deviate from our needs. He has excellent organization skills, very professional and a great team player. He always did a great job and was great to work with. He will be missed.” October 23, 2008 Ann Grant, Corp Actg Mgr, ViaSat “Simon was a member of our Recruiting team for many years and in that time he brought a dedication to efficiency and excellence that's seldom seen. He brings a consistent methodology to the table that leads to finding precisely the type of candidate you're looking for, and he's is very good at reading the subtle "red flags" that less experienced and perhaps less perceptive recruiters may miss. Simon's personality and wit are icing on the cake!” October 15, 2008 Melinda Del Toro, Director of People Development & Employee Relations, ViaSat, Inc. “Simon supported our entire sales organization. He cut through the red tape and found ways to help us hire some great people who contributed significantly to the bottom line. He was always up-beat and positive. I'd characterize his style as consultative customer service. Highly recommended!” June 29, 2006 Tony Espinoza, VP, Operations, Kodak/Encad, Inc. “We had challenges recruiting and retaining key employees. Simon was constantly striving to understand the needs of the hiring manager and find people who would be the best fit. He was able to work at all levels. With his help, we were able to retain key people. In executive staff, he often provided key insight. Charles Sharp, Former VP Supplies, ENCAD President, Digital Image Technology” June 2, 2006 Chuck Sharp, Owner, Digital Image Technology, managed Simon indirectly at Eastman Kodak formerly ENCAD “Simon worked in my branch office for the direct placement division of Adecco. Simon's core strength and attribute was his ability to bring a consultative approach to our recruiting team that resulted in a more effective and streamlined recruitment process, better candidate screening, and higher returns on placement activity.” November 16, 2007 Eric Scott Hensley, Owner, Technology Search Group “Simon Meth is one of the best recruiters I have come across in my 28 year career. He single handedly helped me build up my 8 person marketing team while I was VP of Marketing at Stac, Inc. His pre-screening of candidates alone saved me a considerable amount of time and meant that I only interviewed top-notch candidates. John Bromhead, Former Vice President Marketing, STAC” May 31, 2006 “Simon was very dilligent, organized and exceeded his sales quota as a Sr. Technology recruiter at Source Services (now Kforce). Simon was a pleasure to work with and became a great working partner.” May 30, 2006 Rick Raimondi, Managing Director, Netsoft…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:36am on April 20, 2009

Comment on: Topic 'Recruiting Scientists News': private ownership and control of the means of production, and I generally agree with his analyses. I couldn’t possibly agree with him more with regard to one of his concluding paragraphs in the Times article entitled: "$1 trillion package has something for everyone." Obama’s appointees to the energy and environmental regulatory agencies will work to prevent new coal plants from being built, and to arrange financial and regulatory subsidies for wind and solar power. Pressure on the car industry will be unrelenting and irresistible. In hock to the government, the big three Detroit automakers will have to respect the wishes of congressmen who have never sold a car, and produce green cars in which consumers have shown little interest. Change there will be, but whether it will contribute to economic recovery and long-term growth, or impede it, is an open question. I would like to add to the above that I have noted that deceptively simple phrases to describe and therefore supposedly to help us to understand complex phenomena are all the rage in our contemporary sound-bite utilizing, attention deficit reinforcing, society. Carl Marx would be glad to know that one of his philosophical/psychological tenets has been adopted by the poorly educated personnel of the media and its punditry; they have discovered that by just repeating a phrase often enough it becomes established for their non-discriminating readers and auditors as the “truth.” We therefore now have “global warming” used to describe not only any rise in average temperature anywhere in the world for a time period selected carefully to illustrate whatever point of view is being professed, but, astonishingly, the same phrase is also used to note cooling and record cold anywhere as somehow predicted by the very existence of “global warming.” I note today that we now have wide use of the wonderfully non-informative and non-descriptive phrase, “advanced batteries”, to describe experimental and frequently peripheral science, i.e., inquiries that are not uniformly reproducible-sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t-that cannot and do not in fact result in an advance over the practical technology in place. The morally undefined philosophical/sociological term “better for the purpose intended” is assumed in all such references to “advanced “technologies of any kind. If you’re skeptical about my point then explain to me please why an atomic weapon is an advance over a bomb constructed with chemical explosives. It has turned out that the rapid changes in technology of the past generation have left journalists far behind in their economic understanding of what is practical and what is advanced. This has spawned a genuine advance, a better form of hucksterism. The scientists and engineers whose agenda it is to get funding for their projects now sell the press, and through it hopefully the public, on the idea that their particular technology or discovery represents an advance and is therefore better. The logic is “all advances are improvements….” Of course there is always the problem of economics, but since economic analysis does not lend itself to sound bites it is ignored by the media. Advanced Nonsense: The Politics of Alternate Energy We live in the age of Harry Potter solutions to economic problems. This means that our politicians and financial elites get to ignore the physical laws that have been discovered to govern, without exception, the utilization and conversion of energy from one form to another. Our leaders also feign complete indifference to the actual measured quantities of, and the accessibility to us of, the natural resources of energy, metals, and minerals which the earth possesses. Finally they claim that the most basic of economic laws, that of supply and demand is too complex to be understood except by a few who are skilled with the use of computers. The popular song asks “Do you believe in magic?” It would be less mellifluous but more accurate to ask “Do you believe in the bullshit coming out of Washington and Wall Street?’ The political bias of the mainstream media (MSM) is so obvious that its readership has nosedived to now be constituted of just those partisans who are true believers in whatever cause the newspaper, magazine, or broadcaster supports. The nonsensical and so-called financial analysis in the same publications has now entered the realm of pure fiction unless you filter it through the political bias already mentioned and a cultural elitism that simply reeks of the philosophy that one mustn’t question one’s ‘betters.’ Once serious, i.e., relatively balanced in their reporting, publications such as Newsweek and Time now have the form and, more and more, the sound bite and snippet style content of graphic novels, the euphemism that has replaced the more accurate term “comic books.” The New York Times, for example, is so incredibly biased, and generally inaccurate as well, as to be unreadable. It masquerades as serious by publishing biased, factually inaccurate, polemics. In my own travels, I once had the occasion to watch Nicolai Ceausescu speak on Romanian television for 6 hours on the glory (accruing to his masterful leadership) of meeting factory production schedules for tractors in a five year plan. The difference between socialist Romania in the 1980s and oligarchic New York in the 2000s is that everyone in Romania knew that the factory production figures were made up to fit the leader’s analysis and that; in any case, the tractors were crap that needed fixing every day. The New York Times thinks that its crap analysis doesn’t stink and so never needs fixing. Why should investors in minor metals care about any of this? Because they are getting nonsensical “analysis” of future supply and demand-the key factors to future price-from the glib ignoramuses populating the airwaves, the press, and the seats of financial and political power. Investors in minor metals need only to look at the results of following the advice of the self-centered greed-driven financial wizards and mining analysts of Wall Street firms in combination with the crisis solution agendas of the single minded, i.e., driven solely by the desire to be re-elected, hereditary politicians and their appointees in Washington to know that not a single one of these elites knows even how to salvage their own assets from the current massive destruction of confidence, credit, and wealth except by gaming the system, i.e., using insider knowledge and connections, and breaking the very rules and laws they themselves have written or sworn to enforce, to take the risk out of the equation even though those actions are always unethical and mostly illegal. I am speaking of men like Christopher Dodd and Charles Rangel. I’m going to give you some short term and some long term investing advice based not on what the political and financial elites say but on the results of what they have done, are doing, and say they will continue to do: Note first that Wall Street and Washington types believe in magic, not science. Even more important for investors is the fact that America’s elites, in particular those who have never worked for a living nor had the need to do so, such as Al Gore or HRH Princess Caroline of New York, only admit into their inner circles, for basking in the radiance of their presences, those who, like them, do not have a clue about the economy that created the America they dominate or the economies that are growing, successfully, in China, India, Brazil, and Russia. The elites believe that it is not important to take notice of the fact that the world’s strongest economies, from the point of view of future growth, are all based on two paramount factors: 1. Domestic self-sufficiency in, or control over, the exploration for and the production of natural resources of metals, minerals, and energy, and 2. The creation and maintenance of a domestic OEM heavy industrial sector that can manufacture consumer goods such as motor vehicles, aircraft, locomotives, ocean-going freight carrying vessels ,construction equipment, mining machinery, and home appliances, and is always ready to produce armaments for national defense. The above two factors are the reasons that the United States entered the 21st century as the world’s largest economy and the only military power able to project sufficient force to win a war to any location on earth. Americans believe that the American form of republican government in combination with our type of free market economy is what put our country where it is today. The BRIC economies believe that the two factors enumerated above are the real reasons that America grew to its present pre-eminence and that therefore if established by them individually will underpin and sustain them as great financial and military powers and that such will not depend on whether or not they are politically monarchies, dictatorships, republics, or democracies, and will not depend on whether their economic systems are free market or command economies or a mixture of both. Incredibly, the American elite and self-perpetuating ruling class has bet against the BRIC economies being right and has chosen until now to bet the wealth and security of the USA on a fantasy globalization based on a fantasy global adherence to free market principles, which principles not only do not operate within the USA but do not operate at all among the BRIC economies all of which are focused only on improving their own positions in the global economy no matter what the consequences to any other states. It may well be fatal to the perpetuation of American power to raise the wall of protectionism at this point in our history. Yet the latest person elected to the office of President represents a party the interests of which are dominated by purchasing through paying above market prices for labor the votes of the self serving unions, and economically as well as historically illiterate elites and political leaders the only interest of whom is in the accumulation of personal wealth or perpetual re-election or both. All of these people are what the Soviets used to refer to as “cosmopolitans” defined as individuals who put the interest of a global polity ahead of their responsibility to the well being of the state in which they live. So, you can make money in the market by watching for the resonance, that is to say the reinforcing, of the intersection of magic technologies and the attention of America’s ruling political elites. Magic technologies are those which solve problems without taking into consideration the availability of the raw materials and engineering processes required to build them or the economics of their production and distribution. In the short term I suggest that you invest in the fantasy alternate energy plays. The market will respond to the Obama alternate energy, “green,” stimulus by bidding up the price of the shares of the companies that claim they are working on ”advanced’ anything such as 1) rechargeable batteries, 2) wind generation of electricity, or 3) solar energy conversion. My model for this advice to you is the immediate reaction of the market to the money authorized to be wasted by the Bush administration, in conjunction politically with the self-serving Pelosi-Reid ‘led’ government, on subsidizing the American owned and operated OEM automotive industry for another month or two. The Wall Street ‘market makers’ responded to this destruction (waste) of wealth by bidding up the price of GM stock over just a few days to twice what it was selling for at the beginning of the phony time period during which the government was ‘considering its options.’ As I am writing this I note that it has already begun to sink in to the ‘investors’ that the long term prospects of the car makers are not really very bright if they say that they cannot survive even a couple of days without massive access to the Federal teat. Of course a cynic might just think that the short sellers are exercising their ‘judgment.’ After all, a swing of 16% in one day, such as GM had late in 2008, can make a Wall Street ‘professional’ a great deal of money. Returning to the discussion of fantasy green energy plays: Get out of investments in the future of companies subsidized by government as soon as it becomes obvious that there is going to have to be a second stimulus package given to them. This will be apparent when there are no results from the ‘advanced’ work and all of the companies say that ‘they are on the right track’ but need more money. This should take about 6 months, but as auditors look into, or make, the cost-benefit analyses of ‘advanced’ or ‘game changing’ technologies the collapse of market interest may occur in a much shorter time. Switch your money at that point, when you smell the need for a second bailout, to those surviving companies specializing in producing the raw materials for existing, workable, and economically practical technologies such as, in the case of the vehicle propulsion battery space, lead-acid (SLI and traction), nickel cadmium, and nickel metal hydride batteries. I would also then invest in lithium-ion (storage) batteries, wind for off grid use, silicon based solar, both crystalline and amorphous, and uranium and thorium based nuclear electric power generation. A final word about ‘advanced’ technology development. As a young man I once heard the best politician ever to come out of Minnesota, Hubert Horatio Humphrey (DFL-Mn) give some legislative drafting advice-I was in law school at the time and I was in a legislative drafting class. Vice President Humphrey, as he then was, said that in the 1950s when he and some other like-minded liberal senators were trying to draft legislation to expand subsidized college education to include not only G.I.s, but also the poor and disadvantaged who were otherwise qualified. The senate majority leader at the time, Lyndon B. Johnson( D-Tx), told Humphrey that if he wished to get the backing of the (Democrat party) majority for a bill that would help not just poor whites but also poor blacks he would need to label it so that questioning the bill automatically meant questioning the patriotism of the questioning senator himself. Humphrey said that Johnson took a copy of the proposed bill and wrote in front of the title word ‘education’ the two magic words “National Defense.” The rest is (legislative) history. Note well that the stimulus package in the Eisenhower administration was the National Defense Highway Act, which created the interstate highway system. Michigan was the first state to spend a billion dollars on the extensions of the interstate highways that went through Michigan and on the state highway “feeder” roads for that system. It was this ‘stimulus’ package not any advances in automotive technology that ignited the boom years for the OEM automotive, construction equipment , and mining machinery industries. The reductions in time necessary to get from the suburb to a job in the city and to get food and raw materials from where they were produced to where they were consumed ignited the dramatic growth of the United States outside of the east and Midwest. This could have been accomplished alternately by building national, intra-city, and intercity railroads as Europe did at the time, but OEM automotive industry politics in the USA overcame railroad politics and both mass transit and freight carrying passed from being carried by durable steel wheels on durable steel rails to being transported on disposable rubber tires on concrete highways that needed constant attention thus created jobs and the need for enormous quantities of raw materials all across the country. What a deal! Consumerism was born, lived long, and prospered. Without further ado, I am going to now list for you a group of companies related by the products which they are trying to develop, their business goals, and their agendas. I think you can make money by investing in them but solely on the basis of their relationship to the political goals of the Obama agenda for alternate energy. These investments are based on the truism that in allocating your investments timing is just as important always as project selection. On December 18, 2008 the Wall Street Journal carried a story based on a press release that day announcing that [L]eading U.S. battery and advanced [emphasis mine] materials companies, with support from one of the country’s largest national laboratories [The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory {just outside of Chicago}], have formed the National Alliance for Advanced [emphasis, again, mine]Transportation Battery Cell manufacture, known as the “Alliance,” to manufacture advanced lithium ion battery cells for transportation applications in the United States. The Alliance is trying to get a lot of taxpayer money to accomplish a completely amorphous goal, the members want to develop some fantasy process technology which will be flexible, so that it is adaptable to the mass production of whichever of the 26 lithium ion battery technologies now being “researched’ turns out to be the one that is safe, durable, long lived, and economical for the electrification of a limited range of passenger carrying vehicles-the electrification of long range high capacity freight carrying vehicles is a topic that is not even whispered about; it is too difficult a task for the foreseeable future. Note well how many times the word advanced appears in just the first paragraph of the press release. Note also that the Alliance is centered upon a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory operated near the actual home of the soon-to-be sitting President of the U.S., so that the project’s money will flow to and through the new President’s home state. The fact that funding for this particular laboratory has lately been drying up is, of course, coincidental. The fact that the project would make more sense if it were directed by the NREL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, is also irrelevant. The Alliance is thus founded on that most fundamental of American political practices bringing home the bacon. It will almost certainly get its first allocation of Federal Funding early in the Obama presidency and will get more money as its research advances. The members of the Alliance are: * 3M (NYSE:MMM) * ActaCell (Private?) * All Cell Technologies (Private) * Altair Nanotechnologies (NasdaqCM: ALTI) * Dontech Global (Private) * Eagle-Picher Corporation (Private) * EnerSys (NYSE:ENS) * Envia Systems, (Private) * FMC (NYSE:FMC) * MicroSun Technologies (Private) * Mobius Power (Private) * Silyte (Private) * Superior Graphite (private) * Townsend Advanced Energy (Private) Note well the main reason that companies seek Federal funding; it is because private funding has no political agenda and is therefore not interested in taking the risk of getting little or no return based on 1) the state of development and the quality of the company’s technology, 2) the quality (i.e., competence perceived or demonstrated) of its management, or 3) whether or not the size of the losses incurred by the company so far are such that they can never be recovered in a rational amount of time. Additionally note how many of the above companies are private even the one that has a long and famous history, Eagle-Picher. The fact that so many of the alliance members are private is most likely an indication that they fail all or one of the above enumerated tests that private capital requires them to pass. To be fair some of them may have been ‘taken’ private by a fund in order to fatten them up for an IPO or to consolidate them with another company for a more substantial IPO. No matter how these companies got to their present inability to proceed without an amount of capital that was not available to them as constituted from the private market they are all now in the same boat; they cannot raise enough capital individually to both continue the development of whatever battery technology they have chosen as the one and to engineer a manufacturing process suitable for mass production. Note well that EaglePicher, Enersys, Microsun Technologies, and Superior Graphite are all pursuing or manufacturing other battery types besides lithium based ones. Even so they are in the same boat as the others they do not have nor can they raise sufficient capital to engineer mass production techniques and to build a flexible facility with the capacity to mass produce automotive power train batteries. The Alliance is not the sum of its parts; it is a group of undercapitalized companies, which have come together to grab a piece of the alternate energy pie in the hopes that the pie will be an open ended feast allowing them to keep getting more money even if and when they go down the wrong path or make a mistake. The free market is very harsh and cruel to such supplicants, but politicians allocate money to ensure their own re-election, not to serve a public good, so the Alliance is now on to a good thing. If they get public money they will not have to compete in the market place for it, and if anyone or more of them is successful they will not have to pay back their part of the ‘funding.’ Thus private enterprise as a driver of innovation and economic advantage will be driven out of the market for battery advancement probably therefore killing the possibility of developing an ‘advanced’ battery system. In any case, my advice is simple: If you see that the Alliance is going to receive funding then buy shares in those members of the alliance that are public and then watch the news carefully for mention of positive results by any member of the Alliance, listed publicly or not. Such news will cause the market to rise for whatever play there is in the Alliance. I would sell any Alliance-related shares that I own if they go up by a predetermined amount, say 10%, and then buy them back when the news quiets down and the market loses interest as no news is forthcoming. You will know when the Alliance has run through its funding. This will be when stories begin to follow one another that a breakthrough is imminent but that some further federal lard may need to be spread on the stale bread. The available stock will drop on this negative news. Choose a bottom and buy. When the Department of Energy announces that it will provide the additional funding let the stock rise to your target gain and dump it like an overheating lithium ion laptop battery. I suspect that we will see one or two cycles of this “Advanced Nonsense” this year, 2009. After that it will become obvious that the project is nothing more than An open ended subsidy program, and the DOE will try to get out of it, not by canceling it and admitting an error on the part of the administration but by trying to auction off its ‘share’ of any technology or engineering process development to private equity. The ticking time-bomb for this whole exercise in government mismanagement of the development of “Advanced” technology is of course the progress, if any, being made simultaneously by companies like America’s A123, France’s SAFT [Paris: SAFT.PA], and Korea’s LG [KSE: 066570.KS]. The three companies named above have all been selected by an OEM automotive supplier to develop a lithium ion technology. A123 and SAFT have been paired with Johnson Controls International (JCI), the world’s largest manufacturer of lead-acid SLI batteries in order to have JCI ready to engineer a mass production operation for a successful lithium ion technology should one occur. SAFT and LG have each also been mass producing batteries for many years. None of them even though they may plan to mass produce lithium ion batteries for vehicular power trains in the USA will join the “Alliance,” because they don’t want to share any competitive advantage either in battery technology or battery mass production technology with the small, undercapitalized, jonnies-come-lately. It is therefore very important to watch the press releases and progress of these three. If a car such as the GM Chevrolet Volt is introduced into the market and performs well with a battery from A123, SAFT, or LG or any combination of them and it is announced that JCI or, perhaps, EXIDE will put the battery into mass production then the purpose of the Alliance and all of its work will be perceived as valueless as will the price of the shares of any of the members of the Alliance at that point-even if this is unfair. A123 was supposed to launch an IPO last month; it did not, for obvious reasons. SAFT and LG are both listed on their home country exchanges. For the moment then I would take any profits I made by investing in the Alliance play I have here discussed and buy shares of JCI, SAFT, and LG as a hedge. I have not discussed the relative merits of any lithium ion battery technologies, because they don’t really matter when an investment has become totally politicized and has left the arena of the free market. With “Advanced” battery technology and the Alliance for developing and manufacturing it play the politics. The hereditary political and financial elites of this country do not know and do not wish to know anything about technology; they will throw other people’s money at anything that buys them votes and power. The rest of us may as well make some of our own money back in the meantime.…; Added by Melissa Furtwengler to Wanted Scientists, Energy experts, Engineers at 9:55am on January 12, 2009