Steve Levy's Blog – March 2009 Archive (25)

The end of employment contracts

Who would have figured that the employment contracts that have been written about ad naseum in the recruiting blog spaces would now be under attack? It's time to raid, raid, raid!!!!

Added by Steve Levy on March 31, 2009 at 7:04am — 3 Comments

When your governor really doesn't want a robust state economy

Some knucklehead from another state with one of country's worst economic situations posted a Linkedin status that they supported Gov. Patterson's plan to raise New York state income tax rates on AGI income above $300,000 for joint filers and $200,000 for single filers. If only this person understood business instead of despising people who are successful!

The new plan by an inferior governor is sure to… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 30, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Penetrating interview questions

From somewhere on the Internet, I saw these questions; I think they hold potential:

Which of the "Facts of Life" girls are you most like?

If you were a deodorant, would you be a roll-on, stick, or spray?

Do you prefer Emanuel Lewis or Gary Coleman?

Would you rather have ebola or smallpox?

Would you rather have bamboo shoved under your nails, Chinese water torture, or your ankles chewed off by a pack of wild dogs?

If you were a… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 27, 2009 at 10:39am — 9 Comments

How New York is killing the economy

In their infinite wisdom, the MTA of New York voted to affirm a doomsday plan and budget that will significantly increase commuting costs around the metro New York area - just another obstacle that recruiters in the area need to address.

This is another brilliant plan by overpaid bureaucrats that once again fails to address the need to re-engineer thousands of processes in favor of 25% fare hikes. I guess… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 25, 2009 at 12:45pm — No Comments

Dear AIG: I Quit!

If you're not a link clicker, at least click this one and read the letter from Jake DeSantis to Edward Liddy, CEO of AIG.

With the global recession pressing down on every aspect of our lives, it has become painfully obvious that most recruiters and hiring managers have very little skill in selecting people based upon leadership needs or potential.

Perhaps the solution is to select solely on the ability… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 25, 2009 at 7:17am — 1 Comment

Three questions all candidates should ask

Toni Bowers writes a nice one here about three questions that should be asked during an interview...

1. What can you tell me about the people I’ll be working with?

2. How do you approach problem solving?

3. What do you see as the ultimate goal of your department or team?

I'm not set on the second question; the first should distinguish between professional and personal and the second really… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 20, 2009 at 7:54am — No Comments

Amity's gettin' married and has to sell (or rent) in NYC

RBC has to be more than blog posts and pithy discussions; along with more jobs to fill, eventually relocation comes to mind. And the reason for this post.

One of the fine recruiters here at the Tuttle Agency is preparing to tie to knot - knot, not noose; as such, her renovated 1 BDR in mint condition at...

5 Tudor City Place - 8th Floor Apartment (41st St. & 1st Ave.)…

Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 17, 2009 at 2:22pm — No Comments

Bert and Ernie go to the unemployment line

You know it's bad when our beloved Sesame Street stalwarts are tossed out to the streets. Yes, Bert and Ernie have been given their pink slips.

When icons are impacted, it is no longer an issue of whether one political party is wrong or right.

Added by Steve Levy on March 12, 2009 at 9:21pm — 2 Comments

UAW cuts hourly rate to minimum wage!

You'll believe anything!

But they did agree in negotiations with Ford to reduce it to $55 per hour with benefits.

This reminds me of a few months back when lots of Lehman Brothers software developers hit the streets and really believed they were worth the $200K+ base they were earning; when sussed out, it was clear that skill-wise they might be worthy of $100K here in NYC.

For so long the… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 11, 2009 at 4:04pm — 11 Comments

Waterboarding techniques in recruiting?

"While other forms of intelligence-gathering have benefited from research and technological advances — intelligence officers can intercept telephone and Internet communications or use satellite images to find people — interrogation has suffered from a lack of innovation. And our military lacks an elite unit of highly trained interrogators to call upon when high-level people in terrorist organizations are captured. Too often, the questioning is left to whoever is closest at… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 11, 2009 at 1:15pm — No Comments

No, I'm not an attorney but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

No wonder people without a JD like to play one - if convicted, "impersonating an attorney is only a misdemeanor in New York, while it’s a felony in many other states."

Remember to check those references!

Added by Steve Levy on March 10, 2009 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

Stop undermining your career!

I wondering how many recruiters are doing three or more of these things right now...

Added by Steve Levy on March 9, 2009 at 10:03am — 3 Comments

Loving McNuggets

Perhaps you missed this story last week; a women who really loves her Chicken McNuggets called 911 - three times - when her local Micky Dees ran out of them and she couldn't get a refund from the manager.

Of course, it sent my mind wondering if there was a parallel to recruiting - of course there is, there's always a connection between anything and recruiting.

What do you do when your recruiting McNuggets run out? Do you… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 9, 2009 at 9:58am — 7 Comments

Shameless Tuttle Agency plug

As many now know, I have joined the Tuttle Agency to recruit, develop business and the brand, and presumably to impart my many years of recruiting knowledge and situational wisdom to my fellow associates.

Technically, I'm a Vice President of Recruiting - but that's only because Supreme Galactic Commander was taken by Ted… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 4, 2009 at 5:26pm — 1 Comment

I may have found a new talent pool for New York State!

With New York State State Assembly announcing that it will take steps to repeal much of Rockefeller's 1970s-era drug laws which forced judges’ to impose mandatory prison terms for nonviolent drug offenses, I'm thinking that we may have found an untapped pool of talent that has evaded deep web Booleans and good old fashioned telephone names sourcing.

Hello, Warden Lockemup,… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 4, 2009 at 2:30pm — 3 Comments

Bring it back to Uncle Sam!

Here's one new survey that seems to indicate the company executives are bowing to Obama and reconsidering their outsourcing strategies. The report by BDO Seidman, detailed the responses from 100 CFOs from hardware, software, telecommunications and Internet companies nationwide.

Apparently these CFOs are concerned about Obama's position on outsourcing; recall that during his address to Congress last week, he… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 4, 2009 at 1:22pm — 1 Comment

The Double-edged Sword of Head Count Cuts

Nothing really special about this article if you've been in the Human Capital space for years but at least someone's writing about it.

Still, if you've never been part of the process that decides who gets a pink slip, the balance between fiduciary responsibility and intellectual capital is presented well here.

Added by Steve Levy on March 4, 2009 at 7:37am — No Comments

And some of you think recruiters are unethical?

The thread that won't die now has competition: Collecting from the dead.

What I honed in on in reading the article was this:

Not everyone has the temperament to make such calls. About half of DCM’s hires do… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on March 4, 2009 at 6:49am — 2 Comments

Gerry's and Mark's excellent Sources of Hire adventure

Click here for Crispin's and Mehler's 2008 Sources of Hires survey. This is a must-read for people who have opinions about hiring that aren't backed by facts.

Added by Steve Levy on March 2, 2009 at 3:35pm — 4 Comments

7000 isn't such a high number anymore

The trimming of dividends - perhaps to preserve cash on the balance sheet - certainly fueled sell-offs but this drop below 7000 sure is humbling.

Companies need to extend credit and they need to do it fast; we've loaned them the funds and they're still sitting on their bundles of green. Call your local politician and get them to get on the horn and tell these freeloaders to lend, lend, lend.

Added by Steve Levy on March 2, 2009 at 1:35pm — No Comments