Steve Levy's Blog (261)

"We love our employees"

Ami offers his insight into kids and recruiting; naturally, his comments made me think. How often do companies refer to their people as part of a family?

We treat our employees like family:… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on February 4, 2009 at 11:55am — 2 Comments

Hello, may I speak to Shana?

What happens when Slouch makes calls from Las Vegas and calls your number thinking he is calling someone else...

Added by Steve Levy on February 4, 2009 at 10:54am — 4 Comments

Happy Birthday Newman

Really Kramer, it's my birthday today.

Let's wish him a Happy Birthday - RBC style today: Leave a comment here or on RBC his page

Added by Steve Levy on February 4, 2009 at 7:35am — 2 Comments

There's something real scary at Monster

The New York-based company said Thursday net income dropped 37% in the fourth quarter, to $28.6 million, or 24 cents per share, missing Wall Street's target of a 27-cent per share profit, according to Thomson Reuters. It cited the impact of the weakening economy on online recruitment services.

I really enjoyed reading the last sentence ;) because it took a high-paying PR person to come up with the phraseology...…

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Added by Steve Levy on February 3, 2009 at 11:13am — 2 Comments

Play Citi Baaaaaaalllllllllll

We'll nuke 'em and name still name it!

$400 Million is either lots of severance or not too much in the way of year end bonuses...

Added by Steve Levy on February 3, 2009 at 11:11am — No Comments

All that H1-B work... for what?

Jay, 32, came to Silicon Valley to work in 2005, after obtaining a doctorate from Cornell in electrical engineering. After four years in the valley, his green card was in process, his job seemed secure, and then "... The Crunch.

Now we can see the true holes in our H1-B immigration policies...

Added by Steve Levy on February 2, 2009 at 1:19pm — No Comments

Buy American...Recruit American?

Seems that several lobbyists managed to convince the House to insert Buy American - initially prohibiting the purchase of foreign iron and steel for any infrastructure project in the bill. Not only does Obama's bill smell like a pig sty because all of the pork in the bill but if many of the trades had their way, steel wouldn't be the only product or service covered by Buy American… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on February 1, 2009 at 3:39pm — No Comments

This is not a word!!!!

I have grown weary of people writing or saying this...

A N Y W A Y S

...it is not a word!!!

Added by Steve Levy on January 30, 2009 at 2:02pm — 6 Comments

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Lost in the overwhelming passing of the new BARF (Bovinated Asset Relief Program) bill - there's more pork in this bill than on a pig farm - was President Obama's signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. While I believe this bill is more fluff than substance - it promotes voluntary compliance with anti-discrimination laws by employers -… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 30, 2009 at 11:44am — No Comments

This was my first ever blog post

On November 16, 2004, I wrote ERE's first blog post. I remember Manaster calling and asking me if I wanted to have a blog on ERE. I had been a rabid discussionnaire since the beginning and was never at a loss for words so I agreed.

Just so you can see how far I've come - or possibly regressed - here's my virginal post...

The Case for Character

Sometimes I think there are really only two questions that recruiters need to ask - sorry… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 29, 2009 at 4:20pm — 12 Comments

And they still want guaranteed bonuses

I had lunch with a friend this past Monday. He's simply one of the best software developers I ever met and he credits me with saving his life - back during the summer of 2001, I recruited him to a software company I was helping to build and it was down to me and eSpeed. Being quietly persuasive must have helped because the eSpeed offer was for more money.

A few months later, many at eSpeed were murdered on 9/11 at… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 29, 2009 at 11:20am — 5 Comments

Decaf gets a pink slip, employees follow

First decaf, now employees... is Starbucks becoming a company of has beans?

Added by Steve Levy on January 28, 2009 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Becoming your social network

Our work shows how humans, like ants, may assemble themselves into a 'super-organism' with rules governing the assembly, rules that we carry with us deep in our genes.

Nicholas Christakis has studied the effects of social networks on people's health— specifically, how ill health, disability, health behavior, health care, and death in one person can influence the same phenomena in others in a person’s social… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 27, 2009 at 5:12pm — No Comments

138,252

I see it in the slumping gaits of commuters.

I see it in the desperate eyes of recruiters.

I see it in the headlines about thousand dollar trash cans.

I do not fear because I walk tall, I am confident, and I do not read the news.

I Sudoku.

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship. ~Louisa May Alcott

Truthfully I… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 27, 2009 at 3:44pm — 4 Comments

Recruiters learning from those layed off

It's endemic in recruiting - the times get tough and far too many TPRs simply try and make more calls to the same types of clients they service when times are booming. Their faces become more downtrodden as the calls result in less and less business. Corp recruiters entrench while hiring managers become more committed to finding the exact match to a position they find difficulty in specifying. Corp recruiters roll their eyes.

How about being more flexible? Folks who have been laid… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 25, 2009 at 10:29am — No Comments

"You're overqualified" is a crappy way of telling someone "You're too old"

I know of a particular IT recruiting agency where they'll tell people they're overqualified when what they really mean to say is "You're too old." Despite the legacy of Dr. King (imagine how bad it would be in recruiting had it not been for him, LBJ and the CRA and subsequent legislation) and the now President Obama, there are still far too many associated with recruiting (and this includes hiring managers) for whom to call neanderthal would mean insulting real… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 23, 2009 at 10:43am — 4 Comments

Signs your customer is tanking...

DSO up? No one returns your calls? Contact gone?

Read here

Added by Steve Levy on January 23, 2009 at 10:35am — 3 Comments

Happy Birthday wishes to Slouch

Jason baby, ooooo - you didn't tell me you were 40. On video you looked 34! ~Paris Hilton

I got rabies shots for biting the head off a bat but that's ok. But I never got a shot for working with Jason. Happy Birthday bloke! ~Ozzy Osbourne

Death would be a beautiful place if it looks like Jason Davis. Happy Birthday cutie. ~Carmen Electra

Hope get lucky on your birthday, punk. ~Clint Eastwood

A sex symbol becomes a thing.… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 22, 2009 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

And now for something completely different...

Sometimes the best move is the move where you don't know the rules, the processes, and the potential obstacles. In these situations, I've found that your physical energy, creativity, and excitement actually is higher than normal because you don't know how high you can really jump. Or better yet, soar...

What we have now is a global economy where Adam Smith has taken a royal beating, where Obama Hussein Obama is now our 44th President just short of 25 years from the passing… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 21, 2009 at 4:02pm — 4 Comments

An endless source of nurses - RBC style

Psst...listen up. This is a super secret way to get to know nurses and potentially to know them as sources. Ready???

We'll open a RBC HotAndCoolScrubs.com online store where we'll sell scrubs and offer free monogramming. The designs for these will come from our friends and family, kids, politicians with time on their hands cause they're in jail, monkeys who paint, and most of all from members of the RBC community because for certain, the RBC Art Therapy Program will… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 19, 2009 at 11:23am — 3 Comments