Steve Levy's Blog (261)

General Tso to go - Recruiting abroad...in the US

Now, in a reverse miniature brain drain, Chinese financial institutions are taking advantage of the downturn and focusing on the newly unemployed to diversify and upgrade their own staffs.

“We’re looking very hard right now for experienced, senior-level talent who have knowledge of China. For our junior-level positions, we continue to recruit from our local Chinese talent… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 26, 2008 at 7:23am — No Comments

Stimulating the economy and employment

Recruiting is far more than closing a job order that fills someone's ego and wallet; it is more than getting that hiring manager off your back. Recruiters are in a unique space that should enable them to experience and mold their services based upon the political, economic, social and technological issues, challenges, products and services of the day. Should because so many still recruit to fill an order and neglect the lower iceberg of factors impact their craft.

These days,… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 24, 2008 at 11:59am — 3 Comments

What makes me a Smart Recruiter

1. Blah
2. Blah, blah
3. Blah, blah, blah
4. Blah, blah, blah, blah
5. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah

Hey, the winner will be picked from a hat and not by a recruiting roundtable of bloggers with a dictionary and thesaurus at their sides.

Who's smart now???

Happy Holidays to all!

Added by Steve Levy on December 24, 2008 at 8:30am — 9 Comments

Being a Servant-Leader in recruiting

Robert Greenleaf, former Director of Management Research at AT&T, noted that:

The servant-leader is servant first...It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions.

In recruiting, and I've noticed that this occurs both on the… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 22, 2008 at 10:42pm — 2 Comments

Even Toyota is losing money

It's not just American automakers who are feeling pain; Toyota announced its first operating loss in 70 years, 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31. Overall, Toyota expects to report a net profit 50 billion yen ($560 million).

It's not just the UAW as many believe...

Added by Steve Levy on December 22, 2008 at 2:53pm — 3 Comments

Liposuction and resume databases

Liposuctioning unwanted blubber out of pampered Los Angelenos may not seem like a dream job, but it has its perks. Free fuel is one of them.

"The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel--and I have more fat than I can use. Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth."

This plastic surgeon is… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 22, 2008 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Da Sourceranos - writtin by Levy and Sharib

What da effin heck is goin on heeah? The coffee that Tony Sourcerano’s just sipped misted heavily across his 27-inch LCD computer screen as the Glock symbol he used as a mouse pointer helped scroll the Flash scheme that talked of a recruiting challenge at RecruitFest2009.

Hey Bella, what is dis? A friggen professional conference or an ad for da ASPCA? What’s next – find dis guy Jason’s freakin’ squatted earls? Fuhgedaboudit!

Tony shook his head and… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 20, 2008 at 9:04am — 1 Comment

The SEC and Bernie Madoff

Unless you've been spending all your time on the RBC chat, you've heard of Bernard Madoff. One number should remind you - $50 Billion.

Here's a letter (PDF) submitted to the SEC on November 7, 2005 by Harry Markopolos (who once worked for a rival of Madoff). Markopolos knew something was fishy with Madoff but… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 18, 2008 at 8:31am — 6 Comments

The Twelve Days of The RecruitFest - A Holiday Song

Remember - you have to sing it aloud to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

If I missed you and you want to be in the song, let me know - I may write another one to a different song.

On the First day of the RecruitFest

John Sumser gave to me

A readable version of the ERNIE

On the Second day of the RecruitFest

Ol’ Slouchie gave to me

Two squatted tech URLs

And a readable version of… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 17, 2008 at 7:13am — 22 Comments

Mob mentality on RBC

Let me be upfront - I think Joy Caldwell is very gracious to post a need for virtual recruiters. In this economy, sharing is caring. But I do have some questions...

Why would anyone want to hire unsuccessful recruiting professionals?

I wonder how many of the posters actually checked out the… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 17, 2008 at 6:23am — 6 Comments

Impressive company names on resumes

Had a discussion this morning with a friend about the names of companies on a resume, specifically technical resumes. He took the viewpoint that having a known name on a resume is a career plus; my view is that this can only be determined knowing who is reading the resume.

Recruiters, I believe, latch on to high profile names like GE, Pepsi, or JP Morgan that appear on resumes and immediately develop a positive value assessment of the person irrespective of the content and… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 16, 2008 at 12:46pm — 4 Comments

Siemens is just fine

By now some of have heard that Siemens has been fined $1.34 Billion to settle cases of global bribery. Yet Siemens somehow was able to avoid both a guilty plea or a conviction for bribery, enabling the company to maintain its status as a "responsible contractor" with the United States Defense Logistics Agency. As a "responsible contractor", Siemens is able to bid for public procurement contracts in the… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 15, 2008 at 8:58pm — 1 Comment

What I've noticed about new members of RBC...

Is that when attractive women join, men will leave more welcoming comments than will men and women leave to all other new members. Just an observation...

Added by Steve Levy on December 8, 2008 at 7:18am — 4 Comments

Finally...I am Slouch

Added by Steve Levy on December 7, 2008 at 3:41pm — 10 Comments

What if they caught pirates and didn't arrest them?

I signed up for Kennedy's free webinar on "Ethical Standards of Recruiting Today". The panel includes Rothberg, Smitty, The Wheel Man and Steve Lowisz.

If… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 5, 2008 at 8:55am — 3 Comments

What if they held a war and nobody came?

Just like the 1960-70 era peacenik's phrase, what if companies went to colleges to recruit but no one was there to interview?

"The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the biennial report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education."

In today's NYT, this article discusses the… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 3, 2008 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Thank you Taxpayers

John Crudele over at the NY Post asks a great question...

When the crisis is over, will taxpayers receive thank-you cards from the corporate executives we've bailed out?

Handwritten or… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 3, 2008 at 1:48pm — 2 Comments

The Rise of the Twitterati (per Kathleen Parker)

"In the Information Age: Knowing equals Being." - Kathleen Parker , Washington Post (may require free sign-up - worth it if you want to follow the DC political scene)

She asks, "Come to think of it, how long before we begin to expect, if not demand, that public officials twitter?" I think she has something here: Shareholders should demand that executives twitter… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on December 3, 2008 at 7:45am — 4 Comments

A Financial Times Saturday

Nothing like reading the Big Salmon on a Saturday morning to take in a global view of business. From letters and op/eds on the editorial pages, here's my take on how FT and it's readers view the world and how it relates to recruiting...

As a result of the global financial pickle, many around the world can see that regulators have "a legitimate interest in how… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on November 30, 2008 at 10:15pm — No Comments

Recruiting for Obama's national CTO/CIO

President-elect Obama has intimated that he wants to appoint someone to a cabinet-level position that oversees technology. Makes sense - there are existing positions that oversee everything except for technology (unless you think of the DoD as technology...technology that is inaccessible to all but the military). But I agree with Eric Lundquist of CIO Insight:… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on November 29, 2008 at 9:19am — No Comments