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

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

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

A dip in the Hudson demonstrates why experience counts

Ms. Higgins said one reason everyone survived was that the plane carried "very senior flight attendants." All were in their 50s, according to US Airways. "This is a testament to experienced women doing their jobs, because they were, and it worked," said Ms. Higgins, who has worked for several federal agencies since 1969.

Hey Recruiters - ARE YOU LISTENING?!?!?!?

Article… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 19, 2009 at 7:35am — 4 Comments

Gen-Y-They're-Unemployed

This is the most educated generation, and they were told, "You're special," Well … they’re not special, and they end up going out into the professional world and finding this out." Yikes...

What then do they tell their Baby Boomer parents?

Article includes sector-by-sector unemployment figures.

Added by Steve Levy on January 16, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Sorry Mrs. Slouch

Yes Mrs. Davis, those arms are mine; so is the tattoo (one of several).

Why is it so difficult to believe someone who looks like a resident of a state penitentiary and has both a front and side view picture on his drivers license is also a sensitive recruiter, loves cats, enjoys gardening, and snuggling on a Friday night in camouflage fleece?

Please don't bother Mr. Slouch too much; for certain his legs are almost the size of my arms, his scowl makes the kids in your… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 16, 2009 at 10:00am — 3 Comments

The Fractured Sisterhood @Work

But while women have come a long way in removing workplace barriers, one of the last remaining obstacles is how they treat one another. Instead of helping to build one another’s careers, they sometimes derail them...

Read the article here - it's a good one.

I did some research and found the survey (September 2007) noted in the… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 15, 2009 at 8:06pm — 1 Comment

Four Pink Slips and a Lawsuit

Now that Motorola is handing out pink slips to many on the mobile side, does this mean they're also going to be ramping up lawsuits targeted at the mobile companies who hire these people?

BTW, mobile developers make great non-mobile application… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 15, 2009 at 8:21am — No Comments

Googling helps destroy the environment

While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power. A Google search has a definite environmental impact.

Click here but remember doing so makes you an anti-environmentalist

Added by Steve Levy on January 12, 2009 at 8:41am — 3 Comments

Even the porn industry has its hand out

[Larry] Flynt (the "Hustler" guy) and [Joe] Francis (the "Girls Gone Wild" dude) are asking the government for a $5 billion bailout, claiming the adult entertainment industry has taken a huge shot to the face because of the downturn -- citing the fact that XXX DVD sales are down 22% from a year ago.

Yes, times are tough all over. All snickering aside, the porn has had a… Continue

Added by Steve Levy on January 12, 2009 at 8:31am — No Comments