I Hit my Lucky Number This Friday.

Any time i have to pick a number between 1 and 10 i pick 7. I always have. I don't know why it just is what it is. I like the way 7 looks when i write it or type it.

For years i had 7 recruiters on staff. When one quit or i fired one i would hire one more, never over 7 and never under 7. If somebody came along who wanted to join the team i had to tell them that they would have to wait until somebody moved, quit or died then i would give them a call. I once called a guy and asked him if he was still ready to join the team. He asked me if somebody had died. Nope, one just quit but if she hadn't i was about to kill her so i guess it's sort of the same thing. I will kill myself to make 7 placements a month. It's a simple metric for all you metric freaks. If i don't hit 7 by the third week i'll give away one or two just to be sure i hit the number. If i close 7..finito..sorry it's over for a few days until the calendar flips. Anything over 7 would upset the balance.

I have 7 horses. There are 7 cats at the barn, when one disappears i go find another one. When we are over run with kitty babies i find new homes for all but 7. At one point i had 7 dogs between home and the country but dogs need more attention and they make more noise than cats, horses and recruiters so there are 3 dogs, but they are all big dogs so they take as much time as 7 and eat as much as 7 so it balances.

Thank God i don't have 7 kids and i haven't been married 7 times. Those last two 7's would not only have been unlucky they would have been insane.

On Friday September 9, 2011 i will hit the big 7. As in 70 years old. I love the way that looks when i type it. Sure is better than seeing it in an obit, n'est pas. Everybody i know is all worried about being old themselves and can't figure out why my bio rhythms are off the top of the chart. I don't know maybe i feel like i'm lucky to have lived this long and hit the magic lucky number. (There were some folks who would have made book at several points that i would never get there for lots of funny reasons). Crazy horses, crazy friends, crazy candidates, crazy clients and always being the one who says, "What the hell, let's give it a try, what's the worst thing that can happen?"

So i can't answer why i am so excited about 70 but it's just cool, fun, exciting heady stuff to see that number in print or tell somebody and they look shocked or say, "you can't be that old". Good genes will do it every time. Thanks mom i won 50 bucks this week saying, "Ya wanna bet?" (And by the way the avatar pic is three years old, taken by my grand daughter with her cell phone lest you think it's a glam shot).

So i have been trying to figure out why i feel that way when everybody else is freaking out about being old at 50 or 55, god forbid they live to be 70, they will be hanging in a tree like dried up fruit or trying to remember the number for "Life Alert" or getting quotes on a "Hover Round." I have been thinking about being 70 and here is what occurs to me.

I have been a recruiter exactly half of my life. Now think about that. There may be others that can say that but maybe not many who can say that at 70 they have worked in the same place for half of their whole life. Hell maybe there are lot who have or will but it sounds nifty to me that i started in this business when i was 35 and i've been recruiting for 35 years. I quit counting how many people i have placed when i hit 3000. The total number didn't mean anything but 7 a month does. Besides, recruiting is inside and one can sit down, so until i start drooling on my keyboard who knows how long i will continue to flesh peddle. I just got really good at this stuff about 15 years ago and i get better at it with each passing year. I don't mind telling a client that they are way off base. Clients are like buses if you miss one there will be another one along sooner rather than later. I take care of my clients, if they don't take care of me feed em' fish heads and let them cut their wisdom teeth on somebody else. I have those bite scars i got when i thought the client was always right.

I think it is hilarious that if i go out with somebody who is 50 to 55 there are folks who would call me a Cougar. Ya gotta love that one.

At my age sexual harrassment is a compliment so quit all your whining about who made a comment about your fanny or patted you on the arm and said you looked hot. The last time somebody told me i looked hot i thought they meant i was having a hotflash. I have learned to say "Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself for an old dude." Course they can't hear me so the neat thing about being 70 is you can say anything you want to , to an old dude and he can't hear you so if you smile when you say it the old fools think you like them.

So for those of you who are just starting in recruiting or those who think 10 or 15 years is a long time. Stay with it kids. The longer you are in this industry the better you get. Anybody can stand on the top of the mountain and tell you how great they are but make it through the valleys and enjoy the mountain tops cause there will be another valley and another mountain top and maybe someday when you hit your lucky 7 you will be as excited about this industry as i remain after spending exactly half my life in it.

The next time you have one of those candidates who is freaking out about their age tell them you know a "cougar recruiter" who might be able to help somebody their age if they don't mind working with an older woman. Ha! Let's Roll. Places to go, people to see and money to be made. It's easy to follow me on twitter but trying to follow me around on any given day, be ready to come early, stay late and pack a lunch.

Comment by Paul S. Gumbinner on September 8, 2011 at 4:22pm: Congratulations and happy birthday. I am just a year behind you and I love it. If we dated, would you still be a cougar? I am happily married, though.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on September 8, 2011 at 7:00pm: @Brian, Thanks guy, i will consider that an "inbound Happy from the inbound recruiter. :)

@Paul Thanks, i guess i wouldn't be a cougar in your case as long as you can deal with older women but since you are married i would be an old home wrecker, nope not my style, i am not scared of much but irate wives make me very nervous. :) I have never had one after me but i have seen it in action and it was a fearsome sight.

I hated being 30 the rest was a blur ,being 70 is like the light at the end of the tunnel.

Comment by RecruitingBlogs on September 8, 2011 at 9:23pm: Happy Birthday Sandra...35 years of smiling and dialing....

Comment by Maricris Fermin on September 8, 2011 at 10:22pm: Happy 70th Birthday, Sandra! I've always loved your blogs and comments here in RBC. I never would have guessed that you were near your '70's. You are such a young and vibrant spirit. Don't change. :)

Comment by Tim Spagnola on September 8, 2011 at 10:30pm: I knew I liked you Sandra...same birthday as my Mom. I hope you enjoy it as only you can. For folks looking to give a gift? Hay! Hay! Hay!

Comment by Sandra McCartt on September 8, 2011 at 11:09pm: @Maricris (what a fabulous name) Thank you for well wishes and your very kind comments about my blathering. It's funny when we are in our 60's one sort of keeps it a secret. You hit 70, yell "safe" and start giggling. Maybe it is the first stages of senile dementia but is sure is fun. I never paid any attention to the senior discouts in restaurants, last night a group of us went to dinner so i decided it was time to ask for the senior discount. The bitch carded me. See what i mean about it being fun.

@Noel and Tim It's "Smile, dial and cry for a while". I was delighted when we got push button phones those rotary dial puppies were hell on my finger nails. I was an early adopter of new technology. I have a little tip for you. If you can't hear well on an i phone get a droid. My ring tone is "Hello Moto" my grand daughter cringes eveytime my phone goes off. I love my turn at torturing the young.

@Tim you poor child. With a virgo for a mother it's a wonder you didn't grow up to be an accountant. We rear perfect children you know and if we have more than one we line them up by height. I got a surprise gift from the executive group with one of my clients this afternoon. A bunch of gorgeous flowers, a bottle of very nice Chivas and 20 bales of hay. The card said, Whiskey for our recruiter and hay for her horses.

To explain the Hay, Hay, Hay. I told Tim yesterday that due to the drought here i gave up recruiting people and recruited hay for a week. Trust me a purple squirrel is no problem as compared to enough alfalfa to feed 7 horses all winter when there isn't any. I traded a fee on an engineer with a client in Colorado for a truck load of alfalfa. They thought it was a hell of a deal until they found out the cost of hauling and stacking it in a barn. Never trade with a horse trader who also happens to be a recruiter. We were born negotiating.

Comment by Maricris Fermin on September 9, 2011 at 1:15am: Hahaha... Welcome to the safe zone then! I'm sure (aside from the dinner incident), being in that age group has some good perks. My mom's been rambling about it for ages, and she's not yet in her 60's. :P

The Hay, Hay, Hay story is funny. I have to admit, I've been learning a lot from your posts (one way or another, hahaha...). And what keeps me engaged is your realness and sense of humor.

Comment by Ritu Chaudhari on September 9, 2011 at 1:41am: Happy Birthday Sandra! Your posts rock but I especially love your comments to some inane posts :D

Comment by Sandra McCartt on September 9, 2011 at 2:41am: @maricris your mother was obviously a child bride. :). See here's the deal, I just say what a lot of people are thinking but are too nice or afraid to say that is the big perk. It truly should be a law that people are required to be real. In Texas if one is not real they are just counterfeit and nothing is worse than being counterfeit except folks who hurt animals or little kids. Trust me, learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do. I can be a shining example of both.

@Ritu thank you. Think of me as God's little sledge hammer. :). Ya gotta love inane it's such a fertile field.

Comment by Tom Dimmick on September 9, 2011 at 5:43am: A very happy birthday to you Sandra. You have been and are blessed. As to 7 marriages and insanity, consider Henry the VIII.