Reinke Faces Life

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071005/D8S3BO500.html

Ex-Google Manager Can Sue for Age Bias
Oct 5, 6:32 PM (ET)

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – A 54-year-old former Google Inc. (GOOG) manager who claimed he was fired after a supervisor told him his opinions were “too old to matter” had his age discrimination lawsuit reinstated.

Reversing a Santa Clara County trial judge, the state’s Sixth District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that Brian Reid deserves to have a jury hear the evidence he amassed that he says shows Google routinely gave older managers lower evaluations and smaller bonuses than younger managers.

“Reid produced sufficient evidence that Google’s (stated) reasons for terminating him were untrue or pretextual, and that Google acted with discriminatory motive such that a fact-finder would conclude Google engaged in age discrimination,” Presiding Justice Conrad L. Rushing wrote.

The Mountain View-based search engine company has denied Reid’s allegations but also refused to say why he was fired. In court documents, the company said Reid was fired when the program he managed was canceled.

Reid, a former associate electrical engineering professor at Stanford University, sued Google in July 2004, five months after he lost his job as its director of operations.

He alleged in his suit that his supervisors did not initially tell him why he was being fired. Director of Engineering Wayne Rosing, 55, eventually said he was not a good “cultural fit” at Google, where some colleagues referred to him as an “old guy” and “fuddy-duddy,” Reid said.

Another supervisor, Urs Hoelzle allegedly said Reid, who is a diabetic, was too sluggish and “too old to matter” and his ideas were obsolete.

Reid is seeking back pay and punitive damages. He made $200,000 a year and lost stock options valued at millions of dollars when he lost his job.

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Now we all know that age discrimination is rampant.

But it’s rarely so blatant. Clearly FOWGs need to keep very good notes and paperwork. No one should want to go to court. That’s not only a crap shoot, but you’ll be stigmatized.

My advice is to use what you have to extract a better settlement.

You need to document both your contributions and the reactions to them on a contemporaneous holograph non-tamperable basis. Think about the old Bell Labs policy of keeping notes in bound books with numbered pages. Emails should be archived and indexed. With cheap online and offline storage with usb disk drives. At the very least, sending a bcc to a special email account is cheap and easy.

Better be prepared for treachery. We entering a brave new world of employment. If you don’t have a contract, then you are at risk. If one’s not offered, ask yourself why?

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http://www.getnoticedfirst.com/

Get Noticed First

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What is Get Noticed First?

Get Noticed First helps you move along your job search by providing you with resume writing and building tools that will impress potential employers and give you an advantage over other applicants.

Our simple step by step process walks you through the process of creating an impressive resume, cover letter, reference sheet and thank you letter.

We also offer resume writing and resume review services by a National Award Winning Resume Writer & Certified Coach for Job and Career Transitions.

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Now as everyone knows, I am not big on turkeys spending money for “job search” stuff. However, in this case, $25 seems like a trivial amount if it gets you started quickly.

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http://www.garynorth.com/public/2448.cfm

Katie Couric vs. Age Spots
Gary North

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Why CBS rolled the loaded demographic dice is a mystery to me. CBS Evening News was in third place under Rather, third place under Shieffer, and remains in third place today. But Ms. Couric’s network rivals will age as men age. Ms. Couric will not.

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Remembering my quote about FOWG’s in job search —

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“Time has not stood still. Age is not respected. Experience is not valued. And, Education is not revered.”

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I think it’s obvious why CBS tried something different. If you’re stuck in third, in a three man race, it’s time to throw a “Hail Mary”. In this case, a “Hail Katie”. As is usual with the liberal media, they just don’t understand what business they are in.

They are in the “eyeballs watching ads” business.

The TV and Newspapers are shrinking; the inet is growing.

IMHO the “Hail Mary” strategy would be to embrace the change, be the change, grok the change.

Spending a lot of money on Ms. Katie could have been the watershed event of a new strategy. Integration with the web.

Here’s one idea. They probably have more stories on the hook then they can do. Have the inet audience choose the stories that they want to hear and see. Let assume that in a 30 minute show, they have 25 minutes of air time. Each story is 2 minutes. So they have 12 story slots. I’d guess they must have 50 stories in queue. Let the inet audience, pick the stories that get to air. Digg style. Involve the audience. Allow all stories to be on Youtube later in the evening. Of course, I’d put a sponsor on each one.

It’s about thinking innovatively.

If Ms. Couric had brought that type of thinking to CBS, then she’d have been worth her negligible weight in gold.

Jobseekers can’t become focused on problems or flaws. They have to see the opportunity!

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http://home.comcast.net/~v2y2r0n27rhj6y/My_generic_survival_pack.htm

I was quoted more than a decade ago in Execunet saying

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“Time has not stood still. Age is not respected. Experience is not valued. And, Education is not revered.”

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More true today than a decade ago.

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http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/871

Fun Stuff for YOU
September 6th, 2007

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Second, I’m hosting a blog carnival again! This one is for recruiters… but I’m putting a spin on it! I want YOU to write your best or worst recruiter experience ever… something that you want to share with recruiters so they can be better!

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Ahhh, Alba, you always remind me why I am a turkey.

(See http://home.comcast.net/~v2y2r0n27rhj6y/My_generic_survival_pack.htm for an explanation of the turkey metaphor.)

But this is supposed to be about my “worst” recruiter. That’s easy. he has a special place in my heart.

Seriously.

There are, what I think are Buddhist, teachings that say things like: “the universe gives us what we need whether or not we recognize it”, “lessons are repeated until the student learns”, and “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”.

Under those rules of engagement, this particular recruiter taught me a way out of what I call my “interview slut” era.

Yes, the first time I was tossed out on my keister, when I was but a baby turkey, inexperienced in the ways of the world, I was desperate. I “knew” the rule of large numbers. 100 ads equaled an phone call, 100 phone calls equaled an interview, 100 interviews equals a paycheck. Hey, I said I was a baby turkey. AND, as a Type A, I knew I could out perform the pack. No stone was left unturned. I was frenzied. I was berserk. I could keep two printers going burning up the “numbers”. I had wall charts. No head hunter would be ignored. No ad unanswered. Ad for a “tibetian monk that spoke spanish”; no problem they must need an IT guy! I’d do anything for an interview.

I ran across this recruiter who said he had the “prefect job”.

I was salivating like a teenage boy in front of a Playboy rack. New resume. No problem. New cover letter. No problem. Questionnaire. No problem. No problem, no problem, no problem, no problem … no request was too extreme. I think if had said I needed to disrobe like the Naked Cowboy in Times Square … I’d have done it. When I landed (10 weeks later in a great job!), this fellow continued to call with new ever more outlandish requests. I was working at my new job for eight weeks when I finally stopped taking his calls.

In all that time, he never divulged the company. Nor did, I ever get an interview.

To this day, I STILL don’t understand it.

But thinking about the big bux, the tile, the prestige, the empire … … … oh the glory … I could have been a contender if I had just … done that one more even more outlandish challenge.

Now to a fellow who has 19 different resumes, (YES, I do think that I have that many UNIQUE value propositions that I can offer a Customer, Colleague, or Employer!), you would think that satisfying this recruiter’s needs would be easy. During my “after action evaluation”, I counted that I did 22 different resumes for him, filled out 2 different multi-page questionnaires, had innumerable phone calls about “the job”, and wrote three different autobiographies”. All that was missing was the proctology exam! I can’t even guess the number of “midnight oil” hours I wasted on this one “teacher”.

But, he was the Universe’s “teacher” that what I needed. I learned, in my self-imposed “Lessons Learned”, that:

(1) not every “job” is a job (i.e., How do I know that job you are alluding to exists?);

(2) everyone needs some “water tight doors” to prevent time from wasting away (i.e., ROI on hours invested; each recruiter gets ONE resume rewrite; limits; stops; drops);

(3) not every contact is equally likely to produce results (i.e., good hunters deliver interviews — that’s all they can do; bad “recruiters” can waste your time; not everything called ‘executive search” is looking for me!);

(4) everyone needs a grading scheme — like they have for eggs, steaks, and school children (i.e., Mine is Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and LEAD ANCHOR!); … and

(5) as much as you may want to return every phone call, answer every ad, or apply for every job, you have finite resources (i.e., apply more effort to that which works and less to that which don’t).

In all the time I have been networking, I have had EXACTLY four people, who could have, refuse to help me. I have a special place in my heart for them as well. But, as bad as I felt about those four, my special place in Hell is reserved for the only LEAD recruiter I have in my rolodex.

He’s there to remind me that some deals won’t close, some opportunities are illusions, and some dogs won’t hunt.

He taught me that my time is valuable and I can’t afford to let it be wasted.

Thanks for the change to rant about it some more. Like static electricity, discharge is good. For him, a 30-06 discharge would be perfect. But illegal. And, he did “teach” me a very important lesson. Time is … …

… … but what a job it could have been if I just had … … done one more

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FROM A MONSTER EMAIL

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Dear Valued Monster Customer,

Protecting the job seekers who use our website is a top priority, and we value the trust you place in Monster. Regrettably, opportunistic criminals are increasingly using the Internet for illegitimate purposes. As is the case with many companies that maintain large databases of information, Monster is from time to time subject to attempts to illegally extract information from its database.

As you may be aware, the Monster resume database was recently the target of malicious activity that involved the illegal downloading of information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for some of our job seekers with resumes posted on Monster sites. Monster responded to this specific incident by conducting a comprehensive review of internal processes and procedures, notified those job seekers that their contact records had been downloaded illegally, and shut down a rogue server that was hosting these records.

The Company has determined that this incident is not the first time Monster’s database has been the target of criminal activity. Due to the significant amount of uncertainty in determining which individual job seekers may have been impacted, Monster felt that it was in your best interest to take the precautionary steps of reaching out to you and all Monster job seekers regarding this issue. Monster believes illegally downloaded contact information may be used to lure job seekers into opening a “phishing” email that attempts to acquire financial information or lure job seekers into fraudulent financial transactions. This has been the case in similar attacks on other websites.

We want to inform you about preventive measures you can take to protect yourself from online fraud. While no company can completely prevent unauthorized access to data, we believe that by reaching out to job seekers like you, the Company can help users better defend themselves against those who have attacked Monster as well as other databases.

We are committed to maintaining an ongoing dialogue with all of our job seekers about Internet security and the steps Monster is taking to protect its job seekers. The Company has placed a security alert on Monster sites offering information to educate you about online fraud. This information can be found at http://help.monster.com/besafe/. We have also included information on Internet safety and examples of fraudulent “phishing” emails at the bottom of this letter.

Monster has launched a series of initiatives to enhance and to protect the information you have entrusted to us. Some of these steps are being immediately implemented, while others will be put into place as appropriate.

We believe these actions are the responsible steps to protect the trust you place in Monster. We are also working with Monster’s hundreds of thousands of employer customers to ensure a safe and effective online job search. We will continue to share information with you about the enhancements we are making as we serve as your online career resource partner. We invite you to keep reading to learn more about how to use the Internet safely.

Sincerely,
Sal Iannuzzi
Chairman and CEO
Monster Worldwide

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Sorry, I don’t think that Monster did NOT do enough both before and after the horse and the barn!

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Does anyone ever have a “career plan”? What tools do you use to support that plan?

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I’ve been counseling my “turkeys” ((i.e., out of work fat old white guys usually in the IT field; you know COBOL guys in the RUBY age) about having a written plan for what they want. Everyone has heard that urban legend about 97% of successful Harvard graduates had a written plan when they graduated. (Have to research that particular urbanity!) But I haven’t found any web tools that support developing a “career plan”. Not that I need one now. But for my fellow turkeys. There’s execunet (www.execunet.com) for executive job search. There’s jibberjobber (www.jibberjobber.com) for personal network management. But what helps plan the career? What is the “Microsoft Project” for turning a string of jobs into a career plan?

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Interesting question?

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http://www.resumespider.com/

This came up on my radar and I took a look at it. And this big fat old turkey is unimpressed. Anytime you have to hunt for how much something costs that to me is a big red flag. In looking at it, I had three observations:

(1) It suffers from what I call LinkedIn syndrome — you can only have one resume — so how can you customize for the oppty under consideration;

(2) It’s three blind mice — who is looking at your resume, who is submitting it duplicatively (I lost a job that way), and who are you selling into.

(3) It costs the seeker money.

So it has a lot of negatives in my mind. Any one of these would turn me off.

YMMV

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Plan A – $39.95
Resume Distribution
One time fee – 3 distributions. We will email your profile to recruiters, employers and corporate hiring managers that have registered at ResumeSpider to receive your information. These targeted leads are matched by your desired job function, industry and location.

Plan B – $69.95
Resume Distribution Plus
(Valued at $79.90)
Same as Plan A. We also provide you their contact information, track who has opened and evaluated your resume, and give you access to the SpiderTalk private messaging system.

Plan C – $99.95
Combo Package
(Valued at $119.85)
Same as Plan B. In addition, you now have access to our Industry List containing 100s or 1000s of company contacts. We do not send your resume to this list; however this list provides you a minimum of one key contact name at companies targeted by their office locations and their respective industries. If you are applying to job ads, you usually don’t know who received your resume, so this information can very helpful because now you have a name to contact.

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http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/sitemap/careertransition.shtml

The Job Search Is Serious – Start Now, Don’t Ever Stop
By Jason Alba, Career Transition Editor

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Sound a little dramatic? Let me share part of my story. I’m sure that it’s not as bad as your story, but I’ll share it anyway.

I was a general manager of a small software/services company. We had a couple dozen employees, good clients, and software products that were maturing (and selling). I made decent money, although we were still living paycheck-to-paycheck (who doesn’t?).

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Jason’s story, that is in part told here. should serve as a wake up call to all those who are “in” but will SOON be “out”.

(Note “soon” is a relative term. I can’t tell you how long “soon” will be for you, but, I can assure you, it’s sooner than you think.)

My mantra is that you are only sure of the last paycheck that you have cashed. Have learned some of my lessons at the UOHK (University of Hard Knocks), I know that you better prepare for the day because it is coming. To do that, I have a monthly meeting with my imaginary Board of Directors. Questions for the CFO are:

* What is our “bear bones burn rate”(i.e., how much do we have to spend cutting out all the fat and frills)?

* How many months of “burning” do we have in our “war chest” (i.e., a dedicated account that’s our own personal unemployment insurance)?

* How many months will it take to go from “burning” back to “earning”? (n.b.: I’ve blogged and written on this estimate before. I can be a stunning number.)

* What are we doing to increase the reserve and decrease the “turnaround time”?

This article should be in every “in’s” inbox. It’s a wake up call. It will happen to you.

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http://jobmob.co.il/blog/do-you-create-value/

JOBMOB is running a contest. My entry is very simple. I think you can vote for it if you thinks it’s a winner.

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