Reinke Faces Life

FROM A RESPONSE ON LINKEDIN BLOGGERS

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If we build networks on trust, what do we do with those companies and/or those employees who place little value in honoring their words, their commitments? If they demonstrate a pattern of not honoring their word, how do we introduce them to others in our networks?

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I think, and I advise my “beloved” turkeys — those poor souls who didn’t memo about the roe (rules of employment) changing, that they have to play “offense / defense” continually. They must be on the offense to always be looking out for Number One and that ain’t their employer. They must be on the defense at all times because they are really only assured of the last paycheck that cleared the bank.

No, the rules have changed.

Companies don’t realize the employees, that they fire – discourage – denigrate, are their intellectual capital. They get to “rebuy” their skills at a greatly inflated rate from a consulting shop, but they don’t get the benefit of the genius that they lost. Their “bench” of people, who once aligned themselves with the company long term, is gone. With it, the in depth understanding of what was done, why, and when. So companies get to make the same mistakes over again and pay for them again in even great amounts.

In my career, I have watched the centralized – decentralized, fat – thin – zero client, rapid / traditional paradigms done over, and over and over again. Wait five years and you are dealing with a completely “new” company. I call it “Organizational Alzheimer’s”. The sad part is it’s self-inflicted. And, no one seems to recognize just how expensive it is.

To the question, one introduces candidates and companies very carefully. One ensures that both know the “facts of life” of the new “employment” meme. One carefully weighs each against the standard, “what does it do to advance the needs of each side”. How does the value extracted get divided? And where’s my share!

Just as the ERISA laws of the 1970’s led to the era of five year employees (i.e., the time needed for a pension to vest);

just as the dotcom bubble made everyone an “owner” in some fashion or other (i.e., you only went to work for a “hope ‘n’ prayer” company if you got shares;

just as today’s “what’s in it for me culture” has led to mutually disloyal companies and employees;

the new corporate organization will be a small core of “employees” with lucrative employment contracts that mange the services of other small corporations.

So, everything will be spun out to autonomous little corporations and there will be no “long term” thinking. Forget Bell Labs, forget GE “bringing good things to life”, forget 3M with a slew of new products. It’ll be the march of little enterprises — the nano-izing of business (i.e., like penguins). That’s what we will have to deal with. You’ll be “in”, “out”, or “owning”.

And the costs will be driven out of all processes. (Margins will be razor thin!) But the overall cost to the economy will be higher. (Adding up all those margins will make the end to end cost a lot more!) It’s going to get a lot tougher to “make a living” unless you are smart enough, lucky enough, or practical enough to find a “killer” idea. (Opportunities have to pay off bigger. More risk must be taken. More spectacular failures!)

Makes me glad that I am coming to the end of my career. I don’t envy you youngsters!

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FROM ELECTRONIC RECRUITING NEWS

Recruiting In The Trough I

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(November 13, 2007) Everyone agrees that the economic downturn is imminent. Maybe it’s already begun, maybe it will wait until the beginning of the next American administration. It’s coming to theatre near you.

{Extraneous Deleted}

As inflation eats a hole in the pocketbooks of pensioners, there will be an interesting dampening effect. The effective retirement age has to rise by a year for every 10% of inflation. Since more senior employees are less vulnerable to inflation (and career transitions are harder to manage), attrition will be skewed towards a younger demographic.

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It would appear that there is a “sub prime bust” coming to the employment marketplace in the next year.

That tells me to advise my turkeys:

(1) Adjust your job replacement formula:

{For those, who aren’t aficionados of the Big Turkey’s methodology for calculating “job replacement interval”. Using my patented and copyrighted methodology, you can easily determine how many months YOU will need to find a new job. That is a function of: Annual Salary; the likelihood of a layoff in your company, industry, or skill set; the ease of finding another job in their skill set; their age; and the economy.}

Without going into great depth, I am advising all my Turkeys to adjust “the economy” value to THREE from ONE! This is one notch below it’s all time high of FOUR during the dotcom bust. This unprecedented jump is justified on the signals for Wall Street that rough times are ahead.

(2) Batten down your financial hatches.

Begin immediately to reduce your financial burn rate and increase your savings rate. Beware taking on any indebtedness for any reason.

(3) Solidify your current employment situation

Do whatever is necessary to make yourself valuable, popular, and worth keeping on the payroll. Now is not the time to “get thrown” off the bucking horse.

(4) Increase networking activity

You need to aggressively network to ensure your continued employ ability. Turkeys are advised to review their days outstanding in their various networking panels with an eye towards lowering them if feasible.

(5) Increase internet work on your “brand”

Since the internet works for you 24/7, it’s important to have sites, social networking presences, blogs, wikis, and forums that represent your brand. Spruce up and freshen up all online assets.

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www.jibberjobber.com

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We are offering a special buy-one-get-one-free upgrade right now on the one year and two year packages, which expires on Monday, November 19th at midnight.

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This is one of the few things that I think a seeker might spend some buxs on. That list is very very short. So in case you were waiting for a sale to do “something”, here’s a sale.

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A TURKEY SENT ME THEIR RESUME. SO I WAS OBLIGED TO COMMENT.

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May I make some observations?

Thanks, (I would anyway, but I’m working on my pushy image!)

For a project manager to be in a time bind, isn’t such a good admission. I try to answer every email or phone call in 24 hours. It might be just a quick response, but never never ever let them see you sweat.

:-)

I know I know easier said than done.

Now about your resume.

Sorry, but it “screams” I did it myself from a book.

I don’t have a slot free in my turkey farm http://tinyurl.com/lxu93 currently (I have five slots for my “turkeys” (i.e., people in job search) where I dedicate a short block of time to work with them 1on1 about their search.) but let me steal a few minutes from my morning coffee to give you some ideas. (Actually the ideas are precanned snippets of advice that I can use a macro to put up at a moment notice. Didn’t want you to think I was feeding you a load of “barbara streisand”.)

Here’s what I saw when I opened your resume and some thoughts.

* A resume’s only purpose is to get read and motivate the reader to action.

* You have to break the 15 second barrier and the 60 second barrier. You have 15 seconds to make the reader invest the next minute. Then, you have one minute to make the reader put your resume on the “keep stack”.

* Name address block takes far too much of the top real estate. Get it all on one line in unbolded ten point font. If you’re the right candidate, the hunter will break out a magnifying glass to read your contact info if needed.

* “summary” doesn’t summarize. Should be “objective”; and it’s not your objective it’s the reader’s.

* Upon further review “highly effective” should have been stroked out as well.

The balance of the resume is far too wordy. You need to make it easy to read. Think movie cliff hanger. Think “how’s she do that?”. Think “Wow!”.

You want to play par golf. In resume land, that is PaaR! Problem, analysis, action, results. Write down in each position what are the three major problems I was handed, what analysis did I do, what actions did I take, and what results I achieve. Then you throw out the Analysis and Action (They get that when they hire you.) and put in the Problem and Results.

So, for example, I found that the whatchamacallit project was late, over budget, and under functional. So I did an resource analysis and found that there were no left handed paper hangers assigned! Since fifty percent of the wall were right handed and the rest left handed, there were right handed paper hangers struggling to paper the left handed walls where they had to reach over their bodies to paper. I fired half the right handed ones and hired an equal number of left ones. Then you write: “The whatchamacallit project was late, over budget, and under functional. The project was back with in spec in 4 months at no additional cost after I was hired.”

See the diff! I can hear the recruiter getting on the phone know. “How did you do that?” “Hire me and I’ll tell you. I’m not a free consultant that can be had for an interview.”

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People are enamored by their own name. That block of text can easily occupy 100% of that incalculably valuable resume real estate. When I see a resume like that I cringe. Because I know what is coming. I, I, eye, I, I, eye. Everything will be about them. When it should be about the hiring manager who’s reading it.

fwiw

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http://www.personalbrandingsummit.com

Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Personal Branding

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To mark the 10th Anniversary of personal branding, on November 8th we are providing 24 free teleseminars with experts in the field of personal branding. Anyone in the world with a telephone will be able to participate in this live event.
This event has content streams for career success, entrepreneurial success and talent management. So, whether you are a corporate professional, an entrepreneur, or a HR manager challenged with the need to attract and retain great people, you will take away actionable knowledge from attending.

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While I am not sure that I believe in “Personal Branding”, I do believe in “free” education. So, if you have some attention cycles and clock minutes, you might be interested. (That’s why I put quotes around “free”.) I think that of time, money, and attention; attention is the critical resource. What you focus on, you get. So be careful where you look.

FWIW.

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ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS:

The model of success is changing again.

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Success, in a job search sense, is found by having:

(1) ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt;

(2) a life long interest in learning — education — a degree — certifications — credentials — they can’t take it away from you;

(3) a white collar job in order to save big bux;

(4) a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber;

(5) one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open;

(6) a free time hobby that generates income; and

(7) a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you.

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Please exchange your old memes for new ones at Customer Service.

We are not responsible for adverse consequences of using old memes. Bankruptcy, divorce, alcoholism, sleeplessness, depression, and lost of self-esteem are side effect of using the wrong meme. See you certified Turkey Master for the correct meme in your specific case.

We take visa/master card and most insurances.

This is not an offering to buy or sell securities which can only be made by formal prospectus.

This is only for illustrative purposes and not indicative of anyone’s actual results.

Your Mileage May Vary.

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Always a joyous occasion.

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http://www.nofluffjuststuff.com/blog/ted_neward/2007/10/a_conversation_on_architecture.html

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Do many/most developers at F500 companies not go to events like local JUGs or conferences like NFJS?

Unfortunately, far too many developers don’t treat their careers as a work-in-progress, but believe that once they’ve landed the job, they’re on a track to moderate financial success for life. In fact, lots of developers fit the demographic of “male, 18-30, and single”, which is the absolute worst demographic for future planning. Lots of these guys think that “Hey, I’m smart, the money will always flow in, right? Java/.NET/C++/COBOL will always be the tool of choice, right? What, me worry?”

Unfortunately, it’s my experience that it doesn’t get better with age. Developers in the age range of 31 and up have seen one (or two) generations of languages/platforms go by, and have had to re-tool themselves, and are still pissed about it. The ones who realize that no matter how much they learn, there’s still a lot more to take on, those are the ones going to JUGs and NFJS and TechEd and JavaOne and whatever else comes their way. Those are the same ones who see training classes as opportunities for advancement, not opportunities to play 8 hours of uninterrupted Solitaire. And, unfortunately, those developers are the exception, not the rule, it seems.

Which means, if you take the time to invest in yourself, you will never be in the bottom of the candidate pool for your next job. Period.

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Well said. Many moons ago, Frau Reinke, the CFO of our partnership, “decided” that I should have a budget for training and toys. Now bear in mind that she has no use for this “technology stuff”, is a tight with “wasting” money as I have ever seen, (She’ll spend it like water; just never “waste” a drop), so I had a budget. And, I HAD to spend it. I was figuring a $100. What do I know? She allocated 1% of my annual gross to training and 1% to “technology toys”. Wow!

So, I got a lesson in investing in your self.

How do you invest in yourself?

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text

Attention all turkeys:

When you start your new job, “prepare three envelopes”.

That’s an old joke.

http://www.notboring.com/jokes/work/3.htm

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Prepare Three Envelopes
A fellow had just been hired as the new CEO of a large high tech corporation. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. “Open these if you run up against a problem you don’t think you can solve,” he said.

Well, things went along pretty smoothly, but six months later, sales took a downturn and he was really catching a lot of heat. About at his wit’s end, he remembered the envelopes. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read, “Blame your predecessor.”

The new CEO called a press conference and tactfully laid the blame at the feet of the previous CEO. Satisfied with his comments, the press — and Wall Street — responded positively, sales began to pick up and the problem was soon behind him.

About a year later, the company was again experiencing a slight dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, “Reorganize.” This he did, and the company quickly rebounded.

After several consecutive profitable quarters, the company once again fell on difficult times. The CEO went to his office, closed the door and opened the third envelope.

The message said, “Prepare three envelopes.”

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There are a lot of true things said in jest.

This is one of them.

Eventually, things will turn nasty.

I don’t care that today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is right in the Universe. You may be looking forward to cashing your first paycheck. Time to look a little more forward.

There will be a day, in the all to soon future, where you will be –proverbially — opening the “third envelope”.

Now assuming that you don’t have an employment contract — not many of us do — you’ll be facing the unpleasantness of the potential axe.

So, today, right now, when all is good, please please plan your demise.

Create a folder at home called “DOOMSDAY”. Into that you should be putting “important” documents related to your employment. By “important”, I mean as it relates to your continued employment. So immediately, your offer letter should be in there. As well as anything that is ever given you by HR, Payroll, Finance, Personnel, whatever as it applies to your continued employment. In addition, you should document every significant conversation you ever have with anyone higher than you, lower than you, or in a support organization that has anything to do with your continued employment. Keep your own set of book. Fill out a personal time sheet. Have comp time, keep a record. Keep a score card of what you do. Don’t share it with anyone, store it on their computers, send it over their wire, or even keep it in the office.

Trust me. Some day, you’ll be glad you did.

You’re not doing this to pick a fight or focus on the bad stuff that can happen. (And will happen, if you focus on the negative.) This is to be ready for “war” should a fight break out.

It might get you some leverage in the severance process.

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http://glcavalier.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/university-of-hard-knocks-alumni-membership-drive-is-underway

University of Hard Knocks Alumni Membership Drive is Underway!!!!
by G. Lane Cavalier

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When I was out of work several years ago, I received a good piece of advice from a fellow networker that I have never followed up on. That advice was to start an “Alumni Group” for those professionals that never finished their degree.

***and***

The group is going to be based around 3 core issues that impact professionals without degrees:

1) Continuing Education/Non Traditional Education
2) Job Searching and Interviewing (overcoming the lack of the degree)
3) Networking

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Of course, I indicated I would be happy to participate.

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http://careerhub.typepad.com/main/2007/04/free_job_search.htmlshort

Free Job Search Help

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We’re thrilled to announce the release of our fourth free eBook – “The Insider’s Guide to Networking” features 70 pages of advice from some of the country’s leading careers experts. The topic of networking is one that I know is of great interest to many of our readers, so I asked our experts to give readers their best advice for networking success. The answers are varied, interesting and sometimes surprising.

If you don’t have our earlier eBooks, you’re missing out on similarly great advice about resume writing, interviewing and job search strategies. All these great eBooks are available without email sign-up. Simply download the PDFs and start reading! And to stay regularly updated with all the best in career advice, bookmark this site, sign up for our RSS feed, or have the articles sent directly to your email box.

• Guide to networking Insider’s Guide to Networking
• Guide To Interviewing Insider’s Guide to Interviewing
• Guide to Resume WritingInsider’s Guide to Resume Writing
• Guide to Job Search Insider’s Guide to Job Search

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From the nice folks at Career Hub.

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FROM A CONVERSATION WITH A NEW TURKEY

(1) Remember they are operating at different speed than you are. Sigh.

(2) They probably haven’t read anything you’ve written, send them, or shared. If they did, they probably didn’t grok it.

(3) Bringing them up to speed is a drag. A heavy lift. A tiring experience. But, you could be creating a new “turkey master”. Patience.

(4) They never know “what they want to be when they grow up”.

(5) They have no concept of “elevator speech”.

(6) They look backward.

(7) They haven’t thought about their tools. Let alone invested in them.

(8) They need a lot of help.

(9) They think outplacement is good.

Patience. Seldom in men; never in women! Patience.

Remember the First Rule Of Being A Turkey Master: “First do no harm.”

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Good Housekeeping rules for voice mail

01. STOP, don’t just dial and blunder. Nothing makes a worse impression than a “bad” voice mail message. Remember that the recipient of your message would really rather be talking to his wife, girlfriend, bookie, friend, dentist, … anybody but you! So you have to make them want to listen carefully.

02. Do you need to introduce yourself? Will the recipient recognize your name? Do you need to give the recipient some idea who you are?

03. What is your objective with this call? Write it down. (You are measuring results. Right?)

04. What are the key points you want to make? Limit the message to cover the most important point. You can’t really expect your monologue to do more than that.

05. Write out the text of your message. Pretend it’s a telegraph at 10$ per word. If you want an action or call back, ask for it clearly. If asking for a callback, when can they catch you.

06. You have to try to speak slowly. Make your call standing up. Try looking in a mirror as you are talking. Smile. It comes over the wire in your voice. Pretend that it’s video mail.

07. Use a written script.

08. Your name is familiar to you, but not necessarily to the recipient. Give your first name, pause, last name, and then spell your last name.

09. Area code, phone number, calmly, slowly, clearly.

10. Read your brief telegraph message slowly.

11. Give your phone number once again… SLOWLY.

12. You did remember to say thanks.

13. Update all your logs, paperwork, and computer systems (i.e., JibberJobber contact tracking?)

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NETWORK WORLD 24 Sept 07 Page 41

NetworkWorld parses the “in’s” into: Seekers on the prowl; Explorers keeping the eyes open; Approachable who are not looking but would respond to a personal inquiry; and Loyalists who are committed to their current employer.

Where do you sit?

I guess I am somewhere between “explorer” and “approachable”!

:-)

The question who would hire a FOWG or a BFT?

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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

{BONG! BING! BOOM! Your time on this task has expired. Please move on. If you think that you have received this message in error, tell it to the Marines or some one who cares! This blog entry has been automatically terminated. The text created to this point has been posted. You can’t edit it so you might as well move on. The next time slot for this type of activity is in 23.75 hours. Please move along to the next item in the 2DO queue. Remember stay awake, keep moving, stay alive! Time is on our side.}

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FROM A MONSTER EMAIL

***Begin Quote***

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

***End Quote***

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?

***Begin Quote***

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?

***End Quote***

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

*** begin quote ***

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.

*** end quote ***

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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

***Begin Quote***

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?).

***End Quote***

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.

# # # # #

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.

# # # # #

http://www.emurse.com/about

About Emurse.com
Information about Emurse.com

***Begin Quote***

Emurse, an anagram for Resume, is a powerful online tool designed to help take control of your job hunt. Some features:

• Resume Builder
• Resume Website
• Resume Management
• Networking
• Personalized Job Postings
• Job Search
• Job Hunt Organizer

***End Quote***

I’m not so sure that I buy into that it does all of these things, but it does “do” resumes. As such, I’ve always thought that the universe needed an xml for resumes. Maybe this is it. I think it can save those “out” some time and effort. Those “in” can use it for the passive trolling everyone should be doing. If you think like I do that I’ll never have another job, please visit my turkey farm (http://tinyurl.com/lxu93) and check out the accommodations, you’ll be there soon. Every time I am sure of something, the Universe orders me up a whole big heaping dish of “humble pie” and sends me a lesson.

ymmv fwiw I like it,
fjohn
the big fat old turkey hisself

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UPDATE: Fixed typo. Argh!

# # # # #

From: Robyn Greenspan
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 2:51 PM
Subject: participate in ExecuNet article?

Hi,

Your reputation as a master networker has qualified you for participation in an upcoming ExecuNet article. I’m trying to learn about your networking techniques, motivation, the goals, the successes and anything else you think would be insightful to our senior executive readership. Executives often complain that they don’t have the time to network. How do you maintain a strong – and high quality — network when you have a very busy life? Share both your common sense tips along with any interesting or unique ideas or stories that are related to your networking activities.

The article will be published as a cover story in CareerSmart Advisor – ExecuNet’s biweekly print publication with a senior-level executive readership of roughly 25,000 – and I have attached some recent copies so you can become more familiar with the format and content.

If this offer interests you and you would like to be quoted or used a source for this article, please jot down your best networking tips and stories and send to me by Friday, June 29. You supply the expert advice and we’ll take care of the punctuation, spelling and grammar.

If you have any questions or want to further discuss, call or email me. 800.637.3126

Thanks in advance for your time and attention, and have a great weekend!

Robyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robyn Greenspan
Senior Editor
ExecuNet
The Center for Executive Careers
http://www.execunet.com
FREE subscription to Executive Insider:
http://www.execunet.com/e_resources_ei_signup.cfm

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Robyn:

Liar, liar, pants on fire. “reputation as a master networker” Indeed! Really “just a big old fat turkey that’s too dumb for his own good” would probably be more accurate.

But, here’s a thought for the readership. Hope this helps,

fjohn

===== ===== =====
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Here’s the full text of my submission.

***Begin Quote***

You’ll be unemployed too some day. Maybe even sooner than you think. “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too!” Oh, wrong movie. It’s not the wicked witch of the west; it’s the grim reaper of unemployment. It is the movie of YOUR life played out in slow motion. Today you’re on top of the world, making “big bux”, spending like Diamond Jim, underlings kowtow at the mention of your name, executive search firms call you, everyone takes your call, recruiters obsequiously ask if you have any needs. Tomorrow, the roof falls in.

Maybe it’s Katrina that delivers your industry a KO punch. Think of all the suppliers to the Biloxi casinos. Maybe it’s Google who decides that they want to be in the Word Processing space. Think of all the sites that are glorified word processing. Or maybe Google want to do email for eyeballs. Bye, bye Hotmail, Yahoo mail, and a hundred websites with their own branded webmail offering. I don’t know your industry, geography, or competitive landscape. But I do know “Change Happens”. Be assured that it’s happening to you.

And, it’s not just professionally. Grey hair catching up to you. Calendar turned over one to many times. Yup, in the big turkey’s patent copyrighted secret “how much cushion do I need” formula, for every half-decade over forty add one to your multiplier. If you’re a 40 year old exec making a 100k in a hot field, it’s 10 * 1 week * 1 for age = 10 weeks to replace your current paycheck. If you’re a 60 year old, make that 10 * 1 week (the field is still hot) * 4 (but you’re not) = 40 weeks. Wow! Do you have ten months money to “tide you over” till your next paycheck? Thought not. If you don’t plan your career, then why should we think you plan your money. In some fields the metric is in Quarters; in financial accounting it’s even more (i.e., there are a ton of CFOs around like beached whales). I was quoted more than a decade ago in Execunet saying “Time has not stood still. Age is not respected. Experience is not valued. And, Education is not revered.” More true today than a decade ago.

Scared yet? Don’t have time to network yet! Can’t happen to you, right? Call me when it does.

Ever since my first transition, I have run a free “turkey farm” for those unfortunates who get the ax. In the last decade, I have only been empty one for about a month. My wait list is currently 4 for what I call “CPR for your job search”. Do I do it for them? Heck no. I do it for myself. It reminds me every day that I could just as easily be on that side of the glass looking to get “in”. I have five picture frames on my office wall at home and at work. The five active turkeys’ networking profiles are there for me to see every time I look up. It’s rare that frames are empty long. Feel like someone’s gaining on you. It’s the Grim Reaper of Unemployment. So to, I’m reminded to help them and in doing so help myself. Mrs. Reinke didn’t raise no fool. I learn them rules real good! It says “help before being helped”.

Scared yet? Good!

But it’s not all bad. Believe it or not Fat Old White Guys (And there are women and minorities in that pejorative as well. It’s a genre. A mindset.) do have an advantage if they recognize it. We know what didn’t work. You can peddle that to other FOWGs who have to make their numbers, deliver a working product, or meet a schedule. They are up to their navels in undisciplined talent. What they need are “leaders”. Not CEOs, but working leaders who can do while teaching and mentoring. You have to become entrepreneurial. You are the CEO of “Me, myself and I INK”. Even if you are in a big company as an employee, you have to be selling and delivering value. You have to always express your Unique Value Proposition, deliver your Unique Sales Proposition, and have your extensive staff of imaginary experts just working effectively and efficiently on the things that will keep the value pouring into your checkbook.

Does it end? Yes, when you’re planted in your final position, the lid’s closed, and they shovel some dirt on you.

So what should you do first? Take Execunet seriously when they say do: x, y, and z. Your five year old resume (Seems like 5 years plus or minus two is the average tenure for a “job”) claims that you are “an innovative problem solver” (have yet to see one that doesn’t somewhere claim that), so here a problem to solve. It’s “yours”. Where’s your next paycheck coming from?

For those into activity lists, here are some suggestions:

· Renew Execunet for five years. Read it every day for 15 minutes every week day.

· Buy lifetime subscription to Jibber Jobber. Put all your networking contacts in. Call – Email – IM one every day and ask if they need help with something. (Give help before you have to ask for it.) Spend 15 minutes daily every week day.

· Sign up for LinkedIn. Find all your networking contacts. Write one endorsement every week day for 15 minutes.

· Find five people who are out of work and help them with their process Spend 15 minutes on a different one every week day.

· Do a McKay66 on every decision maker you came in contact with last week. 60 minutes on Saturday.

· Do a imaginary Board of Directors meeting. 60 minutes on Sunday.

Get started. When the axe does fall, as it always does, you’ll have bought yourself time, help, goodwill, and possibly some wisdom. I’ll probably have landed in my final spot before I hear from you. But be advised, I’ll be rooting for you from upstairs or down, where ever I’m sent.

***End Quote***

===== ===== =====
===== ===== =====

From: Robyn Greenspan
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 11:58 AM
Subject: RE: participate in ExecuNet article?

Fjohn,

Thanks for your contribution to CareerSmart Advisor – our biweekly print publication with a senior executive readership of roughly 25,000. Your time and expertise enables us to maintain our 19-year history of providing the highest quality career management information to our membership so they can set their professional strategies for success.

The electronic version of the issue that was mailed to our membership this week is attached, and it will be permanently archived on our site as well. Feel free to post it on your website or distribute among your network.

Robyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robyn Greenspan
Senior Editor
ExecuNet
The Center for Executive Careers
http://www.execunet.com
FREE subscription to Executive Insider:
http://www.execunet.com/e_resources_ei_signup.cfm

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