Focus Watch
Fall 2005
 

Through the huge internet boom that has exploded over the past decade many resume banks and online job boards have surfaced.

At first glance theses cyber sites appear to be pots of gold nuggets just waiting to be picked. One soon realizes however that before locating these nuggets, they must dig through a lot of dirt and digging ain’t cheap. Most of these sites, that were at one time free, now can average in cost over $14,000 per year in membership fees. Just putting pen to paper, the internet may seem less expensive than utilizing the services of a search firm, but consider these factors before signing on the dotted line:

What is Your Time Really Worth?

Take the example of this company recruiter:

‘Daniel Parrillo, president of Strategi, a small Stockton, Calif., technology-recruiting firm, recently posted an opening for an engineering vice president on five job boards at 4 p.m. By the time he arrived at work the next morning, he had 321 electronic resumes from people whose experience ranged from chief operating officer to help-desk troubleshooter. Several days later, he still hadn't even opened 71 of the responses.

"I probably do have one diamond in the rough in those 71 e-mails I still have to get to," Mr. Parillo says. "But unfortunately, if I do find this person, they're going to get into the process too late." He estimates he'll eventually respond to about 80% of the applicants, in most cases sending a "canned e-mail" note.’¹

·   Even using a Boolean formula search often produces a multitude of un-related resumes. Taking the time to weed through all those emails is exhausting.

·      Resumes rarely have the necessary contact numbers. In this day and age people try to protect their personal information as much as possible. And while that is understandable it causes LOTS of delays.

·   And at the end of the day the four most popular resume banks yield on average less than .59%.¹ That’s ONE in TWO HUNDRED resumes! Who has time for that?

Viewing Resumes

·   You find yourself talking to “looky-loos” and people who are not really looking for a job change. 

·   Many candidates don’t remove their resumes after they have successfully found employment. 

·   Some candidates actually use this method as leverage to get counter offers from their current company. 

·   And most often you’ll run into the embellished resume. Resume banks are a veritable cornucopia of euphemisms. 

 The Bottom Line

At some point you realize that there is actually someone out there who has their mud boots permanently attached. And that they are more than willing to shovel through all that all dirt and place those golden nuggets right in your hand. And at that point you have to ask yourself is internet recruiting really for me or should I leave it up to the professionals?

 [1] Maher,K., Silverman, R. Can big job sites help your internet job search? Wall Street journal Online. Retrieved Sept. 2005 from http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/usingnet
 

Cost of Poor People Management is High

What are the real repercussions of poor people management? A London-based psychometric company, SHL (Saville and Holdsworth Limited) decided to fund a survey to find out if it was possible to actually quantify the true costs of hiring mistakes. The results: Poor hiring and management practices are costing the United States $105 BILLION a year!¹

Researchers also found that nearly one in four (or 23 percent) of employees believe that their colleagues are incompetent.¹ In addition 70 percent of mistakes by U.S. employees are never reported.¹

While most CEO’s continue to claim that people are their most important asset, they are still putting the pressure on HR to cut costs.

Hiring based on old paradigms wont work in today’s new “people economy” says CEO John Bateson of SHL. It’s critical to put the rigor at the front end, rather than trying to fix things after making a poor hire.”¹ He adds that he does not suggest slowing down the recruitment process but does very much advocate injecting much more into the process.

Its important to realize that today’s competitive edge comes not from the company’s capital  but by the talent of its people.

1. HR Magazine August 2004

Donny Deutsch - Philosophies for Success

 Background – Donny Deutsh joined his father's small ad agency in 1983 right around the time his father was thinking about selling it. He then went about remaking the company with his own touch of rebellious energy.  Although he sold his company in 1992 to Interpublic group he remains the chairman and CEO of Deutsch Inc., which $3.6 billion in billings last year.  He remains a successful man with a successful company, his own talk show, and has even toyed with the idea of running for mayor of New York City.  Here Donny Shares with us some of what he’s learned over the past twenty years in the business world. 

Hiring Philosophy - "My philosophy is to always find the smartest people you can.  Hire people smarter than you.  From the beginning, I was able to attract bright young people.  I always looked for a fire in somebody's eyes.  I was always looking for the arc in somebody's career.  I want them to do their greatest hits here.  When I see talented people, I always look for potential greatness.  If I have to hire a CEO of Deutsch, I don't want someone who's already been a great CEO someplace else.  I want someone who wants to be a great CEO here.  That's why we've always gone from within."

Motivation – “I have yet to meet a genius in my business. I have yet to meet a genius in anything. Once you realize there are no geniuses out there, you can think, ‘I can do that’. One reason I’ve succeeded is that I have that naïve sense of entitlement.”

      “When I have met the most super-successful people, almost without exception they have that ‘Why no me?’ sense of entitlement. You could line up thousands of other people with the same skills, but it’s that extra bit of screw it, I should be doing that.’ Of course, just saying you think that doesn’t mean it will happen. But without saying it, almost axiomatically it can’t happen.”

The Pitch - There are all these stories about ‘the pitch.’ I’ve never sold something to a client. If you show clients good business solutions, they will sell themselves. I’ve never pushed something down a clients throat.

Donny Deutch As another very confident man said, it ain’t bragging if you can do it as told to Sasha Issenberg from Inc. Magazine; June 2005
 

How to Cope if the Economy Double Dips

A double dip refers to an economic situation where there is a brief recovery in between two recessions. Recent disheartening economic news: rising gas prices, rising inflation, interest rates, and now the disastrous aftermath of hurricane Katrina has economic veterans wondering if another double dip is on its way. For entrepreneurs of the last 20 years this phenomenon, which hasn’t been seen in over 23 years, sounds quite scary. If it does happen, however, veteran CEO’s recommend 3 ways their companies can cope:

1. Spend more on advertising. "The best way to weather a downturn is to
   boost advertising rather then cut costs." Therefore "companies that spend up to 28% or more on advertising can increase market share seven times faster during a
   recession than under normal conditions."
2. Enter new markets. Tackling new markets is the best way to tackle the future. If the market in one area is in a decline there will be other avenues of revenue. It follows the old proverb don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
3. Upgrade key technology. Investing in new technology to off set expected loss will not only help you through the recession but will help your business boom even after the recession is over.

Many speculate that another recession won’t happen again until 2007 but as Jack Stack of SRC Holding in Springfield MO says, “You have to have contingency plans in place rather than just milk the cow during boom times because all too often the cow does dry.” 

The Economy by Darren Dahl from Inc. Magazine; June 2005

George Costanza's Tips
for Working Hard

1.  Never walk down the hall without a document in your hands.  People with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings.  People with nothing in their hands look like they're heading for the cafeteria.  Above all, make sure you carry loads of stuff home with you at night, thus generating the false impression that you work longer hours than you do.

2.  Messy desk.  Top Management can get away with a clean desk.  For the rest of us, it looks like you're not working hard enough.  Build huge piles of documents around your workspace.  To the observer, last year's work looks the same as today's work; it's volume that counts.  Pile them high and wide.  If you know somebody is coming to your cubicle, bury the document you'll need halfway down in an existing stack and rummage for it when he/she arrives. 

http://www.jokecenter.com/jokes/business/6888.htm